Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, November 9, 2008
August 26, 2008 Board of Water Management Meeting
An interesting development that George Sullivan appointed Billy Lloyd as a Water Commissioner, which is kind of a conflict of interest as he is the DPW Foreman of the Village of Victory. Doug Pink was absent which left only Whitney Colvin representing Schuylerville. Apparently, neither of the Schuylerville Board Members are willing to ask a Village Trustee to replace them on the Water Board when they can not make it. The only Trustee right now is Roger Sherman and it appears Whitney is not willing to allow Roger sit on the Water Board even though Roger is entitled if he is asked.
The members present appear to not get their documents in advance so they spent 12 minutes reading documents. The meeting started at 7:12 pm.
Draft minutes for August were tabled until the next meeting.
National Grid was scheduled to do tree maintenance from 9/2/08 – 1/1/09 in the Villages.
A new contract for LaBerge was pending review by Attorney Dixon who agreed with the contract. There was discussion regarding an extra $3000 charged due to the extension of the contract. There was discussion that the contractor should be charged for not being able to meet deadlines and that should be $3000. I did ask, later about the contract, if they had a daily charge back for not meeting the deadline, they should honor the daily amount as I could not understand how they can change the contract after the fact. It could possibly be more than $3000 or it could be less. The hold up is due to not being able to get control units in on time because they are back ordered. The extension was approved by the majority of the Board. However, afterward it was discussed that they never received a Change Order from LaBerge. A motion was made and approved that Whitney can sign with Board approval once the Change Order is presented.
There was no report from LaBerge on the update of the Victory Plant.
A discussion of the plaque that needs to be on the Victory Plant. No quotes yet. The Contractor will provide $1700 back if the Board buys their own and installs it themselves. The original plaque was to be a stand alone. What they are looking at is a plaque to attach to the building. Whitney is waiting for the estimates.
The Chief Water Officer report was read by Whitney. The main request was to put in new 8” gate valves on Broadway before NYS DOT comes through to pave. The biggest issue was that Victory wanted to use DPW staff, of which Billy Lloyd is the only qualified person to handle a backhoe. I did bring up that Billy voting on the matter was a conflict of interest but their Attorney did not agree. The issue was that Mark Dennison wanted to hire a backhoe operator for the entire job for $1200 but the person would be using the Water Board’s backhoe. This person has their own insurance. Whitney stated he had to bring to both Mayors for their approval. If both do not agree, it can not be done.
All of the critical repairs at the Schuylerville Water Treatment Plant were completed. The Water Board did send, after I suggested, that they file an insurance request for coverage of the issues with lightening striking the water treatment plant. There are still some issues with the computer software. It needs to be calibrated which would take 2 days of work. It was decided that the Board needed prices.
PCB’s were tested in the water coming from the Schuylerville Water Plant and they were minimal = 25.0 parts per trillion.
The only DOH requirement regarding licensed Water Distribution workers is that one have a class D license and is onsite during the work.
The Board approved a Staples account for Mark to order supplies. Whitney mentioned that Staples is on the state contract so they should make sure they get the right account.
There was a request to give away drums that carry chemicals as they are not returnable. A question was asked about liability and/or recyclable.
Personnel manual – Whitney needs to contact Corey. Tabled.
Hiring of employee – nothing new. It was decided Whitney would send the opening to NYS DOL and to a Water website for a Treatment Plant Operator.
A request was made to financially support Cory Helwig to get his CDL. Whitney wanted to know what vehicle Cory would take his test on and Billy said the Water Truck Whitney objected because the Water Truck is too difficult and Cory has not driven many large trucks. Tabled.
From my observation, the meeting was very disorganized. The Victory Board members were missing documents.
The members present appear to not get their documents in advance so they spent 12 minutes reading documents. The meeting started at 7:12 pm.
Draft minutes for August were tabled until the next meeting.
National Grid was scheduled to do tree maintenance from 9/2/08 – 1/1/09 in the Villages.
A new contract for LaBerge was pending review by Attorney Dixon who agreed with the contract. There was discussion regarding an extra $3000 charged due to the extension of the contract. There was discussion that the contractor should be charged for not being able to meet deadlines and that should be $3000. I did ask, later about the contract, if they had a daily charge back for not meeting the deadline, they should honor the daily amount as I could not understand how they can change the contract after the fact. It could possibly be more than $3000 or it could be less. The hold up is due to not being able to get control units in on time because they are back ordered. The extension was approved by the majority of the Board. However, afterward it was discussed that they never received a Change Order from LaBerge. A motion was made and approved that Whitney can sign with Board approval once the Change Order is presented.
There was no report from LaBerge on the update of the Victory Plant.
A discussion of the plaque that needs to be on the Victory Plant. No quotes yet. The Contractor will provide $1700 back if the Board buys their own and installs it themselves. The original plaque was to be a stand alone. What they are looking at is a plaque to attach to the building. Whitney is waiting for the estimates.
The Chief Water Officer report was read by Whitney. The main request was to put in new 8” gate valves on Broadway before NYS DOT comes through to pave. The biggest issue was that Victory wanted to use DPW staff, of which Billy Lloyd is the only qualified person to handle a backhoe. I did bring up that Billy voting on the matter was a conflict of interest but their Attorney did not agree. The issue was that Mark Dennison wanted to hire a backhoe operator for the entire job for $1200 but the person would be using the Water Board’s backhoe. This person has their own insurance. Whitney stated he had to bring to both Mayors for their approval. If both do not agree, it can not be done.
All of the critical repairs at the Schuylerville Water Treatment Plant were completed. The Water Board did send, after I suggested, that they file an insurance request for coverage of the issues with lightening striking the water treatment plant. There are still some issues with the computer software. It needs to be calibrated which would take 2 days of work. It was decided that the Board needed prices.
PCB’s were tested in the water coming from the Schuylerville Water Plant and they were minimal = 25.0 parts per trillion.
The only DOH requirement regarding licensed Water Distribution workers is that one have a class D license and is onsite during the work.
The Board approved a Staples account for Mark to order supplies. Whitney mentioned that Staples is on the state contract so they should make sure they get the right account.
There was a request to give away drums that carry chemicals as they are not returnable. A question was asked about liability and/or recyclable.
Personnel manual – Whitney needs to contact Corey. Tabled.
Hiring of employee – nothing new. It was decided Whitney would send the opening to NYS DOL and to a Water website for a Treatment Plant Operator.
A request was made to financially support Cory Helwig to get his CDL. Whitney wanted to know what vehicle Cory would take his test on and Billy said the Water Truck Whitney objected because the Water Truck is too difficult and Cory has not driven many large trucks. Tabled.
From my observation, the meeting was very disorganized. The Victory Board members were missing documents.
Schuylerville/Victory Water Board Special Meeting September 29, 2008
I attended this special meeting of the interview of a new employee of the Water Board. The interview lasted 30 minutes. All I can say is the Water Board made no motion to check references and they ended the meeting. When I and the other elected official and Water Board employee left we were aware that the Board continued to discuss some issues. Not really legal but they should have said they were going into executive session instead of meeting, after the meeting, illegally. Mayor Sullivan was included in the interview and it appears that there was some controversy between Mayor Sullivan and Chairperson Whitney Colvin. There were raised voices and Whitney walked out of the meeting. Unfortunately, Water Board Member Doug Pink was not available at this meeting so it was clear it was a Village of Victory Board against one Village of Schuylerville Board member.
One of the problems I see – the Water Board does not have a personnel manual so anyone they interview can not be provided any information on what their benefits will be. Anyone who takes a job without this knowledge would be getting what they deserved –which is nothing.
One of the problems I see – the Water Board does not have a personnel manual so anyone they interview can not be provided any information on what their benefits will be. Anyone who takes a job without this knowledge would be getting what they deserved –which is nothing.
Schuylerville/Victory Water Board Meeting September 23, 2008
It was announced that there would only be one Water Board Meeting in October – on October 21st, an odd date as they are supposed to meet on the second the fourth Tuesdays and the 21st is a third Tuesday, in the Village of Victory and it will be open for the public to speak – odd that it was changed to an off date for public comment – guess they do not want any. I was told by a Library Board Member that the reason Whitney Colvin could not attend the Water Board meeting on October 14th was because the Library Board is having a dinner and Whitney does not seem to think that the Water Board can or should meet without him in charge – which is kind of interesting because if three members showed up, they could still hold a meeting. As of October 5th, there is no update on the dates of the Water Meetings on the Saratoga County website but that is understandable with the move.
Correspondence – there was no discussion of the letter that was received from Dave Roberts regarding sprinkler connection activation at 120 Broad Street.
No minutes were approved from the last meeting.
There was discussion of applying for a grant for water meters.
Personnel Manual – nothing to report – as Whitney has not had the time to get in touch with Corey, by email, to have her send the document electronically. I believe he has stated this every meeting since she resigned. I do not understand his inability to contact her and he does not appear to have time to send her an email.
Hiring of an employee – Whitney stated that he has been approached by a resident of one of the Villages that has indicated an interest in getting certified as a Water Treatment Plant Operator. Whitney was very interested in this person because he has a CDL license. However, this individual would not be helpful when it comes February when Ted Derby wants to take the whole month off for vacation. I am not sure how comfortable I feel about one certified Water Treatment Operator being responsible for two Water Treatment Plants. It was bad enough when Mark Dennison was out on medical leave for 5+ weeks last Dec/Jan with our part time Water Treatment Operator filling in 7 days a week for 5+ weeks. I do recall Mayor Sullivan questioning Ted’s ability to request so much time off as an employee but we also know that Ted may be an employee but he receives no benefits. So if he does not get vacation, shouldn’t he be able to ask for a leave of absence when he wants to? Whitney is supposed to be drafting a letter to all the prior applicants to let them know that they are rejected. This person who has applied appears to be of interest to a few people. However, at the last meeting, I believe Whitney decided the Board needed to advertise for a Laborer – which is one of the positions.
It was decided they would interview this person on September 29th without advertising the position again. It was not exactly clear what they would be interviewing him for – laborer or Water Treatment Plant Operator. It was questioned why they were not advertising the job and Whitney stated it did not have to be advertised because it had already been advertised. They were reminded that this is a Civil Service Position and they have responsibilities but it was ignored.
Updating unit costs. It was discussed that the new Town Hall Building will need to be re-evaluated. Presently, the building is only paying for 4 units. In addition, the apartment building across from Byrons and Saratoga Labs – that moved to Dave Robert’s building also need to be evaluated.
Whitney did request that information to the board be provided prior to the meetings so the Board does not have to spend the first 10 – 15 minutes reading the material. Brenda was not sure this would be available to them until the day of the meeting.
By the way – DPW Supervisor of Victory, Billy Lloyd, is now on the Water Board. Employees of either Village are ineligible to be appointed to boards. Why do we allow this? Why is it not questioned? Probably because no one is paying attention and, until a decision affects a property owner, nothing will be questioned. It’s a huge conflict of interest! I respect Mr. Lloyd tremendously but I question some of the decisions he made at this meeting and the meeting before – where he favored the Village of Victory rather than making the best decision for the entire water district. It’s just so controversial that it makes me nuts. And the world goes on and the Villages of Schuylerville, Victory and the S/V Water Board continue to struggle in being able to meet the Intermunicipal Agreement as it was written and agreed to by both Village Boards so many years ago.
Victory Water Plant – still no information on start up dates. Not looking forward to it. If they handle it the same way they handled the Schuylerville Plant going on line I will be very fearful on the quality of our water. My understanding is the goal is to rely primarily on the Victory Plant and use the Schuylerville Plant as a backup. Obviously, they have to keep using the Schuylerville Plant to keep it running but it will be utilized less. I am not looking forward to the water from Victory that will now be mixed in with the Schuylerville water. With a new plant going online soon, our costs will most likely increase because they will need to treat the water and I am just wondering what my water rates will be very shortly. Not looking forward to knowing or paying for this.
Correspondence – there was no discussion of the letter that was received from Dave Roberts regarding sprinkler connection activation at 120 Broad Street.
No minutes were approved from the last meeting.
There was discussion of applying for a grant for water meters.
Personnel Manual – nothing to report – as Whitney has not had the time to get in touch with Corey, by email, to have her send the document electronically. I believe he has stated this every meeting since she resigned. I do not understand his inability to contact her and he does not appear to have time to send her an email.
Hiring of an employee – Whitney stated that he has been approached by a resident of one of the Villages that has indicated an interest in getting certified as a Water Treatment Plant Operator. Whitney was very interested in this person because he has a CDL license. However, this individual would not be helpful when it comes February when Ted Derby wants to take the whole month off for vacation. I am not sure how comfortable I feel about one certified Water Treatment Operator being responsible for two Water Treatment Plants. It was bad enough when Mark Dennison was out on medical leave for 5+ weeks last Dec/Jan with our part time Water Treatment Operator filling in 7 days a week for 5+ weeks. I do recall Mayor Sullivan questioning Ted’s ability to request so much time off as an employee but we also know that Ted may be an employee but he receives no benefits. So if he does not get vacation, shouldn’t he be able to ask for a leave of absence when he wants to? Whitney is supposed to be drafting a letter to all the prior applicants to let them know that they are rejected. This person who has applied appears to be of interest to a few people. However, at the last meeting, I believe Whitney decided the Board needed to advertise for a Laborer – which is one of the positions.
It was decided they would interview this person on September 29th without advertising the position again. It was not exactly clear what they would be interviewing him for – laborer or Water Treatment Plant Operator. It was questioned why they were not advertising the job and Whitney stated it did not have to be advertised because it had already been advertised. They were reminded that this is a Civil Service Position and they have responsibilities but it was ignored.
Updating unit costs. It was discussed that the new Town Hall Building will need to be re-evaluated. Presently, the building is only paying for 4 units. In addition, the apartment building across from Byrons and Saratoga Labs – that moved to Dave Robert’s building also need to be evaluated.
Whitney did request that information to the board be provided prior to the meetings so the Board does not have to spend the first 10 – 15 minutes reading the material. Brenda was not sure this would be available to them until the day of the meeting.
By the way – DPW Supervisor of Victory, Billy Lloyd, is now on the Water Board. Employees of either Village are ineligible to be appointed to boards. Why do we allow this? Why is it not questioned? Probably because no one is paying attention and, until a decision affects a property owner, nothing will be questioned. It’s a huge conflict of interest! I respect Mr. Lloyd tremendously but I question some of the decisions he made at this meeting and the meeting before – where he favored the Village of Victory rather than making the best decision for the entire water district. It’s just so controversial that it makes me nuts. And the world goes on and the Villages of Schuylerville, Victory and the S/V Water Board continue to struggle in being able to meet the Intermunicipal Agreement as it was written and agreed to by both Village Boards so many years ago.
Victory Water Plant – still no information on start up dates. Not looking forward to it. If they handle it the same way they handled the Schuylerville Plant going on line I will be very fearful on the quality of our water. My understanding is the goal is to rely primarily on the Victory Plant and use the Schuylerville Plant as a backup. Obviously, they have to keep using the Schuylerville Plant to keep it running but it will be utilized less. I am not looking forward to the water from Victory that will now be mixed in with the Schuylerville water. With a new plant going online soon, our costs will most likely increase because they will need to treat the water and I am just wondering what my water rates will be very shortly. Not looking forward to knowing or paying for this.
September 9, 2008 Schuylerville/Victory Water Board
There was a full Water Board this evening. Due to the Primary, the meeting was held in Mayor Sullivan’s office for which Mayor Sullivan was present.
The meeting was opened at 7:05 to go into Executive Session. No announcement was made for the reason, but what else is new. The Executive Session lasted 40 minutes. The meeting opened again at 7:40 pm. We were told they discussed the issue with the Morgan’s Run curb boxes that are all located on private property. Does not sound like a reason to go into Executive Session to me. That’s public knowledge. They also discussed the liquidation damages at the Victory Plant which they determined they were going to deny.
Whitney announced that he would like to propose one meeting for October on the 21st in Victory. Whitney will be away the second and fourth week in October. I guess the Intermunicipal Agreement, which states a Village Trustee can fill in for absent Water Board members no longer is an option under Chairperson Whitney Colvin’s plan. There is a lot that needs to be accomplished and it’s sad that Intermunicipal agreements are not being followed.
Minutes for July 22nd, August 12th and August 26th were approved. Mr Pink seconded the August 26th minutes even though he was not at the meeting. Interesting.
There were three resolutions passed – two for bills and one for litigation where the Water Board agreed to pay Tom Derby $350. Tom had to sue in small claims court but at least he won. He only asked for a small amount of money from the Water Board, prior to going to smalls claims, for the entire cost of the water line replacement. The Water Board refused to honor his request.
The Project Report from LaBerge regarding the Victory Plant was received but not discussed at the meeting.
Plaque for the Victory Plant. Whitney received no quotes for a wall plaque so the Board rescinded their previous motion and decided to go with the freestanding plaque on a pedestal.
The S/V Water Board received a DEC Erosion Control notice for the Village of Victory Plant. Apparently, a fence placed is falling down and either the contractor has to remove the dirt piles or put up a silt fence and probably fix the fence.
The paving of the Victory plant – still no information. Tabled.
Chief Water Operator’s Report – Mark Dennison was not present. The Village of Schuylerville curb cock and valve replacement that Mark requested be replaced, on Broad Street, in case there is a problem was not approved. There are two conflicting issues. 1- NYS DOT is going to doing a band aid repaving starting next week for Broadway and 2 – The owners associated to the curb cock have not put in an application. All we know, from listening to all of the previous discussions is that our Chief Water Operator knows that if there are future problems with Broad Street water lines, and there have been many, that this particular area needed to be changed because if there is ever a future problem, the entire business section in the Village would have to have all their water shut off. Mayor George Sullivan, this evening, did not agree and he stated that the owner of the property needed to put in an application and pay the fees. On the other side, I would applaud Mark Dennison for his futuristic thinking of trying to get this done - so future problems with the Village of Schuylerville Business District would not be affected by broken water lines. Decisions regarding the Village of Schuylerville should not be made by the Village of Victory Mayor. By the way, where was the Village of Schuylerville Mayor, who is a member of the Water Board? No show. Mayor Sullivan decided this was not an emergency and the Water Board made no decision.
An electric heater in the caustic room is not working and the Water Board agreed that Mark Dennison can either repair it or replace it. Whitney thinks it should be replaced because electric heaters are less expensive and would probably be in the best interest to be replaced.
An evaluation of the lightening protection for the Schuylerville Water Treatment Plant was mentioned but not discussed. Lets hope the Water Board will protect both Treatment Plants from lightening very soon.
There was an issue that two Village of Schuylerville DPW workers did not attend a training they were signed up for today. Whitney mentioned it was garbage day in Schuylerville but he will inquire at the Village meeting. Victory stated they changed their garbage pick up to attend this training.
New employees – although the Water Board has not pursued any new employees recently, it was discussed that Ted Derby would be taking the entire month of February off and he also took the entire week of the Washington County Fair off. Mayor Sullivan questioned, because he is an “employee” without benefits, doesn’t he have to get approval of the Board. There was no further discussion on this subject. There was further discussion of hiring an employee and Whitney offered that they should be hiring a laborer because he does not feel they will be able to hire a 2A operator for the money they are offering. He has been contacted by someone who works for NYS who is interested in the position because he is tired of his drive to work and he appears to have an interest in being trained as a Water Treatment Operator. However, this does not solve the problem that Ted is leaving for a whole month. The Water Board will need to contract for a replacement. But there was no discussion of contracting, as there was no discussion of contracting when Mark Dennison was out on medical leave for 6 weeks. Where is the NYS DOH? We, the residents, need protection from possible issues.
Village of Schuylerville – issue with an apartment building on Broad Street that has not reported an increase in units. Whitney will ask the Building Inspector at the Village meeting. Brenda offered that she did call the Village of Schuylerville and she was told that the building owner was working with the Village Building Inspector – that was it.
Cory Helwig was approved to attend a Class D Water course in Western NY to include the cost of the course, wages, room, meals, tolls and mileage but no alcohol.
The meeting was opened at 7:05 to go into Executive Session. No announcement was made for the reason, but what else is new. The Executive Session lasted 40 minutes. The meeting opened again at 7:40 pm. We were told they discussed the issue with the Morgan’s Run curb boxes that are all located on private property. Does not sound like a reason to go into Executive Session to me. That’s public knowledge. They also discussed the liquidation damages at the Victory Plant which they determined they were going to deny.
Whitney announced that he would like to propose one meeting for October on the 21st in Victory. Whitney will be away the second and fourth week in October. I guess the Intermunicipal Agreement, which states a Village Trustee can fill in for absent Water Board members no longer is an option under Chairperson Whitney Colvin’s plan. There is a lot that needs to be accomplished and it’s sad that Intermunicipal agreements are not being followed.
Minutes for July 22nd, August 12th and August 26th were approved. Mr Pink seconded the August 26th minutes even though he was not at the meeting. Interesting.
There were three resolutions passed – two for bills and one for litigation where the Water Board agreed to pay Tom Derby $350. Tom had to sue in small claims court but at least he won. He only asked for a small amount of money from the Water Board, prior to going to smalls claims, for the entire cost of the water line replacement. The Water Board refused to honor his request.
The Project Report from LaBerge regarding the Victory Plant was received but not discussed at the meeting.
Plaque for the Victory Plant. Whitney received no quotes for a wall plaque so the Board rescinded their previous motion and decided to go with the freestanding plaque on a pedestal.
The S/V Water Board received a DEC Erosion Control notice for the Village of Victory Plant. Apparently, a fence placed is falling down and either the contractor has to remove the dirt piles or put up a silt fence and probably fix the fence.
The paving of the Victory plant – still no information. Tabled.
Chief Water Operator’s Report – Mark Dennison was not present. The Village of Schuylerville curb cock and valve replacement that Mark requested be replaced, on Broad Street, in case there is a problem was not approved. There are two conflicting issues. 1- NYS DOT is going to doing a band aid repaving starting next week for Broadway and 2 – The owners associated to the curb cock have not put in an application. All we know, from listening to all of the previous discussions is that our Chief Water Operator knows that if there are future problems with Broad Street water lines, and there have been many, that this particular area needed to be changed because if there is ever a future problem, the entire business section in the Village would have to have all their water shut off. Mayor George Sullivan, this evening, did not agree and he stated that the owner of the property needed to put in an application and pay the fees. On the other side, I would applaud Mark Dennison for his futuristic thinking of trying to get this done - so future problems with the Village of Schuylerville Business District would not be affected by broken water lines. Decisions regarding the Village of Schuylerville should not be made by the Village of Victory Mayor. By the way, where was the Village of Schuylerville Mayor, who is a member of the Water Board? No show. Mayor Sullivan decided this was not an emergency and the Water Board made no decision.
An electric heater in the caustic room is not working and the Water Board agreed that Mark Dennison can either repair it or replace it. Whitney thinks it should be replaced because electric heaters are less expensive and would probably be in the best interest to be replaced.
An evaluation of the lightening protection for the Schuylerville Water Treatment Plant was mentioned but not discussed. Lets hope the Water Board will protect both Treatment Plants from lightening very soon.
There was an issue that two Village of Schuylerville DPW workers did not attend a training they were signed up for today. Whitney mentioned it was garbage day in Schuylerville but he will inquire at the Village meeting. Victory stated they changed their garbage pick up to attend this training.
New employees – although the Water Board has not pursued any new employees recently, it was discussed that Ted Derby would be taking the entire month of February off and he also took the entire week of the Washington County Fair off. Mayor Sullivan questioned, because he is an “employee” without benefits, doesn’t he have to get approval of the Board. There was no further discussion on this subject. There was further discussion of hiring an employee and Whitney offered that they should be hiring a laborer because he does not feel they will be able to hire a 2A operator for the money they are offering. He has been contacted by someone who works for NYS who is interested in the position because he is tired of his drive to work and he appears to have an interest in being trained as a Water Treatment Operator. However, this does not solve the problem that Ted is leaving for a whole month. The Water Board will need to contract for a replacement. But there was no discussion of contracting, as there was no discussion of contracting when Mark Dennison was out on medical leave for 6 weeks. Where is the NYS DOH? We, the residents, need protection from possible issues.
Village of Schuylerville – issue with an apartment building on Broad Street that has not reported an increase in units. Whitney will ask the Building Inspector at the Village meeting. Brenda offered that she did call the Village of Schuylerville and she was told that the building owner was working with the Village Building Inspector – that was it.
Cory Helwig was approved to attend a Class D Water course in Western NY to include the cost of the course, wages, room, meals, tolls and mileage but no alcohol.
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