Commission Meeting Minutes 6-20-19 with Attachments<\/a><\/p>\nTo read the minutes, please open or download the pdf from the link above, or you may see more below.<\/p>\n
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Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission<\/strong><\/p>\n1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520<\/strong><\/p>\nThursday, June 20, 2019 at 2:00 PM<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nCOMMISSION MINUTES<\/h1>\n
PRESENT:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nG. Ben Turnipseed, Chairman<\/strong><\/p>\nSteve Copeland, Vice-Chairman<\/strong><\/p>\nDonald Elliott, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nTripp Stephens, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nCornell L. Harvey, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nWayne Neal, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nBob Duncan, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nALSO PRESENT:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nAndrew Burroughs, Interim Executive Director<\/strong><\/p>\nCharlie Dorminy, Legal Counsel HBS<\/strong><\/p>\nTodd Kline, Director of Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\nPam Crosby, Director of Procurement<\/strong><\/p>\nJohn D. Donaghy, Director of Finance<\/strong><\/p>\nJay Sellers, Director of Administration<\/strong><\/p>\nJanice Meridith, Exec. Commission Administrator<\/strong><\/p>\nMEDIA PRESENT:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nTaylor Cooper, The Brunswick News<\/strong><\/p>\nPamela Permar Shierling, The Islander<\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Neal provided the invocation and Commissioner Elliott led the pledge.<\/p>\n
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD<\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed opened the public comment period.<\/p>\n
There being no citizens for public comment, Chairman Turnipseed closed the public comment period.<\/p>\n
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION \u2013 C. Harvey \/ T. Kline<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Haresh G. Patel \u2013 Wastewater Collection System Operator Certification<\/strong><\/p>\nTodd Kline complimented Haresh Patel on his efforts and success in obtaining his Wastewater Collection System Operator License and noted that this is a divisional goal for the staff in the Planning and Construction Department.\u00a0 Commissioner Harvey congratulated Mr. Patel and presented him with his certificate.\u00a0 Commissioner Harvey commented on his appreciation for Mr. Patel being an engineer and for having accomplished earning an operations license.<\/p>\n
COMMITTEE UPDATES<\/strong><\/p>\nFacilities Committee<\/strong> \u2013 Chairman Turnipseed<\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed stated that the Facilities Committee had met on the previous day.\u00a0 Approval items recommended for forwarding to the full Commission included SR27 Resurfacing Contract with Georgia DOT, Mainland Smoke Testing Project budget approval, and the SPLOST 2016 CIPP contract award.\u00a0 Discussion items included plant flows at the wastewater plants and the project report.<\/p>\n
Finance Committee<\/strong> \u2013 Commissioner Copeland<\/p>\nCommissioner Copeland advised that the Finance Committee had met on the previous day.\u00a0 He provided that the main approval item recommended for forwarding to the full Commission was the FY2019-2020 Rate Resolution.\u00a0 Commissioner Copeland also noted that there were no increases on the monthly billing, and a 5\/8 inch meter size was added which gives the customers a more cost effective means of metering. \u00a0The next Finance Committee meeting will be held on July 24, 2019 at 1:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
Human Resources Committee<\/strong> \u2013 Commissioner Elliott<\/p>\nCommissioner Elliott advised that the Human Resources Committee had met earlier that same morning.\u00a0 After approval of the previous meeting minutes, the committee entered into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters.<\/p>\n
APPROVAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Minutes from the June 6, 2019 Regular Commission Meeting <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Commissioner Stephens made a motion seconded by Commissioner Copeland to approve the minutes from the June 6, 2019 Regular Commission Meeting.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n\n- Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Rate Resolution Approval<\/strong> \u2013 L. Roberts<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
LaDonnah Roberts provided a brief history of the Rate Resolution document and recalled that on April 18, 2019 the FY2020 Budget was brought before the Commission for approval.\u00a0 She noted that there were five budgetary goals that staff considered when preparing the budget, of which \u201cTo raise the level of professionalism in project execution and service provision\u201d and \u201cTo improve our customer service\u201d were the two most heavily weighted. \u00a0During the discussions on the budget, staff determined that there would not be an increase to the monthly billing.\u00a0 The 5\/8 inch size meter was added which provides a more cost effective solution to customers for metering. The Fees Schedules were also simplified and clarified related to the administrative and operating fees as well as the planning and construction fees, with many of those fees either remaining at the same level, being reduced, or eliminated. \u00a0Mrs. Roberts also provided that under \u201cDelinquent Account Fees\u201d in Appendix \u201cA\u201d a statement is now included advising that \u201cLate fees will not be charged while an account has active payment arrangements,\u201d which will offer those customers an opportunity have a more manageable balance on those accounts.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Copeland made a motion seconded by Commissioner Elliott to move that the Joint Water and Sewer Commission accept the Rate Resolution for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n\n- SR27 Resurfacing Contract Agreement<\/strong> \u2013 A. Burroughs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Chairman Turnipseed advised that this is an agreement with the Georgia DOT for raising and then lowering the manholes for the paving of Highway 341 from Yellow Bluff Creek down to Highway 17.\u00a0 The initial cost estimate was $77,250.00 however the actual bid cost is $101,928.59 resulting in a budget increase of $24,678.59.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Neal to move that the Brunswick- Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission amend the SR27 Resurfacing Project funding to a total amount of $102,000.00.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n\n- Mainland Smoke Testing Project<\/strong> \u2013 A. Burroughs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Chairman Turnipseed advised that the Mainland Smoke Testing Project Budget approval request was presented to the Facilities Committee on the previous day and was approved to be moved forward to the full Commission.\u00a0 He noted that this project will be the same as was done on St. Simons Island, with the exception of flow monitoring which will not be done on the mainland project.\u00a0 Staff was able to use the pump run times to determine which basins are the most critical on the mainland to do the smoke testing on.\u00a0 The budget request is in the amount of $325,000.00.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Elliott made a motion seconded by Commissioner Stephens to move that the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission approve project funding in the amount of $325,000.00 for the Mainland Smoke Testing Project.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- SPLOST 2016 North Mainland CIPP Contract Award<\/strong> \u2013 A. Burroughs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Andrew Burroughs advised that as part of the North Mainland reroute the plan is to utilize some existing gravity sewer downstream where there are concerns about the condition and needs to be lined to provide structural integrity and to eliminate some I&I in the area.\u00a0 He noted there are some existing manholes that need attention as well.\u00a0 Staff placed a bid request for repair by Cured In Place Piping (CIPP) of approximately 7,800 feet of 30 inch concrete pipe and 425 feet of 42 inch concrete pipe and to rehab 70 manholes.\u00a0 Mr. Burroughs mentioned that there were 5 bids received with the lowest bid provided by IPR Southeast, LLC.\u00a0 He added that upon review of their pricing it was what was expected for the cost, and Thomas & Hutton the engineers for the project recommended the contract be awarded to IPR Southeast, LLC. \u00a0The work on this project is expected to begin no later than August 1, 2019 given the recent issues on that line which has caused some problems, and duration is 120 days from start to finish of the project.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Copeland made a motion seconded by Commissioner Duncan to move that the JWSC approve the award of a contract to IPR Southeast, LLC in the amount of $2,550,519.00 for CIPP sewer main gravity and manhole repairs as part of the 2016 SPLOST North Mainland Project.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Sludge Hauling Truck Purchase <\/strong>\u2013 A. Burroughs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Mr. Burroughs recalled for the Commission that a couple of months prior staff requested funding to purchase the equipment for JWSC to haul the sludge from the three treatment facilities directly to the landfill.\u00a0 Currently this is being handled by a third party and staff sees a huge opportunity for a substantial savings.\u00a0 A bid request was placed and seven bids were received including the lead times which were included in the analysis due to the extra costs of approximately $10,000.00 per month for third party hauling. \u00a0After analysis of price and lead time, staff determined the most cost effective purchase would be from Rush Truck Center at the cost of $164,664.00 with a three week lead time.\u00a0 Delivery is expected in July, 2019.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Stephens made a motion seconded by Commissioner Elliott to move that the Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission award the purchase of one (1) Sludge Roll-Off Truck to Rush Truck Center in the amount of $164,664.00.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0. <\/u><\/p>\n
Financial Policy \u2013 J. Donaghy<\/strong><\/p>\nJohn Donaghy provided a brief history of the JWSC Financial Policy.\u00a0 He noted that in preparation for a new bond issue and review by credit rating agencies the JWSC Commissioners, staff and Davenport & Company (Financial Advisors) identified several suggested revisions and additions to the policy.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Copeland made a motion seconded by Commissioner Elliott to move that the Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission accept the Financial Policy as revised.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR\u2019S UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\nMr. Burroughs reported that the town hall meetings were held the previous week at the St. Simons Island Casino and at Howard Coffin Park in Brunswick.\u00a0 One of the questions asked by customers was about the auto-drafting for bill payments and Mr. Burroughs noted that this is being researched and is expected to be available in the near future.\u00a0 Ten staff members, including him, attended Project Management Training the previous week.\u00a0 Mr. Burroughs, John Donaghy and LaDonnah Roberts toured the warehouse and inventory areas also, and it was noted that the auditors will be pleased with the improvements and accomplishments that Pam Crosby and her staff have made in those areas.\u00a0 He complimented the staff\u2019s efforts, organization and progress with the warehouse and inventory.\u00a0 Mr. Burroughs provided that with the approval of the smoke testing funding on the mainland, the RFP for the smoke testing project will be advertised the next week.\u00a0 He gave a brief reminder that the GAWP Conference in Savannah will be in the next month and advised that the annual Safety Stand Down Day will be held on July 31st<\/sup>. \u00a0\u00a0As a final note, Mr. Burroughs reiterated to the customer that are on payment plans that beginning July 1, 2019 there will be no late payment fees added to their accounts.<\/p>\nCHAIRMAN\u2019S UPDATE <\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed complimented Mr. Burroughs on the great job he did at the town hall meetings and noted his appreciation.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Copeland requested to thank the Interim Executive Director and the financial staff for their hard work in getting the FY2020 Budget and the Rate Resolution together, and noted his appreciation for their support and work to get that done.\u00a0 Commissioner Copeland added that with the prices of everything going up these days, our constituents should know that the Commissioners and the staff have all worked hard to keep the rates down and there were no rate increases for this year.\u00a0 He commented that not only are the rates stable but there was another addition made (5\/8\u201d meter size) to help the customers receive even lower rates.\u00a0 He also noted there were other reductions made within the fees and charges, along with an improvement in the quality of the construction program and with project management.<\/p>\n
Chairman Turnipseed provided that the pump station by Sonic on Altama Avenue is currently being upgraded and work should be in progress very soon.\u00a0 He also noted that some of the sewer lines that run under Altama Avenue will be rehabilitated and that work should begin soon as well.\u00a0 The chairman mentioned that staff is looking at the scheduling of the water line and sewer line replacements in the Sea Palms community.\u00a0 He provided that at the next Facilities Committee meeting a report on the provision of water and sewer services to unserved areas will be presented.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Harvey inquired about the smoke testing that had been done on St. Simons Island and asked Mr. Burroughs how those issues that were revealed will be addressed.\u00a0 Mr. Burroughs provided that a list has been accumulated of the defects found on the JWSC side of the system and progress is being made to correct those, as well as coordination that be made with the County on a few of the larger issues discovered with the storm drains and that work will be prioritized.\u00a0 He also noted that for the issues found on the customers\u2019 side of the system, letters will be sent to those customers informing them of what needs to be done and follow-up phone calls will be made to be sure they understand.\u00a0 Commissioner Harvey further inquired as to how long it should take to address the defects found on the JWSC side of the system, and Mr. Burroughs advised expectations are for corrections to be made by this fall.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Neal questioned if the issues found on the customers\u2019 side were mostly minor, and Mr. Burroughs provided that most of those issues were broken clean-outs and that customers will be requested by letter to have that done within 90 days, and customers with concerns about being able to do that should come to the office to discuss.\u00a0 Commissioner Neal then asked after all corrections are made on both sides of the system, how much of a positive impact will be made at Dunbar Creek.\u00a0 Mr. Burroughs then provided an explanation of the plant flows during certain times and scenarios, and stated that it is possible with the improvements to make a positive impact of about a quarter of a million gallons or more off of the average flows.<\/p>\n
EXECUTIVE SESSION<\/strong><\/p>\nThere was no Executive Session.<\/p>\n
There being no additional business to bring before the Commission, Chairman Turnipseed adjourned the meeting at 2:31 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Commission Meeting held on Thursday, June 20, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Commission Meeting Minutes 6-20-19 with Attachments To read the minutes, please open or download the pdf from the link above, or you may see more below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commission-meeting-minutes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}