City Council

MABE Meeting Minutes October 25, 2016 In Attendance: Absent: Others In Attendance: Rick Shaw Jack Stewart Jose Colon John Larson Darrell Gibble Gary L. Stoltzfus Floyd Jennelle Lori Sifford Charlotte Gehman Joseph Boldaz Stephen Kalis Meeting called to order at 7:00p. Meeting Minutes Motion by Floyd to approve the Meeting Minutes of the September 27, 2016 Board Meeting. Second by Darrell. Motion approved. Public Comment Gary L. Stoltzfus – Mr. Stoltzfus received a building permit from the Borough in 2015 to build a barn/garage on 35 acres along Brick Lane. He installed a holding tank to collect sanitary sewerage, on a temporary basis, from the bathroom in the garage. He installed a clean out and lateral so that a future house could be connected if so desired. Gary Stoltzfus said he discussed the holding tank issue with Merle Stoltzfus and Merle was OK with a holding tank. No permits were issued for the holding tank installation. Stephen feels that the MABE should be copied on building permits and other permits, so MABE can review their involvement in the process. Stephen clarified that the property falls under the description of an Improved Property. Discussion of the requirements ensued, the holding tank should be registered with the county; maintenance of the holding tank should be through a County registered pumping contractor; the deed should discuss the holding tank and the current use. Under Act 537, Sewage Facilities Planning, the municipality is responsible for any cleanup if the tank should overflow, therefore an escrow account should be created to cover any interruption in pumping and hauling and the tank should be fitted with high level alarms. The Board asked Stephen to draft a letter to include any change of use or sale of the building. The Board wants to document that any change in use of the existing property, additional construction and/or sale of the property will require connection to public sewer and reserves the right to revisit the issue annually. Correspondence Borough Website Update – Stephen suggests that based on the fact that the website is not updated regularly, it should be very simple. Borough Comprehensive Plan Project List – Discussion of the answers the Borough needs to report to the county. A new 537 plan would be required for any major changes. Motion to by Darrell to keep the act 537 plan listed as inactive. Second by Floyd. Motion approved. Motion by Lori to List the Lagoon Closure grant project as substantially complete. Second by Jose. Motion approved. Hydraterra Letter- Review of letter informing that Hydraterra will raise their rates by 5% in 2017. PMAA – Flyer for the Fall Regional Meeting shared. No members will be attending. Treasurer’s Report Motion by Darrell to approve the payables. Second by Floyd. Motion approved. Operator’s Report Flow for the month was 68,000 gallons per day average with a peak flow rate of 112,000 gallons per day. There were no violations, no alarms and no breakdowns. Sludge was hauled. Stern Pac tubing was replaced. John inspected the cleanout on the Fire Co. property and tried to get in touch with the Fire Co. Darrell says to contact Jeff or Robby Cook at Elverson Supply about the repair to the cleanout. John will work with Joe to determine how the repair should be made. John has contacted Main Pool about changing the square chemical tank to a round one, but has not gotten a response yet. Emergency contact number sign has been ordered for Saddler pump station. Joe asks about alarms for the HVAC system. E3 alarm code has been intermittent and John has not seen a pattern to the alarms. Engineer’s Report WWTP HVAC System – HtP is trying to get an invoice from Tri-State for the repair to apply towards the grant. Lagoon Closure Project-Joe wants to know if Heilner was be able to cut the grass without any damage to their equipment since the area has been graded. The Contractor is currently responsible to cut the grass in the lagoons per the contract. However, Heilner was observed cutting the grass. Joe indicates that MABE should not be paying for that cutting. Charlotte will contact Heilner to ask about the rocks and grading and who requested the former lagoon mowing. Discussion of the condition of the driveway at the WWTP. Joe wants to know if the Board wants to re-stone the driveway. John says we have not had enough significant rain to know the true condition. Joe suggests and the Board agrees to wait until spring to assess the condition of the driveway. Page 1 of 2 MABE Meeting Minutes October 25, 2016 Plant Water Project – No pay application this month as the contractor, Zimmerman Environmental did not have the paperwork complete. The automatic basket strainer, a critical piece of equipment for the upgrade has not been delivered. Discussed the re-allocation of the change orders. Because the engineering soft costs can be paid by the grant, Joe is suggesting backing out some of the previously approved capital costs. Joe recommends backing out hoist sockets, pump inventory and restoration of the minor retention area. John believes there are 3 spare pumps and one for the TVEC pump station. John will confirm the pump inventory. Brick Lane and Saddler do not have a spare pumps, but Saddler pump has been recently replaced. John says pumps can be rotated. Joe will identify the specs on the pumps to determine the cost of purchasing a spare pump. Motion by Darrell to approve the revised field order project list, which replaces the schedule adopted at the September 2016 Board meeting. Second by Lori. Motion approved. Corbett Pump Station- Sealed Access Hatch – Hatches were ordered this week. Zimmerman will install. CEFC Sewer Connection – Final Inspection was completed. –Joe is concerned that there is only temporary paving and no sealant in the sewer trench across Brick Lane. It was discussed that final paving of the trench will occur in the spring when Brick lane is resurfaced or paved. Pump station draw down tests - John and Steve from HtP are working to get the tests scheduled. Manhole Condition Assessment/Private Lateral Inspection – Discussion of methods to access private property to inspect sewer laterals. May be able to work through modifications to the Act 537 plan. Will continue to discuss options. Capital Improvement Plan – Joe provided and reviewed the 2016 CIP report and recommendations. The report considers all the equipment and the necessity of complete replacement of the sewer plant. Joe strongly recommends capital reserves for this purpose. Discussion of projects that that would be grant appropriate. Charlotte will communicate to the Borough which projects MABE will apply for in 2017. Solicitors Report Corbett Easement – Stephen has made some progress, but believes that there is no easement filed for the Corbett Pumping Station. Stephen presented documents that support the intent to provide an easement. He is still looking into whether the final plan was recorded. Stephen feels that he should have confirmation by the November meeting. Appears to have been installed in approximately 1988. Darrell questions to right of way for the road. Stephen and Joe will continue to investigate. Old Business Concord Public Finance Proposal-Valid Until 11/30/16 – Review of the options for loan modification presented at the September meeting. Lori wants to review the original loan documents. Charlotte will send those to Lori and Rick. Stephen is not sure if we can deal directly with the bank. Charlotte will contact Daryl Peck and let him know that MABE will not be making a decision prior to the November meeting. New Business 2017 Rates – Discussion of the user rate increase. Jack indicates that the Borough is challenged by no growth and not enough users to justify consumption billing. It is important to educate the Users of the need to pay all expenses. Motion by Lori to approve a $21.00 rate increase for 2017. Second by Darrell. Motion approved. Motion by Darrell to approve a rate increase for the quarterly reserves to $81.00/quarter. Second by Lori. Motion approved. Discussion of bookkeeper’s recommendations to increase sewer rates by $42.00. At this time, the Board has agreed to $21.00 rate increase for 2017 and is also considering a $21.00 increase for 2018 in order to build the capital reserves. This will allow the Board to communicate the plan to the sewer users. 2017 Budget – Board will meet at 6:00p on Tuesday, November 1st in the Community Room of Borough Hall for a Budget meeting. Meeting Adjourned: 9:15p Next regular Board meeting will be on November 29, 2016 at 7:00p at Borough Hall. Respectfully Submitted by Charlotte Gehman Page 2 of 2