SCHUYLERVILLE/VICTORY BOARD OF WATER MANAGEMENT
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Schuylerville/Victory Board of Water Management held a meeting on February
13, 2007 at 6:30pm in Victory.
Present: Chairman Paul Shaver,
Commissioners Travis Kline, Agatha White.�
Foreman Mark Dennison, Recording Secretary Brenda Buchanan.
Absent: Commissioner Glenn Decker
Announcements:
The next water meeting will be Tuesday night February 20th at 7pm in the Village of Schuylerville.
Chairman Shaver stated that we have been talking about changing the monthly meeting schedule from the 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays to the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays.� After a discussion it was determined to change the schedule to the 2nd and 4th Tuesday nights.� This will break up the month and hopefully be more productive.� This new schedule will start in April.� The first meeting in April will be Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30 in the Village of Victory and the second meeting for April will be Tuesday, April 24th at 6:30 in the Village of Schuylerville.� It was also determined after this discussion to change the second meeting night to 6:30, so both meeting will be the same, they will be at 6:30 pm.� So please see the schedule for February, March and April below.
Chairman Shaver asked that this be posted in the Village of Schuylerville and be put on the website as soon as possible.
February: 2nd meeting Tuesday February 20th at 7pm in the Village of Schuylerville.
March: Tuesday, March 13th at 6:30pm in the Village of Victory
����������� Tuesday, March 20th at 7:00pm in the Village of Schuylerville
New Schedule:
April: Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30pm in the Village of Victory
����������� Tuesday, April 24th at 6:30pm in the Village of Schuylerville
Minutes:
Chairman Shaver explained he
requested the minutes be mailed to the Commissioners prior to the meeting for
the approval.
Commissioner Kline
made a motion to approve the meeting minutes of January 23rd 2007,
it was seconded by Commissioner White, all ayes, motion passed.
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Communications:�
Chairman Shaver explained some
correspondence that was in the folders for each commissioner.� There is a letter that was sent to some of
the east side residence.� This was
because we recently put in a fire hydrant in that area and they may be eligible
for a reduction with their fire insurance.�
The letter to Phil Dixon dated 2/5/07 is to renegotiate attorney
fee�s.� Victory�s personnel policy is in
your folders for review, we need to finalize one for the water board.� Letter to Saratoga Apple explaining decision
that was made at the last meeting.� The
letters to and from Laberge in regards to the settlement of the out of scope
services.� They have agreed to our terms
and we saved a total of $33,323.85.�
Chairman Shaver feels that this was the best they were going to get and
feels it is a fair deal.� There are
still some design issues that are being discussed.
Old Business:�
Chairman Shaver asked Treasurer Kemmet to come to the meeting for discussion on the budget.� He explained that the goal for the budget this year was no rate increase.� Mr. Shaver thanked Ms. Kemmet for all the work that went into preparing the tentative budget and explained that as of this point there is no rate increase for this fiscal year.� He explained he would like to include in the budget a stipend for the budget officer for this fiscal year.� He explained that there was a 3% raise increase for all employees.� He went on to say attached to the tentative budget is a projected salary rate sheet, this includes a proposed monthly salary for all commissioners.� He asked if anyone on the board had any comments on this issue and Commissioner White explained that she hopes to get a replacement for her seat because this would bring her up a tax bracket that she was concerned about.� Mr. Shaver explained that some believe trustees shouldn�t get a payment because they get village pay, but in this case it is determined that a lot of extra work is involved.� There was a discussion on who gets the money the member or the alternate which attends the meeting.� Chairman Shaver asked the board to look this over and the tentative budget and there will be more discussion at next weeks meeting.�
There was a discussion on filters costing $215,000 each 5 years and we need to put money aside for this expense.� It was determined to alot for about $43,000 a year and set aside for these filters.
There was a discussion on how much of a fund balance to bring forward and the safety of keeping some money for problems.� At this point on the tentative budget it was determined to carry over about $43,000.00 compare to the $25,000 last year.� Commissioner Kline asked about startup costs that wouldn�t happen again, if this was calculated in.� We have better information now and with the Victory Plant possibly going on line in this fiscal year we might be in a better position.� Treasurer Kemmet explained that she can request an ideal from the engineers the operating cost for the Victory Plant.� They were low for the Fort Hardy plant, but it�s a number to get started.� This money will come out of project money until we are up and operating then the costs will be some operational monies.� Treasurer Kemmet also explained that the contract with GE is an annual contract that renews automatically if not renegotiated.� She explained that this is a $15,000 cost per month for chemicals and consulting.� She explained that they want to look into the cost with no consulting, because last year they had very little consulting and this could be a savings for us.� The renew date if March 21, 2007, so she is going to look into this.� Chairman Shaver thanked Ms. Kemmet for her work on this budget and stated this would be discussed at next weeks meeting.
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Treasurers Report:
none
Foreman's Report:
Foreman Dennison stated that he is having a problem with the customer inquiry reports.� They are not getting done at the Village of Schuylerville.� He is getting complaints from the Mayor, but no reports.� He explained how the reports work and how he follows thru once one is completed.� They do not have to come to the office to sign these reports.� They are not a complaint form as they are inquiry forms.� They help him determine if there is a problem in an area for a specific home.� Chairman Shaver stated he support Foreman Dennison in the need to have these reports completed.� He went on to say that hopefully with the new clerk in Schuylerville, possibly we could talk with her and explain the need for these reports.� Foreman Dennison explained that the phosphates have been in the system only a few months and they stated that it could take 6 months to a year.� We have seen improvements in some areas, but other areas are going to take longer.� He explained that the manganese is a little high, the lack of use of the water and a lot of dead ends in Schuylerville are a lot of the problems, but unless he can determine the problem areas he can�t do anything about it.
Annual Water System Monitoring Schedule from DOH.� Foreman Dennison stated that he has a copy of this schedule and he will monitor is as needed.� He explained that some testing will be done and he will report back when these tests are completed.
Water sampling required for the Victory Plant.� There was a discussion on the need of testing being done on the Victory Well that had bricks in it.� Laberge stated that the DOH is requiring testing of this well and we need to hire some company to complete the tests.� Chairman Shaver stated that Treasurer Kemmet is contacting the insurance company to see if any of these costs can be covered, due to the claim with the bricks.� Mr. Shaver stated that this will be on the agenda next week for further discussion.
Old Business:
Condensation Problem:� No report
Outside Engineering Firm:� Chairman Shaver stated that we received some information and we need to share it with the Attorney before we can make any decision on this issue.� This will be discussed at the next meeting.
Victory Plant Plans:� Chairman Shaver stated that we need to get our comments and/or questions to Treasurer Kemmet concerning the Victory Plant Plans within 1 week to 10 days.� We need to keep going so we don�t miss any windows for our financing.
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New Business:�
Easton Water Supply:� There was a discussion on a main break a few months ago.� It was discussion where the main goes on the properties in that area.� It was discussed that the property owned by Northway Johnny�s does not have the main going through their property.� The existing properties that the mains do go thru, do not pay water rents.� It was determined that being Northway Johnny�s property is not effected by this, they should be charged for water rents.� Chairman Shaver stated that he was looking for support from the board to start charging Northway Johnny�s the appropriate number of units for water rents.� It was discussed on the number of units to charge being this property has two apartments and a closed bar/restaurant.� After it was determined that in our rules and regulation we do not have a category for non operational business this was discussed.� This is similar to an apartment building.� If there is water going to the building, but the apartments are not rented they still pay.� So this would not continue to be a problem it was determined as the following.� Commissioner Kline made a motion to create a category on the rules and regulation, rate sheet to include a non operational business at the rate of one unit, it was seconded by Commissioner White, all ayes, motion passed. �If anyone falls in this category, they will need to present this to the board for approval.� According to these standards Northway Johnny�s will be charged 3 units for this property starting the next billing cycle.� Chairman Shaver stated he would construct a letter to go to this residence.
Certification:� Foreman Dennison stated that he received his water operators license and he has sent an application to DOH to be assigned Operator in Charge.� Chairman Shaver congratulated Mr. Dennison for this accomplishment.
Auditing Bills:
After the review of this months vouchers, Commissioner White made a motion to approve
the vouchers which will be abstract #9 and it was seconded by Commissioner
Kline, all ayes, motion passed.
Executive Session:�
none
Commissioner Kline
made a motion to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded Commissioner White,
all ayes, motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted
Brenda S. Buchanan,
Recording Secretary