Mohawk Valley Water Authority Minutes
February 6, 2023
Chairman DeLia called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Chairman DeLia presided and Amy Passacantando took the minutes.
Roll Call
Present: Carl Annese, Rocco Arcuri, Bruce Brodsky, Vincent Coyne, Elis DeLia, Mark Ford, George Haskell, Richard Karam and Bette Szesny
Absent: Dennis Bova, Frank Mutolo.
Also Present in Boardroom: Patrick Becher, Phil Tangorra, Anne Milograno, Jim Mack, Jim Korfonta, Ken Bobrow, Esq. and Sandra Dare. Attorney Emily Middlebrook from Hancock Estabrook arrived at 5:12.
Chairman DeLia introduced Mr. George Haskell as our newest Board Member for the Town of Deerfield.
Approval of the December 12, 2022 Minutes
Motion made by Mr. Ford to approve the Minutes. Seconded by: Mr. Karam
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried.
Approval: Election of Officers
Mr. Coyne moved to make a slate of nominations as presented: Elis DeLia for re-election to the Chairman position, Bruce Brodsky to the Vice-Chairman position, Rocco Arcuri to the Treasurer position and Amy Passacantando to the Secretary position. Seconded by Ms. Szesny.
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried.
Re-Authorization of Company Policies
Mr. Becher stated that Public Authorities Law says that we need to review and approve company policies annually. The following policies are being re-authorized and there are no changes to them. Investment Guidelines, Employee Travel Policy, Surplus Property Disposition Policy, and the Code of Ethics.
Motion made by Mr. Coyne to approve the Re-authorization of Company Policies. Seconded by: Mr. Brodsky
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried
Approval: 4th Quarter Investment Statement
Mr. Korfonta stated that the Public Authorities Law requires us to provide you with a list of our investments and in the statement, you have, shows any revenue earned and any expenses. This is the 4th Quarter which is the full year. You will see on the last page, for the year we earned $261K and we had budgeted $96K. We did very well. Mr. Korfonta stated that when we were budgeting there was a downturn in the economy, so we were very conservative when we were budgeting.
Motion made by Mr. Arcuri to approve the 4th Quarter Investment Statement. Seconded by: Mr. Karam
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried
Committee Reports:
Finance: November and December Finance Report
The December report is the full year. You get a better picture of what is going on. For the year we had consumption above the previous year, up 5.3%. Revenue for the year compared to budget was up $800K, so we did not have to use our $1.3 million that was budgeted. Part of this is due to our rate increase and part due to an increase in consumption.
Executive Director’s Report
- Mr. Becher stated that at this time the Principal Engineer position has not been filled. We are currently still interviewing a couple of candidates.
- Mr. Becher introduced Sandra Dare, our new Human Resources Director. Sandra is taking the place of Greg Santry, who passed away December 25, 2022.
- We are in the middle of putting together a Bond Issue, to sell water revenue bonds to finance the next two years of construction projects. That was something that this Board approved, a request to the Finance Authority Board. Mr. Becher stated that he and Mr. Korfonta have been working together with a team of consultants to help put this Bond Issue together. The process is pretty far along. Wednesday there will be a bond rating call with Moody’s Investors Service and Thursday with Standard and Poor’s. After we have the ratings assigned to the bonds they will be marketed. We are hoping for a closing the first part of March.
- Mr. Becher wanted to thank Joe Piazza for all of his help recruiting, interviewing and screening the five new water maintenance employees we have. He did a great job.
- Since the moratorium for shut offs has expired we have collected $2.81 million in past due payments for posted accounts.
Executive Session
Chairman DeLia asked for a motion to go into Executive Session at 5:28 PM to discuss the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Motion made by Mr. Coyne to go into Executive Session. Seconded by Mr. Ford.
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried.
Went into Executive Session at 5:30 PM.
Motion made to come out of Executive Session by Mr. Coyne. Seconded by Mr. Karam.
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried.
Came out of Executive Session at 5:49 PM
In Executive Session the Board approved Ratifying and Funding Teamsters Collective Bargaining Agreement through December 2025.
Motion made by Ms. Szesny to approve the agreement. Seconded by Mr. Brodsky.
Vote: (9) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (2) Absent Motion Carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Passacantando, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority