WANAQUE BOROUGH
SEWERAGE AUTHORITY
MINUTES
Regular Meeting
September 26, 2006
The regular
meeting of the Wanaque Borough Sewerage Authority was held on September 26,
2006 at
Chairman DiMeglio presided and read the following Sunshine
Statement:
“Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by
mailing notice of this meeting to the Trends and Herald & News newspapers
on September 12, 2006 stating therein that this meeting would be held at
Moment of silence for the memory of Commissioner Joseph
Longo.
ROLL CALL:
On roll call, the
following commissioners responded:
Bolduc
Covelli
DiMeglio
Professionals Present:
Jeffrey M. Kassover, Esq.
William J. Kelly,
Penny Schlagel, Office Mgr.
MINUTES:
The regular
meeting minutes of August 8, 2006 were presented. No
corrections or deletions.
Cmsr. Garland moved for the approval of the above-mentioned
Minutes, seconded by Cmsr.
Bolduc.
On roll call, all voted yes, and the Chrm. declared this
set of minutes adopted.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
1. Steve Abma
38 Furnace
Mr. Abma stated that he has a garage on his property that
is located about 100 feet from the back of his house. He has site plan approval for water. However, the water department referred me to
your authority. After conversations with
Mr. Kelly, he has advised me that I should appear tonight as there may be a
connection fee required for the slop sink that is being installed.
Mr. Kassover asked if a bathroom was going to be put in?
Mr. Abma replied no.
Cmsr. Covelli stated that Mr. Abma did appear before the
Board of Adjustment and the facts that he has stated are correct.
Mrs. Schlagel stated that she could also verify it.
Mr. Kelly stated that if the garage were attached to the
home, there would be no question that a connection fee is due. Since it is a separate unit, and an apartment
could be built above the garage in the future, it was best that Mr. Abma appear
before the board.
Mr. Kassover stated that Mr. Abma is connecting a building
not a dwelling, so there is a difference.
If Mr. Abma wanted to put in an apartment above, he would then have to
reapply.
Mr. Abma replied that there was an issue with the Board of
Adjustment about the garage being converted.
It was then agreed by all of us that the ceiling height would be brought
down below town regulations.
Cmsr. Covelli moved a Resolution that since the garage
located on
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
resolution adopted.
Since no one else entered any public discussion, the
chairman closed this portion of the meeting.
6. COMMUNICATIONS:
1. Loss Control Report
Cmsr. Covelli stated that he was pleased to read that there
were no outstanding suggestions on our facilities or infrastructure.
Cmsr. Covelli moved a Resolution to accept the Loss Control
Report from Commerce Risk Control Services, seconded by Cmsr. Bolduc.
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
resolution adopted.
Cmsr. Covelli further stated that a letter should be sent
to PERMA advising them that the Gallagher Agency is not our Risk Management
Consultant. Also, our current risk
manager should be sent a copy of this report.
2. Resolution to
delete the sum of $372.28
Re:
Cmsr. Covelli moved a Resolution to delete the sum of $372.28. from
August 31, 2006. Said property is a 6 (six) unit dwelling and
therefore
should be charged $75.00 per
quarter, per unit commencing with the 4th
Quarter 2006 billing until a
Certificate of Occupancy is re-issued. seconded
by Cmsr.
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
resolution
adopted.
3. Ltr. from Maser
Consulting
Re:
Water’s Edge
Mr. Kelly stated that this development is asking as to
whether or not there will be enough sewer capacity and if their property is in
the Wastewater Management Plan, and what is the status of the plan. Also, they would like to know if the Union
Court Pump Station would need any work done.
Mr. Kelly further stated that he sent a letter to Maser Consulting clarifying
all these issues. They are not in the
sewer service area, and our plan is still under review, so they would have to
contact Greg White. In order for this
property to be included there would have to be an amendment to the plan. To date, we have not received a return
response.
Chrm. DiMeglio stated that the Planning Board has yet to
hear this application as information was missing.
Mr. Kelly stated that the reason why this property was not
in the plan to begin with was because it had such steep slopes, rock and was
presumed environmentally sensitive.
Chrm. DiMeglio asked if the sewer line on
Mr. Kelly replied yes, the pump station though would have
be upgraded.
7. NEW BUSINESS:
None.
8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1. Jet Vac Agreement w/ Borough of Wanaque: Mr.
Kassover stated that prior to our July meeting a fax was sent to Mr. Carroll,
which was completely ignored. A week
before our scheduled September meeting, again Mr. Carroll was contacted. He said that he would have it signed. After our scheduled meeting, which we didn’t
have Mr. Carroll was contacted again, and a message could only be left.
Mrs. Schlagel stated that at our June meeting, Cmsr. Bolduc
was going to contact C’man Mahler to see what the hold up was in signing this
agreement.
Cmsr. Bolduc replied that he did contact C’man Mahler, and
Mr. Carroll was to execute the document.
Chrm. DiMeglio stated that since we still do not have a
signed agreement, the borough will not be allowed to use this jet vac for
borough services. A letter was sent to
Mr. Carroll advising him of this. This
machine is not designed for the cleaning of storm drains to begin with.
Cmsr. Bolduc replied that it would have been. Mr. Carroll was approached before the
purchase of this machine to make sure it could suit the borough needs, as was
the regional authority. The borough was
not interested.
Cmsr. Garland stated that the borough sweeper can clean out
storm drains as well, why isn’t the borough using this machine?
Cmsr. Covelli suggested that Mr. Kassover take the August
8th letter he sent to Mr. Carroll and stamp on it 3rd request and send it again.
Cmsr. Bolduc also suggested that this letter be sent to the
mayor and council instead. This matter
has been going on now for six months.
2. New Copy Machine:
Cmsr. Covelli stated that this copy machine is a little
more then what we need for our office.
How old is the copy machine we now have?
Mrs. Schlagel replied that it is at least 4 yrs. old.
It was then suggested by Cmsr. Bolduc and Covelli that
perhaps this authority could use the regional copier. There is a budget meeting tomorrow, so we
could discuss it.
Cmsr. Covelli further stated that we would have to re-work
the lease however, as the regional has been exceeding there monthly copier
allowance as it is. Mrs. Schlagel can
also obtain a new price quote from Copy Cat for a less fancier copier.
All commissioners agreed to same.
9. PROFESSIONAL/COMMITTEE REPORTS:
1. William J. Kelly,
a.
Mr. Kelly stated that this project has met all their sewer
requirements.
Chrm. DiMeglio stated that he heard that a sushi bar would
be going in as well, is this true?
Mr. Kelly replied no that is not true to his knowledge.
b. Holiday
Inn:
Mr. Kelly stated that there was a meeting on September 25,
2006 with all of the utility boards on how everything was going to be
connected. The developer was then
informed that there may be limited capacity at the Union Court Pump Station. When the calculations were originally calculated
they computed. However, there is now
infiltration coming into the system and at certain times it floods. As such, there is limited capacity. Before Holiday Inn could connect we have to
determine where the infiltration is and how it can be corrected.
c.
Mr. Kelly further stated that he believes that the
infiltration is coming from the college.
The leach field has never been correctly fixed. The authority has been billing on a $1,800.00
flat charge per quarter. It is now
believed that the leach aid field that is discharging through our system is not
discharging at the quantities that were estimated by their engineer. The rainfall has been higher in the first
four years. The ground water could also
be higher because of the rain. As such,
the authority should install a meter in the leach aid manhole and monitor for
at least two months so we can determine what exactly the flow is.
Cmsr. Covelli asked is this a leach field because it was
built on a landfill?
Mr. Kelly replied yes.
A liner was put on top of the landfill, which will hold out the
rain. The leach aid should eventually
dissipate.
Cmsr. Covelli moved a resolution authorizing Mr. Kelly to
monitor the
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
resolution adopted.
c.
Mr. Kelly stated that the owner of
Cmsr. Covelli moved a resolution authorizing the sum of
$385.00 provided sufficient funds are available to the property owner of
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
resolution adopted.
d.
Mr. Kelly stated that our sewer permit application is still
under review by the DEP.
2. Jeffrey M.
Kassover, Esq.
a.
Mr. Kassover
stated, as everyone now knows, there is a judgment against this property. This
judgment also includes legal fees. The
next step would be to actually start enforcement by levies and executions
against property.
All commissioners agreed to have Mr. Kassover begin
enforcement procedures.
Mr. Kassover further stated that he would like Mrs.
Schlagel to look for any bank information that we may have on Mr. Vaas.
Mrs. Schlagel stated that we did receive a copy of the
bounced check, and there is a copy of it in the file.
Mr. Kassover then asked if the sewer accounts are up to
date.
Mrs. Schlagel replied yes.
There are two accounts and they are both in the owners name.
Mr. Kassover stated that there is a judgment against Mr.
Vaas personally as well as the company that owns
Cmsr. Garland stated that M&L Automotive rent out the
garage in the back, and they do pay Mr. Vaas rent.
3. Penny Schlagel,
Office Manager
a. Pulte
Project
Mrs. Schlagel stated that we now have 321 units in at
Pulte.
Mrs. Schlagel also stated that the authority received the
last Pulte check connection fee check for the amount of $755,758.00. Also, the authority should be advised that
Pulte is in arrears for the amount of $55,000.00 for sewerage billing. Shuts Off notices have been sent out, as some
of these units go back as far as January.
Mr. Kassover stated that legally we couldn’t shut them off,
as they are a complex. In the future,
please advise and a letter will come directly from my office with regard to
their delinquent charges. Apparently,
since Pulte is still receiving the bills, it is not an association/complex yet.
4. Cmsr. Frank
Covelli:
Re: WBSA Telephones
Cmsr. Covelli stated that months ago ours as long as the
WVRSA’s phone records were given to Mr. Carroll for his review to see if there
was a way we could either consolidate, change phone carriers, have we heard
anything?
Mrs. Schlagel replied that she did speak to Mr. Carroll
awhile ago, and he informed her that he sent all the records to an outside
vendor and was awaiting their response.
Cmsr. Covelli asked Mrs. Schlagel to follow up on it.
10. FINANCE REPORT:
Cmsr. Garland
moved a resolution to approve the following bills for payment when the funds of
the authority are sufficient to meet them, seconded by Cmsr. Bolduc:
Voucher 121 through 137 $499,020.57
(Auto Debit-Health Benefits)
Payroll #16, 17, & 18 6,966.09
(Auto Debit-Payroll Processing) ___________
TOTAL: $505,986.66
RESOLUTION
REQUISITION REQUESTING FROM
THE REVENUE FUND TO THE OPERATING FUND BY THE WANAQUE BOROUGH SEWERAGE
AUTHORITY PURSUANT TO THE
SECTION OF THE BOND RESOLUTION ENTITLED “RESOLUTION” PROVIDES FOR THE ISSUANCE
OF BONDS OF THE WANAQUE BOROUGH SEWERAGE AUTHORITY IN OCTOBER, 1987 AS AMENDED
OR SUPPLEMENTED THEREAFTER.
1. Requisition is
hereby made by the authority to the trustee for funds
from the revenue fund
established under a resolution to be transferred to the credit of a special
account in the name of the authority to be paid to the persons, firms or
corporation in the amount of $505,986.66 and for the purposes setforth herein
on the attached “Exhibit A”.
a. The
authority has incurred the obligations in the stated amounts and that each item
thereof was properly incurred in the operating, maintaining or repairing the
system and has not been paid.
b. There
has not been filed with or served upon the corporation named in such
requisition, or if any such lien, attachment or claim has been released and
discharged by the authority.
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
resolution adopted.
ADJOURNMENT:
Cmsr. Covelli moved
for the adjournment of this meeting, seconded by Cmsr. Bolduc.
On roll call, all voted yes, and the chairman declared this
meeting adjourned.
_______________________________
John DiMeglio, Chairman