Mohawk Valley Water Authority – April 21, 2008
Chairman Gaston called the meeting to order at 5:06 PM and opened with the
Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call:
Present: Rocco Arcuri, Bruce Brodsky,
Vincent Coyne,
Chairman Gaston presided and Suzanne Harmon took the minutes.
Approval of the March 18, 2008 Minutes:
Motion made by Ms. Rader-Harris.
Seconded by: Mr. Ryan
Vote:
(8) Ayes (0)
Nays (3) Abstain
(Mr. Coyne, Ms. Szesny & Mr. Trevisani)
(1) Absent
Motion carried.
Election of Officers:
Mr. Trevisani moved to make a slate of nominations,
Vote:
(11) Ayes (0)
Nays (0) Abstain
(1) Absent
Motion carried.
Hire Actuarial Firm to
Perform other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) Calculations Required by GASB 45
Accounting and reporting standards (GASB 45) now require MVWA to quantify and
report on post employment benefits outside of traditional pension costs.
The Standard covers retiree benefits including health-care coverage, life
insurance and prescription coverage, if afforded by the employer.
Compliance is required for years starting after 12/15/07 or fiscal
2008/09 year. Updating this
obligation is required every two years.
A calculation is performed that computes the present value of future
retiree benefits for current and retired employees.
An actuarial firm is best equipped to perform this calculation.
Three firms submitted proposals and the Finance Committee and Mr.
Korfonta recommend hiring BPA-Harbridge for a two-year term for a total of
$8,800.
Motion made by Mr. Brodsky.
Seconded by: Mr. DeLia
Vote:
(11) Ayes (0)
Nays (0) Abstain
(1) Absent
Motion carried.
Hire Firm to Perform Arbitrage Calculations on the 1996A, 1999, 2000 and 2003
Bond Series
Internal Revenue Code Section 148 establishes arbitrage restriction and
arbitrage rebate requirements. The
restriction requirement allows for an issuer to invest in higher yield
securities without compromising the tax-exempt status of the bond issue.
The rebate requirement identifies what must be done if profits are
earned. Rebate regulations require
that a rebatable arbitrage be determined and reported at least every five years.
Six firms inquired and two lower firms were selected to submit proposals.
The Finance Committee and Mr. Korfonta recommend hiring AMTEC for a total
of $16,000.
Motion made by Mr. Brodsky.
Seconded by: Mr. Trevisani
Vote:
(11) Ayes (0)
Nays (0) Abstain
(1) Absent
Motion carried.
Employee Travel Policy:
The
MVWA will pay for travel related expenses to the extent that such travel is
necessary or in the best interest of the Water Authority to fulfill its
obligations and objectives. All
travel should be properly signed by the employee, department head and when
required, the Executive Director.
This policy was approved by the Board in August of 1998 and has been
updated for reimbursement amounts for meals in accordance with the Federal per
diem guidelines. There is a list of
high-cost localities by IRS regulations attached to the policy.
The finance committee has approved this updated policy.
Motion made by Mr. Brodsky.
Seconded by: Mr. Wallace
Vote:
(11) Ayes (0)
Nays (0) Abstain
(1) Absent
Motion carried
Committee Reports:
Capital Projects:
Mr. DeLia stated that the committee did
not meet this month but will meet in May.
Budget and Finance:
Mr. Brodsky stated that the MVWA cash
position remains positive.
Unaccounted for water ratio measures the Authority’s loss of treated water from
the filtration plant to its customers.
Example: 25% indicates the Authority has lost one quarter of its treated
water due to unaccounted-for factors including leakage and evaporation.
Best practice: water systems with 20-30% loss are in the medium range for
standard losses. The total of other
unmetered uses is 17.76%.
Personnel
Committee:
Mr. Coyne stated that the committee did not meet this month and asked
the Chairman to appoint someone else to chair the Personnel Committee because of
outside commitments at this time.
Mr. Ryan volunteered for the chair position and Chairman Gaston made the
appointment.
Operations:
Mr. Ryan stated that in 1999 $50,000 was set aside in a fund for a lead
pipe replacement program. Due to a
DEC requirement the funding was depleted and never restored.
We are currently looking at four possible options to assist customers
with service line replacements/repairs and will report back to the Board.
Ms.
Rader-Harris stated that she walked over to
Executive Director’s Report:
-
Working Group Update: Mr. Becher stated that the Working Group met today and
wanted to thank the Oneida County Health Department and Tony Picente for
their support and help through this process.
The report is substantially completed and has some good
recommendations.
Mr.
Snyder commended Mr. Becher for the good job he has done at the Working Group
meetings. He also stated that it is
extremely important to keep talking about the water issues and ways to track
unaccounted water in situations like flushing, construction sites and street
cleaning. Mr. Becher asked Suzanne
to provide copies to the Board of his memo to Dr. Kim expressing concerns on the
direction of the Working Group.
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Lawsuit update: Ted Earl stated that he spoke with Hancock & Estabrook and
they will be at the next Board meeting to give an update to the Board.
The lawsuit is at the end of discovery which means that they can file
a trial note of issue. With
discovery complete and a trial note immanent the judge will hold a
scheduling conference which should be in May and motions will be set.
The point of the motions is to narrow the issues before trial.
The judge has 60 days to make a decision on motions.
In a few weeks we should have a
schedule.
Old Business:
-
Mr. Snyder asked Mr. Becher what the status was regarding the letter the
MVWA received from Mr. Ritzel. Mr.
Ritzel has owned his home for approximately five years now and is without
potable water. Mr. Snyder asked if
the MVWA has gotten back to Mr. Ritzel letting him know what the DEC’s
decision was. John Wallace stated
Mr. Ritzel is his neighbor and is willing to accommodate him by giving him a
right of way but is not willing to give up property.
Ted Earl stated that the MVWA can provide water to new customers
through existing mains in the Town of
-
Mr. Snyder stated that any mail addressed to the Board should be brought to
the Board. The MVWA needs a policy regarding communications to the Board
along with a time frame for handling them.
-
Ms. Rader-Harris told Mr. Becher that she gave Suzanne a copy of a letter
that Mr. Eykelhoff addressed to the Board on August 6, 2004 and is still
waiting for an answer.
-
Mr. Snyder would like Mr. Becher to write a letter on behalf of the MVWA
Board recognizing Steve Gassner, Customer Service Manager for his high
performance this year in regards to a large number of meter replacements and
lower estimated reads.
Motion
made by Mr. Snyder. Seconded by:
Mr. Wallace
Vote:
(11) Ayes (0)
Nays (0) Abstain
(1) Absent
Motion carried
-
Mr. Trevisani stated that the City of
-
Mr. Snyder tabled a motion in January and would like to bring it up again.
It was to discuss the broadcasting of the Board meetings.
The MVWA now has a quality product
with the Board meeting on DVD and the Public Access channel has not been
running the program at its scheduled time.
Suzanne stated that she spoke to Time Warner and they are short decks
to run the DVD’s at this time. Time Warner is trying to work out some issues
at their end and also find the MVWA a new time slot.
Suzanne will keep the Board updated.
Mr. Brodsky would like the meeting put on the MVWA website.
The
next Board Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 19, 2008 at 5:00 PM.
Mr.
Brodsky moved to adjourn the meeting.
Seconded by Mr. Ryan.
The
meeting was adjourned at 6:25 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
__________________________
Suzanne
M. Harmon, Secretary
