Mohawk Valley Water Authority Minutes

March 15, 2021


Chairman DeLia called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Chairman DeLia presided, and Suzanne Harmon took the minutes.

Roll Call

Present by WebEx: Rocco Arcuri, Elis DeLia, Bruce Brodsky, Vincent Coyne, Mark Ford, Richard Karam, Luke Lewis, Joe Samson, Bette Szesny and Ken Bobrow, Esq.. Absent: Dennis Bova, Dave Corr and Frank Mutolo. Present in Board Room: Patrick Becher, Suzanne Harmon, Jim Korfonta, Eric Schuler, Jim Mack, Greg Santry, Anne Milograno and Phil Tangorra.

Approval of the February 8, 2021 Minutes

Motion made by Mr. Ford to approve the minutes. Seconded by: Mr. Arcuri
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried.

Committee Reports:

Capital Projects:

Mr. Schuler stated that the Raw Water Main Pipe Bridge is moving into final design. Regarding the Bleecker Street project that was awarded at the last Board Meeting, the contractor mobilized last week and construction is starting this week. They will be out of that site by April 1st, which allows us to move right into the Welsh Bush Tank rehab project which was previously awarded. That construction will start April 12th and that tank will be off-line for 2 months during rehabilitation. All fire departments are aware that that tank will be down. There should not be any impacts to pressure in that service zone. The Oxford Road water main that was brought up at the last meeting, we are working on final design before sending to the Department of Health for approval. The Department of Health currently is two to three months on average behind on approvals right now so that might impact that timeline.

Finance:

Mr. Korfonta stated that the first month of the year was the worst month the MVWA has had in three years. Revenue is down $125,000 compared to budget. Consumption is significantly down and cash flow is down primarily because of the outflows at the first part of the month. There is lower consumption in our larger customers. There will be a Finance Committee meeting to go through further detail.
Mr. Brodsky would like to do a regular review on major customers and try and anticipate what is going to happen. He is also concerned on the volume of delinquencies, which also hit a high. The MVWA has to take a look at seriously past due accounts.
Mr. Korfonta stated that the MVWA is in the middle of an audit and it is going well.

Executive Director’s Report

  • Mr. Becher stated that there are no employees out on Covid isolation or illness. WE have had excellent cooperation from the Oneida County Health Department and have been able to get our employees signed up for their first Covid vaccine. In a few weeks approximately 65% of the workforce will be vaccinated.
  • The County Legislature has raised sewer rates effective April 1, which are going up 18.1%. The MVWA has put something on the website and Facebook and we already are getting some strong reactions.
  • Mr. Becher stated that last month he mentioned that the reservoir was getting pretty low. The MVWA was able to convince the Canal Corporation to slow down the releases and abandon the operating diagram for a couple of weeks. As of this morning it was back up to 1197 and back up 3 feet. Mr. Becher was assured that if it starts to go down again, they will slow the releases.
  • The SCADA program update is moving along very well. It is expected to be completed in three months.

Chairman DeLia asked for a motion to go into Executive Session at 5:23 PM to discuss a personnel matter. Went into Executive Session at 5:26 PM.

Motion made to come out of Executive Session at 5:40 PM by Mr. Coyne. Seconded by: Mr. Arcucri Vote: (10) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried.

Respectfully submitted,

__________________________

Suzanne M. Harmon, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority