Freeburg trustees reduce Wieberg’s water bill, institute new reporting policy to help with major leaks

By Neal A. Johnson, UD Editor
Posted 8/14/19

Freeburg business owner Jacques Wieberg caught a break after speaking with trustees last Monday, Aug. 5, at their regular meeting as his water bill was reduced from $757.99 to $400.

Wieberg said …

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Freeburg trustees reduce Wieberg’s water bill, institute new reporting policy to help with major leaks

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Freeburg business owner Jacques Wieberg caught a break after speaking with trustees last Monday, Aug. 5, at their regular meeting as his water bill was reduced from $757.99 to $400.

Wieberg said his typical bill for water, sewer and trash is about $300 for the apartment complex he owns, but there was a bill totaling $518.65 in May (due in June), and the June bill (due in July) was $757.99.

“I guess my concern is that we did our due diligence to get the leak fixed,” said Wieberg, noting the annual monthly usage is about 20,000, but the reading for the higher bill registered 127,000 gallons for the month. “What can we do to prevent this from happening in the future? Maybe we can get sooner awareness so I can fix it before I have an almost $1,400 water bill.”

The most recent bill showed 21,000 gallons, closer to his average, and Wieberg questioned how a relatively small leak in a bathroom fixture could lead to 100,000 gallons above the norm.

Water Clerk Cindy Struemph noted that Wieberg has in the past run that much water through the system.

“That’s the thing that’s bad down there,” said Public Works Director Todd Feeler. “You don’t know how many tenants are actually there.”

Mayor Darryl Haller said the city could do a better job with its reporting.

Feeler usually reads meters between the first and third day of the month, after which the reports are sent to Cindy Struemph. At times, there may be a delay, which means the bill isn’t generated until the 10th or later.

Haller said there is an exceptions report, which highlights unusually high usage compared to averages. Feeler said it’s not always easy to determine what constitutes high usage, with the average consumer running through 7,000 to 8,000 gallons per month.

“It’s a lot better to get that information the fifth day instead of the 20th day,” Haller added.

Wieberg agreed, noting the larger bill didn’t arrive until after the leak was repaired.

“Cindy and I talked about it, and we agree that the sooner we can get it out the better,” said Feeler.

“We’re in the process of getting the information quicker,” Haller added. “In this case, Jacques didn’t know about it for maybe three weeks.”

If there is a leak, under the new procedure, the owner would have an opportunity to make repairs sooner, thereby reducing the amount of water lost.

Wieberg requested the village reduce the bill due to the lag in time between the reading and the bill, in spite of the fact that the water was going into the sewer.

Mayor Haller said he believes the village should help under the circumstances.

Trustee Shane Zimmer agreed by way of making the motion to cut the bill to $400 and remove any penalties, and colleagues unanimously concurred.

“I think that’s fair,” said Haller.

Wieberg agreed, and paid the bill that night.

In other business, Penny Thomas of Missouri LAGERS retirement system provided details about costs and options for Feeler, the lone full-time employee of the village.

Thomas explained that many retirement plans such as 401K are set-contribution plans, which means there is a set amount put in by the employee, which may be matched by the employer. The balance grows and upon retirement, the funds are available.

“You could potentially outlive a defined contribution plan,” said Thomas. “That’s not the case with LAGERS. It’s a defined benefit plan. We don’t go by account balances; we go by a formula.”

Basically, the formula comes down to how long an employee works and the amount he or she is paid.

LAGERS pays retirement benefits every month for the rest of the employee’s life, based on a percentage derived from how much is paid by the political subdivision.

Generally, an employee must be vested with an employer using LAGERS for 60 months, and retirement benefits are paid after an employee turns 60. However, Thomas said there are options for early retirement at a cost of a half-percent for every month between 55 and 60.

The Rule of 80 allows an employee whose age and years of service equal 80, retirement benefits can be paid, but that program costs a bit more, Thomas said.

LAGERS also offers disability and survivor benefits.

Since Feeler has been employed with the village for seven years, he could be automatically vested at a cost, depending on whether trustees want to cover 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the years worked.

The village will have to elect to provide coverage, and there is no exit provision, which means the only way to leave the program is to cease to have a full-time employee or cease to exist as a political subdivision.

Trustees would have to select the number of hours an employee will work in a year, 1,000, 1,250 or 1,500, which means that any employee who exceeds that threshold will have to be covered by LAGERS. That applies to part-time employees, which would be covered during employment, but unless that individual is vested, the funds would remain with the village.

Benefits elections can be changed every two years, and employers may elect to pay for the full cost of the program, or require employees to contribute 4% of their salary to help offset the cost.

Should trustees enroll with LAGERS at the base level, with 100% of prior service covered, the employer’s monthly contribution to Feeler’s retirement would be 7.70% of his salary.

At a minimum, Freeburg would have to pay LAGERS $13,236 over 30 years as part of the retirement package. Zimmer said that shouldn’t create much of a hardship for the village.

Feeler said he has a 401K but one benefit of LAGERS is that if he left Freeburg, his benefits would transfer to another of the 740 political subdivisions using LAGERS. Likewise, employees from other cities would be able to transfer their benefits to Freeburg.

Should the village pursue this option, the initial valuation must be made public for 45 days, and a resolution would need to be adopted.

Village Clerk Allen Gradel suggested the board research retirement options and the plan presented by LAGERS before making a decision.

* Ryan Herzing of Radio Wire discussed concerns with a general contract with the village of Freeburg as noted by attorney Albert Crump.

— Crump suggested making the agreement non-exclusive, meaning the village could provide another entity access to the use the water tower. This could include public agencies such as the sheriff’s department or other emergency agencies. Herzing said he didn’t believe that would be problem as long as the frequency wasn’t duplicated.

— The village wants advance notice of any after-hours access to the tower, which Herzing said would not be an issue.

— The term of the agreement is currently at 10 years, and will be automatically renewed for a period of 10 years. Haller asked if the agreement could be set at five years to account for changes in the cost to rent the tower. “We don’t want to keep the same rent for 10 years,” he said.

“They put that in there because if people don’t want to do anything with it, it just keeps going,” said Herzing, adding that a five-year agreement would be feasible.

Trustee Glenn Haller suggested that the renewal not be automatic to give the village an opportunity to consider options. Zimmer agreed, noting the agreement could be written to include that it will be renegotiated after five years.

— Rent for the tower was another concern. Mayor Haller said he wanted to figure out the monthly rate, and include an understanding that only one connection - at city hall - would be permitted.

The mayor said rent of $200 per month may not be enough. “I’d like to see that be a little bit more,” he said.

Zimmer asked what other towns in the county of similar size are paying, but Herzing declined to offer specifics. He did say, however, that Linn probably gets more, noting that $200 is in the range of payments made to other entities in the area.

Mayor Haller asked how many people are served by Radio Wire in the Freeburg area. “I would think that would be important,” he added.

Herzing said about half of internet users in the area use DSL and the other half are using Radio Wire, but there are a number of residents without internet in rural areas.

Zimmer asked colleagues what they anticipated the rent would be.

“I don’t want to be greedy, but I was thinking we’d get a connection and closer to $500 per month,” Mayor Haller said. “But my thing was based on how many people it serves and how many people need it.”

Herzing said no entity in the area is paid that much, but said a reasonable amount would be considered.

Zimmer agreed that $500 is a little on the high end, but believes $200 is a bit too far on the low end, suggesting a middle ground be determined.

— Crump suggested that both the village of Freeburg and Radio Wire agree that neither can transfer the contract to another entity without written consent.

— One of the more important aspects of the agreement was indemnification. Crump in his notes said while this is an assurance that Radio Wire will cover all expenses, that assurance is only as strong as the final condition of the company. He suggested the village consider requiring Radio Wire to provide annually a financial statement. The Certificate of Liability Insurance does not provide liability insurance, but reflects the company has insurance coverage for workers’ compensation and employer’s liability, which would only protect Radio Wire’s employees.

Mayor Haller said that at a minimum the certificate should include the village of Freeburg.

Herzing said he would take the revisions back and return with an updated version for trustees to consider.

* Feeler told trustees that James Sandbothe of Vienna has agreed to serve as the backup water operator at a rate of $20 per hour, with a two-hour minimum, to be paid monthly as needed. Feeler said he needs to finalize the contract with Crump.

* Due to scheduling difficulties, the asphalt project will not be completed prior to the Sept. 1 Freeburg picnic, Feeler reported. He said the timeline is unclear but hopefully the project will be completed soon.

* Sealing, however, another story. Feeler said he hopes that will be completed by the picnic for the following streets: Old Vienna Road, from Hwy. 63 to the other end, which meets Hwy. 63; East Harrison Street, from Olive to the village limits; West Oliver Street to the new asphalt near the park; West Walker Street to the city limits; Locust Street, from the church to the village limits; and West Harrison Street to Walker Street. The project will be handled by Innovative Road Solutions and the budget for the project is set at a maximum of $39,000.

* Trustees agreed to install a four-inch sewer line on Oak Street as opposed to an eight-inch line with manholes. The line needs to be installed before the street is repaired, Mayor Haller noted.

* Freeburg has earned another five-year wastewater permit, and a certificate was presented for 10 years of safety.

* Water Clerk Cindy Struemph noted that past-due water accounts totaled $839.20, and two accounts were three months behind.

* Water loss from June 3 through July 1 was 3%, Struemph reported, noting a total of 2,682,297 gallons were produced with 2,613,900 gallons sold.

* In his regular monthly financial report, Gradel presented figures showing general fund income for the month of $15,765.91. The village has $5,645.94 in general revenue checking and $578,618.36 in a general-revenue money market. Sewer system checking stands at $23,879.91 and the sewer money market balance at $138,507.08. The purchasing account has a balance at $671.02. The total on hand in all accounts, not including water is $747,322.31. The total for all accounts is $1,182,196.9.

* General revenue bills were paid in the amount of $4,577.95, and sewer bills were approved in the amount of $497.73.

* The next regular board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 9.