Mohawk Valley Water Authority Minutes
July 18, 2022
Chairman DeLia called the meeting to order at 5:01 PM.
Chairman DeLia presided and Amy Passacantando took the minutes.
Roll Call
Present: Carl Annese, Dennis Bova, Bruce Brodsky, Elis DeLia, Mark Ford, Richard Karam and Joe Samson.
Absent: Rocco Arcuri, Vincent Coyne, Frank Mutolo and Bette Szesny
Also Present in Boardroom: Patrick Becher, Phil Tangorra, Anne Milograno, Eric Schuler, Jim Mack and Jim Korfonta.
Approval of the June 20, 2022 Minutes
Motion made by Mr. Brodsky to approve the minutes. Seconded by: Mr. Bova
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried.
Approval: 2nd Quarter Investment Statement ending 6/30/22
Public authorities law requires that we provide you with a statement on a quarterly basis that shows the balance of our
investments with any earnings and expenses. Earnings are low, as interest rates are minimal. They may go up over time.
Some of these investments may have additional investment opportunities as time goes on if rates go up.
Motion made by Mr. Karam to approve the Investment Statement. Seconded by: Mr. Annese
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried
Committee Reports:
Finance: June Finance Report
June 30, 2022 finance report, water consumption is very healthy, above the prior year by 8.8%. Water sales are up
$80K compared to our budget and up $745K compared to last year, partly due to the increase in consumption and partly
due to the rates. Cash flow is healthy, we’re just over one million dollars. We’ll need that as we go into the fall
to make some large payments for health insurance, retirement etc…
Executive Director’s Report
There was a capital committee meeting June 29th, that had no action items. There was a discussion regarding the purchase
of a vacuum truck and there is a handout with details in your binders. This truck will be needed for verifying lead services,
also to excavate holes for main breaks. It will help to make jobs go faster and safer. This truck will be paid for out of
the current budget so it will not need Board approval. Some of the vehicles we ordered for this year will not be coming in
and the orders have been cancelled. We are re-prioritizing the number of capital expenditures to be able to make this purchase,
and thought it was important to let the board know that it is a pretty substantial investment. MVWA will probably be buying the
vacuum truck soon to help us meet the regulatory requirements.
Mr. Becher said that the budget packets have been sent out to the Department Heads today. We will try to have a draft of the
budget to the Board in late August or early September, and then we will schedule a couple of budget workshops. We are required
by law to have a budget in place by the end of October. The Public Authorities Law says that we need to have a budget passed
and a rate schedule passed no later than 60 days prior to the start of the fiscal year. At the next board meeting you will receive a budget calendar.
Mr. Brodsky added that during the discussion at the Capital Committee Meeting they learned more about the potential future expenses particularly for
capital projects, pipe replacement and such, over the next several years, and the cost is going to be a lot higher than normal. This will affect our
discussions with respect to rates much more than it has in the last 10 years. He mentioned that it might be in our best interest to start talking
about projects and work that would emphasize the higher cost of maintaining the system with the media and to let the public be aware of future work to be completed.
In the last few days, we have received from the NYS DEC, a draft of our new SPEDES permit for the water treatment plant. The last permit expired in 2010.
We were working closely at that time with the DEC to get a new permit. It went dormant for several years and now they have sent a draft permit to us.
There’s a 90-day comment period and we will provide some feedback. There may be some new requirements for additional sampling and we don’t know yet what that cost might be.
Mr. Tangorra added that there’s also an anti-backsliding clause, so it won’t be any less restrictive than the expired permit.
At last month’s meeting Mr. Annese asked a question regarding the shut off process and how we age the accounts. Mr. Mack provided a handout with an overview
of the procedure. Let us know if you have any questions. A listing to the posting will go out to the Town Halls at all the municipalities, essentially to
let the codes enforcers know that there may be a property that may become uninhabitable when the water is shut off. Since the moratorium for our shut offs
has expired, we have received about nine hundred thousand dollars in past due payments.
Also in your binders is an update on the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) project. This started 2 or 3 years ago. It’s our remote control and
monitoring of the water system. It’s all the different interfaces with pumps, elevation gages etc… This project will be completed by the end of September or early October.
We had a presentation from Neptune Meters, the radio reading metering system. We’ve gone through all 4 proposals with them as well as with Ken Bobrow, our Attorney and we are
continuing to evaluate what makes the most sense. Our consultant is looking them over as well. We are hoping to have something to bring to the board in the near future.
The contract renewal for the water treatment plant will be discussed in executive session.
Old Business:
New Business:
Executive Session:
Chairman DeLia asked for a motion to go into Executive Session at 5:19 PM to discuss the Veolia Contract.
Motion made by: Mr. Bova to go into Executive Session. Seconded by: Mr. Brodsky.
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried.
Motion has been made to accept the Veolia contract extension through December 31, 2022.
Motion made by: Mr. Coyne Seconded by: Mr. Bova
Motion made to come out of Executive Session at 6:08 PM by Mr. Coyne. Seconded by: Mr. Bova.
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (4) Absent Motion Carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Passacantando, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority