Mohawk Valley Water Authority Minutes
September 18, 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, Vincent Coyne, Elis DeLia, Mark Ford, George Haskell, Richard Karam and Bette Szesny
Absent: Dennis Bova, Bruce Brodsky, Frank Mutolo.
Also Present in Boardroom: Patrick Becher, Jim Korfonta, Dan Faldzinski, Jim Mack, Anne Milograno, Geralynn Powers, Sandra Dare, and Ken Bobrow, Esq.
Approval of the August 28, 2023 Minutes
Motion made by Mr. Ford to approve the Minutes. Seconded by: Mr. Annese
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried.
Committee Reports
August Finance Report
Mr. Korfonta said that consumption has made a small recovery, however, it is still down about 6% for the year. Water sales are about $800K below budget. Cash flow is still doing pretty well, which we will need to pay some large bills such as retirement etc. at the end of the year.
Discussion regarding legal notice publication
Mr. Becher stated that under the enabling legislation that created us, requires we have an officially designated newspaper of record where we place our legal notices of board meetings, announcements etc. Since the Observer Dispatch does not have much of a local presence, we would like to redesignate our official newspaper of notice to be the Rome Daily Sentinel as they seem to have more of a local presence and the cost is less as well.
Motion made by Mr. Karam to approve the change of the legal notice designation to Rome Daily Sentinel. Seconded by: Ms. Szesny
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried
Executive Director's Report
Mr. Becher updated the Board on the Lead Service Line Inventory that will be due next year in October. We have been narrowing down the number of properties by our IT dept running a data mining search and searching construction dates of homes from 1945/1950. Mr. Becher stated that Mr. Faldzinski and his team have run tests with the vacuum excavation truck to verify service lines on both sides to confirm the lines on MVWA side and the property owner’s side. There are 5 or 6 tests that can be done each day, and using the vac truck will lower the restoration cost.
Mr. Becher said he and Mr. Tangorra will be attending an AWWA fall meeting this week and one of the presentations will be about using electrical current to determine lead and copper service lines. They are hoping to talk with this vendor afterwards to see if MVWA might benefit from this.
Resolution: Approval of MVWA payment for Lead Service Replacements in Utica
Mr. Becher stated that the EPA is likely going to mandate that we start tearing lead pipes out of the ground regardless of the chemical testing. The City of Utica received over $600,000. From the State of NY for lead service line replacements. Over the past several years, the city has replaced service lines in conjunction with road repairs. The City is asking for reimbursement for some of the costs since they have gone over budget and also replaced extra services that would have had to be replaced. This was discussed with the Capital Committee last week and agreed that this is reasonable.
This resolution is for monies requested by the City of Utica for a portion of costs for Lead Service Line Replacement work performed by Schmalz Mechanical Contractors. The work was for partial replacements and also lead service line replacements that were not covered by the project.
Motion made by Mr. Annese to approve the Resolution. Seconded by: Mr. Karam
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried
Chairman DeLia asked for a motion to go into Executive Session at 5:15PM to discuss a personnel matter.
Motion made by Ms. Szesny to go into Executive Session. Seconded by Mr. Karam.
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried
Went into Executive Session at 5:17PM.
Motion made to come out of Executive Session by Ms. Szesny. Seconded by Mr. Annese.
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried
Came out of Executive Session at 5:20PM
In executive session, the Board approved one additional week of vacation for the Comptroller to bring him to five weeks. The Comptroller is in his 23rd year with MVWA and should have received a fifth week after 20 years as is also done for MEA bargaining unit employees.
Motion made by Mr. Haskell to approve the agreement. Seconded by Mr. Karam.
Vote: (7) Ayes (0) Nays (0) Abstain (3) Absent Motion Carried
The meeting was adjourned at 5:20PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Passacantando, Secretary
Mohawk Valley Water Authority