Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order. |
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| Trustees Present: |
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Don McNutt, Chairman
Jim Ford, Vice Chairman
John Albert
Mark A. Kaiser (for Doug Nelson)
Tom Kolb
Ski Mariea
Danny Opie
Tom Pfeiffer
Melvin Schebaum
Dan Schuette
Bruce Work |
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| Staff Present: |
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Bob Clarke, Operations Manager, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
Tim Duggan, Assistant Attorney General
Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Dan Henry, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
Diane James, Executive Assistant
Pat Vuchetich, General Claims Manager, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc. |
| Others Present: |
Ken Koon, Chief, Tanks Section, Hazardous Waste Program,
Department of Natural Resources
Ron Leone, Executive Director, MPCA
David Pate, Midwest Environmental Consultants
Ryan Rowden, Missouri Petroleum Council
Curtis Wall, Department of Agriculture, Division of Weights and Measures
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Claim Appeal – Expressways Food Shop #1 – Claim 62581
Chairman McNutt invited representatives for this claim appeal to join the Board at the table and introduce themselves. The claimant’s attorney, Carroll Leffler, introduced himself and his client, Bob Cochran.
Mr. Leffler and Mr. Cochran thanked the Board for their time to present this appeal. He briefly reviewed the history of the site, noting there have been gas stations on all four corners of the intersection, some of which have operated for the last 80 years. He noted the only one left is the Expressways Food Shop and emphasized that Mr. Cochran has done everything DNR has asked or required him to do.
Mr. Cochran explained that until recently, his business partner had handled matters involving the UST systems, while he focused on other business concerns. He said that until 2006, DNR had never checked any monitoring wells during inspections, and when the DNR inspector did so in August 2006, his PSTIF insurance had already lapsed and he was in the process of fixing the things that needed to be addressed in order to get reinsured.
Both Mr. Leffler and Mr. Cochran emphasized that a significant amount of money – about $120,000 – had been spent to try and identify a leak in the UST system, without definitive results. They speculated that some time in the past, there may have been a small, slow leak, and that it could have occurred during the time the location was insured by the PSTIF.
Chairman McNutt then asked Pat Vuchetich to explain why Williams & Company denied the claim. Mr. Vuchetich concurred with the claimant’s summary of events and simply said that since the coverage provided by the PSTIF is “claims made” coverage, and no claim was made while Mr. Cochran was insured, the PSTIF cannot provide benefits.
Questions and discussion by the Trustees followed, during which it was clarified that no laboratory analysis had been done to try to “age date” the fuel that is in the ground; that old USTs were removed and two new STIp3 tanks were installed in 1992; that several repairs had been undertaken as a result of the tightness testing done by Leak Detection Technologies from Tucson, but the vendor had not been able to definitively identify a leak; and that Mr. Cochran had excavated one tank looking for a leak in it, but none had been found. It was also noted that cleanup of a petroleum release is still underway on the southeast corner of the intersection where a Walgreen’s store is now located.
Mr. Leffler thanked the Trustees for their time and attention to the claim appeal and asked them to give his client whatever consideration they could. Chairman McNutt noted that the Trustees would discuss the appeal in closed session later and a letter would be sent in a few days, notifying them of the Board’s decision.
Approval of Minutes – Open Session Meeting – March 25, 2009
Tom Pfeiffer moved that the minutes from the March 25, 2009 Open Session Meeting be approved. John Albert seconded. Motion carried.
Monthly Reports
Chairman McNutt invited Trustees to review the monthly reports and asked if there were any questions. There were none.
Cash Flow Projection – Comparison to Actual
Chairman McNutt asked Trustees if they had any questions or comments regarding this comparison. Dan Schuette commented that he appreciated the information.
Legislative Report
Chairman McNutt asked Ms. Eighmey to review the legislative information provided in the Trustees’ notebooks. She reported that the Missouri General Assembly had enacted appropriations from the PSTIF for the Board, DNR, Department of Revenue, Attorney General’s Office and Office of Administration, as expected. She summarized actions taken to assure that HB316, which did not pass, would not force the Board to eliminate or change its claim appeal procedures. She mentioned a provision in HB191, which was passed by the Legislature, regarding a four-year moratorium on “user fee” increases, noting it is uncertain whether the provision would affect the Board’s ability to raise the transport load fee.
Updates
Board’s Requests to DNR – Chairman McNutt asked Dan Schuette to update Trustees on these requests. Mr. Schuette distributed information on how DNR has spent the money from the PSTIF during the first three quarters of FY09; copy attached hereto.**
Regarding items a, b and e in the January 21, 2009 memo from the Budget Committee, which relate to timeliness for review of cleanup plans and reports, Mr. Schuette said he thought the Tanks Section was improving and was close to meeting the performance standards outlined in the memo.
Regarding item c, Mr. Schuette said he was uncertain whether the Board still wanted that information. Ms. Eighmey responded that the request had not been withdrawn and reiterated that the Budget Committee had acknowledged that the Department may need to engage environmental professionals via a contract in order to have registered engineers and/or geologists available to oversee tank site cleanups. Mr. Schuette said he would provide a response to item c by July 1.
ARRA and LUST Trust Fund Money – Ms. Eighmey reviewed the information in the Trustees’ notebooks and explained her recommendation to go on record formally asking the DNR to coordinate with and obtain concurrence from the PSTIF before spending federal LUST Trust Fund money on Fund-eligible sites where a responsible party exists.
Dan Schuette moved that the Board not send a letter to the DNR. The motion died for lack of a second.
Bruce Work moved that the Board “go on record” and send a letter to the DNR, asking the Department to coordinate with and get concurrence from the PSTIF before LUST Trust Fund monies are spent at Fund-eligible sites where there appears to be a responsible party. Ski Mariea seconded. Discussion ensued.
Mr. Schuette commented that there had already been various conversations about this issue and that sending such a letter from the Board would make it appear that the Board doesn’t trust the DNR. Ms. Eighmey responded that it does not reflect a lack of trust; rather, she believes it is vital to make this point clearly and in writing because – although there have been several conversations among PSTIF and DNR staff on the subject – the Department has not provided a definitive answer to the question of who it views as a responsible party. She suggested a short letter from the Board would assure that the Board’s position was clear.
Ski Mariea noted his preference is to clarify the Board’s request in writing, since employees can change over time and memories are not always reliable.
Additional discussion followed. It was noted that the motion would be less objectionable if it did not contain the phrase about DNR obtaining concurrence from the PSTIF. Bruce Work amended his original motion to drop “get concurrence in advance.” Ski Mariea seconded. Chairman McNutt called for a voice vote on the amendment, which passed. He then asked for a roll call vote on the amended motion. Voting in favor were: John Albert, Mark A. Kaiser, Tom Kolb, Ski Mariea, Danny Opie, Tom Pfeiffer, Melvin Schebaum, and Bruce Work. Voting against were: Jim Ford and Don McNutt. Dan Schuette abstained. Motion carried.
RBCA Rules – Chairman McNutt notified Trustees that the DNR and the PSTIF have agreed to engage Trent Summers to mediate discussions with the two agencies on their alternative proposed RBCA rules for tank sites. Dan Schuette agreed to confer with Deputy Department Director Joe Bindbeutel about finalizing the agreement with Mr. Summers.
Well Fees – Ms. Eighmey informed the Trustees that the Well Installation Board had voted to implement the new fee structure at its recent meeting, and that the conversations over the last few months between Board members, their staff at DNR, and the PSTIF staff had resulted in a better understanding by all parties of how the new fees will affect tank site owners and the PSTIF.
PSTIF Rule Amendment – Chairman McNutt noted the Board’s proposed change to its AST participation rule had been published in the May 15 Missouri Register and the public comment period is open until June 15.
A short break was taken, then the meeting reconvened.
Claim Appeal – Coastal Food Mart – Claim 60986
Chairman McNutt invited Rolland Fuchs to join the Board at the table and present his appeal. Mr. Fuchs thanked the Board for the opportunity to present his appeal; he explained his use of the property over the last several years, including decisions to take various tanks out of service, remove certain tanks and install new tanks. Referring to a map, he pointed out the locations of the former USTs that had been removed in 1999, and explained that until the recent Phase II Assessment was done, he believed there was no remaining contamination from those old USTs.
Pat Vuchetich then explained why Williams & Company had denied the claim, noting that there was no claim made in 1999, nor was any laboratory data provided indicating there had been a release while that policy was in effect.
Considerable discussion followed, during which the trustees clarified where and when various soil samples were collected and where and when ASTs had been operated.
Chairman McNutt thanked Mr. Fuchs for coming to the meeting and told him he would receive a letter, informing him what decision the Trustees made in closed session.
Administrative Issues
Appointment to Advisory Committee – John Albert introduced Curtis Wall to the Trustees and recommended that he be appointed to the Advisory Committee to represent the Department of Agriculture, since Kerry Kaullen had left the agency. Tom Kolb moved to appoint Mr. Wall to the Advisory Committee. Melvin Schebaum seconded. Motion carried.
Performance Review Committee – Chairman McNutt appointed Danny Opie and Bruce Work to do a performance review for the Executive Director. Ms. Eighmey agreed to send a summary of the past year’s activities and accomplishments for their review.
Reports on National Conference and EPA All-States Meetings – Ms. Eighmey thanked the Board for letting her attend these meetings and gave a brief overview of each.
Billings– Chairman McNutt invited questions from the Trustees on the invoices listed; there were none.
Ms. Eighmey reminded Trustees that the September Board meeting date had been changed to September 9.
Jim Ford moved that the Board go into closed session to discuss and vote on matters related to legal actions, causes of action, litigation, and/or personnel issues pursuant to Section 610.021, RSMo. John Albert seconded. Motion carried.
**For a copy of the information/presentation mentioned in these minutes, please contact the PSTIF Office. Please note, if the information/presentation is in electronic format, it will be sent to you as an email attachment per your request. However, as some information may be in hard copy only, please provide your mailing address at the time of your email request.
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