SCHUYLERVILLE/VICTORY BOARD OF WATER MANAGEMENT
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Schuylerville/Victory Board of Water Management held a meeting on March 20,
2007 at 7:00pm in Schuylerville.
Present: Commissioner Kori
Siciliano, Alternates Leslie Dennison and Mike Hughes. Foreman Mark Dennison, Recording
Secretary Brenda Buchanan, Mayor George Sullivan.
Alternate Leslie Dennison opened the meeting with the pledge and Chaired the meeting.
Announcements:
The meetings for April will be April 10th in Victory at 6:30pm
and April 24th in Schuylerville also at 6:30pm
Minutes:
none
Treasurers Report:
The Treasurers Report was read, bank balances as of February 28, 2007.
Payment of Claims
(Vouchers): The Treasurer was
inquiring how the water board will ensure claims are paid. The lead fiscal agency reviews and approves
all vouchers submitted for payment however as the department lead (meaning the
water board) a representative or a quorum of the board will have to sign off
allowing the claims to be paid on a timely basis. She was looking for advisement on this issue. It was asked if anyone knew who
Schuylerville was going to have replace the previous chairman (due to his
resignation). Alternate Hughes from
Schuylerville stated they have some names but have not appointed anyone as of
yet. There was some discussion on the
entire board signing the vouchers or appointing someone to sign them. There was some discussion on appointing
someone Chair. At this time they
discussed waiting until they had a full board.
There was a discussion on asking Kori Siciliano to temporarily sign the
vouchers so we can get claims paid, until a chairman is decided on. Ms. Siciliano stated she would be able to do
this on a temporary basis. Alternate Hughes made a motion to appoint
Kori Siciliano as temporary Chair to sign and approve vouchers and it was
seconded by alternate Dennison, all ayes, motion passed.
Worker’s Compensation Claims: The Treasurer reported that an agreement is requested directly from Saratoga County so there is a clear agreement between the villages on how future claims will be handled can remain on file. Alternate Dennison asked the attorney Phil Dixon to look into this agreement and give his opinion on this issue. Ms. Dennison asked Mr. Dixon if it would be in the best interest of the water and two villages if we made people employees instead of independent contractors. Mr. Dixon stated that if someone acts in the capacity as an employee and something happens, that can create problems. He stated it is better off if they are water employees or village employees and then you do the reimbursement procedure. It was stated that with workman’s compensation it is better to have employees. Mr. Dixon stated that this is a policy question.
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March 20, 2007
Pages two
Mayor Sullivan asked the board about the status of Dave Coffinger and working on water weekends. Alternate Hughes stated that the Village wanted Mr. Coffinger out of the plant during village time. He stated that this will not effect distribution and things will stay the same when it comes to that. Mayor Sullivan stated that the water board put a lot in the investment with Mr. Coffinger with the training and classes and now we are in a position that this will hurt the water board. Alternate Dennison stated she felt we need to get an advertisement out and get some help in as water employees. Foreman Dennison stated that if they could get in a full time employee, even if he didn’t have his license, he could go to Hudson Valley and get his hours in and classroom training and on the job training. Mayor Sullivan asked if they needed someone fulltime or what time frame. It was discussed that if the job was opened up, Mr. Coffinger could apply for this position in stead of working for both. Foreman Dennison stated he would contact the guys in Saratoga and see if anyone would be interested in helping out for awhile. He also stated they will need to be trained on our system, just because they have a IIA licenses this does not qualify them running the water plant. Alternate Dennison stated that she feels the budget needs to be revised to include another full time employee. Alternate Leslie Dennison made a motion to put an advertisement out in the newspapers for a full time employee and the requirements given by the Chief Operator and it was seconded by Alternate Mike Hughes, all ayes, motion passed.
Foreman Dennison asked Alternate Hughes if Dave Coffinger will still be able to do distribution. Mr. Hughes stated that they will provide for distribution and they will not take him off the streets. Mayor Sullivan wanted clarification on him not working inside the plant, but can work on distribution. Mr. Hughes stated as far as of right now that is the case. Commissioner Siciliano asked if Hudson Valley has a program for this license maybe they have an intern program we could get some help from. Foreman Dennison stated he would contact his Rep’s from Rural Water, maybe they know someone.
Mayor Sullivan brought up one more issue that needs to be addressed, if they are going to hire they need to clearly understand that they will continue operation to operate as a municipal function. He stated he would not want to see a company come into do this and get rid of the current or future employees. He stated we need a commitment from the villages and employees. Alternate Hughes stated he agreed but they have no control over the future boards as how they control the operation of the system. Alternate Dennison asked Mr. Dixon if we could come up with some agreement on the running of the plant and have the two villages sign in agreement. Mr. Dixon stated he would look into this issue. Mayor Sullivan stated he believes it must go to an authority to do so. It’s up to the board how it is run. Mr. Dixon stated he would look into this and report back to the board. Mayor Sullivan asked Mr. Dixon to give his legal opinion on what the board can do without consent of both boards. Any amendments that make any change must be approved by both boards not just he water board.
Phone Service: There was a discussion on the Nextel phone
that was turned in by Dave Coffinger.
It was asked what to do with the phone being it will cost money to turn
it off. Commissioner Siciliano made a motion to approve holding the phone for
the next employee to save the cost of turning it off and it was seconded by
Alternate Dennison, all ayes, motion passed.
Victory Plans: There was a question on where this issue stands. There was no decision determined as Commissioner Kline still has plans to review. Mayor Sullivan had questions on the SEQR for Mr. Dixon and he stated he would look into this issue.
Verizon agreement renewal: There was a discussion on the service verizon provides and Foreman Dennison stated that it has not provided what they stated they would in the beginning. Mayor Sullivan stated maybe they could get some quotes from other companies. Foreman Dennison also suggested we follow up with Verizon and asked about the service they stated they could provide.
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March 20, 2007
Pages three
Change Orders: There are some change orders that need to be discussed approved or disapproved.
- ¾” PH Tap $150.00 At the
time of installation Foreman Dennison asked that this be upgraded and Mayor
Sullivan stated he recommended this be approved because it was needed. Alternate
Dennison made a motion to approve the $150.00 change order for the Tap change,
it was seconded by Alternate Hughes, all ayes, motion passed.
-Plaque Pedestal- There was 500.00 in the budget for this and they
were not able to install it on a pedestal, they installed the plaque directly
on the building and the cost of the plaque was $931.00. Laberge is stating we should get a credit
because they did not use the pedestal.
They have gone over budget with the plaque, she stated they were happy
with calling it even. Mayor Sullivan
recommended we call this even. Alternate
Dennison made a motion to authorize the use of no pedestal and call the cost
even, it was seconded by Alternate Hughes, all ayes, motion passed.
-Bolts- There was a discussion on Victaulic bolts, which is a type of steel not stainless steel. The contractor is claiming they did what the specs called for. It was stated that this should be an issue we have with Laberge not the contractor.
-Caustic Pump change outs: There was a discussion on these pumps not being big enough to bring up the PH to a sufficient level. The contractor put in the pumps according to the spec’s. Laberge wants them to provide a $750.00 credit for the cost of labor incurred to both change out the caustic pumps and install the sequestering/corrosion control pumps. After a discussion Alternate Dennison made a motion not the seek out this $750.00 credit from the contractor and it was seconded by Commissioner Siciliano, all ayes, motion passed. Mayor Sullivan suggested a letter go to Laberge that stated we agree we are owed but not by the contractor but by the engineers.
-Loading
Dock extension: There was a
discussion on the loading doc area.
Miller put in a larger pad because the size would not be adequate if
there was a chemical spill. They claim
they got the approval from Ed Davis.
Mayor Sullivan stated that if he said that it was wrong. We needed to approve change orders before
they occur. Alternate Hughes made a motion to approve this additional expense of
$1,034.00 and it was seconded by Alternate Dennison, all ayes, motion passed.
-Air Conditioning Opening:
There was a discussion on the air conditioning opening being in the
plans but not showing where to put it.
They had additional expenses to do this work. Mayor Sullivan suggested we don’t pay this amount, because they
had to know it had to go somewhere. Alternate Hughes made a motion not to pay
this additional expense at $316.00 and it was seconded by Alternate Dennison,
all ayes, motion passed.
-Add columns to platforms at tanks: There was a discussion on Miller adding columns to the tanks that were needed. Alternate Hughes made a motion to pay this additional $424.00 and it was seconded by Alternate Dennison, all ayes, motion passed.
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March 20, 2007
Pages four
Foreman’s Report:
Foreman Dennison reported that hopefully by Friday we will get the canister back for RO2. He reported that on Sunday he got a call about high level of PH. This problem is at the sewer plant. This was traced by to the surge tank. This is being monitored and he has set up an inspection program to keep an eye on this issue. Mr. Dennison stated he would like to see a probe for the tank, which would be a good idea. Alternate Hughes suggested Mr. Dennison get some quotes on the probe and bring back to the next meeting.
Foreman Dennison also stated that they have planned on flushing hydrants again probably next week, due to getting some complaints again.
Old Business:
There was a request from the Treasurer on authorization of
paying two invoices still outstanding with Laberge ($1,091.99 &
$1,210.69). These two invoices are for
reimbursable expenses and the remainder of the construction contract amount and
as outlined respectively in each of the invoices breakdown. It was advised that these invoices were on
hold until after the agreement on the out of scope services was determined,
which since has been resolved. Alternate Dennison made a motion to approve
the payments for the two invoices in question and it was seconded by
Commissioner Siciliano, all ayes, motion passed.
New Business:
There was a discussion on distribution work in the villages. Alternate Dennison stated that the villages should take care of their village when it comes to distribution work, now more because of the lack of personnel at the water plant. After a discussion it was determined to send a letter to each village, explaining that distribution will be looked upon as the responsibility of the villages under the direction of the Foreman.
Executive Session:
none
Alternate Dennison
made a motion to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded Commissioner Siciliano,
all ayes, motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted
Brenda
S. Buchanan,
Recording Secretary