SC Minutes

Burrillville Sewer Commission

Regular Meeting of June 13, 2017

Board Room of the BWWTF

Members Present:  William A. Andrews – Chairman

                                       Richard Nolan – Vice Chairman

                                       Russell Fontaine – Secretary

                                       Wayne G. Barber – Commission Member

                                       Gary Rouleau – Commission Member

Also Present :  Timothy Kane – Attorney for the Commission

                            James J. Geremia – Consulting Engineer

                            John E. Martin III – Superintendent

                            Stacey Richard – Office Manager

                            Ronald Parenteau – Representing Columbus Club

Mr. Andrews opened the meeting at 6:37 PM.

Agenda Item – The question of accepting the Minutes of the Public Hearing of May 9, 2017 and the Regular Meeting of May 9, 2017; and the question of dispensing with the reading of said Minutes.

Voted – Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Minutes of the Public Hearing of May 9, 2017 and the Regular Meeting of May 9, 2017 and to dispense with the reading of said Minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Public Comment – None

RI Infrastructure Bank – Account #BSC-16B – loan status update as of May 31, 2017.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to receive and file RI Infrastructure Bank – Account #BSC-16B – loan status update as of May 31, 2017. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Letter from RIDEM to John Pacheco III, President of the Burrillville Town Council, regarding Burrillville WWTF 2016 Compliance Evaluation Inspection, no deficiencies found.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to receive and file the letter from RIDEM regarding Burrillville WWTF 2016 Compliance Evaluation Inspection. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Memo from Stacey Richard, Office Manager, regarding selecting charity/ies for $1,000.00 donation from SBA Tower Rental per terms of agreement.

Mr. Nolan made a motion to designate the funds to be split between Between the Cracks and the Burrillville Weekend Snack Pack program, $500.00 each. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Recommendation by Superintendent, John E. Martin III, for Award of Bid, Wastewater Treatment Process Chemicals.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the recommendations made by Mr. Martin for each of the lowest bidders, per the memo of June 6, 2017. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Adoption and Implementation of the Operations and Maintenance Budget for FY18.

Mr. Martin gave a brief overview of the proposed budget. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the proposed Operations and Maintenance Budget for FY18 in the amount of $2,526,065.00. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Adoption of Exhibit A (fee schedule) of the Rules and Regulations.

Mr. Barber made a motion to accept the adoption of Exhibit A (fee schedule) of the Rules and Regulations for FY18. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fontaine. All in favor, so voted.

Correspondence:

17-12-01 – Correspondence from Latonya Marzett, owner of 385 Church Street, requesting an abatement for the time period that she was billed for a two family when the house is a single family.

Mr. Andrews stated that per the letter from Ms. Marzett, this issue dates back to August, 2014. Ms. Richard stated that the Town of Burrillville website shows the home as a single unit. There is no record of this property having been a two family home. There was some discussion on this matter. Mr. Barber made a motion to table this issue until the next Sewer Commission meeting, in order to obtain more information. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fontaine. All in favor, so voted.

17-12-02 – Correspondence from Ronald Parenteau asking to address the Commission regarding a possible abatement of the sewer use bill for the Columbus Club. The water has been turned off and the property is being sold.

Letter from Pascoag Utility District stating the water has been turned off at the Columbus Club since December of 2015.

Mr. Parenteau stated that the property has been vacant since July of 2015 and the property is in the process of being sold. He is asking for an abatement of sewer use charges until the property has been sold. Mr. Fontaine asked for assurance that Mr. Parenteau let the Commission know as soon as the property has been sold. Mr. Parenteau agreed that he will let the Commission know once the property has been sold. Mr. Andrews asked Mr. Kane if the Commission would place a lien on the property to ensure that the Commission is informed of the transfer. Mr. Kane stated that the Commission would not place a lien on the property. However, when a property is sold, the closing attorney would do a lien inquiry with the town, which would in turn alert the Commission of the sale.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to approve the abatement of the sewer use bill going forward until the property has been sold. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

New Business:

Preliminary Engineering Agreement from RIDOT regarding the replacement of Railroad Ave bridge No. 354.

Email from James J. Geremia, Engineer, regarding conversation with Mr. Alsabe from RIDOT.

Mr. Geremia stated that the Commission received correspondence from RIDOT several months ago stating that they would need to relocate the sewer line in order to proceed with work on the Railroad Ave bridge. Mr. Geremia’s office reviewed the inital plans for the sewer line relocation. It is the policy of the Commission to forward the invoice for the review to the customer. The invoice was sent to RIDOT for payment. Mr. Geremia contacted RIDOT several months later, as the bill had not been paid. The engineer suggested that the Commission sign a Preliminary Engineering Agreement, receive payment for the first review, and with each subsequent review the agreement would be amended to cover the cost. Mr. Geremia then proposed to prepare a budget and revise the contract to include the projected cost for the numerous reviews that are anticipated on this project. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to refer this matter to Mr. Kane to modify the agreement and report back to the Commission. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Old Business: None

Invoices:

James J. Geremia & Assoc., Inc. FY2017 Invoice #4 for General Engineering services rendered in connection with House Lateral Inspections, in the amount of $1,646.58 – Fund 8100.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to pay James J. Geremia & Assoc., Inc. FY2017 Invoice #4 in the amount of $1,646.58 from Fund 8100. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Engineer’s Report:

Phosphorous/Copper Project Status Report of Construction – Minutes of Job Meeting No. 28

                                                                                                                          Minutes of Job Meeting No. 29

                                                                                                                          Minutes of Job Meeting No. 30

Nexom -                                                                                                        Minutes of Start-Up Meeting No. 1

Mr. Geremia stated that after Pay Request #7 from RI Infrastructure Bank has been paid, the Commission will have $160,588.00 remaining in the loan amount.  Mr. Geremia stated that the contracted work is approximately 90% complete. Looming and seeding is currently taking place. Paving will begin within the next few weeks. Mr. Geremia and Mr. Martin are working with Nexom to resolve some issues regarding peak flow capacity. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Engineer’s Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

SRF (Account #BSC-16B)

                RI Infrastructure Bank – Pay Request #7 in the amount of $358,412.54

                                Exhibit A – RI State Revolving Fund project payment request form

                                Exhibit F – Wage Requirements

Exhibit G – Certification regarding Debarment, Suspension & other Responsibility Matters

Exhibit H – American Iron & Steel Certification

James J. Geremia & Associates, Inc. – Inv. #16 in the amount of $34,119.53

Hart Engineering – Pay Request #13 in the amount of $261,698.16

Blue Water Tech (Nexom) – Pay Request #7 in the amount of $62,594.85

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to approve and to authorize the Chairman to sign RI Infrastructure Bank Pay Request #7 in the amount of $358,412.54, including Exhibits A, F, G and H, and also James J. Geremia & Associates, Inc. Invoice #16 in the amount of $34,119.53, Hart Engineering Pay Request #13 in the amount of $261,698.16 and Nexom Pay Request #7 in the amount of $62,594.85. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Attorney’s Report:

Status of properties not connected to the sanitary sewer system.

Mr. Kane stated that Glendale Methodist Church is preparing to connect the two properties to the sanitary sewer system. The Perry’s case has been continued in municipal court until October 2017. The last property remaining to be connected to the sanitary sewer system is Matthew Stamp. Mr. Nolan made a motion to accept the Attorney’s Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Superintendent’s Report:

Report for the month of May, 2017

Financial Report

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Superintendent’s Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Andrews. All in favor, so voted.

Sewer Use/Sewer Assessment Write-Offs – None

Chairman requests Executive Session of the Commission, pursuant to Rhode Island Open Meeting Law (42-46-5(a)(1)) to discuss job performance of three (3) employees – positions. Note: The three affected parties were duly notified in advance in writing of this request for Executive Session; they were notified and advised that they could require that the discussion be held at an open meeting.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to seal the Minutes of the Executive Session of the Commission. There were no votes taken. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Consider/take action on the salary requests of the positions of John E. Martin III, Superintendent, Stacey Richard, Office Manager, and Jacqueline Batalon, Financial Aide.

Mr. Andrews made a motion for the Commission to offer a 2.5% pay increase to the Superintendent and Office Manager for Fiscal Year 2018. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fontaine. All in favor, so voted.

Adjournment – Mr. Nolan made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fontaine. All in favor, so voted.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jacqueline Batalon