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10/28/09: Minutes - October 28, 2009 - Special Meeting
The Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees met in special session Wednesday,
October 28, 2009 at the Hillcrest Village Hall. President Rich Hicks called the
meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Answering the roll call were Trustees Jim
Mecklenburg, Rich Elliott, Randall Salsbury, Trevor Unger and Vicki Stewart.
Trustee McMullin was absent due to illness.
NEW BUSINESS
President
Hicks stated the first order of business is the water rate study. President
Hicks introduced Jim Sparber of Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers to
explain the water rate study. Mr. Sparber stated that the purpose of the water
rate study is to look at upcoming expenses in the water department and at the
revenues needed to fund those expenses and then he introduced Kristin Rae, the
engineer who prepared the study.
Ms. Rae stated that she had looked at
the Village’s routine annual operating and maintenance expenses verified all the
facts and figures and determined that those numbers do not need to be adjusted.
Ms. Rae stated the main change is providing more money for capital improvements.
Ms. Rae stated the Village’s water system is at an age where capital
improvements and up keep are becoming more critical, there are already a few
sections of water main in the Village that have become problematic and this will
continue to happen as the system ages. Ms. Rae stated the biggest block of
funding that was added to the water utility budget to be incorporated into the
water rates was for annual water main replacement which is based on a one
hundred year renewal cycle. Ms. Rae stated other items that were taken into
consideration are water meter replacement on a fifteen year cycle, water tower
painting based on a twelve year cycle, well rehabilitation on a seven year cycle
and generator replacement on a twenty year cycle; this is money set aside so
that when the need arises the Village will have the funds available to make
these capital improvements. Ms. Rae stated the other element of the rate study
is debt service for the sanitary sewer design service engineering fees which
would amount to approximately $30,000 per year over a twenty year period. Ms.
Rae summarized by stating that this would add approximately $120,000 a year to
the water utility budget, seventy-five percent for capital improvements and
twenty-five percent for debt service. Ms. Rae stated the water rate increase is
a big impact on the budget and the bulk of the rate increase is phased in over a
four year period after that the water rate increases by small inflationary
increases each year. Ms. Rae stated that intent is to spread the rate increase
out of over a number of years while maintaining a positive fund balance in order
to institute the capital improvement projects that are needed to maintain your
water system.
President Hicks expresses his concern that the rate study
only takes into account residential users and does not include commercial and
industrial users and stated that he and Trustee Elliott has spoken with Jerry
Bever about adding commercial and industrial rates. Mr. Sparber stated that he
would discuss the issue with Mr. Bever and Ms. Rae would make the appropriate
changes to the rate study.
Trustee Mecklenburg stated one of the things
that caught his attention is the number of gallons of water pumped compared to
the number of gallons of water billed; there seems to be a downward trend.
Trustee Elliott explained that every community has a small percentage of
unaccounted for water. Clerk Adams added that when the water tower is being
cleaned the system is running directly off the pumps it is necessary to install
pressure release values throughout the system while you are pumping that water
you are not billing for it. Ms. Rae added water used for firefighting would be
pumped but, not billed also. Mr. Sparber stated as water meters age they start
to slow down, too.
Trustee Mecklenburg stated that the residents of the
Village have enjoyed low water rates for quite some time and asked how the
Village’s rates compare to other communities in Northern Illinois. Trustee
Elliott stated that the Village has the fifth lowest water rates in Northern
Illinois. After a brief discussion Ms. Rae stated that $30 a month for water
would be an average billing for this area and even after the Village institutes
the new rates your monthly bills would still be below that monthly average.
Trustee Mecklenburg stated by instituting the rate increases suggested in the
rate study we are merely increasing the monthly billing by five percent a year
for the next four years in order to bring our rates up to where they should be.
President Hicks stated that the Village needs to raise water rates to the level
that will allow for the capital improvement projects necessary to maintain the
water system and at the same time we need to set up rates for our commercial and
industrial users.
Mr. Sparber stated that currently the Village’s
ordinance charges a flat rate fee for water meters and other related costs and
suggested that the Board of Trustees consider changing the language to state the
cost of the materials plus fifteen percent; that would allow for an increase in
the costs of materials plus administrative costs and prevent the Village from
having to pay the difference between the actual cost of materials and the flat
rate stated in the ordinance. Trustee Stewart asked when Mr. Sparber suggests
making these changes. Mr. Sparber replied that it would be ideal to make the
changes in the water ordinance and past it at the same time the water rate study
is pasted and it would be to the Village’s benefit to institute the new rates in
January 2010. The discussion concluded with the understanding the Ms. Rae would
factor a commercial and industrial rate into the water rate study and present it
to the Board of Trustees at the November meeting.
President Hicks stated
the next order of business is Des Plaines Office Equipment and he asked Clerk
Adams to explain. Clerk Adams stated that the lease of the current copier ends
in January 2010 and the purpose of leasing the copier was in the event the
copier did not perform to our expectations we could terminate the lease. Clerk
Adams stated for an additional $7 per month the Village would be able to produce
quality color copies, the current copier holds fifty sheets of paper in the
document feeder the new copier holds one hundred fifty sheets and the new copier
has a USB port for a flash drive which would allow us to scan directly to the
flash drive allowing portability of documents and maps. Trustee Mecklenburg
asked about the service and support. Clerk Adams responded that the service and
support over the past three years has been excellent. After a brief discussion
Trustee Mecklenburg made a motion to enter into a lease with Des Plaines Office
Equipment for a Sharp MX-3501N Color Digital Imager; Trustee Elliott seconded
the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes,
Unger – yes and Stewart – yes.
President Hicks stated the next order of
business is tree removal. President Hicks stated that Trustee Unger received two
bids one from A-1 Tree & Stump Removal for $3,500 and one from Bowman’s Tree
Service for $3,975 for the removal of one tree on Hemstock Road, removal of
three trees on Scott Avenue and tree trimming on Wayne Road. After a brief
discussion concerning the safety aspect and the cost of the bids Trustee Elliott
made a motion to accept the bid of A-1 Tree & Stump Removal for $3,500;
Trustee Salsbury seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes,
Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes.
President
Hicks called for a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose of
discussing personnel, pending litigation and to review executive session
minutes. Trustee Stewart made a motion to enter into executive session to
discuss personnel and pending litigation and to review executive session
minutes; Trustee Elliott seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg –
yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion
passed unanimously. The Board of Trustees entered into executive session 7:38
p.m.
President Hicks called for a motion to return to open session.
Trustee Stewart made a motion to return to open session; Trustee Elliott
seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury
– yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion passed unanimously. The Board
of Trustees returned to open session at 8:45 p.m. President Hicks stated no
action taken.
PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment.
There being no
further business to transact a motion to adjourn was made by Trustee
Mecklenburg; Trustee Stewart seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg –
yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion
passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:47 p.m. The next regular monthly
meeting will be held November 11, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Hillcrest Village
Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa J. Adams,
Village
Clerk
Posted: 10/28/2009 |
Updated: 10/28/2009