Chairman DeLia called the meeting to order at 5:07 PM.
Chairman DeLia presided and Suzanne Harmon took the minutes.
Roll Call
Present by Phone: Richard Karam Present by Skype: Elis DeLia, Bruce Brodsky, Vincent Coyne, Mark Ford, Luke Lewis and Ken Bobrow, Esq.. Absent: Rocco Arcuri, Denny Bova, Frank Mutolo and Joseph Samson. Present in Board Room: Patrick Becher, Suzanne Harmon, Richard Goodney, Anne Milograno, Phil Tangorra, Jim Mack, Jim Korfonta and Mr. Corr. Bette Szesny joined by phone during Resolution #5.
Approval of the July 20, 2020 Minutes
Motion made by Mr. Brodsky to approve the minutes. Seconded by: Mr. Ford
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (5) Absent Motion Carried.
Chairman DeLia stated that when the Board meets in open session we will be re-affirming everything that the Board did last month and this month for the minutes.
Resolution: Welsh Bush Road Concrete Water Storage Tank – Construction Contract Award for Rehabilitation
The Welsh Bush Tank is 45 years old and inspections have revealed a need for limited structural repairs and re-coating of the interiors and exteriors of the tanks to preserve and extend service life. Bids were received from three contractors and the bid of DN Tanks, Wakefield, MA in the amount of $374,905.00 was the lowest bid. Funds to pay for this construction shall be paid out of the Capital Improvement fund.
Motion made by Mr. Corr to approve this resolution with a correction in the amount to be changed to $374,905.00. Seconded by: Mr. Coyne
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (5) Absent Motion Carried.
Award: Award of Professional Engineering Services Contract to Jacobs Engineers for FEMA Required Study of the 36” Transmission Main crossing of the West Canada Creek near Prospect
The MVWA is applying to FEMA for funding to repair and improve multiple water system facilities and components damaged by the Halloween Storm of 2019. FEMA requires supporting engineering studies to define project scope, environmental impacts and costs and these must meet all FEMA requirements to qualify for funding to provide enhanced Hazard Mitigation level construction.
Jacobs Engineering, Syracuse, NY submitted a proposal including a Task Based Engineering Scope of Services to be completed at a fee of $15,202.
Motion made by Mr. Corr to approve. Seconded by: Ms. Szesny
Vote: (8) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried.
Award: Award of Professional Engineering Services Contract to GHD Engineers for FEMA Required Studies of Four Eroded Transmission Main Stream Crossings in Marcy
The MVWA is applying to FEMA for funding to repair and improve multiple water system facilities and components damaged by the Halloween Storm of 2019. FEMA requires supporting engineering studies to define project scope, environmental impacts and costs and these must meet all FEMA requirements to qualify for funding to provide enhanced Hazard Mitigation level construction.
GHD Engineers, Syracuse, NY submitted a Study Proposal including a Task Based Engineering Scope of Services in compliance with FEMA requirements to be completed for each eroded main crossing location for a total fee of $43,600.
Motion made by Mr. Corr to approve. Seconded by: Mr. Brodsky
Vote: (8) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried.
Award: Award of Professional Engineering Services Contract to GHD Engineers for FEMA Required Studies of the Damaged WTP Dispersion Lagoon Embankment in Prospect
The MVWA is applying to FEMA for funding to repair and improve multiple water system facilities and components damaged by the Halloween Storm of 2019. FEMA requires supporting engineering studies to define project scope, environmental impacts and costs and these must meet all FEMA requirements to qualify for funding to provide enhanced Hazard Mitigation level construction. GHD Engineers, Syracuse, NY submitted a Study Proposal including a Tank Based Engineering Scope of Services in compliance with FEMA requirements to be completed for repairs and upgrades to the damaged WTP dispersion lagoon embankment for a total fee of $12,500.
Motion made by Mr. Coyne to approve. Seconded by: Mr. Corr
Vote: (8) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried.
Committee Reports
Mr. Korfonta stated that after seven months of operation, the cash deficit realized in April 2020 from the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic shutdown continues to show improvement compared to initial projections. Specifically, in July, cash received from water billings fell below last year’s receipts by $188,000 to $1.94 million. Overall, for the month of July 2020 cash was reduced by $93,000 compared to an increase of $337,000 in the prior year.
Executive Director’s Report
- Currently Hinckley Reservoir is about 6 ½ feet below normal. We have weekly telephone calls with the Canal Corporation and the NY Power Authority. The Canal Corporation has been attentive in monitoring this and accommodating to the MVWA. They have been deviating from the Operating Diagram for about 7 weeks or so and are at the minimum release right now. We appreciate their cooperation right now. The calendar and the draft budget will be mailed to the members so you will have time to review it before the September meeting.
- The debt service reserve account that we had planned to tap about $940,000 to make a debt payment. We had some new debt service kicking in and some old debt service being retired and were going to overlap by a year. Rather than having a million dollars on a one-time basis, we realized that we paid a lot of debt there was excess reserve funding. We are getting ready to pull that down now. Our bonding counsel has given us a letter to authorize the trustee at the Bank of New York to make those changes to free that money up and make those payments. That should happen over the next 30 days.
- The bonding process is moving ahead. The underwriters are pricing the bonds within 6 weeks and closing two weeks after that. We have a tentative closing date of October 2nd.
- The MVWA is proceeding fairly normally here despite everything else going on in our community and economically. We have crews that are still reporting to remote locations. We have not had any incidents of COVID within our own ranks.
- We have a meeting in Ilion next week on the pipeline that is being set up. The funding for that project has been frozen by the State. The State is probably waiting to see if we are going to get some federal money in the next package that is going to be put together. If not, we may see some delays in the start of that project.
- The IT Department just finished a whole range of new features that were built into the work order system. We are making improvements across our platform. The Brock project is just kicking off for the SCADA redevelopment We are not experiencing any work delays because of the pandemic situation.
Old Business
Mr. Corr wanted to discuss the ribbon cutting at the Snowden Hill Tank. We tentatively had it scheduled for September 26 We will make it a media availability event with a tour. The New Hartford Fire Department is eager to participate in this also. We will let the Board know when this is scheduled.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:32 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
__________________________
Suzanne M. Harmon, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority