Mohawk Valley Water Authority – August 21, 2006
Chairman Gaston called the meeting
to order at 5:05 PM and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Present: Bruce Brodsky, Rolf Buchner, Vincent
Coyne, Elis DeLia, George Gaston, Joseph Hobika, Jr., Nathaniel Price,
Millicent Rader-Harris, Frank Trevisani and Bette Szesny. Absent:
Bernard Martin, Sr. Also
present: Patrick Becher, Edward Earl, Dick Goodney, James Korfonta, Connie
Schreppel, Steve Gassner and Donald Weimer.
Public Comment Period: Mr. Robert Hoole, General Manager of
Windsong Mountain LLC thanked Mr.
Gassner and Mr. Becher for allowing him to come in and clarify a few things. Windsong Mountain is a mobile home park in
Trenton, which as of this morning owed the MVWA $18,000. Mr. Hoole made three separate payments
totaling $12,000 leaving a balance of $6,000.
Mr. Hoole asked the Board to table this and not shut off the water to
the Park until he has time to get a handle on the Park’s water leaks. Mr. Gassner offered the MVWA’s leak
detection equipment to help in this situation.
Mr. Hoole thanked the Board for allowing him to speak.
Approval of the June 19,
2006 Minutes:
Ms. Rader-Harris asked to have the
minutes amended by adding a paragraph regarding replacing residential water
service pipes containing lead, which she discussed at the June meeting. Mr. Earl, the Board’s attorney, stated that
the minutes reflect what was done not what was said and that any Board member
may borrow the tapes and have them transcribed verbatim at the Board members
expense.
Mr. DeLia moved to approve the
Minutes as is. Seconded by Mr.
Price.
Vote: (8) Ayes (1) Nays (Ms.
Rader-Harris) (1) Absent (1) Abstain (Mr. Coyne)
Motion carried.
Mr. Hobika, Jr. made a motion for
the Resolutions before having the discussions.
Seconded by Mr. Brodsky.
Mr. Goodney stated that the next
two Resolutions relate to the State Environmental Quality Review Process. The SEQR process is a requirement for all
public agencies such as the MVWA to notify other agencies that are
contemplating taking action. An action
can be many things but in this case it is construction. The MVWA prepares a general information document. Agenda items 5 and 6 are to establish the
Water Authority as “Lead Agent” and place the other agencies on notice.
Resolution:
The MVWA Accepting Part 1 of the Full Environmental Assessment Form and
Issuing Notice of Intent to Establish the MVWA as “Lead Agency” Pursuant to the
State Environmental Quality Review Act Relative to the Deerfield Storage Tank
Project
The new Tank will provide 10 MG of water storage for the MVWA Low Zone and permit the 100 year-old open and unlined Deerfield Reservoir to be placed on standby service. The majority of the Tank will be located in a depression and out of public view. The project is needed to comply with new EPA water quality regulations requiring all water storage to be covered. The project also includes site an above ground regulating facility, connecting water mains, instrumentation and control facilities. The Authority identified the NYS Dept of Health, NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation and NYS Office of General Services as SEQRA Involved Agencies relative to the Project. The Authority identified the Oneida County Dept of Public Works, Oneida County Health Dept and Town of Deerfield as SEQRA Interested Agencies relative to the Project. The Board intends to establish itself Lead Agency with respect to the Project in accordance with the SEQRA regulations at 6 NYCRR.
2nd Motion was made by
Mr. Hobika, Jr. Seconded by Ms.
Rader-Harris.
Vote: (10) Ayes (0) Nays (1) Absent
Motion carried.
The MVWA proposes to undertake construction of a second Clearwell Tank at the Hinckley Water Treatment Plant located on Prospect Road, in the Town of Trenton, Oneida County, New York. it
The need for a second tank at the
WTP has been identified as a priority to meet current treatment regulations at
certain combinations of water quality and demand and to ensure compliance with
the EPA’s State 2 DPB rules by 2010.
The Board intends to establish itself Lead Agency with respect to the
Project in accordance with the SEQRA regulations at 6 NYCRR.
Motion made by Mr. Hobika,
Jr. Seconded by Ms.
Rader-Harris.
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (2) Absent
(Mr. Hobika, Jr. left the room during the vote)
Motion carried.
The Capital Plan calls for completion of an Initial Distribution Survey Evaluation (IDSE), essentially a nearly complete GIS based hydraulic model, to comply with new EPA regulations regarding Disinfection by Product monitoring. The Board requested four qualified professional firms to complete the IDSE to EPA standards within the required timeframe. The Board selects the firm of CH2Mhill, Inc. as the Consultant for providing the above described services for the project for the sum of $398,350, which is to be paid as a capital improvement out of the Board’s Capital Improvement Fund.
Lis DeGironimo gave an informative presentation on the Initial Distribution System Evaluation Project (IDSE). The goal of the IDSE is to complete a hydraulic model to identify for the EPA. At completion the MVWA will have an all-pipe hydraulic model which can be used for capital planning, what if scenarios, criticality analyses, mapping updates for the entire system and a 24-7 mapping application that will allow field staff to remotely access maps and mark-up drawings. The MVWA applied for two grants, one of which was awarded for tap card application in the amount of approximately $69,000.
Motion made by Mr. Coyne. Seconded by Mr. Trevisani.
Vote: (10) Ayes (0) Nays (1) Absent
Motion carried.
Mr. Hobika, Jr. asked Chairman
Gaston to move Agenda Items 8 and 10 after Item 12. No Board member opposed, the agenda items were moved.
Committee Reports:
Capital Projects: Mr. DeLia stated that the committee met
regarding the above Resolutions along with a few other issues, which are all in
the Capital Projects Committee Report.
Budget and Finance: Mr. Brodsky stated that the committee has
not met in a couple of months and apologized for that. There will be several issues to bring in
front of the Board. The cash position
is moving in a positive manner. Revenue
is up due to the rate increase not new water sales and the inability to expand
the system will continue to hurt the current customers.
Personnel Committee: Mr. Coyne stated that the committee met and
developed Employment Agreements for Mr. Korfonta and Mr. Becher and would like
to present them to the Board in Executive Session right after this meeting.
Operations: Mr. Price stated that the committee did not
meet but needs to get together and discuss the agenda. Mr. Becher offered to assist Mr. Price in
regards to the committee’s agenda.
Old Business:
1. Give
credit to the Gray Dam keeper for pictures taken during the flood showing water
over the bridge by several feet, which were shown to the Board.
2. Pictures
were passed around to the Board showing contractors in West Utica changing a
lead service line, which shows damage to the customer’s lawn.
Mr. Trevisani has had several customers of the MVWA ask him why their checks are being sent to Buffalo. Mr. Becher explained that the MVWA has a bank account that these checks are deposited into, which is a lock box operation. There are no local Banks in Utica that have a lock box operation.
Executive Director’s Report: Mr. Becher reported on the following:
-
John Murad’s team visited the Canal Corporation on July 6 to
receive some of the documents that were requested by our discovery
demands. The original deadline to turn
the information over was April 25. The
State filed a response to the discovery but did not provide any documents. Mr. Murad had to get a consent order to
force the Canal Corp. to open the documents to us.
-
An offer was conveyed in late June to Canal’s and Erie Blvd
Hydropower to mediate the case in a court-structure. Erie Blvd was willing to mediate but Canal’s did not respond to
the offer and shown no interest in mediation.
-
John Murad mailed a letter on August 4 proposing that
depositions be scheduled for the week of August 28 at their offices. So far neither defendant has confirmed this
schedule.
-
Bill A8360 sponsored by RoAnn Destito was passed for the
second time on June 21 at the close of the last session (two days after our
last Board Meeting).
-
Process is well underway and we had our second conference
call this morning.
-
Presentation to rating agencies tentatively scheduled on or
about 9/18.
-
Bonds to be priced during the first week of October and
estimated closing date to receive proceeds will be October 19.
Misc.
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First Albany Corp are running an analysis and may recommend
refunding possibly the 1999 and 2000 bond series if the savings are
sufficient. Rick McCarthy will run
potential new debt service numbers to determine if it’s worth it.
-
Lead testing results are in and the MVWA is in compliance
with the lead copper rule. Everyone
participating in the survey will get a letter stating lead levels
-
Letters are in Board folders from Senator Schumer and
Congressman Bohlert responding to our request for funding assistance with our
capital improvements. Both have sent
information from websites on how to apply for grants.
Mr. Hobika, Jr. asked Mr. Becher how much the Authority has
been billed to date solely for the law suit.
Mr. Becher stated the total is approximately $160,000 as of the end of
June 2006.
Mr. DeLia asked the Finance Committee to look into the rate
structure model for the MVWA. Mr. Coyne
would like it to be a full Board discussion.
Mr. Becher stated a few of his goals and objectives:
Mr. Korfonta stated a few of his goals and objectives:
The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Monday, September
18, 2006 at 5:00 PM.
Mr. Hobika, Jr. made a motion to go into Executive Session
to discuss the contracts of the Executive Director and the Comptroller. Seconded by Mr. Coyne.
Motion carried at 6:55 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
__________________________
Suzanne M. Harmon, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority