Board of Water and Sewage Commissioners
Monday, February 12, 2007, 12:00 P.M.

PRESENT: Paul Adamski, Eugene Tubbs, Jim Cooper, Mae Nachman and Carl Rasmussen.

ALSO PRESENT: Kim Halverson, Eric Niffenegger, Joel Lemke, Jaime Zdroik, Jami Gebert-Main St. Manager, Jerry Walters - Village of Whiting President, Reid Rocheleau, and Mike Phillips.

Index of these Minutes:

I. ADMINISTRATION
1. Approval of minutes of the January 8, 2007 meeting.
2. Request by Alderman, Mike Wiza, to discuss the Whiting sewer hookup.
II. ACCOUNTING
3. Consideration of claims for the Water and Sewage Departments.
4. Discussion and action on donation request for "Get to the Point-opoly" from Jami Gebert.
5. Consideration of chemical bids.
III. WATER OPERATIONS
6. Discussion and action on water main installation on Welsby Avenue between Bush and Rice Streets.
7. Report on water distribution operations.
8. Report on water supply operations.
IV. SEWAGE TREATMENT OPERATIONS
9. Report on sewage treatment operations.
V. ADJOURNMENT

The next Water and Sewage Commission meeting will be March 12, 2007.

I. ADMINISTRATION

1. Approval of minutes of the January 8, 2007 meeting.

Motion made by Eugene Tubbs, seconded by Mae Nachman to approve the minutes of the January 8, 2007 Water & Sewage Commission meeting.

Ayes all. Nays none. Motion carried.

2. Request by Alderman, Mike Wiza, to discuss the Whiting sewer hookup.

Jerry Walters responded to the letter from Mike Wiza requesting to discuss the Whiting sewer hookup. Mike Wiza was not in attendance. Jerry Walters read parts of the letter then responded as follows:

A letter dated 1/15/2007 to the Water & Sewer Commissioners and Kim Halverson from Mike Wiza requested that a discussion item regarding the Whiting sewer hookup be placed on the February 12th, 2007 agenda.

M.W. Letter: I understand that the Village of Whiting must do what is in their best interests, but I'd also Letter like to afford them the opportunity to re-enter discussions with the City, should they be willing to consider us.

J.W. Response: "Hopefully all of you know that we've never not been in negotiation with the City of Stevens Point. Those have been on-going for along time so this is not an issue."

M.W. Letter: I'm not looking to request that the Village come back to the table, rather only to put it out as yet another option in their deliberations regarding the disposing of their waste water. They have several options on the table right now,

J.W. Response: Jerry said, "I can stop at this point in the letter because we do not have several options on
the table right now. As you all know we won our lawsuit for our oxidation ditch which was our plan all along, from three years ago. We want to build an oxidation ditch so that we could get away from the activated sludge treatment and be able to produce the best effluent we could going back into the Wisconsin River. So there is less maintenance. It was the best route for our Village to go. Although, the most expensive, it was still the best route for us to go."

M.W. Letter: but, because the initial dealing with the City wasn't (apparently) attractive enough, it seems they are no longer considering hooking up to the City sewer.

J.W. Response: "That again is not right. The Mayor and I talk just about every month at the Stevens Point Area Sewer Advisory Committee about this matter in one way or another. It has always been an option open to us, it was an option before the D.N.R. asked us to have it as an option open to us. It was an option from the time we started our facilities plan to begin with. We had that same offer from Plover and the Village of Whiting did a cost effectiveness study for both areas. So again, I want to make sure everyone understands that that's not the way it was or is."

M.W. Letter: To give them another option, should they deem it in their best interest, I'd like to see Stevens Point to offer to come back to the table.

My hope is that we might be able to take another look at our calculations and perhaps come back with something that's more cost effective for them and yet beneficial to the City residents. Ultimately, I'd like to see an agreement that will benefit both municipalities.

Again, there should be no pressure on the Village of Whiting, whatsoever, but our offering to take a second look will open the door to the possibility of yet another option for them. This would only be a discussion item, after which we might issue a statement that we're willing to take another look.

J.W. Response: "I don't know what else we can do either the City of Stevens Point or the Village of Whiting at this point. We have not received our final go ahead from the D.N.R. They have not given us, or have not sent the letter to Judge Finn yet. That is the next step in our process. Our attorney has sent the letter off to the State District Attorney and she is going through the language to make sure it is appropriate for the D.N.R. to sign off on and then send it to Judge Finn at which time they have 45 to 90 days to appeal the decision once Judge Finn signs off on it. We are hoping that doesn't happen. We have just been given a five year extension on our facility in the condition that it is in. So it is not like we are holding our breath or endangering the Wisconsin River or our reputation in any way shape or form so this isn't a big rush issue.

But we have to follow through with what was our direction initially which was to build an oxidation ditch which we felt was the best for our residents. The residents that responded overwhelmingly 89 to 90 percent on two different surveys were in favor of the oxidation ditch even though it was the most expensive route to go.

So I don't really know what else. If you have any questions, I am certainly open for questions. Again, the door's never been closed between Kim and myself or the Mayor and myself through this whole thing. We sat with the negotiating committee and we had four points of contention that we have really gotten into prior to our case going to court and winning that. Until that door is closed I don't know what else we can do."

Paul stated this item was placed on the agenda as per request of Alderman Mike Wiza. Paul doubted any action would be taken but we wanted to respect his request.

Reid Rocheleau addressed the Commission as a Whiting resident and a Stevens Point water and sewer customer.

Reid stated he also received a copy of Mike Wiza's letter. The letter was sent to make sure this item was placed on the agenda so the commissioners could discuss this matter. Mike Wiza did not have to attend the meeting for the Commission to discuss this item.

Reid said Village of Whiting President Jerry Walters doesn't speak for the entire Village. When Reid attended the most recent Whiting utility meeting there were several members who thought it would be of some value to go back into negotiations with Stevens Point to see what kind of offer would be made. Reid knows Mr. Walters personally would like to build a new treatment plant but as a resident of the Village of Whiting and a Stevens Point customer he wants the best deal for both, the Village residents and the Stevens Point residents.

Reid also stated the 90% Mr. Walters refers to responding to their surveys only represents approximately 10% of the population who would bother to send back the survey forms.

Reid requested the Water & Sewage Commissioners make a motion stating that they are willing to talk to the Village of Whiting again about this matter. If the motion was made Reid would then take that information to the Whiting board at tomorrow nights meeting.

Reid has made public records requests from the Village of Whiting for any information on the negotiations that took place and if negotiations are done then he believes that information should be made available to him but nothing has been made available. The same request was made to Kim Halverson in an attempt to find out what went on at these meetings so that he could inform the public.

Reid said a letter written by Mike Phillips suggested that Stevens Point residents don't care what happens to the Village of Whiting. The residents in Stevens Point would like to see what's best for all the residents.

Reid believes the Water & Sewer Commission has a responsibility to make the best deal for the Stevens Point customers and this would be an opportunity for substantial savings if Whiting would hook up. There would also be a savings for Whiting residents. Once he figures out exactly what the savings would be he would then notify the public. Then we could see if it would make sense for Whiting to build a 4.5 million dollar plant. He believes it would only make sense if Stevens Point was unwilling to talk.

He also believes the negotiation meetings between Stevens Point and the Village of Whiting should not be held in closed session because there is no competitive bidding going on.

He read in previous minutes the Water and Sewer bills for every Stevens Point customer would decrease 6% if Whiting hooks up.

Paul Adamski explained to Reid the Water & Sewer Commission made a recommendation to the City Council and the Council approved the recommendation. The Village of Whiting was then presented the offer but chose not to accept it. Paul agrees with Jerry Walters there is no reason for us to continue negotiating until such time as we would know if their lawsuit is going to be appealed or not by the D.N.R.

Reid said the situation has changed since the initial offer because at that time the Village of Whiting was being forced to hook up to Stevens Point and now they are not.

Reid believes if Stevens Point came back with a better offer to the Village of Whiting then the public opinion would force them to hook up to Stevens Point.

Reid was concerned there is a conflict of interest in regards to the negotiations because Paul Adamski is on the Water & Sewer Commission and Paul's father-in-law is on the board for the Village of Whiting. Paul informed Reid he was not on the negotiating committee and Jerry Walters stated Paul's father-in-law was not on the negotiating committee for Whiting.

Jerry Walters said if the Commission would like to rewrite another proposal to the Village of Whiting the Village of Whiting is always going to be interested in reading it and entertaining whatever the Commission feels the City of Stevens Point needs.

Paul Adamski stated we might consider doing that once everyone knows if the lawsuit is going to be appealed or not. It will also probably depend on who the Mayor is at that time too.

Mike Phillips, a resident of Stevens Point, said this was acted on by the City Council already and the decision was made. In order to change that you would need to go back to the Council. He said Mike's letter should have been addressed to the Council. He doesn't believe the right procedures were followed and he thinks the Water and Sewage Commission is doing the right thing by waiting for Whiting to come back to the Water and Sewage Commission and ask to renegotiate.

Reid again requested the Commission make a motion stating they are willing to talk with Whiting again about this matter.

Paul felt that it won't be clear what actions should be negotiated on until the matter with the D.N.R. and the Village of Whiting is settled. Paul then opened the floor for the Commissioners to make a motion if they wanted to.

Mae Nachman said in reading the minutes of the previous meetings she couldn't find it stated anywhere that discussions were closed on this matter.

Paul stated we went to the Village of Whiting first and suggested that we have the capacity and the desire to hook up with them. We never tried to force them to do anything. We've never suggested they can't come back to renegotiate and maybe the terms and conditions offered to this point might be considered to be renegotiated but he feels this shouldn't be done until the lawsuit between the Village of Whiting and the D.N.R is finalized.

Carl Rasmussen said after reviewing the meeting minutes he didn't believe the negotiations have ever stopped at any time either.

Mike Phillips stated Jerry Walters did send a letter to Stevens Point originally asking to negotiate and he believes that needs to happen again in order for the Water and Sewage Commission to discuss it and move forward.

No action was taken.

II. ACCOUNTING

3. Consideration of claims for the Water and Sewage Treatment Utilities.

Paul Adamski presented the statement of claims for the Water Utility for January. The balance on January 1, 2007 was $1,875,536.81; the bank deposits recorded in January 2007 were $862,069.67. Checks issued since the January 8, 2007 meeting numbered 41006 through 41076 were in the amount of $509,853.65. Checks numbered 41078 through 41111 for $321,218.24 were presented for action on February 12, 2007. The net balance on hand February 12, 2007 was $1,502,554.80.

Motion made by Jim Cooper, seconded Eugene Tubbs to approve the water utility claims for the months of January 2007 as audited and read.

Ayes all. Nays none. Motion carried.

Paul Adamski also presented the statement of claims for the Sewage Treatment Utility for January. The balance on January 1, 2007 was $1,970,282.44; the bank deposits recorded in January 2007 were $362,556.76. Checks issued since the January 8, 2007 meeting numbered 25389 through 25425 were in the amount of $79,996.73. Checks numbered 25426 through 25448 for $27,786.15 were presented for action on February 12, 2007. The net balance on hand February 12, 2007 was $2,262,020.71.

Motion made by Mae Nachman, seconded by Jim Cooper to approve the sewage utility claims for the month of January 2007 as audited and read.

Ayes all. Nays none. Motion carried.

4. Discussion and action on donation request for "Get to the Point-opoly" from Jami Gebert.

Jami Gebert explained that 2008 is the 150th birthday of the City of Stevens Point and to commemorate the 150th the Downtown is putting together a monopoly style theme board. They are working with a group called Katie Consultants to customize a monopoly game board for the City of Stevens Point. Jami explained where the sponsorships would be placed on the board and the different types of sponsorship available along with the costs involved.

Mae Nachman asked if we have set precedence by sponsoring promotional items in the past. Kim said we purchased sports water bottles a long time ago.

Paul Adamski stated he is not against this but would like to consider having Jami see what kind of success they have and if they do end up needing more sponsors to fill the board game then this item could be brought back as an agenda item and a decision could be made at that time.

Motion made by Mae Nachman, seconded by Eugene Tubbs to have Jami Gebert monitor the sponsorship situation and if more sponsors are needed then this item could be brought back as an agenda item and a decision would be made at that time.

Ayes all. Nays none. Motion carried.

5. Consideration of chemical bids.

Kim explained that in the past we usually went with one company that had the total low bid, but when calculating the bids out now if we went with the low bids from Wausau Chemical for bulk sodium hypochlorite and hydroflousilicic acid for $21,575; Hawkins, Inc. for chlorine and hydroflousilicic acid drums for $9,019.80; and Wausau Chemical for sodium hypochlorite and caustic potash flake for $3,948 would save over $2,000. Kemiron was low for ferric chloride at $9,040. This hasn't been used for two years. We have 4,000 gallons currently on site. We have been biologically treating phosphorous removal and have not needed the chemical. We would only buy it if we needed it.

Motion made by Mae Nachman, seconded by Carl Rasmussen to approve the low bids as follows: Wausau Chemical Corp - Bulk sodium hypochlorite and hydroflousilicic acid for $21,575; Hawkins, Inc. - Chlorine and hydroflousilicic acid drums for $9,019.80; Wausau Chemical Corp - Sodium hypochlorite and caustic potash flake for $3,948 and Kemiron Companies - Ferric chloride for $9,040.

Ayes all. Nays none. Motion carried.

III. WATER OPERATIONS

6. Discussion and action on water main installation on Welsby Avenue between Bush and Rice Streets.

Currently we have four people who have their own wells on Welsby Avenue and one of their wells has gone bad. There is no water main in that one block area. They are currently hooked up house to house from their neighbor.

Kim explained due to the price of the project it would need to be bid. If we were to bid this project out it would take another three months and it would be more expensive then if we were to do the work.

Instead of doing the entire 6" main project we decided to just run a two inch line off of Rice Street to service this property.

7. Report on water distribution operations.

The report was distributed.

A total of 119 valves were operated in 2007.

A total of 11 business properties have been checked for backflow preventors in January 2007 for a total of 11 in 2007.

Kim stated we had our first water main break today on Arlington Place. There have also been some frozen services which are normal for this time of the year.

8. Report on water supply operation.

Our pumpage in January was 172,450,000 gallons, a decrease of 9,454,000 gallons of water from January 2006.

Kim stated well 7 rehabbed very well and well 9 will be rehabbed next.

IV. SEWAGE TREATMENT OPERATIONS

9. Report on sewage treatment operations.

B.O.D. (3.90 ppm), Phosphorus (0.49 ppm) and Suspended Solid (3.75 ppm) limits were met for the month of January 2007.

Eric stated the plant is running well. He also stated the treatment plant won the laboratory award from the State of Wisconsin. The official announcement will be done in March.

The next Water & Sewage Commission meeting will be March 12, 2007 at noon.

V. ADJOURNMENT

Motion made by Mae Nachman to adjourn the meeting.

MEETING ADJOURNED
12:50 pm

BOARD OF WATER AND SEWAGE COMMISSIONERS
EUGENE TUBBS, SECRETARY

The meeting minutes reproduced on this website are derived from the computer files used to produce the official minutes for the City of Stevens Point, but are unofficial. The minutes on this web site cannot be certified under s. 889.08, Wis. Stats., and cannot be considered prima facie evidence under s. 889.04, Wis. Stats. Certain tables, maps, and other documents that are a part of the official minutes are not included in the files reproduced on this website. Please consult the printed minutes, available in the City Clerk's Office, for the official text. The decisions made by City of Stevens Point boards, committees, and commissions (other than the Police & Fire Commission) are advisory only and are not binding on the city until affirmed at a meeting of the Common Council. Some of the minutes on this web site might not be approved by the Common Council as of today.