SABPA Meeting

October 3, 2022 South Amherst Board of Public Affairs Storm & Water Minutes Roll Call: Board Members Present: Zoltan Zoltai, Tom Pellittieri, Mark Leshinski, Operator of Record: Dennis Hevener Clerk: Alexandra Sabine Liaison and Council Representative: Jeri Leigh Siss Visitors: Mayor Leshinski Agenda Amendments: None Approve Agenda: Zoltan Zoltai moved to approve the agenda as written. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Previous Minutes: 09/19/2022: Tom Pellittieri moved to approve the minutes from September 19, 2022, as written. Zoltan Zoltai seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Zoltan Zoltai moved to move the Council Liaison discussion to the beginning of the meeting. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Jeri Leigh Siss informed the board that the there was approval of funds from the county to tear down the old water plant. The timeframe of when the work will begin is to be determined. Jeri Leigh Siss also informed the board that after discussion at the buildings & grounds meeting, they decided they do not want to insulate the garage in 2022. They stated there are holes in the garage, and since they are not getting repaired this year, they chose not to insulate the garage at this time. The board inquired with the water operator about the holes, he stated there are a few areas that are being patched with street signs as a temporary fix, but there is no airflow coming through. The board stated that they were disappointed by that decision of buildings and grounds. Finally, Jeri Leigh stated that the rate increase ordinance will be discussed at the upcoming ordinance committee meeting on October 6. Storm Operator’s Report: Dennis Hevener reported that the tap in at 412 Church Street has been completed and approved. He advised that he has been working on the work list from the board. He asked follow up 1|Page questions about the list such as clarification of the ask from the board regarding storm drains. Do they want animal guards installed? Tom Pellittieri advised using graded caps which you can purchase from core & main. Dennis will look into pricing. Dennis Hevener also advised that he spoke with Dan from Digger’s, he would like to have a meeting with both Dennis Hevener & Tom Pellittieri to go over the storm sewer project. Once they have gone over it, then Dan can order the supplies. He advised that he had not heard any update on the 130 East Main tap in. Finally, he discussed with the board another item on the work list, he advised that previously the street department would weed whack the ditches. Mark Leshinski asked who would be responsible to clean the ditches, which it was decided would need to be contracted out. The board asked the procedure to request work from the service department. Jeri Leigh advised that any work orders would need to be sent to Scott Jones, but she would inquire as to an SOP and get back to the board. Clerk’s Report: Alexandra Sabine reported that she had completed creating and distributing the Operator’s work orders from the work list and she emailed the board about the two questionable items. Completed Tap- In’s: 412 Church Pending Tap-in’s: 130 E Main 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: M: Work List Discussion: Mark Leshinski, pointing out an item on the work list, asked if there are trees down, who would be responsible to clear them? Dennis Hevener responded that would be more than a two-man job, it would most likely need contracted out. Zoltan Zoltai discussed the issue of land ownership, permission, ect. that the board may run into with this project. He suggested adding this to the grant list. Mark Leshinski also inquired on East Main Street. He asked if Dennis had checked the catch basins since the gas line work has been finished. Dennis Hevener stated that he walked the areas & they did not remove the straw mats until grass was growing to prevent any erosion. Grant Update: Zoltan Zoltai inquired on the status of the grant writing. Tom Pellittieri stated that information has been submitted, and the grant writer is waiting to hear anything back. She advised to expect a response anywhere from December to February. New Business: None at this time. Water Operator’s Report: Dennis Hevener reported that he is waiting for a meeting with Dan from Digger’s & Tom Pellittieri to discuss North Lake Street. (This will be the same meeting as discussed previously in Storm for the Maroy Project). He reported that the pit meters came in from Neptune, and he replaced 2|Page the meter at 217 Annis with the permanent pit meter. He also advised that he replaced a meter at 206 South Lake Street due to an issue with the meter. He advised that he is calling rural water about the meter calibration. Also, Friday he spoke with Data command, and they are sending a new modem to try to fix the issues. Dennis will install the modem and send the old one back to them. If it were the modem that was the issue, it could be a possible insurance claim from the water tower incident, and he would forward the information to the fiscal officer. Mayor Leshinski advised that he saw Verizon working on the tower by his house the same day. Zoltan Zoltai inquired if the SABPA pays a fee to Verizon for the water tower, which Dennis Hevener did not think we did. Zoltan Zoltai discussed his efforts of getting a quote on a hard line to the tower. He stated he was quoted $37/month for an Analog line, however since was advised by the clerk that data command stated it would need to be a DSL line. He is waiting on his contact to get back to him with pricing on a DSL line. Dennis Hevener reported that the Chlorinator has been turned off and he will be filling the tanks with water to flush the lines. He also reported that Hart Asphalt will be patching this week. Clerk’s Report: Alexandra Sabine presented the board with the September adjustments for approval. The board approved and signed the adjustments. She reported that the EPA updated the contingency plan template, so she has been updating South Amherst’s to match. She and Dennis will be working on the additions and will report back when completed. She reported that there was a discrepancy between an invoice & quote from diggers for 217 Annis, with the difference being $800.00. She stated that Dennis Hevener is talking to Digger’s to see about resolving the matter. She also reported that she requested a change in procedure from Digger’s where all the quotes will need to be emailed to the clerk. She hopes that this will help with organization and alleviate any issues in the future. She has not heard back from Digger’s, but she advised that Dennis Hevener stated that they told him this procedure change was fine with them. Lastly, she advised the board that she forwarded the rate increase ordinance to Jeri Leigh Siss and the ordinance committee meets on October 6, 2022. The board reviewed the financial reports (Exhibit B). Mark Leshinski moved to accept the financial reports as written. Tom Pellittieri seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Old Business: Insulation of Town Garage: Discussed previously. Water Tower/ Data Command Update: Discussed previously. Z: Privatization/Changing of hands of Village Water System to Rural Water or Other: Zoltan Zoltai discussed the topic of selling the water department and stated it was discussed briefly previously in the year. It has now been gaining attention by council and he stated there is a lot involved in that process. Discussion of what the process would be, who can make a decision like that as the water department is an asset of the village. Discussion of who legally has the power to make that decision, and does it need to go to on the ballot for the residents to vote on. He stated if there is a binding document that shows who has the authority to make that decision, he would look at it. Jeri Leigh stated that she presented 3|Page this question and there was not much response from council or the law director. She stated she would request to add this to the agenda for this upcoming Monday, specifically for an opinion from the law director. Zoltan Zoltai stated that in the event that no documentation to support such decisions can be discovered, he feels that it should be put on the ballot for the citizens to vote, at which point council can move in the direction that the residents decide. He feels if the citizens decide to go the direction of getting rid of the water system, it should fall on council to solicit and find someone to take the system over. He discussed the issues of assets and debts with our water system and the aging of the water tower. Jeri Leigh Siss inquired on any costs incurred with this process. She asked if the SABPA is willing to cover costs for utilization of the law director’s services outside of the scope of his contract currently. Zoltan Zoltai stated that he thinks the board would consider it, but he would need the costs in writing and as a contract. 305 East Main: Alexandra Sabine read the response from the law director regarding the lien for 305 E Main. Mark Leshinski moved to pursue further legal council to file lien against 305 East Main Street. Zoltan Zoltai seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The clerk will inquire with the fiscal officer the next steps to proceed with the lien. The clerk asked the board if they would like her to respond to the letter/affidavit from Mr. Harper. The board agreed that there is no need for communication back with Mr. Harper at this time, as the lien is being placed against the land. The new homeowner will communicate with him if necessary. M: Update on North Lake Project, Update on Pits/Meters on order, Water Usage for September: Update on North Lake Street discussed previously, there will be a meeting with Tom Pellittieri & Digger’s to discuss, then supplies will be ordered & work will be scheduled. The clerk advised that the meters have been delivered as Dennis advised previously. The meter pits are still on order. However, Core & Main did advise that there was one similar meter pit available which was overstock from another order. Dennis Hevener advised that the difference in the pit is the length, but it will work for South Amherst’s needs. The clerk advised that Core & Main have adjusted the price to match that of the other meter pit setups that we have ordered. She inquired if the board would like to use this pit as part of their previous orders or buy it on top of their other orders as we do not know how the supply chain will be in the future. The board discussed. Zoltan Zoltai moved to purchase the extra meter pit setup from Core & Main pending fiscal approval of funds. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Lastly, Mark Leshinski inquired on the September water usage. The clerk has provided the board with the requested documents. Discussion ensued regarding the current usage and the logistics of the report. The clerk reported that she compared the usage report to that of previous months and it did not look abnormal to her. 319 Elm – Water Usage/Adjustments: Alexandra Sabine reported that the current water bill was back down to the normal usage that the customer expects, and the water meter was replaced the same day as the readings. She talked to the customer since the account was not adjusted yet to let her know what the current charge is. Zoltan Zoltai inquired if this would mean that the meter was flawed as we assumed, but the clerk advised that she would take that to mean the meter was not flawed because the usage is back to the normal range. Dennis Hevener stated he will have the meter calibrated. The clerk advised that if the board did adjust the account, it would be an adjustment of $200.93 which includes the late penalty on the balances. The clerk advised that we have the meter calibrated by the next meeting and the board can discuss at the next meeting as well. 4|Page Public Hearing Discussion- Rate Increases: Alexandra Sabine advised the board that the village clerk informed her that the public hearing would need to be posted in the newspaper 30 days prior to the hearing. She advised that time frames are tight. Zoltan Zoltai stated that he was only suggesting a Q & A session, not a public hearing, since there is not question of if rates will be increased, they must be increased. He stated the Q & A session would be a convenience for the residents to have any questions answered. The clerk stated that she is not sure the difference between the public hearing versus a Q & A session as far as posting. Zoltan Zoltai stated that he was thinking of placing the Q & A on an agenda for the residents to attend an SABPA meeting if they wish. He stated that he does not think we should take any action until we get an answer back from committee. Mayor Leshinski stated that he received the engineering report from Aaron with Bramhall Engineering for the fire station holding tanks. He will forward the email to the board. It will need sent to the EPA if they will be proceeding. New Business: Z: Dennis Vacation: Zoltan Zoltai wanted to confirm Dennis’s vacation, which would be October 16-21. Mayor Leshinski approved the vacation. Dennis will provide an Operator’s report for the clerk to read in his absence. Z: Dedicated phone line for water tower: Discussed previously. Z: Water Operator as Backup Snowplow driver: Zoltan Zoltai stated that there was discussion of Dennis Hevener being the backup snowplow driver at the last council meeting. He asked if there was any validity to that and if he had been asked. Dennis Hevener stated that he had not heard about that request before the council meeting on Monday. They discussed the suggestion of David Troike, who stated he planned to discuss with the SABPA. Discussion ensued. Zoltan Zoltai moved that the water operator, Dennis Hevener, does not serve as the backup snowplow driver. This is a renewal from a decision about a year ago by the BPA. Mark Leshinski seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Payment Plan Approval- 118 Annis: The clerk provided the board with the details of the proposed payment plan for 118 Annis Road. Zoltan Zoltai moved to accept the payment plan as written. Tom Pellittieri seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Zoltan Zoltai verified that there was verbiage that the customer would be subject to disconnection if the payment plan were breeched which the clerk confirmed. M: 464 Annis Road: The board discussed the events of Thursday evening, where the board received a call of a valve in a home leaking, and the customer needed the water shut off at the curb. The board discussed the plan if an incident like this happens when Dennis is on vacation. Tom Pellittieri has the tools necessary and the book of locations. M: New Plow Truck: Discussed Previously under water operator as backup snowplow driver. Zoltan Zoltai instructed the clerk to add the following to the next agenda: Update on Mapping of Catch Basins from County, Discussion of Work Session Dates (invite service worker to next work session, discussion of maternity leave & procedure for water breaks in winter) 5|Page 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 6|Page