Ben Caviglia Anthony Gaetano Peter Berkley Herman Redd

Transcription

1 A Public Hearing for the 2014 Connection Fee of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority was held at 6:00 P.M. on in the Borough Hall, 47 Broad Street, Eatontown, New Jersey. The 2014 connection fee was increased from $1, to $1, and adopted on a unanimous voice vote. No public attended the Hearing. The Minutes of the Hearing were transcribed by Betsy Condiotti & Associates, Court Reporting Services. A Public Hearing for the adoption of the 2015 Budget of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority was held at 6:06 P.M. on in the Borough Hall, 47 Broad Street, Eatontown, New Jersey. No one from the public attended the Hearing. The Minutes of the Hearing were transcribed by Betsy Condiotti & Associates, Court Reporting Services. The regular meeting of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority was held at 6:15 p.m. on January 13, 2015 in the Borough Hall, 47 Broad Street, Eatontown, New Jersey. The Chairman, Brian Charnick, called the meeting to order by making the following statement: This is a regular meeting of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority made pursuant to Chapter 291 of the Public Meeting Act by declaring notice thereof at least 48 hours prior to this meeting to The Link News and to the Borough Clerk. Notice has also been posted in the public corridor of this Borough Hall. MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT: ALSO PRESENT: ABSENT: CITIZENS PRESENT Brian Charnick Ben Caviglia Anthony Gaetano Peter Berkley No One Robert Oliwa, Auditor Steve Colvelle, Auditor s Assistant John Bonello, Authority Attorney Eileen Murphy, Authority Engineer Richard Johnson, Superintendent Anita Andrus, Treasurer Michelle Hu, Assistant Treasurer Ted Lewis, Executive Director No One

2 Page 2 of 10 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Caviglia moved to approve the minutes of the regular monthly meeting held on December 9, 2014 as submitted. The motion was seconded by Mr. Redd and adopted on a unanimous voice vote. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES, MEMBERS & ENGINEER Engineering Committee There was no Committee s Report. Engineer s Report * Ms. Murphy presented the report with the following addition. Year 1 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project Ms. Murphy reported that National Water Main Cleaning Company has completed most of the trenchless repairs on side streets and will start working on Highway 35 on January 14 th if the weather permits it. The work is expected to be completed by the end of January. Superintendent s Report * Mr. Johnson offered his report with the following additions: Industrial Way West Pump Station KRS has diagnosed that the #2 pump alarm stopped working due to the failed variable frequency drive. Mr. Johnson reported the Authority went to a more sensitive electronic system with all the new upgrades. The Equipment was damaged by electrical surges experienced during lightning storms, and this situation has been an ongoing problem for years. There is no electrical transformer in the pump stations to step-down the voltages. Ms. Murphy will ask T&M electric engineers to see if they have any recommendations for surge relief in the pumps stations and what technologies are available to protect sensitive electronics. Willow Street Sewer Main When performing trenchless repairs on Willow Street, National Water Main Cleaning Company, the Authority s Contractor, found a new large opening on the side of an 8 pipe. Mr. Johnson reported that this break was not there when his team did initial televising of the pipe. It appeared that the New Jersey American Water Company damaged the sewer main during the installation of a new water main. Mr. Johnson took pictures of the exact locations of the new water main and the break of the sewer pipe. Since this is an emergency, he spoke with T&M and decided to let NWMCC fix the pipe immediately while they were doing the repairs for the Year 1 Sanitary Sewer Rehab Project. The Authority will keep an eye on the bill from NWMCC for the additional cost occurred. At this point, the Board determined that it was not necessary to let T&M prepare a change order for the repair.

3 Executive Director s Report * Mr. Lewis was on sick leave so there was no Executive Director s Report. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Eatontown Sewerage Authority Page 3 of 10 Route 35/Mall Jug Handle Repair Issue T&M finalized the revised plan for the filling and abandoning of an 8 sanitary sewer and submitted it to JF Kiely to get a revised quote for the repair. Ms. Murphy provided two sets of revised plans to the Authority, one for the office and the other one for Mr. Johnson to review. Fort Monmouth Redevelopment Master Plan The Authority received ESA Sewer Master Plan from T&M Associates on the 13 th and distributed it to the members for review. The plan reflects proposed development, the capacity analysis of the three pump stations, conceptual plans, cost of improvements, and etc. Mr. Lewis has spoken to Mr. Rick Harrison of FMERA about the $6,000 reimbursement toward the ESA s Master Plan expenses. Mr. Harrison offered to send $3,000 first and will send another $3,000 after he receives the report. Mr. Charnick indicated that the plan should also consider the three other towns involved and TRWRA activities and come up with a logical flow that would fit in the overall redevelopment of Fort Monmouth. In reference to the Charles Wood area in the report, Mr. Berkley pointed out that Sun Eagles Golf Course is east of Hope Road and Charles Wood area is west of Hope Road, which is in the Tinton Falls section of Fort Monmouth, so Charles Wood area is not any designated part of Eatontown. Ms. Murphy explained that this plan is designed to determine the maximum capacity to accept flow from the future redevelopment of Fort Monmouth. As per the Board s request, the Authority will mail a copy of the report to Mr. Harrison once the supplement to the Master Plan is received from T&M Associates to expand the existing 10 foot wide easement located at the former Howard Commons area to a 25 foot wide easement. Revision to the Rules and Regulations of Grease Interceptor Mr. Charnick noticed that the Authority has already spent more than $6,000 on updating the Rules and Regulations regarding grease interceptors. Mr. Caviglia explained that there were extensive changes to the Rules and Regulations such as eliminating the minimum 1,000 gallon requirement, facility square footage, the need for grease interceptor waivers, and etc. The final draft was completed by T&M in January after the Engineering Committee, Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Berkley met in December. Mr. Berkley searched for the size and certain type of equipment. It took a while to get the information back. He recommended developing a budget in the future to better control the cost for this type of project. Mr. Charnick suggested appointing a member to oversee the project and give feed back on the status. He also reported that some developers complained excessive reviews conducted by T&M Associates caused their bills to go up. Mr. Berkley indicated that the owner of Eagle Specialty Coffee came to the meeting to complain that he received excessive charges in engineering costs because T&M charged his phone conversations to his escrow. The owner also complained that the rules are excessive. That triggered the Board to decide to update the Grease Interceptor Rules and Regulations. Ms.

4 Page 4 of 10 Murphy explained that T&M provides specific information on the bills including hours, hourly rate, title of the person, and explanation of the charges. Mr. Caviglia offered a Resolution approving an amendment to the Rules and Regulations of Grease Interceptors. The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Berkley and adopted on the following roll call vote: NEW BUSINESS Adoption of 2013 Audit Mr. Robert Oliwa, authority auditor, reported that the Authority had better collections in 2013 due to a rate increase in sewer service charges. Connection Fees actually went down from over $100,000 in 2012 to $55,000 in 2013; however, sewer service charges realized in 2013 increased by $130,314 to $3,300,933 from $3,170,619 in Mr. Oliwa indicated that an adequate amount of employees would provide better separation of duties which promotes the accuracy of the accounting records. Cash-handling should be separated from accounting duties that are reconciliation of bank statements and making entries to general ledger system. An employee must not have access to the accounting records with cash-handling duties. He recommended the Authority members be actively involved at least on a monthly basis in reviewing financial reports. Mr. Caviglia offered a Resolution approving the 2013 Audit. The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Redd and adopted on the following roll call vote: 2014 Connection Fee Approval Mr. Oliwa has proposed the Authority s 2013 connection fee of $1, per unit be increased to $1, per unit for The Board discussed and approved the 2014 connection fee in the amount of $1,

5 Page 5 of 10 Mr. Caviglia offered a Resolution approving an increase in the 2014 Connection Fee from $1, to $1, The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Charnick and adopted on the following roll call vote: AFFIRMATIVE: Brian Charnick, Ben Caviglia, Anthony Gaetano, Peter Berkley and Adoption of 2015 Budget Mr. Oliwa reported that 2015 budget operating appropriations have decreased by approximately 5.00%, or $186,000, over the 2014 level. Since the Authority paid off the MCIA bonds in 2014, the largest budgeted decrease in 2015 was for debt service payments in the amount of $187,000. He was impressed by the Authority s 2015 budget which has used the lowest amount of surplus to fund operation since 2009; only $35,000 available surplus was used to offset the expenditure side with the revenue as compared to the 2014 budget that utilized $275,000 surplus to balance it. The main driver is the decrease of $187,000 in the debt service and the increase in the service revenue. The 2015 annual budget reflects total revenues of $3,364,560, total appropriations of $3,399,560, and total unrestricted net position utilized of $35,000. The 2015 Capital Budget reflects total capital appropriations of $250,000 and total unrestricted net position planned to be utilized of $250,000. The Authority has about a total of $13,000,000 worth of assets, but property, plant, and equipment are around $10,000,000. The rest of the assets are cash that is set aside for developer s escrow, bond payments, accounts payable and accrued expenses, and etc. Mr. Oliwa indicated that there is approximately $2,000,000 in unrestricted net assets in the Authority s general bank accounts that can be utilized to balance operations and fund the capital improvement program. If the Authority would like to have a major capital improvement which would cost $500,000 to $1,000,000 in the future, in order to keep usable capital, he recommended considering financing instead of using unrestricted net assets. Mr. Oliwa also pointed out that because the Authority spent only $72,599 in 2014 for capital improvement projects out of the $250,000 budget, it helped preserve unrestricted surplus. Based on Mr. Oliwa s recommendations, Mr. Caviglia offered a Resolution to adopt the Annual Budget and Capital Budget of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2015, and ending December 31, The Annual Budget and Capital Budget as presented for adoption reflects each item of revenue and appropriation in the same amount and title as set forth in the introduced and approved budget. The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Gaetano and adopted on the following roll call vote:

6 Page 6 of 10 Resolution # : Group Affidavit for 2013 Audit The Board members certified that they have personally reviewed and are familiar with the contents of the Eatontown Sewerage Authority s 2013 Audit and executed the Group Affidavit for 2013 Audit at the meeting. Resolution # : Closing Out American Multi-Cinema Project, Monmouth Mall The Authority Engineer, Eileen Murphy of T&M Associates, has confirmed that an inspection of the improvements has been made as well as a television inspection of the existing sewer lateral, and they found that it was done in accordance with Authority standards. Based on the Authority Engineer s recommendation, Mr. Charnick offered a Resolution authorizing closing out American Multi-Cinema, Inc. project and releasing the remaining escrow funds subject to payment of any outstanding fees. The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Caviglia and adopted on the following roll call vote: Resolution # : Closing Out Ilan High School Project, 2015 Broad Street The owners of Ilan High School submitted plans to construct a building addition onto the existing building located at 215 Broad Street. However, the project was never completed by the owner of the property. The Authority has been advised that the property was sold in December, The owner has requested the closeout of the escrow account and the release of the escrow funds. Resolution authorizing closing out Ilan High School project and releasing the remaining escrow funds subject to payment of any outstanding fees was offered by Mr. Charnick, seconded by Mr. Gaetano and adopted on the following roll call vote:

7 Page 7 of 10 ABSTENTION: ABSENT: None None Resolution # : Approval of Change Order/Year 1 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Trenchless Point Repairs Project There are three trenchless repairs identified on Willow Street through video which has been reviewed by the Authority Engineer. The addition of these repairs will result in an increase of the contract amount by $6, from $58, to $64, Ms. Eileen Murphy of T&M Associates has reviewed the proposal and recommended the change order be approved. Resolution authorizing approval of the Change Order for the Year 1 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Trenchless Point Repairs Project with National Water Main Cleaning Company increasing the contract amount by $6, from $58, to $64, was offered by Mr. Charnick, seconded by Mr. Redd, and adopted on the following roll call vote: Discussion of Results of the Easement Surveys The Authority has received final signed and sealed survey maps from T&M Associates. It cost over $16,000 to survey the three force main easements including the payment to DMC Associates and Land Surveyors for performing the field work. The survey results are terrific and reported by Mr. Caviglia as follows: Reynolds Drive to Malibu Drive: The force main is right about in the middle of the easement. There is a lot of shrubbery and a few big trees on the easement. Mr. Caviglia recommended that Mr. Johnson hire a landscaper to clear the trees after his crew marks out the easement. Mr. Berkley expressed concerns about trees screening for privacy between homes on Malibu Dr. and Reynolds Dr. and suggested notifying home owners before the Authority takes any actions. Old Deal Road and Christopher Way: This is a dog-leg shaped easement. There are a lot of large trees on the easement that need to be removed. Since Mr. Johnson and his team may not be able to mark out this easement using north and east coordinates on the survey, Mr. Caviglia suggested hiring DMC Associates and Land Surveyors to stake it out to show where the boundaries are and then hire a landscaper to cut down the trees. The Authority will obtain price quotes and report it back to the Board for further discussion. Grant Avenue to Eatoncrest Pump Station: During the survey there were two government buildings discovered on top of the 10 foot wide easement located at the former Howard

8 Page 8 of 10 Commons area of Fort Monmouth. The current EatonCrest Pump Station force main is located within the easement just right under the fence and goes all the way to Grant Ave which runs along the Board of Education s property. Since the easement is only 10 feet wide, it would be difficult to maintain and repair the main in the easement with heavy duty equipment such as giant excavators and backhoes if there is a problem. In addition, since the Authority Rules and Regulations and the Eatontown Code require an easement to be a minimum of 25 feet wide to meet industry practice, Mr. Caviglia recommended the Board negotiate with FMERA that the existing 10 foot easement be expanded to a 25 foot wide easement which will be extended onto the Ft. Monmouth property. Mr. Bonello suggested that the Authority should focus on obtaining the additional 15 foot wide easement from FMERA instead of private owners before the land is sold. Mr. Charnick advised Ms. Murphy to add addendum No.1 into the ESA Sewer Master Plan requesting for expansion the existing 10 foot wide easement to a width of 25 feet that will provide a better construction access for performing maintenance and repair activities. BILLS & TRANSFERS BILLS Resolution to authorize paying the bills in the amount of $80, as submitted from the operating account in Central Jersey Bank was offered by Mr. Charnick, seconded by Mr. Gaetano, and adopted on the following roll call vote: APPROVAL OF TRANSFERS FROM THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNTS TD Revenue Trust to Central Jersey Bank Operating Account: (January, 2015 Operating Expenses) $ 80, TD Revenue Trust to Central Jersey Bank Payroll Account: (February, 2015 Salaries) $ 33, TD Revenue Trust to Central Jersey Bank Payroll Account: (2015 Annual Employer Pension Appropriation) $ 38, Total Transfers: $152, Resolution to authorize the monthly transfers from TD revenue trust account to Central Jersey Bank operating account to pay the bills in the amount of $80,297.37, to Central Jersey Bank payroll account for the payroll of February, 2015 in the amount of $33, and for the

9 Page 9 of PERS employer appropriation in the amount of $38, was offered by Mr. Charnick, seconded by Mr. Caviglia, and adopted on the following roll call vote: Resolution to authorize payments for capital improvements from Central Jersey Bank operating account to T&M Associates for Year 1 Sanitary Sewer Rehab Oct./Nov in the amount of $1,736.38, for Year 1 Sanitary Sewer Rehab Dec in the amount of $5,162.00, for Force Main Easement surveys in the amount of $16,204.00, for the Fort Monmouth Sewer Master Plan in the amount of $5,207.66, and for Pump Station Maintenance Contract in the amount of $4, was offered by Mr. Charnick, seconded by Mr. Caviglia, and adopted on the following roll call vote: EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion to go into Executive Session at 7:30 p.m. for the purpose of discussing personnel matters was offered by Mr. Caviglia, seconded by Mr. Gaetano, and adopted on a unanimous voice vote. Upon completion, the Executive Session was closed. The Board members returned to the Regular Session at 7:35 p.m. During the Executive Session, the Board discussed and determined Mrs. Anita Andrus be appointed as Acting Executive Director in the absence of Mr. Ted Lewis, the Executive Director, for medical reasons. Mr. Caviglia offered a Resolution to appoint Mrs. Anita Andrus as an Acting Executive Director of Eatontown Sewerage Authority during the absence of the Executive Director. The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Redd, and adopted on the following roll call vote:

10 Page 10 of 10 ADJOURNMENT With no further business to address, Mr. Charnick moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:35 p.m. It was seconded by Mr. Caviglia and adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. Assistant Treasurer * All reports of Committees, Members & Engineer are available for the public to review in the Authority s Office and can also be reviewed online.