Commission Minutes 1-18-24J<\/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 Joint Water and Sewer Commission<\/strong><\/p>\n1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520<\/strong><\/p>\nThursday, January 18, 2024 at 2:00 PM<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nCOMMISSION MINUTES\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nPRESENT: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\nG. Ben Turnipseed, Chairman<\/strong><\/p>\nCharles Cook, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nWayne Neal, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nLance Sabbe, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nChad Strickland, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nClayton Watson, Commissioner<\/strong><\/p>\nDave Ford, Commissioner<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nALSO PRESENT: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\nAndrew Burroughs, Executive Director<\/strong><\/p>\nCharles A. Dorminy, HBS Legal Counsel <\/strong><\/p>\nLaDonnah Roberts, Deputy Executive Director<\/strong><\/p>\nDavid Owens, Director of Finance<\/strong><\/p>\nTodd Kline, Director of Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\nFrances Wilson, Accounting Manager<\/strong><\/p>\nJanice Meridith, Executive Commission Administrator<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nMEDIA PRESENT:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\nPam Shierling, The Islander<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Watson provided the invocation and Commissioner Strickland led the Pledge of Allegiance.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nPUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD<\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed opened the public comment period.<\/p>\n
There being no public comment, Chairman Turnipseed closed the public comment period.<\/p>\n
COMMISSIONERS\u2019 SWEARING-IN CEREMONY \u2013 The Honorable Judge Debra Godwin Duncan <\/strong><\/p>\nG. <\/strong>Ben Turnipseed, Sr., Commissioner 2024-2027 (Grand Jury Appointed 3rd<\/sup> Term)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nDavid Ford, Commissioner 2024-2025 (Grand Jury Appointed-Remainder of Term)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nLance Sabbe, Commissioner 2024-2025 (City of Brunswick Appointed)<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nRECEPTION<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nELECTION OF OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\nCommissioner Neal made a motion seconded by Commissioner Cook to reappoint Chairman Turnipseed as Chairman for 2024.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nCommissioner Neal made a motion seconded by Commissioner Strickland to appoint Commissioner Watson as Vice-Chairman for 2024. Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nCOMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed announced the following appointments for the 2024 Committees:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nFacilities Committee<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman: Chairman Turnipseed<\/p>\n
Members: Commissioner Cook, Commissioner Ford, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Finance Committee \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman: Commissioner Watson<\/p>\n
Members: Commissioner Cook, Commissioner Sabbe, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Communications Committee \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman: Commissioner Cook<\/p>\n
Members: Commissioner Watson, Commissioner Sabbe, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Economic Development Committee \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman: Commissioner Sabbe<\/p>\n
Members: Commissioner Neal, Commissioner Watson, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Human Resources Committee \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman: Commissioner Cook<\/p>\n
Members: Commissioner Watson, Commissioner Sabbe, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Legislative Committee \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman: Commissioner Neal<\/p>\n
Members:\u00a0 Commissioner Watson, Commissioner Sabbe, Charlie Dorminy, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Emergency Preparedness Committee \u2013<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\nCommittee Chairman:\u00a0 Commissioner Strickland<\/p>\n
Members: Commissioner Ford, Commissioner Sabbe, Andrew Burroughs<\/p>\n
Chairman Turnipseed stated that the Facilities and Finance Committees will meet regularly once per month.\u00a0 The other committees will meet on an as-needed basis.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nAPPROVAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Minutes from the December 21, 2023 Regular Commission Meeting <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Commissioner Cook made a motion seconded by Commissioner Watson to approve the minutes from the December 21, 2023 Regular Commission Meeting.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n\n- Dunbar Creek Influent Control Modification<\/strong> \u2013 A. Burroughs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Mr. Burroughs informed the Commissioners that JWSC\u2019s Dunbar Creek Water Pollution Control Facility has two wet wells that contain four influent pumps and one jockey pump to pump the influent from the collection system into the plant treatment processes. On December 17, 2023, during a high flow event caused from excessive rainfall, one of the influent pumps failed and caused a backup in the collection system. This led to a sanitary sewer overflow in the Glynn Haven neighborhood exceeding 100,000 gallons.\u00a0 The current influent pumping station is not monitored on the plant\u2019s SCADA system. As a result, no alarms notified staff of any issues with the influent pumps until the overflow status had already begun. Staff requested a quote from the Utility\u2019s SCADA integrator Electric Machine Control (EMC) to make the necessary modifications to include the influent pumping station on SCADA. EMC has successfully provided SCADA integration support for the Academy Creek rehab project, the Dunbar Creek rehab project, and the overall lift station SCADA upgrade project.\u00a0 By implementing a program like Academy Creek\u2019s at Dunbar Creek costs can be reduced for improvements and standardize for the operations staff. EMC has provided a not-to-exceed quote of $40,000 to provide engineering support, materials, installation, and start-up services for the improvements.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Neal made a motion seconded by Commissioner Watson that the Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water and Sewer Commission enter into a contract with a not-to-exceed budget of $40,000 with Electric Machine Control for improvements and control modifications for the Dunbar Creek WPCF.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n\n- GMEBS Pension Plan IRS Addendum<\/strong> \u2013 D. Owens<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Mr. Owens provided that JWSC previously adopted the Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System (GMEBS) Defined Benefit Retirement Plan, which is comprised of the Basic Plan Document, Adoption Agreement, and General Addendum. The Plan is considered a \u201cqualified plan\u201d under the Internal Revenue Code, which is important to ensure the tax-exempt status of the trust fund. To protect the Plan\u2019s tax-qualified status, GMEBS filed draft restated Plan documents, updated to include recent amendments and comply with changes in federal tax law, with the IRS on June 29, 2022.\u00a0 On August 31, 2023, the IRS issued a favorable opinion letter for the restated Plan documents. The IRS opinion letter provides assurance to employers providing retirement benefits for their employees through the GMEBS Plan that GMEBS is maintaining a qualified pension benefit program that allows employees to accrue benefits tax-free until retirement benefits are distributed to them.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Sabbe made a motion seconded by Commissioner Watson that the Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water and Sewer Commission approve that the Commission Chairman be authorized to execute the necessary forms to enable this filing and maintain the status of our Defined Benefit Retirement Plan as a Qualified Plan.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nDISCUSSION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Financial Statements December 31, 2023<\/strong> \u2013 F. Wilson<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Mrs. Wilson presented the financial statement for the month ending December 31, 2023.\u00a0 She reviewed the Balance Sheet noting the Current Assets and Current Liabilities and briefed the Commissioners on the Combined Revenue Statement.\u00a0 The various Operating Revenues accounts were noted, and details on the Summary of Revenues and Summary of Expenses were highlighted.\u00a0 Mrs. Wilson briefly reviewed line items on the Cash Balances and the Project Report, as well as providing an update on Investments.\u00a0 The financial statements are normally presented in the Finance Committee meeting however it was desired to give a brief update for the full Commission.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Capital Project Report<\/strong> \u2013 T. Kline \/ A. Burroughs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Mr. Kline and Mr. Burroughs presented an abbreviated update on the December Monthly Project Report for Capital Projects.\u00a0 The report includes projects in the engineering phase and those in construction.\u00a0 The Commissioners were provided with a packet containing: the Capital Project Photographs and the Capital Project Report Spreadsheet.\u00a0 This report normally includes the Capital Project Gantt Chart of project timelines and the Earned Value Analysis Report and is usually presented to the Facilities Committee at their monthly meetings.\u00a0 Mr. Kline and Mr. Burroughs briefly presented the update by highlighting details for each project along with excellent project photographs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR\u2019S UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\nCOMMISSIONERS\u2019 DISCUSSION<\/strong><\/p>\nCHAIRMAN\u2019S UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\nChairman Turnipseed commented that the group had a good retreat and planning meeting the day before. All commissioners were reminded that they are welcome to attend any and all committee meetings. The Chairman also welcomed Commissioners Sabbe and Ford to the JWSC.<\/p>\n
EXECUTIVE SESSION- Personnel <\/strong><\/p>\nCommissioner Strickland made a motion seconded by Commissioner Watson to enter Executive Session to discuss Personnel.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nReturn to Regular Session.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nCommissioner Neal made a motion seconded by Commissioner Watson to return to Regular Session.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nAPPROVAL cont.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Amendment to Executive Director\u2019s Retirement Plan<\/strong> \u2013 C. Dorminy<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Commissioner Neal made a motion seconded by Commissioner Watson to defer item number four, the Executive Director\u2019s Retirement Plan, until the next meeting. \u00a0Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nADJOURN<\/strong><\/p>\nThere being no additional business to bring before the Commission, Chairman Turnipseed requested a motion to adjourn the meeting.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Strickland made a motion seconded by Commissioner Sabbe to adjourn the meeting.\u00a0 Motion carried 7-0-0.<\/u><\/p>\n
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 3:56 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Commission Meeting held on Thursday, January 18, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room. Commission Minutes 1-18-24J 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-57663","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\/57663","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=57663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldenisleslepc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}