East Orange Water Commission

CITY OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY EAST ORANGE WATER COMMISSION 99 South Grove Street East Orange, NJ 07018 TED R. GREEN, Mayor REGULAR MEETING February 22, 2023 MINUTES Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Water Commissioners held in the Conference Room of the East Orange Water Commission, 99 South Grove Street, East Orange, New Jersey on Tuesday, February 22, 2023. I. CALL TO ORDER – 5:26 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Commissioners Alison Rolling Shantel Harrison Emmanuel O. Awe Lauren Shears Sherkera Lucas Staff Joseph J. Tomashosky, Finance Consultant John Liu, Executive Director Thomas J. Matich, Operations Manager Fatimah Bey, Customer Service Counsel Denis Murphy, Esq. (Weiner Law) Public Hon. Alicia Holman – Executive Session Odell Rolling – 23 Madison Avenue, East Orange The meeting was called to order, Commissioner Rolling determined that there was a quorum and convened the Regular Meeting. Commissioner Rolling read the Rate Statement. II. STATUS OF RESOLUTIONS The Mayor has returned Resolutions #1 through #20. All resolutions are in full force and effect. III. ADOPTION/CORRECTION OF MINUTES 7A: The Minutes of the January 18, 2023, Re-Organization Meeting was approved as amended on a motion made by Commissioner Harrison, seconded by Commissioner Shears and carried on the call for the Board to vote. IV. EOBWC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT AND COMMITTEE REPORTS Joe Tomashosky advised the Board that they continue to struggle with collections due to the requirement by DCA to hold off on shut-offs until March of 2023. The are operating with a 78% collection rate and generally they are above 100% collection rate. Therefore, there is an increase in the 52+ days past due. In terms of expenditures, he provided a financial statement for the month. They collected $1.6 million in billing for the month of January. They had meetings with the management team today on the budget. They are looking to make some adjustments and prepare a document for the Boards review and approval. He then went on to explain some of the adjustments that they would like to make to the budget. A brief discussion was held with regards to the contract with East Newark. Tom Matich advised that they did have some catastrophic breaks, 2 water and 2 sewer breaks. They were all large scale and could not be done in-house as it was beyond their scope. He then went on to explain same to the Board. The plan for 2023 is a more intense investigation of the system to find critical failure points that they can address prior to them taking place. If they can find the failure points early enough they can line them like they did with the Parkway crossings. They invested in the new meters which should capture a better read for the sewer flow. Now they just need to make sure that the transfer of the waste is handled through the pipeline integrity. Mains hydrant replacement project was closed out last year. They are now addressing newly identified hydrants that weren’t on the prior list. Service line replacement is going out for Phase 2 Construction & Bidding. The hardware has been ordered for the Collection Towers. A brief discussion was held with regards to the Water Commission houses and the demolition of same. Director Liu advised the Board that the Woodland Avenue project is complete. They are just addressing some little issues. He spoke about having a meeting with the residents to show them the completed project. The lead service line replacement has about 9 years left before completion. It will cost approximately $25 million to complete the project. They have applied for a $5 million dollar grant for the principal forgiveness. He advised that they need a Bond Ordinance from the City to support the loan. He stated that Joe is looking doing a water and sewer rate study. Coming up to Phase 2 or 3 of the project the water rate may not support the additional projects. He then spoke briefly about the Automatic Meter Reading and how it would help in leak detection notification.  They finished the inspection and design specifications for the Wyoming project. There is no immediate problem with the reservoir, so they intend to repair the reservoir in the fall during the low demand period. He also advised that they plan to rehabilitate 4 of the wells to increase the firm capacity. They anticipate that the emergency generator will be in full operation by the beginning of 3rd quarter. The conversion project has started. The contractor is on-site. Once completed the treatment plant will become a 4-log certification system. V. PRESENTATION NONE VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Lawsuits – update in Executive Session Notice to Quit – Water Commission Houses VII. NEW BUSINESS Kelvin Davich – Atlantic Industries - 218 No. Walnut – Stating that their meter is not working and they received a $9,000 water bill. John Liu advised that they were provided with 25 work orders to access the meter but they cancelled because they were not there. Mr. Liu advised that he would respond and provide a copy of the response to the Commission President. Kiwanis Carnival – The Township of Livingston would like to access the property from May 15 – 21 to prepare for the carnival. A resolution is on the agenda for tonight’s agenda. VIII. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTIONS The following resolutions 12A through 12L were presented to the Board for approval. A motion to omnibus and approve Resolutions 12A through 12J and 12L was made by Commissioner Harrison, seconded by Commissioner Lucas and carried unanimously on the call for the Board to vote. 12A: Resolution ratifying the January 2023 recurring monthly bills paid in the amount of $18,346.63 12B: Resolution authorizing the approval and payments of Operating Bills in the amount of $1,838,064.68 to be paid in February 12C: Resolution ratifying the payment of January 2023 Payrolls in the total amount of $361,817.36  12D: Resolution authorizing the payment of Capital invoices for the month of January 2023 in the amount of $381,591.37 12E: Resolution authorizing payment for January 2023 reimbursements for customer service in the amount of $6,037.00 to be paid in February. 12F: Resolution authorizing the solicitation of Proposals for the provision of Water and Sewer Line Warranty Services EOBWC customers as a concession through the use of competitive contracting pursuant to NJSA 40A:11-4.1(j) 12G: Resolution ratifying and authorizing the extension of the Marketing Agreement between the Board and Utility Service Partners Private Label, Inc. for the Water and Sewer Line Warranty Protection Program 12H: Resolution amending the award of contract with Brinks Tank & Environmental Services for the demolition of the structures located at 441 Parsonage Hill Road for an additional amount not to exceed $46,900.00 12I: Resolution granting permission and authorizing the execution of a license, indemnification and Hold Harmless Agreement with the Kiwanis Club of Livingston for the use of property for its annual carnival 12J: Resolution authorizing the award of a contract to Deblock Environmental Services, LLC for the provision of services of licensed operators for the East Orange Water and Sewer System 12L: Resolution authorizing the Emergency Repair and contract for the Emergency Repair of a 36” collapsed sewer main and manhole located on South Arlington Avenue and Lenox Avenue with Shauger Properties Services in the total amount of $751,120.43. 12K: Resolution authorizing the amendment to the Bylaws of the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of East Orange HELD IX. PUBLIC COMMENT Odell Rolling – 23 Madison Avenue, East Orange X. EXECUTIVE SESSION 14A: Resolution for Closed Session Resolution 14A was approved on a motion made by Commissioner Harrison, seconded by Commissioner Awe, and carried unanimously on the call for the Board to vote. ------------------ The Board went into Executive Session to discuss the following at approximately 6:16 pm: 1. Personnel Committee 2. Contracts and Litigation Matters The Board came out of Executive Session at approximately 8:06 p.m. ------------------- There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:07 pm. THESE MINUTES ARE OF NECESSITY CONDENSED AND ABRIGED AND DO NOT PURPORT TO CONTAIN THE FULL CONTENTS OF THE MATTERS DISCUSSED. SONYA BUTLER TRANSCRIBER