LEHMUA Regular Meeting March 13, 2018 The regular meeting of the Little Egg Harbor Municipal Utilities Authority was held on March 13, 2018 at 5:00 P.M. at the Authority headquarters, 823 Radio Road, Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. MEMBERS PRESENT: Margaret De Pergola, Vice Chair; Earl Miller, Secretary; Eugene Kobryn; Richard Crea; Marie Skelly, Treasurer MEMBERS ABSENT: Joseph Koptic, Chairman; Richard Robins OTHERS PRESENT: Earl F. Sutton, Jr., Executive Director; Michael DiFrancia, Superintendent; Colleen Kleinow, Administrative Assistant; Nicole Mezzina, Executive Secretary/QPA; Eric Rundstrom, Authority Engineer; Debra Rumpf, Authority Attorney OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE PER SIGN-IN SHEET: Tonya Trettin, Head Cashier Nicole Mezzina read the following announcement: In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Law, this meeting has been duly advertised in the Atlantic City Press and Asbury Park Press, posted on the Authority bulletin board and posted and filed in the Office of the Little Egg Harbor Township Clerk. Resolutions are posted on the bulletin board. PRIOR MINUTES A motion was made by Mr. Kobryn, seconded by Mr. Crea to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on February 13, 2018. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. INTRODUCTION OF FISCAL YEAR 7/1/18 through 6/30/19 WATER AND SEWR BUDGET Mr. Sutton stated that he attached a memo with regard to the meeting held with Mr. Kobryn and Mrs. Skelly, both members of the Authority s Budget Committee. Mr. Sutton stated that he and the Committee took their time and went over several items. One of the main items was, they wanted to make sure the Authority did not slow down on any of our capital improvement projects. As a matter of fact, the desire moving forward would be to accelerate that, as some of the infrastructure is in deplorable condition and continues to worsen, which only means we are going to spend more money for emergency repairs. In the future, we do not want to reduce any of our services in what we provide. We pride ourselves in the job we do and how we respond to all our customer s needs. At the same time, we need to maintain our capital improvement program. Mr. Sutton stated that moving into 2020, which isn t that far off, we are going to accelerate that plan. We indicated in our newsletter last year, that we were going to have a minor increase in our rates for 2018, and remember, we had no increase in 2017 in our quarterly water and sewer charges. We like to notify our rate payers in advance so there is no surprise.
Mr. Sutton stated that at the end of the day, the recommendation was to introduce the budget with minor increases to the water rate of one (1) dollar per quarter and two (2) dollars per quarter for the sewer, which would be a total of $12.00 per year increase if you are both a water and sewer customer. Mr. Sutton stated that the budget has been submitted for the Board s consideration for preliminary approval. If approved tonight, the next step will be a rate hearing in April, and then it will be sent to the State, and hopefully formally adopted in June. Mr. Crea asked what would the money generated from this do for the Authority? Mr. Sutton stated that it wouldn t be much. The grand total for all customers would add $115,000 per year. Mr. Sutton stated that we have not even fully ramped up our debt service yet. We will be going to closing in May on the final financing for the Twin Lakes Boulevard which will be roughly 4.7 million dollars. Mr. Sutton advised that we are on budget with the project and happy to report we are actually below the total originally budgeted. With this project we are going to come out looking real good. We haven t had many change orders and have had great cooperation with MSP and at the end of the day are very pleased with the project. Mr. Sutton stated that he would like to re-visit the debt service. The debt service will kick in at the end of this year. Then as we continue to do more and more projects, it will create a higher debt service, which in turn will require us to increase rates in the future. Mr. Sutton stated that he believes the average consumer will realize its s justified because they will be able to see the work that has been done. Soon we will be doing the water towers and continuing with new projects. Mr. Sutton stated that tonight it is the recommendation to move forward on Resolution #2018-9 and #2018-10, nine for the water and ten for the sewer, with the minor increases to the water and sewer charges. Mr. Sutton advised the Board that again, tonight is just the introduction to the budget so it can be forwarded to the State for their final approval. There will be a rate hearing in April and formal adoption in June, with rates going into effect on July 1, 2018. A motion was made by Mr. Crea, seconded by Mr. Kobryn, to approve Resolution #2018-9 regarding the Authority Water Budget for fiscal year 7/1/2018 through 6/30/2019. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Crea to approve Resolution #2019-10 regarding the Authority Sewer Budget for fiscal year 7/1/2018 through 6/30/2019. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes.
Mrs. DePergola thanked Mr. Sutton for doing a good job in keeping the budget the way it is and trying to avoid increases and keeping our customers happy. Mr. Sutton thanked Mrs. DePergola. TREASURER S REPORT A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn approving the Treasurer s Report. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. BILLS RESOLUTION A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Crea approving the operational account bills resolution. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR S REPORT 1 Mr. Sutton stated that the first item on his report has already been addressed. 2 Mr. Sutton thanked Mr. Kobryn and Mrs. Skelly for the work regarding the budget process and their very pertinent questions and realizing the Authority s vision for the future. Mr. Sutton also thanked Mr. Logan, the Authority s Auditor for his assistance and preparation of calculations. And last, but not least he thanked the staff at the Authority, in particular Colleen, Nicole and Tonya with their assistance with regard to the internal numbers. He relies on them for looking at the customer numbers, cost of salaries and health care costs, etc. and couldn t do it without them. 3 Mr. Sutton advised that there was a bid opening that took place this morning for the repaving of sections of Twin Lakes Boulevard. There is a resolution to be considered for award which we will take action on later. Mr. Sutton stated that he appreciated the efforts of Mr. Rundstrom with regard to putting the packet together, and we had an excellent participation of contractors bidding today and are very pleased with the end results. Mr. Sutton stated that he is very pleased with our legal counsel as well, and the review that was necessary at the last minute. Mr. Sutton advised that it was imperative that we move forward quickly with regard to this project so we have much more livable road conditions on Twin Lakes Boulevard, until later when the paving is done by the Township. 4 Mr. Sutton advised that this morning we also had a meeting with an online auction for obtaining electric quotes. The Authority did this about two (2) years ago and at that time the rate with Atlantic City Electric was at $0.10 per kilowatt. What s amazing about this is that you go online and multiple companies bid against each other to offer you a lower rate. Last time when we did it, it came in at $0.7924 per kilowatt. Based on our usage we would save around $12,000 per year by making that switch.
Mr. Sutton advised that at 11:00 AM, the auction started and the company that came in with the best rate is a company called Hudson Electric. We ended up at $0.08 per kilowatt, which is a little higher than last time. But with Atlantic City Electric s rates close to $0.09 per kilowatt, we still project our savings to be around $12,000 per year with 25 metered locations. Mr. Crea asked what we pay now? Mr. Sutton stated that we currently pay around $0.09 per kilowatt and this bid locked in at $0.08 for a two (2) year term. There is substantial savings once you compute this out. There are also penalties for pulling out before the term is over. Mr. Sutton stated that it would be the recommendation to move forward with adopting the resolution authorizing the Executive Director to execute the contract with Hudson Energy tomorrow, at the rate of $0.08 per kilowatt. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mrs. DePergola to approve Resolution #2018-6, authorizing the purchase of electricity supply services for the public use on an online auction website. Roll call, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. 5 Mr. Sutton stated that he would need authorization but, with our QPA we can actually go up to $40,000 for this, following our normal procedures with obtaining quotes. Mr. Sutton stated that as discussed before, this is a mandatory situation with the State of New Jersey telling us we have to know the location of every hydrant and valve in the streets using GPS locations. These locations will be mapped out and go on the computer. Mr. Sutton stated that some time ago we received proposals to give us an idea that if we used an independent company, what they could do for us and the cost. Proposals came in anywhere from a minimum of $70,000 to $170,000. We decided that we weren t going to go that route, but rather, purchase the equipment ourselves and the computer software necessary, and utilize it in house to do the locations ourselves. Mr. Sutton advised that we have upcoming requirements to meet by 2019 with the locations of the hydrants and some of the valves. Then from there we will utilize that equipment to locate shut offs in curb locations, street valves, and anything added to the system. Ultimately it will be mapped out and put into a large computer data base we can access from anywhere. Mr. Sutton stated that we need authorization by motion to obtain the minimum of at least three (3) quotes to meet the state requirements for compliance. The cost will be approximately $35,000 for the equipment and software and will not exceed that amount. Mr. Crea asked that once we locate these with the GPS, then what do we do with the equipment, can we use it for other things? Mr. DiFrancia stated that after everything is GPS ed and GIS ed, it goes on a map and our staff can actually use it for multiple purposes such as isolating certain parts of the town, after each valve is situated you can have pictures put in the system, you can have SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) put in there on how to shut down certain things or transfer water from high to low. If you have an employee after hours trying to locate a water box in two to three feet
of snow, or total ice on the ground, your picking up metal from all over the yard. Years ago we used to have to jack hammer all over just to get to the water box. After the GIS we can go out there with a device and be within two (2) inches of the water box. Mr. Sutton stated that these are just the early stages, there is so much potential for what we can use this for later. What we buy now can still be upgraded and used in the future. In addition to knowing where all of our hydrants, valves, clean out boxes, etc. are, this will be important for the future and asset management. Mr. Kobryn stated that similar to Twin Lakes Boulevard where we didn t know where lines were and it cost us additional money because of the phone company and other utilities. Mr. DiFrancia stated that the State has mandated us to do GIS and GPS, maybe one day, they will requires other utilities, such as the phone and electric company to do the same. Mr. Sutton advised that asset management is a concern and was discussed with the Committee when going over the budget. The Authority will know exactly what we have, when it will need to be replaced, and the cost of the replacement so it can be budgeted for accordingly. We will know we have to have that money set aside for it. So at the end of the day this is a good thing. Mrs. DePergola asked if anyone had any questions. There being none, a motion was made by Mr. Kobryn, seconded by Mr. Crea to authorize the Executive Director to purchase GPS Equipment and Software in an amount not to exceed $35,000. All in favor. 6 Mr. Sutton stated that there is one item on the Customer Committee for consideration that was not included in the Friday packet, but at each member s place for tonight. We will address this when we get to Customer Committee on the agenda. 7 Mr. Sutton stated that there are no performance bonds set to expire. There is a maintenance bond for the Water Treatment Plant at Sea Oaks set to expire on April 25, 2018. Mr. Sutton stated that last, but not least, this is a bitter sweet moment as this is Colleen s last official meeting as an employee of the Little Egg Harbor MUA. We are sad to see her go, but excited for her to spend this time with her family and her new grandson. For all the years of hard work she deserves this and much more. She will never be replaced. Mr. Sutton stated that he appreciates everything she has done for the Authority and himself. Mr. Sutton advised that on March 27, 2018 we will have a get together for Colleen at noon. Her family will be here and we would like everyone to come and celebrate. Mr. Crea stated that Colleen is going to be greatly missed. Mrs. DePergola asked if there were any questions with regard to the Executive Director s Report. There being none, a motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn to approve the Executive Director s report as submitted. All in favor. SUPERINTENDENT S REPORT 1 The Twin Lakes Boulevard project is going well. MSP is doing a great job and is scheduled to finish on time. We will have a better idea next month as we approach completion. MSP is up
to Susquehanna Drive with the sewer. They should be out of there Monday and ready to pave with the contract that was discussed earlier. 2 Mr. DiFrancia stated that at this time each year we ask for authorization to solicit bids for our annual contracts for Emergency Repairs, Chemical Contracts and Water and Sewer Plant Supplies. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn for authorization to go to bid for the annual contracts. All in favor. 3 Mr. DiFrancia stated that the annual hydrant flushing will begin April 2, 2018 and run through May 2018. When we hydrant flush it removes all the sediment from the main by creating a scouring velocity which keeps the main clean and provides clean water to our customers. 4 Mr. DiFrancia stated that there was an emergency on South Captains Drive which required immediate repair. There is a resolution on the agenda for tonight. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Crea to approve Resolution #2018-8 declaring an emergency regarding the needed repair of the sanitary sewer line on South Captains Drive. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. 5 - Mr. DiFrancia stated that every month we go over the work order management report. This month there were 13 leaks, 116 meter repairs. Mr. DiFrancia stated that he, Mrs. Trettin and Vinny Johnson have been working on a system with unread meters. Mrs. Trettin had been doing a great job putting together a schedule, contacting the people and following up. Mr. DiFrancia advised that there are 15 reactivated accounts, with one (1) disconnect. Mrs. DePergola asked if there were any questions for the Superintendent. There being none, a motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mrs. Skelly to approve the Superintendent s Report as submitted. All in favor. BUDGET COMMITTEE Mr. Sutton stated that he would just like to recap on the budget discussed earlier and the memo in the packages. It basically outlines the amount of the budget with recommendations to increase both the water and sewer rates. Mr. Sutton stated that one thing he wanted to mention was that in order to balance the budget we used $339,985 of our net appropriations which in essence is our savings, to balance the budget on the sewer side. We base this on how much we take in against what has to be paid out to OCUA, etc. We are currently running a shortfall on that side which is one reason we are proposing a $2.00 increase on the sewer as opposed to the water. Mrs. DePergola asked if there were any questions. There being none, a motion was made by Mr. Kobryn, seconded by Mr. Miller to approve the Budget Committee Report as submitted. All in favor.
CUSTOMER COMMITTEE Mr. Sutton stated that the Authority received a request from the property manager of 53 Kadlubeck Way explaining that there was an excess water charge on the water bill due to a leak in the crawl space because of the cold conditions. Apparently, there was a pipe that disconnected from the water meter in the crawl space and there was an excess of 29,000 gallons of water used. The property manager is requesting forgiveness of all the overage and for no charge on the shut off fee. It was discussed by the Committee that the Authority would forgive 50% of the overage charges and would not waive the shut off fee due to the fact that our staff had to go out and turn the water off. They spent quite a bit of time out there using the metal detector and our equipment. The good news is that we were able to turn the water off and then back on in a small period, so we did not charge for the second time we went back out there. A motion was made by Mr. Kobryn, seconded by Mr. Miller to approve the Customer Committee Report as submitted. All in favor. ENGINEER S REPORT Mr. Rundstrom advised that the report was submitted to the Commissioners. He stated that there was quite a bit today. Mr. Rundstrom advised that we received and opened bids for temporary paving for a portion of Twin Lakes Boulevard as discussed earlier by the Executive Director. There is a recommendation of award from Remington and Vernick for a contractor. Mr. Rundstrom advised that this is similar to what we did in December where we paved a portion of Twin Lakes Boulevard, as a temporary solution to smooth the roadway and fix trenches for service connections. This is basically to curb customer complaints. Mr. Rundstrom advised that the Authority has expanded the scope of work for Phase I of the Mystic Islands project to include East Mohawk due to the capital improvement plan underway. As discussed earlier by the Director the system is starting to fall apart and we are trying to get ahead of it. Mr. Crea asked Mr. Rundstrom about Darryl Drive and if the same principles are involved. He stated that this has been on the report for quite some time. Mr. Rundstrom advised Mr. Crea that the Authority has accepted the developer s bonds. Mr. Sutton confirmed that the Authority does hold the bonds and that this is actually to our benefit. For an example, a couple years ago there was an emergency that required quite a bit of work for our staff. We were able to go back to the bonding company and get reimbursement for those expenses. The good part of this is these bonds do not have an expiration date and that is to our advantage. So yes, it remains on the report, but it is to our advantage. Mr. Sutton stated that if the Board remembers, the original developer went into bankruptcy and it was eventually purchased by someone else. But, had they done what they were supposed to do, and the system was turned over to the Authority, it could be maintained the way it was designed to be.
Mrs. De Pergola asked if there were any questions for the Engineer. There being none, a motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Crea to approve the Engineer s Report as submitted. All in favor. ATTORNEY S REPORT Mrs. Rumpf advised that the report has been provided to the Commissioners. Mrs. Rumpf stated that there was an OPRA request that was discussed with the Executive Director, along with a review of the Performance Guarantee Summary and documents that were reviewed today with regard to the bid documents for Twin Lakes Boulevard. All have been found to be acceptable. Mr. Sutton thanked Mrs. Rumpf for her review of the bid documents from this morning s bid opening. He recognizes that it was last minute, however with this contract, time is of the essence. Mr. Sutton stated that he would like to comment with regard to the OPRA situation. The intent of OPRA was established to benefit the public and provide them with information they are entitled to. In this case, it s a company who wants to obtain a list of all our vendors back to 2013. Then, all they are going to do is share, and possibly sell that information with other vendors, and then we are going to be solicited by them. The amount of time and effort spent for Colleen, and then Nicole to do in the future for the benefit of a company is ridiculous. If we are ever solicited by any of these companies, they will be told that we will not take any of their phone calls. We are doing all of the work for them. In the old days, when you were a salesman you went door to door, and did the work. These companies have us doing all the work under an OPRA request. Mr. Sutton asked Mrs. Kleinow how many pages the report was that this particular company wanted? Mrs. Kleinow advised that it was 818 pages, back to 2013. Mr. Sutton advised that by law we would have only been entitled to $0.05 per page. So, for $40 we would have received, it was a lot effort and hours of work. Mr. Sutton stated that he was so aggravated over this he contacted Mrs. Rumpf and inquired whether we really had to do this? She advised him that we did. Mr. Sutton stated that in his opinion, we need to do a letter or pass a resolution stating that legislation in the State of New Jersey should prohibit this type of request for public entities, where businesses benefit from it and it wastes our time. Mr. Sutton advised the Board that every week we have to provide information for the benefit of some company. We did adopt a new OPRA request form in hopes it would deter some of this, but the only stipulation on there is they have to sign that that they have never been arrested. So, we still have to honor these requests. Mr. Crea asked what happens if we don t do them?
Mr. Sutton advised that we have to and if we don t do it, we are withholding information and if the public sees that, we are open to criticism. We are very open to the public. At any time they can come to a meeting or come into the office and ask questions. But this is a waste of time and not to our benefit or the public s benefit. This is all for solicitation. Mrs. DePergola asked if there were any questions for the Attorney. There being none a motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn to approve the Attorney s Report as submitted. A motion was made Mr. Kobryn, seconded by Mr. Crea approving Resolution #2018-7, authorizing the reimbursement to Richard Leonardis, Lien Holder for payment made affecting Block 326.11 Lot 8. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobyrn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn approving Resolution #2018-11, awarding a contract for the Twin Lakes Boulevard Road Reconstruction Project to Arawak Paving Company, Inc. Roll call vote, Earl Miller yes, Marie Skelly yes, Eugene Kobryn yes, Richard Crea yes, Margaret DePergola yes. Mr. Sutton thanked Mr. Rundstrom for his work on this, and is very pleased with the bids received. Mrs. DePergola asked if there were any other matters to come before the Board. There were none. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn to accept and file all correspondence. All in favor. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Crea to open this portion of the meeting to the public. All in favor. There being no public present, a motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Kobryn to close the public portion of the meeting. All in favor. There being nothing further, and no matters for executive session. A motion was made by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mrs. Skelly to adjourn. All in favor. Approved on (date)