Sanitary Authority

Greenville Sanitary Authority 2-13-14 GREENVILLE SANITARY AUTHORITY GREENVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Thursday, February 13, 2014 ~ 6:00p.m. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Shaw called the meeting to order at 6:00pm ROLL CALL: Donald Shaw, Chairperson Henry M. Mueller, Vice Chairperson Roberta Leonard, Secretary Pamela Auchter Todd Heathcote OTHERS PRESENT: Jasson W. Urey, Borough Manager Lyle Huffman, Director of Public Services James Douglas, Solicitor Chad Hanley, KLH Engineers Also present: Media: Megan Heathcote, Borough Administrative Assistant Donald Douglass 1. INFORMATIONAL A. None. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. 3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Motion by Mr. Heathcote, seconded by Ms. Leonard, to accept the minutes of the January 16, 2014 regular meeting. Motion carried. 4. FINANCIAL REPORTS Motion by Ms. Auchter, seconded by Ms. Leonard, to accept the operating and cash balance reports for January. • Mr. Urey said that we are normal for this time of year. • Ms. Leonard asked about the 38% used for unemployment already. Mr. Urey said that unemployment gets paid out in the first quarter of each year. • Mr. Shaw asked if the heating oil was going to hold up this year. Mr. Urey said that we waited until the beginning of the year to fill the fuel oil tanks. He added that we used more last year because of the cold and the heat exchanger replacement project. • Mr. Shaw said that the overtime looks very light. Mr. Urey said that they haven’t had many issues and that they have limited overtime to call outs. Motion carried. Page 1 of 4 Greenville Sanitary Authority 2-13-14 5. ENGINEER’S REPORT Motion by Ms. Auchter, seconded by Mr. Heathcote, to accept the February’s Engineer’s report. • Mr. Hanley said that DEP denied the TRE study that petitioned to have the copper limit removed from the discharge permit. DEP stated that they believe the Authority has a potential to violate and therefore denied the request to remove the limit. KLH’s opinion is that because the average was lower than 50% of the proposed limit that it should be removed. KLH has requested written support of their decision. Mr. Hanley said that we have 30 days to appeal their decision from the date of the letter. Ms. Leonard asked if it would have any impact on our re-rating. Mr. Hanley replied that it can but most likely will not. Mr. Shaw asked if we know the source of the copper. Mr. Hanley said that it comes from the copper pipes in residential houses. The board authorized the Borough Manager to send a appeal letter to DEP. • Mr. Hanley is still waiting on the closeout documentation for the sewer spot repair project. • Mr. Hanley said that KLH did the final inspection for the garage expansion project and forwarded the punch list items to the Contractor for correction. • Mr. Hanley said that DEP is still reviewing the re-rating permit application and that he hasn’t heard back yet. Mr. Hanley added that he spoke with John Hall of Hall Associates to write an opinion letter on the re-rate application. Mr. Hall is an engineer and lawyer who helped to write the EPA Clean Water Act and his endorsement of our approach will carry a lot of weight. Mr. Hanley said that Mr. Hall charges $400/hour and that it should take him about 5 hours for a total of $2,000. Mr. Hanley said that KLH spent $9,500 to do the application which is less than they budgeted so they could use some of the leftover money to pay Mr. Hall. • Mr. Hanley said that the storm sewer mapping is scheduled to begin in early March and they should be here 2-3 weeks. Motion carried. 6. WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT REPORT Motion by Ms. Auchter, seconded by Ms. Leonard, to accept the February waste water treatment plant report. • Ms. Leonard said that on January 14th the lab relinquished our state accreditation and asked if this was the first time they were notified. Mr. Huffman said that it was, adding that we are contracting out our lab services. He said that we pay $1,200 for renewal license and that we received that back. • Mr. Huffman said that on January 15th they were called out to a private lateral that was dumping into the storm water system and that it is being taken care of through the Code Office. • Ms. Auchter asked if there had been anymore issues with St. Paul’s. Mr. Huffman said that we had to buy more de-greaser. Ms. Auchter asked about setting up a meeting. Mr. Huffman said that they are working on it. Mr. Urey said that he isn’t sure how to proceed with it being in West Salem Township. Attorney Douglas asked if our ordinances were adopted by the Township. Mr. Urey was not sure. Attorney Douglas said that he doesn’t think we can do anything until they adopt our ordinance. Mr. Urey said that Mr. Oros at St. Paul’s is installing a grease trap this year and that it was put into the budget but not sure of the status. Mr. Huffman said that Mr. Jamison compiled numbers and that we spent the equivalent on de-greasers and manpower to what it cost to install a grinder. Motion carried. Page 2 of 4 Greenville Sanitary Authority 2-13-14 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Mr. Urey said that we did some research on 62 N. Third Street and that we dye tested for one property which was 51 Orchard Avenue. He added that people must not live in the other houses on a consistent basis. The sewer department also camera’d the line and found the house connected to it was 51 Orchard. There were signs of another connection but it was capped off. When the camera was ran down the latter it encountered a blockage about 41 feet from the main line on Mr. D. Douglass’s property. Ms. Leonard asked why it wasn’t caught when we did the deed transfer. Mr. Urey said that 51 Orchard Avenue was camera’d a year ago when the deed transferred. Mr. Huffman said that we only have to go to the property line. Mr. Urey said that 62 N. Third Street is having sewage back up in his basement because of 51 Orchard Avenue. Ms. Leonard asked how could 51 Orchard know with it being so far away. Mr. Urey said that the sewage is finding all of the cracks in the line and coming up through Mr. D. Douglass’s yard. He said that the problem is a private lateral and that he spoke with Mr. D. Douglass about the issue. Mr. Huffman said that he gave Mr. D. Douglass a few options to look at including slip lining, right of way agreement, and alternative connection points. Mr. D. Douglass asked why he couldn’t just eliminate it in his yard. Attorney Douglas said that he brought his property with that issue and to let him look into it. Attorney Douglas said that he understand where he is coming from and asked him not to do anything ill rational and that he will come up with something. Mr. Huffman said that 51 Orchard Avenue residents allowed us to dye test and they were made aware of what was going on. Attorney Douglas asked is we had talked to them about it since we got the results. Mr. Huffman said we haven’t. The issue was concluded to be a private one and Attorney Douglas is looking into options for Mr. D. Douglass but is only doing so as a courtesy to him. 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Mr. Urey said that Joanne Marini is requesting the Sanitary Authority to exonerate her from her sewer bill due to a water break in the house. Mr. Urey said that he doesn’t think that we should exonerate her since it leaked and went down her bathtub drain which is connected to the sewer system. Mr. Shaw said that she needs to pay the water since it went through the meter. Ms. Auchter said that we have not let anyone else not pay the sewer portion for similar circumstances. Mr. Shaw said that we did once when it was outside and wasn’t their fault. Mr. Urey said that he can draft a letter denying her request. The Board authorized Mr. Urey to draft a denial letter to Mrs. Marini. B. Motion by Ms. Leonard, seconded by Ms. Auchter, to pay up to $9,790.50 to Hempfield Township to refund the Greenville Country Club for improper sewer billing, adding that they need to go back every year to count seats. Mr. Urey said that no one was aware that the Country Club changed in 2007 and took out the club aspect. He said that they no longer have laundry or showers. Mr. Urey said that they were paying this rate when it hasn’t been there. He said that they should have been billed as a restaurant rate and that the $9,790.50 is the difference between the two rates since 2007 to current. Mr. Shaw said that there are 2 bills going to the Country Club: dining room is $77 and the golf course is $1,370.70. He said that the dining room is charged too little. Mr. Urey pointed out that the water bills for the restaurant and the golf course are separate. He pointed out that the large water bill was labeled for the pro shop which is separate from the country club. This water supply services the golf course as well. Mr. Shaw asked about the dining room. Mr. Urey stated that it has 200 places. Ms. Leonard asked if it Page 3 of 4 Greenville Sanitary Authority 2-13-14 was Hempfield Township’s error. Mr. Urey said that they didn’t know they made renovations and it was their mistake. Ms. Leonard asked why they didn’t catch it when they did the code inspections. Attorney Douglas said that we need to pay some of it back and asked if we got paid all of it. Mr. Urey said that we did get paid all of it. Attorney Douglas asked how far back do we go. Ms. Auchter said she couldn’t believe it went this long with no one catching it. Ms. Leonard said that she doesn’t want to go back 7 years. Dr. Mueller asked if paying the amount was going to hurt us. Mr. Urey said it wouldn’t. Attorney Douglas said that we are setting us up for people to go back on their bills. Ms. Leonard said that we count on Hempfield Township to report accurate information and asked how often do we receive counts. Mr. Urey stated that he did not know. Ms. Auchter is requesting Mr. Urey get more details and information on the matter and report back to the board. Mr. Heathcote asked if we are paid by quarter. Mr. Urey said we are. Motion carried. 9. AUTHORITY MEMBER’S COMMENTS Mr. Heathcote asked if 62 N. Third Street was going to be a quick resolve. Mr. Urey said that it is basically between him and his neighbors. Attorney Douglas said that he needs to make sure that there isn’t a right of way agreement. 10. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICES COMMENTS Mr. Huffman had no comments 11. BOROUGH MANAGER COMMENTS Mr. Urey apologized for not having the Hempfield Township sewer billing rates to everyone beforehand. 12. SOLICITOR’S COMMENTS Mr. Douglas had no comments. 13. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of Greenville Sanitary Authority is Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 6:00p in Council Chambers. 14. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Ms. Auchter, seconded by Dr. Mueller, to adjourn meeting at 7:17pm. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Roberta Leonard Roberta Leonard Secretary Page 4 of 4