WEST HANOVER
TOWNSHIP WATER & SEWER AUTHORITY
7901 JONESTOWN
ROAD, HARRISBURG, PA 17112
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY
21, 2004, 7 P.M.
REORGANIZATION
MEETING
The Authority Solicitor, Jon A. Yost, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Stephen L. Millard, Chairman
Donald L. Steinmeier, Vice Chairman
Robert R. Jones, Secretary/Treasurer
Gary Dunsworth
Kenneth L. Tyndale
Election of Chairman. Mr. Yost called for nominations for Chairman of the Authority.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Steinmeier, to appoint Steve Millard as Chairman. The motion was unanimously approved.
Mr. Yost then turned the meeting back to Chairman Millard to complete the reorganization of the Authority.
Election of Vice Chairman. Mr. Tyndale moved to appoint Don Steinmeier as Vice Chairman. The motion was unanimously approved.
Election of Secretary/Treasurer. Mr. Steinmeier moved to appoint Bob Jones as Secretary/Treasurer. The motion was unanimously approved.
Election of Assistant Secretary/Treasurer. Mr. Jones moved to appoint Mark Salisbury as Assistant Secretary/Treasurer. The motion was unanimously approved.
No public comment was offered at this time.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Tyndale, to approve the Minutes of December 16, 2003 as distributed. The motion was unanimously approved.
FINANCIAL REPORTS
Operating Expenses. Mrs. Martin reported that the Operating Expenses for the period ending December 31, 2003 were $75,270.84.
Mr. Dunsworth moved, seconded by Mr. Steinmeier, to approve the Operating Expenses for December 31, 2003 of $75,270.84. The motion was unanimously approved, with Mr. Tyndale abstaining on payment of the bill to K.L. Tyndale in the amount of $1,715.08.
Mrs. Martin also reported that the Operating Expenses for the period of January 1, 2004 through January 21, 2004 were $88,474.26.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Tyndale, to approve the Operating Expenses for January 21, 2004 in the amount of $88,474.26. The motion was unanimously approved.
[NOTE: It was later indicated that the bill for Commerce Bank in the amount of $30 should not be paid. Therefore, the total for the January 21, 2004 Operating Expenses was $88,444.26.]
Update on Letters to Residents in Arrears. The Authority spent some time in reviewing and discussing the arrears list. It was the consensus of the Authority members that the solicitor should write a letter to residents in arrears more than $250. After further discussion, it was also decided by consensus that the arrears listing furnished to the members each month should include additional information, such as the address of the property, the parcel number, as well as whether or not a lien had been placed on the property, the date of the lien, and the amount of the lien. Mrs. Martin stated that she would place the additional information on the report beginning with the February 2004 meeting.
Waste Management Proposal for Grit/Screenings Box. Mr. Salisbury reported that he had no update on this matter.
Generator Proposal. Following a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that the matter needed to be studied further.
Mr. Tyndale moved, seconded by Mr. Dunsworth, to table the generator proposal for further study.
Access Database. Mr. Shope reported that he had no update on this matter.
Update on Sewer Billing. Mr. Millard reported that several problems were encountered with implementing the new sewer billing program. Mrs. Martin also reported that the representative from Engle Business would be in the Authority Office on January 30, 2004 to correct some of the problems and also to walk staff through the first live billing process using the new software.
Appointment of Accountant. Mrs. Martin reported that she had spoken with Diane Suhr, the accountant at Diana M. Reed & Associates, whom does the Authority’s accounting work. Mrs. Suhr indicated that it was possible for her firm to support the Authority using the QuickBooks software. Mrs. Suhr and Mrs. Martin will get together to work out a process whereby the information is transferred to the accounting firm on a quarterly basis.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Steinmeier, to appoint Diana M. Reed & Associates as the Authority’s accountant. The motion was unanimously approved.
Appointment of Authority Engineer. Mr. Millard reported that he asked CET Engineering for a proposal to serve as the Authority’s engineer. The proposal was included with the Authority’s packets. However, Mr. Millard also indicated that he had met with Mr. Shope, as well as other management staff from Gannett Fleming in an effort to resolve some of issues he had with the engineering process. Mr. Millard stated that the discussion with Gannett Fleming had resolved his issues and recommended to the Authority that Gannett Fleming be reappointed as the Authority’s engineer.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Tyndale, to appoint Gannett Fleming, Inc. as the Authority’s engineer. The motion was unanimously approved.
Appointment of Authority Solicitor. Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Dunsworth, to appoint Yost and Davidson as the Authority’s solicitor. The motion was unanimously approved.
Appointment of Depository. Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Tyndale, to appoint Fulton Bank as the Authority’s depository. The motion was unanimously approved.
Resolution 2004-A-1. This resolution sets forth staff’s ability to pay routine bills between Authority meetings in order to avoid late charges and/or interest charges.
Mr. Tyndale moved, seconded by Mr. Steinmeier, to approve Resolution 2004-A-1. The motion was unanimously approved.
Resolution 2004-A-2. This resolution sets forth the holidays for 2004.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Steinmeier, to approve Resolution 2004-A-2. The motion was unanimously approved.
Discussion on Inspection Fees. Mr. Millard reported that several of the developers had expressed concern and dissatisfaction with the amount being billed to them for full-time sewer construction inspections. In 2003, between May and December, a total of $46,377.66 was billed to the builders for inspections. Mr. Salisbury stated that prior to 2003, the Authority staff had performed sewer construction inspections in-house on a part-time basis, having billed developers a total of $12,278 in 2002. Mr. Salisbury also stated that the inspections had been outsourced to the Authority’s engineering firm when it became evident that staff could not maintain the treatment plant and conduct inspections because of time constraints. Mr. Salisbury further indicated that since another treatment plant operator was hired in May 2003, he believed that it would now be possible for staff to once again conduct the sewer construction inspections. A brief discussion followed, and it was agreed by consensus that Authority staff should begin conducting the sewer construction inspections effective immediately.
Approval to Purchase Computers. Mr. Salisbury reviewed the two proposals for new computers for the Authority office. One proposal was from Gateway in the amount of $4,347 and the second proposal was from Dell in the amount of $4,122.51. Mr. Salisbury indicated that staff recommended the purchase of three Dell computers.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Steinmeier, to purchase three computers from Dell. The motion was unanimously approved.
No public comment was offered at this time.
Bob Jones. Mr. Jones thanked Mr. Millard for accepting appointment for another year as Chairman. He congratulated Mr. Millard on the fine job he did in 2003.
Gary Dunsworth. Mr. Dunsworth had no comments.
Ken Tyndale. Mr. Tyndale had no comments.
Don Steinmeier. Mr. Steinmeier had no comments.
Steve Millard. Mr. Millard reported that the Township was moving forward in an effort to resolve the Swatara capacity issues and indicated that the project may be transferred to the Authority sometime during 2004.
Authority Manager. Mr. Salisbury provided a written report (a copy is attached to the Minutes).
Engineer. Mr. Shope provided a written report (a copy is attached to the Minutes). Mr. Shope reported that House Bill 51, which was recently passed by the Commonwealth, made some changes as to the calculation of what constitutes an EDU. Mr. Shope indicated that the new law would not affect the increased tapping fees approved for 2004. However, he added that any increases proposed for 2005 would have to be calculated using the provisions of the new law.
Solicitor. Mr. Yost reported that the Watson Easement had been recorded at the Dauphin County Court House.
Mr. Jones moved, seconded by Mr. Tyndale, to adjourn the meeting. The motion was unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail A. Martin
Recording Secretary