BLASD Regular Board Meeting #117

6:30 pm March 9, 2017

Perch Lake Town Hall

  1. Call to Order – Vice Chair Rennquist called meeting 117to order at 6:30 pm.
  2. Roll Call

Present:Chris Rousseau, TreasurerBill Jaskari

Tom LukeDebbie Gellatly, Admin Assistant

Absent:Wayne Dupuis, John Fredrickson

Guests: Lora Eames, Neil McPhail, Clyde Lukkarila (?)

  1. Approve Agenda – Motion by Luke and 2nd by Jaskari to approve the agenda. Motion approved.
  2. Approve Minutes – Motion Luke and 2nd by Jaskari to approve the February minutes. Motion approved.
  3. Review of Treasurer’s Report and Payment of Bills – Debbie Gellatly - The February Cornerstone Checking and March treasurer’s report were presented. The ending balance in the checking was $10,370.52 and the Savings was $135,509.72.

Bills and Claims presented for approval include:

February board claims: John Fredrickson $ 156.99

Rocky Rennquist 78.50

Tom Luke 78.50

Wayne Dupuis 78.50

Chris Rousseau 78.50

Country Tax Service 503.99 ($275.99 website fee)

MSA 1,768.00

Jacobson Law 3,000.00

Total:$5,742.98

Motion by Rousseau and 2nd by Luke to approve the report and payment of bills. Motion approved.

  1. Review of Correspondence- Mail – MSA bill, Email correspondence with Heather Cunningham at Carlton County requesting BLASD be informed when BLASD residents (and potential BLASD residents) apply for a septic permit. Heather responded that within the last 5ish years the County has not permitted any new drain fields. They have allowed a temporary holding tank for a new construction. The county allowed 2 systems along the force main but did inform the residents about the connection, the homeowners were not interested.
  2. Old Business
  1. Funding update – Chris Rousseau stated that we went to the recent legislative lobby meeting on March 1. Based on the fact there was no bonding for 2016 it was expressed that due to the additional time that has passed that BLASD was requesting $2.2M from the 2017 bonding session. The house has agreed to the 2.2M and currently the State has agreed to 1.2M. It will still need to go to the conference committee for final approval. Tony Lourey will work to get the state number “bumped” up.
  1. New Business
  1. Engineer’s Report for February and Plan for March–Waiting on funding approval before proceeding.
  2. Update on RBC meeting – Chris Rousseau stated the meeting went well with the RBC and getting the new board up-to-speed on the project. The RBC had questions regarding the urban service boundary and how the line was drawn. The line was drawn by WLSSD at the time the project began. John Fredrickson talked about the governmental agreement that needed to be signed. Three of the 4 joint powers agreements (JPA’s) have been signed. There is a joint cooperation agreement that was signed with FDL at the onset of the project but a JPA still needs to be signed.
  3. Board select special meeting date for Ordinance & Finance Committee Kick-off

It was suggested to hold an ordinance meeting 1 hour prior to the start of the next regularly scheduled board meeting (checking with John Fredrickson availability). MSA provided electronic copies of similar sewer districts to use as a guide. It would be beneficial for the board to review the various ordinances prior to the meeting. The tentative date and time is 5:30 pm April 13 at Perch Lake Town Hall.

  1. Public Comment– Q: When do you find out about the bonding bill funds? Generally around the end of May. Q. If approved when do you reach out for construction bids? It is possible construction would begin August 2018. Q. Will everyone connect at once? No, it is possible it will be done in sections possibly starting with the force main. It was mentioned that no preliminary engineering can be done until the funding package is complete.
  2. Next meeting Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 6:30 at the Perch Lake Town Hall
  3. Motion to adjourn – Motion by Rousseau and 2nd by Jaskari to adjourn at 6:55pm. Motion approved.

Submitted by Debbie Gellatly

Minutes approved April 13, 2017 (Rousseau/Rennquist)