Documents Following Receipt of Insurance and Bonds for the 2017 Street Restoration Project to Rogele, Inc
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MINUTES Regular Meeting August 23, 2017 6:00 PM Page 1 of 14 Regular Meeting (6:00 PM) In Attendance: Board: J. Marc Kurowski, P.E., Chairperson William J. Cluck, Esquire, Vice-Chairperson Crystal Skotedis, CPA, CFE, Treasurer Darryl S. Waters, Secretary (via speakerphone) Garvey Presley, Jr. Staff: Shannon M. Gority, P.E., Chief Executive Officer Jack Lausch, Director of Administration David Nowotarski, CPA, Chief Financial Officer David W. Stewart, P.E., Director of Engineering Karen M. McKillip, Archivist Tammie Sheaffer, Office Manager Mike McFadden, Superintendent – Drinking Water Jess Rosentel, Superintendent – Wastewater Tanya Dierolf, Sustainability Manager Claire Maulhardt, City Beautiful H2O Program Manager Tremayne Terry, Diversity Program Manager Andrew Bliss, Community Outreach Manager Sheri Berilla, Asset Manager Jeffrey K. Bowra, P.E., Lead Engineer Ken Freysinger, Wastewater Field Operations Supervisor Consultants: Scott T. Wyland, Esquire (Salzmann Hughes, P.C.) Ed Ellinger, P.E. (HRG) Mike Mehaffey, P.E. (Gannett Fleming) Jeff Thompson (WRA) Randall L. Henne, P.E. (CDM Smith, Inc.) Mel Johnson (M.T. Johnson Group LLC) Jeff Lawrence (Diversity Consultant) Others: Claude Phipps (Community Ambassador) Elyse Irvis (Community First Fund) Nathan Walker (Amer Foster Wheeler) Olivia Peck (Community Ambassador) MINUTES Regular Meeting August 23, 2017 6:00 PM Page 2 of 14 Matt Walmer (Prudential Gacono Real Estate) Neil Grover, Esquire (City of Harrisburg) I. Call to Order: 6:07 PM. II. Chairperson’s Announcements: A. An executive session under Section 708(a) of the Sunshine Act was held today at 5:00 PM to discuss matters with general counsel in regard to a personnel issue and potential litigation. B. The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at 6:00 PM in the Locust Court Building, 212 Locust Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and is open to the public. III. Presentations A. Stormwater Inlets (Claire Maulhardt and Jess Rosentel) 6:09 - 6:34 PM. Ms. Maulhardt explained the regulatory mandates contained within the Partial Consent Decree that are driving activities of the Wastewater Division. Mr. Rosentel then provided information about increases in preventive maintenance activities. Mr. Rosentel included updates on increased staffing, acquisition of additional equipment and vehicles, along with specialized training that has occurred since November 2013 when CRW inherited the assets from the City through the Transition Agreement. He updated the Board on the number of inlets cleaned and repaired, along with the amount of wastewater pipes that have been cleaned or CCTV’d (Closed Circuit Televised). Questions were made about the recent flooding that occurred at 18th and Derry Streets. Mr. Rosentel noted that those inlets had been cleaned above and below the inlet, however, flooding occurred at this location because inlet pipes were broken below the surface, requiring additional time to repair. He further explained that although the inlet had been cleaned recently, when repairs are needed below ground, flooding will occur at inlets that have these types of issues when there are high surges of rainfall. Substantial time is needed to repair these types of inlets and CRW is continuing to run into scenarios like the one at 18th and Derry Streets which must be addressed. MINUTES Regular Meeting August 23, 2017 6:00 PM Page 3 of 14 Mr. Cluck questioned if CRW could consider an “Adopt an Inlet Program” whereby the community could assist with the cleaning of debris from inlets that are prone to flooding. Mr. Bliss advised that this issue is already being discussed with Blue Drop and the Community Ambassadors. Board members asked if the AWTF has room to accommodate additional staff? Mr. Rosentel advised that there is little space to expand on-site and that they are running out of room to house new vehicles, equipment and additional employee parking, along with locker rooms, showers, etc. due to the increase in staffing. Management is discussing this issue along with other facility needs. [Neil Grover, Esq. arrived at 6:34 PM] Mr. Rosentel noted that smaller vactor units may need to be purchased due to the inability of the current vactor to access narrow alleyways to clean inlets. Mr. Rosentel credited Sheri Berilla and Ken Freysinger for their efforts in using the Cityworks Work Order System for allowing Field Maintenance workers to service assets in a more efficient manner. B. Joint Pollutant Reduction Plan - Paxton Creek Watershed TMDL, Chesapeake Bay PRP, Wildwood Lake PRP, and UNT to Spring Creek PRP (Claire Maulhardt) 6:34 – 7:05 PM. Ms. Maulhardt outlined a collaborative effort with Lower Paxton and Susquehanna Townships to reduce pollution into the Cheasapeake Bay, Paxton Creek, Wildwood Lake and Spring Creek. Comments on the “Joint Pollutant Reduction Plan” (previously known as the Paxton Creek Watershed TMDL Strategy Plan) are being accepted until September 1, 2017. A copy of the Joint Pollutant Reduction Plan is available to the public on CRW’s website, with hard copies available at CRW’s Administration Office and the Lower Paxton and Susquehanna Township Municipal Buildings. Ms. Maulhardt noted that CRW applied for an MS4 Individual Permit in October 2014, but the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) has not issued a permit. CRW has been advised that it must now submit an MS4 Individual Permit Application addressing PADEP’s revised application requirements. [Sheri Berilla left the meeting at 6:57 PM] Ms. Maulhardt noted that the Plan proposes thirteen (13) projects to reduce pollutant loadings over a period of five (5) years at a cost of approximately $8.2M. Under the MINUTES Regular Meeting August 23, 2017 6:00 PM Page 4 of 14 “Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement for the Joint Pollutant Reduction Plan” under consideration of the Board tonight, the costs of the Plan would be shared amongst CRW, Lower Paxton and Susquehanna Townships. Under Q&A Mr. Cluck stated that he is skeptical that the Plan will result in permanent water quality improvements, suggesting that a severe weather event could undo the project improvements? Ms. Maulhardt noted that CRW is advocating with regulators to receive credit for any pollution reductions achieved within the Combined Sewer System (including Green Stormwater Infrastructure Projects) toward the reductions required in the Joint Pollutant Reduction Plan. IV. Committee Reports: Budget and Finance Committee: Ms. Skotedis reported the 2018 Budget preparation process has begun and that she is taking a more active role this year. She thanked staff in advance for the time they will be putting in. Personnel Committee: No report. V. Management Report: The monthly Management Report was provided to the Board in advance of the meeting and posted to CRW’s website. Ms. Gority announced that CRW received encouraging news from the financial markets yesterday when CRW received a Green Evaluation under the S&P Global Ratings System – a recognition of CRW’s progress since taking over operations of the systems in November 2013. She read an excerpt of the notice into the record as follows: “The 2017 bonds were not labelled Green Bonds, but S&P Global Ratings views all proceeds to be used for capital improvements to the wastewater treatment system as eligible to be evaluated under our analytic approach for a Green Evaluation…this transaction received an overall score of E1/87 which is the strongest Green Evaluation score on our scale of E1 (highest) to E4 (lowest). This score is determined by taking a weighted aggregate of the very strong Governance (83) and average Transparency (57) assessments and excellent Mitigation score (97). In our view, the MINUTES Regular Meeting August 23, 2017 6:00 PM Page 5 of 14 project’s favorable positive impact on water savings as well as the nature of its broad, system-wide enhancements position it at the top end of our water hierarchy.” Ms. Gority commended Mr. Nowotarski, members of the Finance Department, and the financial consultants for working with the rating agencies to receive this recognition of the hard work undertaken all across the organization. She noted that CRW received the same rating as DC Water – an internationally recognized model water utility. Mr. Cluck raised questions and requested additional information for items included in the Monthly Management Report. Responses were provided from the floor by CRW staff for the following: • “Legacy Street Cut Permits”: Mr. McFadden stated that CRW is working on catching up on a backlog of street cut restorations that accumulated prior to and including 2014. CRW holds Permits from the City for over 145 street cuts related to utility line work. CRW must make permanent restoration to the pavement to avoid additional expenses related to open Permits. CRW is taking steps to eliminate the backlog, and to prevent such an accumulation from occurring in the future. • “DeHart Property Stewardship Planning”: Tanya Dierolf confirmed that Round 2 of the Conservation Easement Purchase is not on tonight’s Agenda. • “UGI Propane Incident Adjacent to the AWTF”: Mr. Rosentel explained the incident to the Board members and noted that all AWTF personnel remained safe. Mr. Presley raised questions and requested additional information for items included in the Monthly Management Report. Responses were provided from the floor by CRW staff for the following: • “First Aid/CPR/AED Class”: Is this mandatory for employees, and if so, are they paid to attend the class, and does CRW have a lot of participation? Mr. Rosentel noted that it is currently not mandatory, and if the employee is on the schedule at the time of the training, they are paid to attend the training. Mr. Rosentel will check on the level of participation and get back to Mr. Presley. There were no questions or comments from Board members Skotedis, Kurowski or Waters. MINUTES Regular Meeting August 23, 2017 6:00 PM Page 6 of 14 VI.