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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1502nd Board Journal 6-29-2011 JOURNAL OF THE (1502nd) MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT June 29, 2011 – 7:30 A.M. The Trustees of the District met in Room 109 at 2350 Market on the above date. Present at meeting: Board of Trustees Staff Members R. T. Berry, Chair J. L. Theerman, Executive Director J. H. Buford, Vice Chair S. E. Myers, General Counsel J. H. Goffstein K. J. Tyminski, Secretary-Treasurer G.T. Feldhaus J. M. Zimmerman, Director of Finance E. G. Ross B. L. Hoelscher, Director of Engineering D. A. Visintainer J. C. Sprague, Director of Operations Also present were Tom Sullivan, 35 N. Central; Ed Sweet, Parsons; Tim Tappendorf, CMT; Joe Britt, Wells Fargo; Tom Meinhart, Jacobs; Jon Bergenthal, Jacobs; Ron Krusie, Burns & Mac; Lawrence Nwachukwu, Basilico Engineering; Kristol Whatley; MSD; Todd Loretta, Rich Unverferth, Asst. Director of Engineering; Barb Mohn, Director of Information Systems; Vicki Taylor-Edwards, Director of Human Resources; Lance LeComb, Manager of Public Information; Debbie Johnson, Public Information Representative; and Pam Bell, Secretary to the Executive Director. - - - - Mr. Berry opened the meeting pursuant to notice and call. - - - - The Board had no closed session. - - - - The Chair indicated that because the main reason we are holding a special meeting is to approve the authorization for the District to enter into a consent decree with the US EPA and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and because this decree is derived from an extensive legal process a closed session agenda item has been posted for this meeting to discuss any legal issues, if any Trustee has a concern. No Trustees requested or motioned for a closed session. - - - - Mr. Buford arrives. Mr. Sullivan addressed the Board and indicated the final settlement of the lawsuit against MSD, brought by the United States government and the state of Missouri, is yet the latest reminder of this area’s failure to comply with the Clean Water Act, nearly 40 years after it was enacted. And for that we can blame the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. In 1986, the people of this area first learned of the enormous environmental destruction being caused by MSD. It was disclosed in a front-page article in the Post-Dispatch that MSD was dumping about 100 million gallons of raw sewage a day into the Mississippi River on about a third of the days every year. A follow-up article was headlined, "Raw Sewage In Creeks 'Intolerable.'" It began: “Raw sewage is spilling into creeks and streams that flow past homes and subdivision throughout much of St. Louis County.” The MSD executive director at the time said it would all be corrected within 10 years. It is now many years later and the problems still have not been resolved. At MSD the Clean Water Act has always been looked on as suggestions rather then the law. There is always the catch-all MSD excuse for failing to comply: somewhere, some place, some city or some area is doing worse. So that makes it OK. MSD customers are now looking at sewer bills that will be taking a big jump. It won’t say it on the bills but a good part will go toward MSD incompetence and delay. Years ago, the government was paying a large part of the cost to upgrade plants and facilities to meet Clean Water standards. But no longer. Of course, what MSD does accomplish always costs far more than it should. The South County treatment plant started out at $46 million and ended up costing $230 million. Tens of millions of dollars are still regularly approved by the MSD Board for questionable purposes. When the Coalition for the Environment put out its news release a few years ago about the impending lawsuit, the group’s executive director said, "Spending money has never been hard for MSD, but spending money efficiently has." Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that will be changing. - - - - The Chair indicated that the Board is in receipt of a letter from the Rate Commission, copy available upon request, requesting a 45-day extension to the Rate Commission process. The Chair asked the Executive Director to provide additional information about this item. Mr. Theerman explained that the governing Charter provides for a one-time 45-day extension to be approved by the Board, if requested by the Rate Commission. Staff has reviewed the impact of the rate Commissions’ extension request and has already factored the extension into the time line and schedule. Staff believes that this request will provide for a more thorough review of the District’s rate proposal and would extend the report deadline to late October, and recommends Board approval. The Chair called for a vote to grant the Rate Commission a 45-Day Extension to the Rate Process as allowed for in the District’s Charter. Motion made by Mr. Goffstein, seconded by Mr. Visintainer. Voice vote, all ayes. Motion passed. - - - - Mr. Goffstein requested that all Board members be present to vote on the proposed authorization of a consent decree with the US EPA and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. Mr. Feldhaus joins the meeting via phone. CONSENT AGENDA ADOPTION OF PROPOSED ORD. NO. 170-11 (ORDINANCE NO. 13277) AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND GENERAL COUNSEL AND ON BEHALF OF THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT TO EXECUTE A FEDERAL CONSENT DECREE WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ACTING AT THE REQUEST AND ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (“EPA”), AND THE MISSOURI COALITION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (THE “COALITION”) TO SETTLE ALL ALLEGED CLAIMS BY THE PLAINTIFFS IN THE LAWSUIT TITLED UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AND MISSOURI COALITION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT FOUNDATION V. THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT AND REQUIRING IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DISTRICT’S SEPARATE AND COMBINED SEWER SYSTEM AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS. Motion made by Mr. Buford, seconded by Mr. Visintainer, that the Consent Agenda be adopted. Motion passed – 6 ayes, no nays Poll taken: R. Berry aye E. Ross aye D. Visintainer aye J. Goffstein aye J. Buford aye G. Feldhaus aye The Chair declared the Consent Agenda adopted and proposed Ord. No. 170-11 was assigned Ordinance No. 13277. - - - - NEW BUSINESS Ordinances INTRODUCTION AND ADOPTION OF PROPOSED ORD. NO. 172-11 APPROPRIATING $400,000.00 FROM THE EMERGENCY FUND FOR EMERGENCY SEWER REPAIRS IN EMERGENCY REPAIR #046 I-70 & NEWSTEAD AVENUE (11154) IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI; AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND SECRETARY- TREASURER ON BEHALF OF THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT NO. 10684 WITH GERSHENSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOR THE AFORESAID EMERGENCY REPAIRS. Proposed Ord. No. 172-11 was presented and read. The work done under the emergency Contract #10684 consists of the repairing two structures, replacement of pavement, and areas backfilled. District staff declared this project an emergency on June 27, 2011. The contractor, Gershenson Construction Company, has been selected per MSD Emergency Declaration Policy. The repair has started and is expected to be complete before July 1, 2011. Messrs. Theerman and Hoelscher explained that on Sunday June 25, 2011 the District experienced very heavy rains coupled with power outages along the Mississippi River Flood wall. They described that the floodwall pump stations are serviced by three power sources, a main power source and two back up power sources, and that two of the three power sources failed. The failure of these power sources coupled with the heavy rains and further exasperated by the fact that the Mississippi River is at a flood stage caused pockets of damage in the North St Louis area. Two lanes of Interstate 70 were damaged between Shreve and West Florissant , the tracks of the Terminal Railroad were undermined and a series of homes and businesses experienced damage. Mr. Buford questioned how the District would be handling the damage to the customers and resident from this rainstorm and power failure. Mr. Theerman indicated that the District will be taking remedial action and the typical $2,400 claim ceiling would not be applied. Mr. Berry questioned what costs or items in the proposed consent decree would be used to mitigate events like this one. Mr. Theerman responded that an item in the proposed consent decree entitled City Shed and valued at $230 million is targeted at alleviating this type of problem. Mr. Goffstein asked if other portions of the proposed consent decree would address issues like this one. Mr. Theerman indicated that the vast majority of the costs associated with the consent decree would not go toward remediation of these type problems, but would go towards regulatory compliance. Mr. Goffstein asked, what could have been done differently to avoid this problem? Mr. Theerman indicated that we are looking into the issue, but the nature of the event coupled with the power outages, and the Mississippi River being at flood stage was an unexpected combination of events. Mr. Goffstein asked what resource commitments the District made to deal with this event? Mr. Theerman responded The Board urged the District to be responsive to needs to the residents and businesses that were either displaced or injured by the flooding. Motion by Mr. Buford seconded by Mr. Goffstein that proposed Ord. No. 172-11 be introduced. Motion made, seconded and unanimously adopted to suspend the rules to allow for adoption of proposed Ord. No. 172-11. Motion made by Mr. Ross, seconded by Mr. Visintainer that proposed Ord. No. 172-11 be adopted. Motion passed – 6 ayes, no nays Poll taken: J. Goffstein aye J. Buford aye D. Visintainer aye R. Berry aye E. Ross aye G. Feldhaus aye The Chair declared proposed Ord. No. 109-11 adopted and it was assigned Ordinance No. 13278. - - - - Upon motion made Mr. Buford, seconded by Mr. Goffstein, and unanimously passed, the meeting adjourned at 7:55 a.m. Secretary-Treasurer