SABPA Meeting

September 19, 2022 South Amherst Board of Public Affairs Storm & Water Minutes Roll Call: Board Members Present: Zoltan Zoltai, Tom Pellittieri, Mark Leshinski, Operator of Record: None Present Clerk: Alexandra Sabine Liaison and Council Representative: Jeri Leigh Siss Visitors: Mayor Leshinski Sophia Langer & Jerry Biddinger / 319 Elm Street / Discussion of High Water Bill Agenda Amendments: Mark Leshinski added council meeting notes under storm old business, SABPA Work List under storm new business, North Lake Street Project under water old business, and water usage for September & council meeting notes under water new business. Zoltan Zoltai added insulation for village garage, 305 E Main Street, & data command under water old business, and rail strike under water new business. The clerk requested an executive session be called toward the end of the meeting to discuss personnel matters. Approve Agenda: Mark Leshinski moved to approve the agenda with amendments. Tom Pellittieri seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Previous Minutes: 09/06/2022: Tom Pellittieri moved to approve the minutes from September 6, 2022, as written. Zoltan Zoltai seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Storm Operator’s Report: None, as operator was absent. Clerk’s Report: Alexandra Sabine reported that the owner of 386 Annis completed a tap application and paid the $500.00 tap fee after we inquired about the trench leading to the storm sewer. The operator approved the application. The customer stated it was a sump pump line. Completed Tap- In’s: None Pending Tap-in’s: 130 E Main 412 Church 1|Page The board reviewed the financial reports (Exhibit A). Tom Pellittieri moved to accept the financial reports as written. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Old Business: Council Meeting Notes: Mark Leshinski stated that the chip & seal issue was discussed at the previous council meeting. He explained to council the opposition from the SABPA and the effects it would have on the storm system. The board asked their liaison, Jeri Leigh Siss, what the reception level from council was. She stated that there was not much discussion at the meeting, there is no plan of action that she is aware of at this time. If there is further discussion, she stated she would reiterate SABPA’s request as liaison. The board requested lead time if the project is to move forward so they can schedule maintenance accordingly. New Business: SABPA Worklist: Mark Leshinski presented the previously discussed work list created for the operator and asked the board to review. He stated that he is unaware of the boundary between SABPA and street department, so some of the items may overlap. It was decided that the board would email with any revisions. This is a working list; they are hoping to see completion by November 1. The board requested that the clerk give him this list and request that he tries to complete it in 30 days. The clerk stated she would create work orders to keep formal documentation of the work. Water Operator’s Report: None, as operator was absent. Clerk’s Report: Alexandra Sabine suggested that we use this time to allow the visitors to speak as she did not place them on the agenda for this meeting as the board discussed the item at the last meeting. The board heard the visitors from 319 Elm Street who presented their usual water charges and their current water charge of over $200. They stated they do not have a swimming pool, do not use village water to take care of a garden, have a tankless hot water tank, and nothing was leaking as their appliances are new. They believe there is an issue with their reading and the issue started when there was a main break close to their home. The clerk explained that Dennis had been to the home to inspect the meter twice without finding any abnormalities. She also advised that we were not getting constant reading through Neptune when the system was down, so we do not have steady data over the months when we estimated bills. She advised that the account charge is significantly higher than their usual charge. Tom Pellittieri requested that we pull the meter, recalibrate it, and replace it with a temporary meter in the meantime. Dennis will know where to send it to recalibrate it. He stated he does not have an issue adjusting their water bill. The board will discuss at the next meeting and adjust the account as necessary. The clerk will get back with the customer, so they do not need to attend another meeting. Alexandra Sabine reported that the tap at 217 Annis was completed. She is waiting for a form to create their water account but other than that they seem to be okay. They have paid in full for the tap. She has been working on the contingency plan and will advise when it is finished. 2|Page She advised that the small balance write offs have been completed as requested. There was another lien that we will be proceeding with at 309 East Main. There are two total liens pending. She also requested the ordinance draft from Zoltan Zoltai. She advised she is still working on those items so she will complete that once she gets the draft from him. The board reviewed the financial reports (Exhibit B). Tom Pellittieri moved to accept the financial reports as written. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Old Business: 305 E Main: Zoltan Zoltai discussed the law director’s opinion which was that the customer is responsible for the charges. The clerk stated that the property has been sold, and she is wondering if we would like to follow up with the law director about the sheriff’s sale on the property. The board would like the clerk to follow up with the law director on whether the lien can be filed against the property and report back at the next meeting. Data Command: Zoltan Zoltai stated that he has not received any response from CenturyTel about running a hard line. The board discussed if there was possibly an issue with data command, they would like to know how often they update their software to communicate with the cell towers. They asked the clerk to reach out to Data Command. Discussion ensued of the issues they have been having with the interruptions in service. Tom Pellittieri advised that he was notified multiple times when the operator was on vacation that there was loss of connection again. Patching: Alexandra Sabine presented the quote from Hart Asphalt. She advised that the operator did check with the fiscal officer and verified funds are available if the board would like to patch all the areas listed on the estimate. Tom asked if another quote was obtained, to which the clerk responded she believed Dennis Hevener reached out to another company, but we have not received an estimate. Discussion ensued regarding the need to wait for the other estimate and the timeframe before winter to get this work completed. Zoltan Zoltai moved to proceed with patching based on the estimate from Hart Asphalt to begin at the soonest opportunity. Tom Pellittieri seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The clerk will notify Dennis that the board approved the patching and to schedule as soon as possible. Backup Supply Operator: Alexandra Sabine spoke with Chris regarding a backup operator that can take the samples when he is on vacation next year. He stated he has an operator with the same certifications as him that he trusts. The board suggested setting him up as an independent contractor and they would like Michelle to give her recommendation on the best way to go about it. The clerk will reach out to Chris to get the contact information for the operator. The board stated there is no need to meet with him, if Chris trusts him then they trust his judgement. The clerk will talk with Michelle about the logistics and report back to the board. Rate Increase: The board stated that they discussed the upcoming rate increase at their most recent work session. The clerk reached out to Avon Lake, but never heard back regarding their plan for rate increases. Discussion ensued regarding the possible options for rate increases. Zoltan Zoltai moved to implement the rate increase as described at 6% in 2023 and 0% in 2024-2025. The clerk presented the proposed rate increase ordinance which the board reviewed. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Jeri Leigh Siss presented the next ordinance meeting date, which the board agreed would suffice after discussion of a timeline of council meetings. The board would like the ordinance to 3|Page be read at one council meeting in October, and two council meetings in November. Jeri Leigh Siss advises to be clear on the reasoning behind the decision to increase 6% in the first year rather than 2% for three years. The clerk advised that she did discuss with the fiscal officer her recommendation which was the 6% initial increase, and she will ask for written response of why the fiscal officer feels that would be in the best interest of the SABPA. The clerk clarified with the board that they do not want to increase the user fee from $15.25, which they stated is correct. North Lake Street Project: Mark Leshinski discussed the project being over $50,000 and the need for more than one quote for the project. Zoltan Zoltai stated that there were many factors that the board has discussed including supplies, materials, and timelines with winter approaching. We have been discussing this project for months. Also, this was being treated as an emergency with an emergency meeting which we had council members present at. It was an ultimate understanding of the board that the project was on an emergency basis which is the reasoning for foregoing multiple bids. Service to the customers on North Lake is essential and was being disrupted often which caused the emergency meeting where this was discussed. The clerk inquired if this was discussed with council and if there was concern that three bids were not obtained. Jeri Leigh Siss stated that there has been scrutiny over the need for three bids in general when a project is over $50,000. However, she believes that if there is rationale to support that the entire project was on an emergency basis, it will be understood. Insulation for Village Service Garage: Mayor Leshinski advised that a form was sent out through council to apply for funds. A quote was requested with the form. He stated the only form submitted was for a heating/cooling system for the fire department, which was installed last week. Discussion ensued regarding the mayor’s discussion with the water board previously about using the funds to insulate the service garage. The board asked if there was something that they were supposed to do that they were not informed about? Mayor Leshinski stated it was discussed at a council meeting. He stated that there are some monies left over. Mark Leshinski requested a form at the next meeting and Mayor Leshinski directed him to the records clerk. Zoltan Zoltai inquired with Jeri Leigh Siss if this would fall under buildings and grounds. She stated probably, she will run it past buildings and grounds. She stated she looked at the email sent by the records clerk in May, which looks that there was an accidental oversight as BPA was not included. She stated that the mayor was correct that a form was sent out, and she was also at a BPA meeting where the mayor did offer up funds for insulation to the BPA and this form came about after that conversation. She stated she will touch base with buildings and grounds to see what the next step is. She asked if there was an estimate for the project, to which the board responded they were never told they needed an estimate and have not obtained one. Jeri Leigh suggested a possible shared cost ask between the building and grounds department and the SABPA. Tom Pellittieri brought up the fact that there is a gas heater which heats it all winter with no insulation, and we split the bill for it. Money is being wasted. New Business: Rail Strike: Zoltan Zoltai discussed the bulletin forwarded from the clerk regarding the possible interruption of chlorine supply. The board inquired on the current chlorine stock that we have on hand. The clerk advised that the operator would have that information. Mark Leshinski stated that the strike was avoided. 4|Page Water Usage: Mark Leshinski requested the water usage for September. He would like the village consumption and the consumption that we purchased from Rural Water. The clerk advised that there is a spreadsheet that tracks that information. Obviously, during the months we estimated it was not as accurate, but we should be getting some good numbers in the next months. She will provide the spreadsheet and data at the next meeting. The clerk will also check if the board members are set up on Neptune to view the consumption of the pits. Council Meeting Notes: Mark Leshinski stated that he has heard the topic of the future of the water department at multiple council meetings and thinks they should discuss it at a board meeting. Zoltan Zoltai suggested that we have talked about this in the past, and rural water suggested that they would take the water department but not the debt that we have accrued. He stated that we are not in a position to pay debt on a water system that we are not in control of or operating any further. He would discuss it once with council but does not wish to keep reiterating the information over and over. Jeri Leigh stated that she believes the key question from council and from the fiscal officer was is there a plan with the dollars and cents specifically of what our infrastructure updates would look like so that we know if it is worth continuing to do anything at all. If rural water came in, they would replace everything even if we just put new water line in, so do we know what that looks like. Is it worth continuing with our projects and accruing more debt if down the line rural water takes over and replaces everything anyway. She believes the question is does SABPA have a true total water replacement plan. Zoltan Zoltai stated that has not been a priority of this board and no, it has not been done as we are finite in our time and resources with the challenges we have had in the last 6 months. Tom Pellittieri suggested that we would have to have Aaron with Bramhall engineering do a study which would cost money. Zoltan Zoltai advised that we have been working with the near term 30-day issues of providing water to the residents since the spring. Tom thinks it would be a good idea to do the study so the residents are aware of what it would cost to put new water lines in this village. Zoltan Zoltai suggested it would be on council to be one united voice and work with Bramhall and legal advisory. Jeri Leigh Siss stated that she would contact the clerk to touch base regarding the inactive accounts interest discussion. Zoltan Zoltai moved to enter executive session to discuss personnel matters. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Zoltan Zoltai moved to exit executive session. Mark Leshinski seconded. The roll was called with all in favor. Zoltan Zoltai moved to Adjourn the meeting. Mark Leshinski seconded. The roll was called with all in favor. Respectfully submitted, Alexandra Sabine, Water Board Clerk 5|Page