REGLIONAL SEWERAGE AUTHORITY
September 12, 2007
Regular Meeting
MINUTES
The WANAQUE VALLEY REGIONAL
SEWERAGE AUTHORITY conducted a Regular Meeting, which commenced at
ANNOUNCEMENT
Chairman Covelli read the
following announcement:
This is the Regular Meeting of the Wanaque Valley
Regional Authority. In accordance with
the Open Public Meetings Law, notices of the meeting were furnished to the
respective Municipal Clerks of Ringwood, Wanaque and West Milford together with
a request that an additional copy of the Notice be placed in each
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
The Chairman led the salute
to the flag.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners present: Andrew
Bolduc, Frank Covelli, Joseph Elcavage, Robert Hadley and Robert Moshman
Commissioners absent: Patrick Murray
Also present: Christopher Erd, Esq., Williams,
Caliri, Miller & Otley
Charles Ferraioli, Jr., M.P.A.,
Ferraioli, Wielkotz, Cerullo & Cuva
James Kelly, P.E., Boswell
Engineering
Gregory White, Facilities Manager
CORRESPONDENCE
The Chairman asked if anyone had any questions or
comments on the Correspondence List of
MINUTES
The Chairman stated that he was going to dispense with
the approval of the Minutes this evening as they were in draft form and he
believed that they are in need of some revisions. He stated that they will be addressed next
month.
REPORTS – Resolutions No.
004-07 thru 007-07
The Chairman stated that with respect to reports he will
turn it over to Mr. White for the Facilities Managers Report.
Facilities Manager
Noise & Odor Control Report
Mr. White stated that as he announced last month, he will
be presenting only the page(s) of the report that have this evenings report
noted.
Mr. White stated that since the last meeting the vent
pipe carbon canisters were installed on
Stone Hill Construction (SHC) Maintenance Bond –
Retainage Release
Mr. White reported that the Authority has been holding
the retainage amount of approximately $70,000.00; we are still holding that
money. Mr. White stated that the
Commissioners have a letter in their files that he has written to SHC notifying
them of the outstanding items in that contract.
Mr. White stated that they did do the landscaping portion of the work,
however, they have not been back to finish the other outstanding items. Mr. White stated that he will continue to
hold that money until they complete all
the required items.
REPORTS
Facilities Manager
Advanced Wastewater Class Approval
Mr. White explained that last year he came before the Board
requesting approval to hold a class here at the Authority. Mr. White stated that he is the instructor
for the state approved Advanced Wastewater Training Course. He stated that the prospective Licensed
Operators are required to take the course in preparation for taking the State
Licensing Exam. Mr. White stated that he
has been teaching the course at
MOTION Moved by
Joseph Elcavage, 2nd by Robert Hadley to authorize adopting
Resolution No. 004-07, granting
approval for Mr. White to hold Advanced Wastewater Training Course here at the
WVRSA.
The Chairman asked if there
was anyone that
On Roll Call Commissioners Bolduc, Elcavage, Hadley,
Moshman and Covelli voted yes.
Commissioner Murray was absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
AEA Convention
Mr. White asked if there was anyone that was interested
in attending the AEA Convention in
NJUA-JIF – Membership Renewal
Mr. White reported that our three year membership
in NJUA is up for renewal this year. The
period for enrollment is about to expire and we need a resolution approving
renewing our membership.
MOTION Moved by Joseph Elcavage, 2nd
by Robert Hadley to authorize adopting Resolution No. 005-07 authorizing the
renewal of our membership in the New Jersey Utility Authorities – Joint
Insurance Fund for another three-year period.
The Chairman stated for
clarification, the NJUA-JIF is where we receive our property and casualty
coverage. He stated that it has been an
outstanding program and we share in the return of certain funds and dividends
annually.
Commissioner Bolduc reported
that the Local Sewer Authority just approved a similar resolution last evening,
authorizing a three-year membership in NJUA-JIF.
Mr. White stated that there
is a form of Resolution that needs to be endorsed this evening with regard to
this Membership Renewal. Copy of the
Resolution attached.
The Chairman asked if there
was any
On Roll Call Commissioners Bolduc, Elcavage,
Hadley, Moshman and
Covelli voted yes. Commissioner Murray was absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
Mr.
White reported that the facility was running extremely well. He reported that there were no operational or
maintenance problems. Mr. White stated
that the employee’s were doing an excellent job. He stated that if anyone had any questions he
would be happy to answer them.
REPORTS
Accounting
Mr. Ferraioli reported that he met with the Finance
Committee prior to this meeting. He
stated that he is looking for a Resolution to Introduce the WVRSA Budget for
the period beginning
MOTION Moved by Robert Hadley, 2nd
by Joseph Elcavage to authorize adopting Resolution No. 005-07 authorizing the
Introduction of the FY-2008 WVRSA Budget.
The Chairman stated for the
record that the Finance Committee did go through this Budget and made some
preliminary adjustments and will be working, going forward with the engineer to
finalize some numbers that the Auditor needs to finish this document for final
presentation. The Chairman asked for a
Roll Call.
On Roll Call Commissioners Bolduc, Elcavage,
Hadley, Moshman and
Covelli voted yes. Commissioner Murray was absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
Mr. Ferraioli stated that he needed some signatures on
the form of Resolution; and then he asked to be excused.
Engineering
Mr. Jim Kelly stated that pursuant to the discussion at
our last meeting, he has finalized the Plant Assessment and Noise and Odor Control
Investigation reports. Mr. Kelly stated
with regard to next years budget we have had some discussions with the Finance
Committee and they are going to start some investigations with regard to
potential for increasing the thickening operation here at the Authority, which may
possibly result in a savings in the disposal costs. Mr. Kelly stated that he hoped to have a
report ready for the next meeting. Mr.
Kelly stated that his report was completed.
The Chairman asked if anyone
had any questions. When there was no
response he asked for the Legal Report.
Legal
Refinancing of the Bonds
Mr. Erd reported that his firm was authorized to seek
rates for the refinancing of the bonds by Tuesday September 18th and
then prepare the papers for the 20th - 21st for the Chairman to
sign with the closing scheduled for the 28th of September. Mr. Erd stated that there is a limit on the
amount of those rated which he believed was 5.5%. Mr. Erd stated that he believes that it is
not going to be any higher than that and that we are still looking for the
lowest rate possible.
Vouchers
Vouchers M-10479 thru M-10510
(FY’07)
RESOLUTION – Read by title
“RESOLUTION REQUISITIONING
FROM THE REVENUE FUND TO THE REVOLVING FUND BY THE WANAQUE VALLEY REGIONAL
SEWERAGE AUTHORITY (“AUTHORITY”) PURSUANT TO SECTION 506 OF THE BOND RESOLUTIN
ENTITLED “RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS OF THE WANAQUE VALLEY
REGIONAL SEWERAGE AUTHORITY AND FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE HOLDERS THEREOF, AND
AUTHORIZING $12,500,000.00 PRINCIPAL AMOUNT THEREOF (“RESOLUTION”) ADOPTED BY
THE AUTHORITY ON AUGUST 26, 1987, AS AMENDED OR SUPPOLEMENTED THEREAFTER”
REPORTS
Vouchers Cont.
MOTION Moved by Joseph Elcavage, 2nd
by Robert Hadley to adopt Resolution No. 007-07 approving the payment of Vouchers M-10479 – thru
M-10510 for FY 2007, and Voucher M-10511 (FY-08) subject to availability of funds.
Also
approve voiding WVRSA Check # 12099, dated 02/27/07 and Voucher # M-10221 Payable
to: Pro-Tec Systems - to be replaced with Voucher # M-10506 – Check #12389 for
the same amount.
The Chairman asked if any one
would like discussion on this matter.
Upon hearing none, he asked for a Roll Call.
On
Roll Call Commissioners Bolduc, Elcavage, Hadley, Moshman and Covelli voted
yes. Commissioner Murray was absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
OLD BUSINESS
The Chairman asked if there was anything to be discussed
under Old Business. Upon hearing nothing
he stated that he would move on to New Business.
NEW BUSINESS
Personnel Committee Report.
Mr. White stated that there is a report on a meeting with
the employees and then there is a need for a resolution regarding the medical
premium reimbursement program.
Chairman Covelli reported that there was a meeting this
afternoon with all the employees. He
stated that it was multi-faceted.
Chairman Covelli stated that the first thing that was discussed was the
implementation of the new Dental Plan.
The Chairman stated that in the Commissioners file folders, there is a
letter from Virginia Forde, our Risk Manager, which provides an analysis of the
savings with regard to moving the dental program to the Bergen Municipal
Employee Benefits Fund, utilizing Delta Dental versus the current contract that
we have with the Standard Insurance Co.
The Chairman quoting from the letter stated that the projected savings
are approximately 7.64% and recently Standard mailed us an increase that would
have become effective
The Chairman stated that this meeting also served as our
annual meeting with the employees with respect to Personnel issues. He reported that Commissioners Moshman and
Hadley were also present at the meeting.
The Chairman stated that considering we last year
negotiated a three-year contract with regards to salaries and benefits, they
(the employees) realized that there was nothing new to present to us; other
than that they were overall happy with the conditions and the environment. Chairman Covelli stated that they suggested
that we take under consideration that they would still like an increase in the
amount of vacation time afforded them after 20 years. They have been told no in the past, but they
threw it out there in case we would consider it at this time. The Chairman
stated that we thanked them for their input and they also asked us if we would
consider – going forward – for a little bit more of a differentiation in salary
between the senior members of our staff and the more junior members.
The Chairman stated that it was a very amicable meeting
and we thanked them.
Medical Premium Reimbursement
The Chairman reported that in the past this Authority has
provided a reimbursement to employees if they choose to waive Authority
provided medical and/or dental benefits.
He stated that the employee waiving his benefits was given 50% of the
savings that the Authority realizes.
The Chairman stated that the State Health Benefits plan is going through
major restructuring and therefore, we can only give offer them at this point
50% of the number we know, which is 50% of what the State is
going to charge for next month’s premium. We do not know what they are going to do
after that.
NEW BUSINESS
Personnel Committee Report
Medical Premium Reimbursement
Cont.
The Chairman stated that what we are voting on tonight
is; are we going to continue this process and are we going to continue the 50% reimbursements. The Chairman suggest that if we are- he
suggests that it be put in there that we are calculating it based on six months
as opposed to a year for now - as we do not know what will happen after this
month.
MOTION Moved by Robert Hadley, 2nd
by Joseph Elcavage to adopt Resolution No. 008-07 authorizing the WVRSA
continue to offer, the employees, 50% of savings realized by the Authority,
based on a six month calculation, for waiving their medical and/or dental
benefits provided by the Authority.
The Chairman asked if there
was any discussion. When there was none
he asked for a Roll Call.
On
Roll Call Commissioners Bolduc, Elcavage, H adley, Moshman and Covelli voted
yes. Commissioner Murray was
absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
The Chairman asked if there
was any thing
Commissioner Elcavage stated
that he would like to comment on a part of this last topic. He stated that he was reading over the letter
regarding the savings that will be realized by this Authority by our changing
from the Standard Insurance to Delta Dental and he wanted to state that our
Chairman, Commissioner Covelli, was very instrumental in seeking out the best
possible rates and bringing those to the attention of the Authority and he
would like to thank him for that.
Chairman Covelli thanked
Commissioner Elcavage and stated this was one of those times when we were able
to do right by the Authority, the rate payers and the employees. He stated that these opportunities don’t come
along too often, but when they do it is a nice thing.
The Chairman stated that as
there is nothing further to discuss he would like to move on to the
The Chairman stated that if there was anyone from the
public that would like to address the Board, would they step up and give their
name and address for the record and your comment or question.
Bill Holt 8319
Mr. Holt then discussed the manner in which the trucks
operate while dumping into the plant.
Mr. Holt stated that he has witnessed the trucks racing their motors
during these times, which is adding to the noise level and he did not
understand why they do that. Mr. White
stated that the reason they race their engines is to pressurize their tank, as
sometimes their valves clog and they must add pressure to their tank to clear
the line and to enable the flow to return to gravity feed. Mr. Holt stated that he believes that is the
only noise issue and he stated that it does go above the permitted noise
level. Mr. Holt stated that at the time
of that incident, he heard someone yelling to shut the truck off and believed
it was another resident, but now he knows it was an employee, and the truck was
shut down immediately. He stated that he
wanted to thank Mr. White for having that policy in place.
Bill Holt Cont.
Mr. Holt asked Mr. White – what represents Correspondence? He asked if emails become official correspondence. Mr. White responded yes. Mr. Holt then asked for Mr. White’s email
address. Mr. White stated that he
already had his address.
Mr. Holt stated that he has
people complaining that they never get a response from letters that they send
to that address.
Mr. Holt then stated he wished to discuss the Planting of
Trees and Shrubs on the Authority property.
He stated that for many months it has been on the table and that he
would like an answer tonight - if there would be a committee formed to discuss
the proposition that has been forwarded.
Mr. Holt stated that the Engineer has already stated that the presence
of said trees and shrubs would have a positive effect on preventing odors from
reaching the living quarters. Mr. Holt
stated that he would like that committee to be authorized to determine some
method that the Authority might participate in accomplishing this. Mr. Holt then stated that the response to his
question is “Yes” we will do that or “No” we will not.
The
Chairman suggests that we wait to answer that question until everyone in the
audience has had a chance to speak. The Chairman
stated that we are now accepting public comment at this time. The Chairman stated that after the public
portion is closed he will go back and answer questions.
Mr.
Holt then stated that he has a copy of the Engineer’s report, and realizing
that the Budget is being introduced tonight, he asked if you have made a
decision on how you intend to move forward regarding the Engineer’s
recommendations.
The
Chairman asked Mr. Holt to make a specific question, so he can answer them when
the time comes as he would not want to rely on his memory to answer what the
Engineer specifically recommended.
Mr.
Holt stated that not knowing what the procedure would be he would like to
interject that it is his observation from being on the property many times that
we do not get much odor when the trucks off-load proper waste, right now. There
is some noise
and as a consequence he would just like to emphasize
putting a priority on the other three areas, other than where the trucks
discharge, and doing those improvements. He stated that
he heard here tonight that you intend to move forward on one of
those items and he thinks that is great,
but the other three items relative to moving those trucks you have presented a
much smaller dollar amount than I anticipated.
Mr. Holt asked that the Authority prioritize getting the trucks moved,
if you did not plan on doing all three at the same time.
Ted Roberto 8101
Tom Mulhern
Harold Gordon 8315
Harold Gordon Cont.
Mr. Gordon stated that in especially in November and
December when there are no leaves on the trees, that does little to hide the
plant, there is nothing. He stated that
this proposition that has been presented calls for evergreen trees, which would
help.
Mr. Gordon stated that for a long time Paul Farantino and
others have been working on this plan and there has been money raised to plant
those evergreens, which would satisfy everybody. He asked what in the world is holding you back
to spend another few bucks, like thirty or forty thousand, besides our thirty thousand to do this
job. Mr. Gordon stated that he paid four
hundred grand to move in here and he feel like he is living inside a sewage
plant. He stated why in the world don’t you take action and put up the
trees. Mr. Gordon stated that he feels
that a wrong has to be righted. Mr. Gordon
stated that his question was “When are you going to put up those trees to block
the sewage plant”.
The Chairman stated that he would be happy to answer your
question at the conclusion of the
Lois Wolfer
The chairman asked if there was anyone else that wished
to address the Authority. When there was
no answer the Chairman stated that he would entertain a motion to close the
MOTION Moved by Joseph Elcavage, 2nd
by Andrew Bolduc to adopt a resolution authorizing closing the Public Portion
of this meeting.
The
Chairman asked that everyone in favor to signify by stating Aye.
Commissioners
Bolduc, Elcavage, Hadley, Moshman and Covelli stated
Aye.
There were no Nays or Abstentions.
Commissioner Murray was absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
Response to Inquiries Presented During Public Portion
The Chairman stated that with
regard to the questions that were asked of us, and he reminded the public that
the Public Portion is closed now, that we will now make comment and answer
those questions.
The
Chairman stated with regard to the Engineer’s recommendations and he stated to
Mr. Kelly that he could jump in at any time, that for the public’s benefit, we were very
pleased with the Report that we received from our Engineer. He stated that it was a very professional and
well done report. The Chairman thanked
Mr. Kelly for the report.
The Chairman reported that there was a Committee meeting
at approximately
Response To Inquiries Presented During Public Portion Cont.
.
The
Chairman explained that Mr. White has recommended reducing some
operating costs - which has to do with how this Authority gets rid of Sludge,
which is a by-product of what we do here.
The Chairman stated that what we will be looking to do is to
The
Chairman stated that moving forward, the Engineer, as he reported this evening
during his report, he will be finalizing component #4 to move forward as this
will be a Capital Improvement addition in our Budget, for which the Auditor
needs to have the complete figures for our Budget, in order to adopt the FY’08
Budget. The Chairman stated that that should
give everyone an idea of what is going on with respect to not only will we accept
the recommendations of the Engineer, but we will be adding another component,
which was just described.
The
Chairman stated the next question: Are
we getting complaints of odors. The
Chairman stated yes we have gotten complaints of odors. He stated that Mr. White has been dutiful in
reporting them to us and he stated that Mr. Carroll has been reporting them to
us. The Chairman stated, without putting
words into your mouth Mr. White so correct me if I am wrong, you have reported
that most of the reports have been received after business hours, they are
happening later in the evening and we are not quite sure what areas they are
emanating from. The Chairman stated that
the staff has been alerted here and has done some preliminary
investigation. Mr. White has done some
interviewing with the staff
when the reports come in – he is trying to piece together what
might have happened to cause the odor complaint. The Chairman asked Mr. White if he was
present at the times the complaints have come in. Mr. White stated that he was not. Mr. White stated that most of the complaints
have been received in the evening hours.
He stated that when he gets the email, he prints it out, he copies the
Commissioners, he logs it in – he has a file in which he logs it as an entry –
then he investigates what occurred during the hour(s) in question and not being
personally on site at the time, he stated that he can only do investigative
work. Mr. White stated that if he finds
anything unusual that may have caused it, he will respond accordingly. Mr. White stated that if he finds nothing, it
is put on record.
The
Chairman stated to Mr. Holt, that he feels that this topic – which we are not
dismissing lightly – would be better addressed in the coffee meetings that we
have not held recently and would be a good idea to re-institute.
Commissioner
Bolduc commented that earlier in the meeting Mr. White reported that the carbon
canisters were installed on the vent pipes recently and that the carbon
canisters for the manhole covers were received and installed today, which means
that the complaints were received before these additional control measures were
put into effect and that possibly they may have an effect on the odors.
Commissioner
Elcavage stated that he would like to comment.
He stated that certainly everybody has the obligation to report to
us. He stated that back when Pulte first
became occupied a number of you came here and suggested, and we whole heartedly
embraced, that we become good neighbors.
Commissioner Elcavage stated that we are doing as an Authority as much
as we can and as quickly as we can to address every complaint. .
Commissioner Elcavage stated that we cannot wave a magic
wand or snap our fingers because sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to order
and receive something like those manhole canisters or a couple of weeks for our
engineer to do the research to determine what has to be done. He stated that sometimes capital improvement
projects may take months and
Response to Inquiries Presented
During Public Portion Cont
Commissioner Elcavage stated that the one thing that
disturbs him, as a Commissioner, is when people step beyond being a good
neighbor by saying that they are going to go way up the ladder, because going
up the ladder starts costing money. He
stated that it may not cost money for the individual climbing the ladder, but it
cost money for the Authority in the way of engineering costs and a waste of the
Facilities Managers time, in the way of having the County come in, in the way
of having the State DEP come in to do inspections and such. Commissioner Elcavage stated that people have
the right to do that, but that is not his idea of being a good neighbor and he
would hope we could be good neighbors.
Commissioner Elcavage stated that each and every letter that comes in,
each and every email that comes in is read and every person that comes in here
is listened to. He stated that we answer
questions and we do things the best that we can and we are trying to be good
neighbors.
Mr. Roberto asked if he could respond to that statement
and he was told that we are just answering questions. The Chairman stated that there will be no
give and take at this time.
The
Chairman stated that the next question that was asked of us was with regard to
the trucks - are the trucks worth taking in.
The Chairman stated that the answer has been hashed and rehashed by this
Authority through the efforts and work of Mr. White, of the offices of Boswell
Engineering and of Mr. James Kelly in particular and the answer is that the
trucks do allow this Authority to maintain the rate structure that we are
providing to the Local Authority, which in turn provides for the rate stability
and that there would be a large increase placed on every rate payer in this town,
if it were not for those trucks. The
Chairman stated with that said, the Authority has if fact seen an increase in
Revenue again this year with regard to the trucks. He stated that is why we are taking the
measures we are taking, because those trucks are a long term solution in terms
of controlling rates of this Authority.
The Chairman stated that as being a prudent Board, and we have always
been a prudent Board, we are going to do what it takes and what we can to do to
certainly minimize or even eliminate any impact to our neighbors, but at the
same time protecting that revenue source for all of the rate payers of the
Borough of Wanaque. We have that choice
and we are going to continue that make that choice.
The
Chairman stated with respect to the landscape issue, that issue was brought
forth when Mr. Miller was here. We
looked at that issue, we asked Mr. Miller to give us a written opinion on that
and the bottom line was, while we are sympathetic to the issues raised; there
are both financial and legal issues with that regard to that plan. The Chairman stated that it doesn’t mean that
we agree or disagree with it, but quite frankly whether we agree or disagree it
is a moot point. The Chairman stated
from a legal standpoint,and he asked Mr. Erd to
correct him if he is wrong, no Public Entity nor this Authority can make any investments
of improvements on private property. Mr.
Erd confirmed what the Chairman stated.
So this Authority or any Public Entity cannot make any investment of
improvements on private property including landscaping. The Chairman stated that the landscaping plan
includes improvements to Pulte property – not this Authority’s property. He stated that the components of the plan are
two-fold, improvements to this property and along the fence which is not our
property. The Chairman stated that the
second issue is that with respect to that spending, we have not ruled out that
we will not do any landscaping of the property - the public property under the
domain of this Authority. However, with
that said, are just finishing a four million dollar plant upgrade and moving
forward, we are now engaging upon our next capital improvement project, which
will include
Therefore, until we get those issues underhand it would
be premature for us to be talking about how we are going to landscape this
complex and it would not be prudent for us to be spending money there. Frankly we thought that everyone would agree
that moving forward on this agenda of addressing odors and noise would take
priority over that, or at least we must make that a priority
Response To Inquiries Presented During Public Portion Cont.
.
Commissioner Elcavage stated that he would really like to
see it not put on a back burner, but put on the front burner. He stated that he is not saying plant trees
today or next week or next month, but what he is saying is that we could ask
the Engineer to include that in his monthly tasks for us, an analysis of the
landscaping, such as what should be done.
Commissioner Elcavage stated that we could formulate a plan so that when
we are ready to do it and it makes sense to do it, that we can move ahead
smartly and quickly and do it.
Mr. Holt stated that the question that was asked was –
would you appoint a committee to look into this.
The Chairman stated that the answer was yes and that he
has stated that he thinks it should be addressed at the coffee meetings we are
planning to resume.
Commissioner Elcavage stated that the answer to your
question was yes.
There was additional discussion on the landscaping
expectations of the representatives of WR.
The Engineer, Mr. Kelly was asked to look into this and with the
assistance of Mr. White to come up with a tentative plan of action.
Upon the conclusion of the discussions on the
landscaping, Mr. Roberto stated that other people have been given the opportunity
to speak and he asked for an opportunity to speak on what was said earlier by
one of the Commissioners.
The Chairman stated that he would give him two minutes.
Mr. Roberto stated that he thinks the WR people have been
very patient with this Authority. He stated
that they are the ones that brought the vent odor to the attention to Mr. White
and he brought it to the attention of the Local Engineer. He stated that they were the ones that said
the odor was coming from those vents. It
was taken care of. He stated that we are
trying to work with you and the people in WR have been very patient. If we go to the higher ups when we do not get
action, what else do you expect us to do? Mr. Roberto stated that he hasn’t, but if a
person feels that he is not being served properly they have to do
something.
Commissioner Bolduc answered Mr. Roberto by stating that
anyone has the right to do so, but before someone does that, hopefully, they
will have tried to work through the Authority and allow us to look into
something before running to someone “higher up”. Commissioner Bolduc stated that if anyone
feels that they have been ignored or refused to be talked to or whatever they
most certainly do have that right.
Mr. Gordon stated that he is of the opinion that if the Authority
wanted to plant the trees they would find a way to do so, but if they did not
they would find a million reasons why they cannot. He stated that for he would be willing to
take five grand from his own pocket to help cover the cost of this.
Commissioner Elcavage informed the Chairman that he has
heard an offer of five thousand dollars and along with the numbers we heard
earlier of $30 thousand from the WR residents.
He stated that he believes that the trees are very important to the WR
residents. He stated that there are
areas where we could potentially start, that won’t be disturbed by
construction. Commissioner Elcavage
suggested that if we could combine those monies from WR residents and if the
Authority were to match it dollar for dollar, that we can agree we begin the
landscaping immediately, based on a plan that our Engineer will come up with to
start in areas that will not be disturbed by future construction. Commissioner Elcavage stated that he is
offering that in the form of a motion.
The Chairman stated that
there is a motion on the table and asked for a second. Commissioner Hadley stated that no one was
going to second that motion until we hear from the Engineer, until he
determines what is to be done. The
Chairman stated that the Engineer has already been asked to do that study.
Response To Inquiries Presented During Public Portion Cont.
Commissioner
Elcavage stated that he evidently did not make himself clear. He stated that there is a certain amount of
money pledged from the WR residents and if that money comes in the Authority
should, on a dollar for dollar basis, contribute a like amount and that there
be would be two contingencies; number one the Engineer would come up with a
plan that makes sense and number two we will go as far that money will take us.
He
stated that he is not suggesting that we overspend and he is not suggesting
that we plant in areas that we are going to have to dig up later. He also stated that he is not suggesting that
we do this in the blind without our Engineer.
I am making a motion that we just do it.
Commissioner Moshman reminded the Chairman of the legal
opinion that is still out there about whether we, as a Commission, are allowed
to spend money on a private function, even if it is on our own property. Commissioner Moshman stated that there is a
limit on what we can do to benefit a private person(s) by planting a tree even on
our own property. He also wanted to
point out that we are in a deficit and that we are spending other people’s
money, this is not our own money.
The Chairman suggested that we could entertain this plan
in its entirety or a portion of it, and quantify numbers so that at the end of
the day there will be a part of it done.
The Chairman stated that he thinks that we will be in a better position
to make such a call after we quantify the existing numbers and we can take a
look at it.
The Chairman asked if there were any other comments from
the any of the Commissioners. After
hearing none he stated that he would entertain a motion to adjourn this
meeting.
MOTION Moved by
Joseph Elcavage, 2nd by Robert Hadley to adopt a resolution to
adjourning this
meeting.
On
Roll Call Commissioners Bolduc, Elcavage, Hadley, Moshman and Covelli voted
yes. Commissioner Murray was absent.
MOTION
CARRIED
The meeting was adjourned at
Minutes recorded by.
Gregory White, Acting
Recording Secreary
And
Minutes transcribed and respectfully
submitted by,
Margaret M. Maas Recording
Secretary