City Council

MABE Meeting Minutes December 29, 2020 In Attendance: Absent: Others in Attendance: Lori Sifford Dave Friedman, EEMA (telephonic) Darrell Gibble John Dean, EEMA (telephonic) Jim Freeze Lisa Palser, Trails Committee Steve Keech Diane Cikoski, Trails Committee Floyd Jennelle Merle Stoltzfus, Borough Council Keith Showalter, Systems Design Engineering (telephonic) Jack Stewart, Borough Council Stephen Kalis, Fox Rothschild, via Conference Call (telephonic) Charlotte Gehman Meeting called to order at 7:00p. Approve Minutes of November 24, 2020 Board Meeting – Motion by Jim to approve the Minutes of the November 24, 2020 Board Meeting as presented. Second by Darrell. Motion approved. Public Comment Merle Stoltzfus, Jack Stewart Act 537 – Borough Council does not have money in the budget and feels that MABE should pay for the report. Because there is no Borough tax, they rely only on property transfer taxes for funds. Merle questions whether there is not enough change to support spending the money on updating the plan. Discussion of the items covered by the 537. Keith feels the current plan is still valid and an amendment may be all that is needed, and the Board can consider waiting until a grant opportunity is available, but a new plan is required for a sewer plant expansion. Developers can be asked to contribute or pay for the Act 537 if it is needed for the project. Keith agrees that the plan is still relevant and estimates it takes an average of 12 months to complete the revised report. Merle says Council will support encouraging the developer to contribute to the report to be able to connect to the sewer system, including public comment and DEP approval. Board agrees to suspend the report until it becomes a requirement or until a grant opportunity becomes available. Lisa Palser, Diane Cikoski – Borough Trails Committee – Trails Committee is completing a planning study funded by the Borough for future trails in the Borough. They are asking permission to look at the treatment plant property with the County representatives to explore options. Lisa indicates that trails are public use at your own risk, so there should be no liability for MABE. Charlotte will take the group to the plant to explore the property to consider options. Correspondence/Communication SDE Donation Letter – Lori shared a letter that SDE has donated to Children’s Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross in honor of the Municipal Authority. Operator’s Report Average daily flow was 75,000a day with a maximum flow of 202,000 gallons due to a rain event. Brush adjustments to the Lakeside scree. Made some change to the clarifiers. The portable generator was exercised. The bag filter was replaced but may be able to be washed and reused. Pac lines were cleared. VFD failure on the Lakeside screen due to a wipe. Replaced a cable on the sludge holding tank with stainless steel. HVAC was cleaned and backwashed. There were no alarms, violations, or breakdowns during the month. Garage Door Panel Repair – Dave provided a quote for the replacement panel of $1,289.00. The door is operable and working now. Board can consider a repair in the future if the door causes a problem. Blue Rock Preparedness – Discussion of the status of equipment at the Blue Rock site and comfort level in the event EEMA will be called on. The service agreement is in place. EEMA will only respond if the service company does not. Chemical Change Cost Information – John came up with a conversion rate and will get a cost for the new chemical. Charlotte will provide the current cost of the soda ash to John to compare cost. Based on John’s calculations this should be an overall cost savings to switch. Televising Project – EEMA went to met Pipe Services Corp, but they did not show up. There will be billable hours for this time. Board authorized Charlotte to deduct the two billable hours from Pipe Services invoice. Page 1 of 2 MABE Meeting Minutes December 29, 2020 Engineer’s Report Tapping Fee Review Discussion – Keith reviewed the calculations that comprise the Tapping Fee and how debt service effects the fee. Fee was last revised in 2015. Keith estimated $500.00 to review the tapping fee. Board authorized Keith to calculate the tapping fee, but to adopt Tapping Fee Resolution 2020-12 as presented at this meeting. PA Small Water & Sewer Grant – Both signatures are complete. Have not received a Charlotte can anticipate a payment request pack. Blue Rock Project – No further inspections have been requested at this point. The permanent Portable Generator needs to be tested. Keith will coordinate that with the developer. Corbett Easement Timeline – Board approved the work be completed by April 2021 at the November meeting. Keith will share Dave’s cost estimate with the developer and anticipates most of the work being done in the spring. Easement Plans/Right of Way Project – Need to wrap this project up. Act 537 Plan Quote & Planning – Per earlier discussion at this meeting, the Act 537 report will not move forward at this time. North Brick Lane & Main Street Televising – EEMA had some trouble with Pipe Services scheduling. Keith will provide a written report, but only one area of infiltration was identified. Keith estimates cost at $1500-2500. Majority of the pipe is in good shape with some dimpling, but no cracks. All the pipe on North Brick lane was pvc and appears to be in good shape. Keith needs to seek out a better map and to better identify the location of cleanouts. Keith recommends doing this work before considering taking ownership of the private line. About 550 ft of line was televised. 2021 SDE Rate Schedule - Solicitor’s Report Blue Rock O&M Agreement Addendum – This was signed by the developer and escrow was paid. 2021 Enabling Resolutions – Stephen presented the four annual enabling resolutions for 2021 for approval. Motion by Darrell to approve Resolution 2020-9 Capital Fund Budget, 2020-10 Operating Budget, 2020-11 Sewer Rentals and 2020-12 Tapping Fee. Second by Jim. Motion approved. Old Business Customer Payment Options – Still being researched. New Business Motion by Jim to approve the Meeting Dates for 2021 as presented Second by Floyd. Motion approved. Charlotte will advertise the dates. Treasurer’s Report Approve Checks – Motion by Darrell approve the payables as presented with a reduction of $55.00 and reissue of the Pipe Services invoice to approve the payables for December as presented. Second by Floyd. Motion approved. Board approved renewing the PMAA membership for 2021. Membership fee will be included with the January payables. Admin Update Remote Deposit – The scanner has been delivered, but training has not occurred yet. Charlotte’s review has been completed. Executive Session Meeting Adjourned 8:22p Respectfully submitted by Charlotte Gehman Page 2 of 2