SCHUYLERVILLE/VICTORY BOARD OF WATER MANAGEMENT
Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Schuylerville/Victory Board of Water Management held a meeting on July 10, 2007 at 6:30pm in Victory.

 

Present: Commissioners Kori Siciliano, Wendy Lukas, and Whitney Colvin, Alternates Leslie Dennison, Recording Secretary Brenda Buchanan, and Mayor Sherman

 

Alternate Dennison lead the meeting.  Ms. Dennison asked that they alternate chairing the meetings, when they are in Victory, a Victory member can chair and when in Schuylerville, a Schuylerville member can chair, there were no objections.

 

Announcements:

 

The second meetings for July will be July 24th at 6:30 p.m. in Schuylerville.

 

Minutes:

 

There was a discussion on the June meeting minutes not being available in a typed form.  It was stated that they are available for anyone’s review, but they are in note taking form.  They will be available to all members, in a handwritten form at the next meeting.

 

Treasurers Report:

 

There was no formal Treasurers report available.  Alternate Dennison stated she would like to see the abstract of audited vouchers, copies of bank statements, along with the expenditure breakdown.

 

Foreman’s Report:

 

Foreman Dennison stated he was concerned with his earnings not being reported for retirement.  He also stated he does not get a deduction sheet to show his withholdings.  He stated that he believes this is a law, and it should be attached to his paycheck.  Commissioners Lukas asked to address these issues.  She stated that Civil Service is looking at the papers on this issue and they will be making a decision on the status of this issue.  She recommended that Mr. Dennison contact NYS Retirement and Civil Service directly himself and find out what his rights are.  She also recommended Victory put Mr. Dennison back on their books for retirement purposes.  Ms. Lukas stated at this time if you are working for water you are not entitled to retirement.  Ms. Lukas stated as far as the withholding sheets, he should talk with the Schuylerville Clerk about getting this included in his payroll.

 

Foreman Dennison stated that the censor has failed in the Surge tank.  He stated that a service representative came and stated moisture had gotten inside and damaged it.  He stated for a new one it would be $4,000.00 and to repair it would be about $2,760.00.  Commissioner Lukas asked what this censor did.  Foreman Dennison explained that it indicates the level of water in the serge tank before it goes to the sanitary sewer.  Ms. Lukas asked if a new censor comes with any warranty.  Foreman Dennison stated he did not know as of now, but would look into this.  He also stated he would suggest the board go after Clune Electric, (who wired it) and the General Contractor (Miller) because they did not put the plug in, which would have sealed it off.  Commissioner Colvin asked if we have any proof and/or pictures.

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July 10, 2007

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Foreman Dennison stated he knows it was provided but not put in, and also stated he has pictures.  He stated he needed to have this taken care of immediately so he sent it out for repair and it should be back in a day or so.  Foreman Dennison stated he feels the Attorney should send a letter after they get the facts back from the repair company on the censor.

 

Foreman Dennison also asked that the board establish some vendor cards for his use.  He stated in the past he used the Village of Victory’s cards for Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc.  He stated that this is for little items that he can’t get at Curtis.  He stated Victory used to get reimbursed through the water.  He stated that the water can establish their own accounts because they have their own Federal Tax ID.  It was stated that if he could get the info to Schuylerville, they could work on this.

 

Commissioner Colvin asked Foreman Dennison about the Quote for Albertson’s upgrade.  He asked why we can’t do it ourselves.  Foreman Dennison stated that Schuylerville would have to do this distribution work.  Commissioner Colvin asked why we have a backhoe if we can’t do this kind of work ourselves.  Foreman Dennison stated it would be cheaper to hire this out because of the amount of work required. 

 

Commissioner Lukas asked about the water break that Schuylerville repaired while Mr. Dennison was on vacation.  She stated that there was no one available to manage this on the water department side, so who is in charge when Mr. Dennison is on vacation.  Foreman Dennison stated that there was a letter that went to both Villages in regards to Distribution work and the responsibility of the two Villages to handle their own issues.  Mayor Sherman stated that all went OK on this repair.  Commissioner Lukas asked about why the break went on for so long.  They even threatened legal actions before anything was done.  Mayor Sherman stated that they threatened Schuylerville not the Water Board.  At the time they did not know if it was storm sewer or water leak.  Foreman Dennison stated that first of all it was not a water break; it was a small leak on a galvanized line at the curb box under Mr. Silver’s driveway, which he never told anyone about.  He stated he got a letter of the history on this issue and he checked it out.  At the beginning he tested the water and there was no chlorine in the water.  Then the water disappeared for a time period.  Schuylerville DPW looked at the storm sewer line and there were no cracks.  Then a couple of weeks went by and a small amount of water showed up.  They are currently waiting for the area to settle and then they will be paving that area.  Commissioner Colvin stated he hopes we can get on something like this a little quicker next time.  Foreman Dennison stated sometimes we need to wait and let it come up to determine what needs to be done.  He stated that if they were told about the history back in February when this happened, it would not have been this long.  Mayor Sherman stated he was present when Foreman Dennison told Mr. Silver that they were not going to dig until it surfaced and at that time he had not problem with that.

 

Commissioner Lukas asked Mr. Dennison how he receives Health Insurance benefits.  Alternate Dennison stated he gets reimbursed for a spousal insurance plan.

 

Old Business:

 

Project Coordinator and/or Clerk of the works:

Commissioner Lukas stated that they need to move forward and advertise for these positions.  Alternate Dennison stated that we have no job descriptions for these jobs and the board should speak with Laberge on the Clerk of the works.  Commissioner Lukas stated we should discuss this when we have our joint meeting.  Alternate Dennison asked when that was going to be and Commissioner Lukas stated she was not sure as of yet.

 

 

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July 10, 2007

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New Business: 

 

There was some discussion on job descriptions and a list of job duties for the Foreman, Secretary and Treasurer.  It was stated that the board would like a job description and/or a list of job duties from the Foreman and Secretary for next months meeting.  Commissioner Lukas stated she would address the Treasurers job description at the next Schuylerville meeting.

 

There was a discussion on the software support.  It was explained that Harris provided support through a contract with the Village of Victory.  Alternate Dennison made a motion to continue to pay the water portion of this contract for the software package for billing and it was seconded by Commissioner Lukas,  all ayes, motion passed.  Billing dates were discussed for the next billings.  Commissioner Colvin as a Schuylerville Trustee thanked Ms. Buchanan for getting the billing out.

 

Alternate Dennison made a motion to agree to review the contract for the attorney for possible changes and it was seconded by Commissioner Lukas, all ayes, motion passed.

 

Executive Session: 

 

Commissioner Lukas made a motion to go into executive session for matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation, where as there may or may not be any action taken, and it was seconded by Commissioner Colvin, all ayes, motion passed.

 

After returning from Executive session Alternate Dennison made a motion to resume the regular meeting with no action taken, it was seconded by Commissioner Lukas, all ayes, motion passed.

 

 

 

 

 

Alternate Dennison made a motion to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded by Commissioner Colvin, all ayes, motion passed.

 

Respectfully Submitted

 

 

Brenda S. Buchanan,

Recording Secretary