January 26, 2016

Election of Officers:

Attorney Tony Michetti started accepting nomination of officers for 2016 being President, Jackson Wetzel; Vice President; Paul Witmer; Secretary, Jeff Aurand; Treasurer, Dean Williard.  The motion was made by Jackson to accept the nominations & 2nd from Jeff Aurand.  Vote was taken and all were in agreement.

Call to Order: 

President, Jackson Wetzel called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.

Present:

Authority Members:  Dean Williard, Paul Witmer, Jeff Aurand, & Jackson Wetzel

Employees:  Andy Bobb

Solicitor:  Tony Michetti

Citizens:  None

Review of Previous Meeting Minutes:

After a review of the previous month’s meeting minutes a motion was made by Paul and 2nd by Dean to approve the minutes as presented. 

Communications and Notices:  We have a letter dated 12/15/15 from LDG (Larson Design Group) providing their costs & asking consideration to be retained as the Authority’s engineer for 2016.  A motion was made by Dean and 2nd from Jeff to retain LDG as the Authority’s engineer for 2016.  There is no fee to retain only when their services are needed.  Dean will follow through with a letter of notification.  The Authority was notified that Dean was reappointed to the Authority for 5 years & Brian Lenker was named as replacement of Joel Wetzel representing the Herndon Borough.  Dean notified the Authority members that he would be recording the meeting minutes as Tammy was absent due to a family emergency.

Dean had received an email from Patricia Young our CPA dated 1/18/16.  She gave notice that due to heath issues she was no longer doing audits.  She did give a referral to another CPA office for our consideration.

Financial Report and Payment of Listed Bills:

Dean Williard presented financial statements for review by the Authority. There is a balance in the PLIGIT account of $521.95 and the balance in the general account of $64,354.10 and a balance in the Northumberland National Bank Savings account of $1,007.54. A motion was made by Dean and 2nd by Jeff to pay the bills as presented along with the addition of payments to Andrew Bobb for $2,400.00 (December 2015 & January 2016 operator fee), Bobb’s Plumbing and Heating for $393.76, & PP&L $1,681.70. Dean advised that the BB&T (formerly Susquehanna Bank) bank account had been closed & the new bank account was opened with Mid Penn Bank. The auto draft of the loan payment to Northumberland Bank being put in place, deposit of the monies that had been in the BB&T account & deposits of 2 of the 3* settlement checks were deposited into the account.  New checks were also received in time to pay the bills for this evening.

Water/Wastewater System Operator:

Regarding the water system Andy will be meeting with Amy Tull (DEP’s water sanitariun) for an inspection of the water system on Friday, January 26th.

Regarding the water system Andy had a problem with & repaired the chlorinator.  He still needs to get the chlorinator scale repaired or replaced.

Regarding the WWTP Andy had been involved with an inspection of the plant on 12/29 & 12/31 being conducted by Steve Puzio of DEP.  There were no violations found & it was a surprise request for inspection.

Regarding the WWTP Andy informed that we are in receipt of the new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from DEP which is good until 1/31/2021.  It was a lengthy process & we get billed on a yearly basis for the permit.  He advised that we should make a note to start the re-permit request 6 months prior to the 1/31/2021 expiration. The permit will add new annual tests for phosphorus & nitrogen (pertains to water quality of the Chesapeake Bay), new quarterly tests for ammonia-nitrogen, & new daily sample test of dissolved oxygen at the UV chamber.  A new meter may be required to conduct that test.  These additional tests will increase our operating costs.  The increase in $ amounts have not be projected but, the tests are required to stay in compliance.

In general, the PA 1 CALL system does work.  Andy had a issue with a contractor (TRA) who was installing a light pole for the Northumberland County Sr Action Center & the issue of a right of way came up as a result.  Atty Michetti had to be contacted & advised that the Authority did have a 20’ foot right of way at the location where they were doing their work.

Solicitors Report: 

Tony will get in contact with Atty Droogan (the Atty for Pentair-Myers) regarding the check for their share of the 3* party settlement which was agreed to by the Authority.

Old Business:

Dean is going to handle the delinquents and shut offs with Andy.  The walk thru for 2013 list of improvements:

A.) Put grates on head wall of 18” pipe at well site—is pending.

With regards to the SEDA COG grant for the 2” waterline replacement project, a motion was made by Dean with 2nd by Paul to move forward in the hiring of B3 Architects for $10,500 to do the engineering of the project by co-coordinating with Jamie Shrawder @ SEDA COG.  Jamie has given assurances that there will be additional monies available for the project should the bids exceed the original grant of $13,306.  Those funds would come from what remains from $40,000 which is to 1st cover a demolition project  Northumberland County has with an expected cost between $10,000 to $20.000.  This would leave $20,000 to $30,000 additional monies available to the Authority on top of the $13,306.  Dean was instructed by Jamie to provide the outline of how the Authority arrived at costs estimates of $20,000 to $30,000 construction costs & would submit to DCED & Northumberland County.

With regards to the man hole covers, Paul will continue to co-ordinate bidding process with Jackson Township.  It is perceived they would be seeking bids this spring.

With regards to the canopy modification, Andy had been in contact with Ren Wolfe & is it tabled until spring.

New Business:

Dean advised he had been in contact with the CPA firm which Patricia Young had referred to him as a possible replacement for her in conducting our CPA audit.  The yearly audits, also requires filing record of the audit with the Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) which further requires filling out their financial report form DCED-CLGS-04.  The referred firm was emailed a scanned copy of the 2014 audit & our budget for 2014, 2015, & 2016.  Their bid came back at $3500.  Patricia Young’s charge had been $1500.  Dean then placed several calls with a local banker with whom the Authority does business with, the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association (PMAA, & emailed Patricia for any more possible firms.  Dean also had downloaded a copy of the Municipal Authorities Act after being advised that the Authority may not be required to conduct an audit but might benefit (cost wise) by having a review or compilation done.  Attorney Tony Michetti will look into this to ascertain if we are required to conduct a CPA audit or not advising Dean within the week.  Meanwhile, Dean advised after receiving the answer from Tony he would seek more bids.  The audit does not need to be in the hands of DCED until 6/30/2016.

Adjournment:  There being no further business, the public meeting adjourned at 8:18pm.  Motion made by Paul and 2nd from Jeff.

Respectfully Submitted By: Dean Williard, Treasurer

Herndon Borough - Jackson Township

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