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Mohawk Valley Water Authority Minutes

May 16, 2016

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Chairman DeLia called the meeting to order at 5:10 PM and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call

Present: Denny Bova, Bruce Brodsky, Vincent Coyne, Elis DeLia, Mark Ford, Eric Kane, Richard Karam and Bette Szesny. Absent: Rocco Arcuri, Scott Mahardy and Frank Mutolo. Suzanne Harmon was also absent. Also Present: Richard Goodney, Phil Tangorra, Jim Korfonta, Anne Milograno and Ken Bobrow, Esq.

The Board is down one member.

Chairman DeLia presided and Patrick Becher took the minutes.

Approval of the April 18, 2016 Minutes

Motion made by Ms. Szesny to approve the minutes. Seconded by: Mr. Ford
Vote: (8) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried.

Discussion of Capital Program and Bonding

Mr. Becher stated that the MVWA bonded last year and has an opportunity to do some additional re-financing because some of the bonds were not eligible last year. There is $4,740,000 of 2006 bonds still out there and the MVWA’s financial analyst stated that the MVWA could save $430,000 over the life of that debt. The MVWA has other needs that have come up which are the fluoride spill at the Water Treatment Plant and one of the Pipe Bridges is in urgent need of repair.

Mr. Becher handed out information on the use of debt service reserve funds and proposed 2016 bond series which is attached. The Capital Projects Committee and the Finance Committee had a joint meeting last week and was satisfied with this proposal.

Need a motion to approve the request to have the Water Finance Authority build into the re-financing the $4.650,000 in new funding to support the MVWA’s on-going Capital Improvement Program.

Motion made by Mr. Bova to approve. Seconded by: Ms. Szesny
Vote: (8) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried.

Approval: Quarterly Investment Statement – 1st Quarter Ending 3/31/16

Mr. Korfonta stated that this is an investment statement of the MVWA trust funds. The Board has been presented with these statements every quarter for approval.

Motion made by Mr. Bova to approve the resolution. Seconded by: Ms.Szesny
Vote: (8) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried.

Committee Reports

Finance: Mr. Korfonta stated that overall revenue is on track and consumption is a little up for the year. Cash flow is down and will build up over time

Executive Director’s Report

• Mr. Becher stated that the Water Finance Authority met this past Friday, May 13th and voted to retain all of the consultants necessary to put the project together with one exception, the under writer services. An RFP was released today for Under Writers and should be turned around in 10 days. We anticipate putting this bond issue together and close on it in approximately six weeks or so.
• There has been an on-going study on a Regional solution for water in Western Oneida County. The MVWA received a State grant and Mr. Goodney and Mr. Becher have a meeting tomorrow in Rome to go over the final draft.
• The Automated Meter Reading system now has approximately 27,000 modems installed which represents about 70 percent of the system. We are looking at a few options to accelerate this process and finish in nine months.
• The last communication with our liability carrier is that they are still investigating and testing our equipment. They have not yet issued a final opinion on how much of our claim will be covered from the fluoride spill.
• Litigation is in the final phase of discovery and the attorneys representing the State Canal Corporation decided that there was more information that was relevant. We are wrapping up discovery now. Depositions are scheduled for three weeks from now with Mr. Becher and Chairman DeLia. The MVWA attorney are preparing for a motion trying to avoid going down that road. If the Summary Judgment is not granted then there will be more interaction with the Judge for a legal determination.
• The water level is eight feel below normal right now. It is lower than normal for this time of year because we did not get much snow this winter. We are now conducting weekly conference calls with all parties involved.

Old Business

Mr. Brodsky stated that several months ago the staff informed them of an internal control issue which they investigated and indicated some weaknesses in a small part of our agency operation. The Audit Committee met a couple of times to discuss how we assure that all the appropriate controls are in place. The Audit Committee is authorized by the Board to act independently of the Board and to engage outside services when appropriate. The committee met recently with BST, our external auditor. We asked the auditor to prepare an engagement to review our internal controls and to ensure that the new controls that have been put in place and fulfilling the requirements and to test it later in the year. The cost will be approximately $12,000 this year for the external auditor

Meeting was adjourned at 5:45 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

__________________________

Suzanne M. Harmon, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority