For your consideration please review the minutes from the Commission Meeting held on Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 2:00 pm in the Commission Meeting Room.

Commission Meeting Minutes 6-15-2017 with Attachments

To read the minutes please open or download the pdf from the link above, or you may see more below:

Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission

1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520

Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 2:00 PM 

COMMISSION MINUTES

 PRESENT:                             

Donald M. Elliott, Chairman

Clifford Adams, Vice-Chairman

Michael Browning, Commissioner

Cornell L. Harvey, Commissioner

Steve Copeland, Commissioner

David H. Ford, Commissioner

Robert Bowen, Commissioner

ALSO PRESENT:                 

Jimmy Junkin, Executive Director

Charlie Dorminy, Legal Counsel HBS

Thomas A. Boland, Sr., Deputy Director

John D. Donaghy, Director of Administration & Finance

Todd Kline, Senior Engineer

Pam Crosby, Director of Purchasing

Jay Sellers, Public Information Officer                                               

Chairman Elliott called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.  Commissioner Copeland provided the invocation and Chairman Elliott led the pledge.

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

Chairman Elliott opened the public comment period.  There being no citizens for public comment, Chairman Elliott closed the public comment period.

PRESENTATION

Employee Recognition – Commissioner Harvey

Matthew Samuel Lane was presented with his Water Laboratory Analyst Certificate by Commissioner Harvey.  Commissioner Harvey congratulated him and expressed the importance of this accomplishment and the Commission’s appreciation and best wishes for Mr. Lane’s successful efforts and his future.

Mr. Junkin also recognized an employee who has shown that he is very observant and conscientious about his responsibilities to the organization.  Mr. Junkin acknowledged Alvin Hall and some special work that this employee has done for the JWSC.  He expressed his appreciation for the fact that Alvin had discovered an individual who was “taking” or using water without an account or making payments and reported it and ensured the situation was taken care of.

 COMMITTEE UPDATES

Compliance & Legislative Committee – Commissioner Browning

There was no update at this time.

Facilities Committee – Commissioner Adams

Commissioner Adams update the Commission that the Facilities Committee did meet on Thursday, June 8 and had approved the Design/Build Award for SPLOST North Mainland Sewer Improvements and also the Peninsula MOU to move forward to the Commission.  The next meeting for this Committee will be on Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 3:00 pm.

Finance Committee – Chairman Elliott

Chairman Elliott updated the Commission that the Finance Committee did meet on Wednesday, June 14 and had also approved the Design/Build Award for SPLOST North Mainland Sewer Improvements and discussed the financial report for the end of May. The next meeting of this Committee will be on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at 2:00 pm.

Human Resources & Safety Committee – Commissioner Harvey

There was no update at this time. The next meeting of this Committee will be on July 6, 2017 at 10:00 am.

Public Information & Customer Relations Committee – Commissioner Copeland

There was no update at this time. Commissioner Copeland advised that the next meeting of this Committee was rescheduled to June 27 from July 5 due to the Fourth of July Holiday.

 APPROVAL

1. Minutes from the June 1, 2017 Regular Commission Meeting

Commissioner Browning made a motion seconded by Commissioner Harvey to approve the minutes from June 1, 2017 Regular Commission Meeting.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

2. Minutes from the June 1, 2017 Executive Session

Commissioner Browning made a motion seconded by Commissioner Ford to approve the minutes from June 1, 2017 Executive Session.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

3. Design/Build Award for 2016 SPLOST North Mainland Sewer Improvements Phase 1, Project No. 702 – P. Crosby

Pam Crosby presented the recommendation by the Selection Committee for the Design/Build Award for SPLOST 2016 North Mainland Sewer Improvements Phase 1, Project No. 702 to the Commission.  She provided a memo containing some of the details that occurred during the solicitation process as well as the evaluation matrix.  She advised that at the pre-proposal meeting there were 19 firms in attendance representing a combination of engineering, construction and suppliers.  Out of those it was anticipated that there would be at least 4 or 5 proposals received, but that there were only 2 final proposals received.  Mrs. Crosby noted that this recommendation has already been presented to the Facilities and Finance Committees.  She also advised that the memo did provide bullet points of reasons as to why some firms did not make proposals, but that the lead reason given was the timeline that JWSC was looking for to accomplish the project, and that it was accelerated to move quickly.  Additional reasons discussed were the specified manufacturer for the pumps provided and the coordination with the Pump Station 4048 Project.  Mrs. Crosby continued by discussing the evaluation, scoring process and some notes made by the Selection Committee, as well as specific targets which were of high importance.  The Selection Committee was made up of 2 engineering staff and 1 from operations. She did note that this was a technical evaluation and the recommendation to award was based solely on the technical aspects of the proposal and strength of project approach, and not based on the fee that would be charged.  This recommendation is for a 30% Design/Build and the Guaranteed Maximum Price for the complete project will be brought back before the Committees and the Commission.

Commissioner Ford made a motion seconded by Commissioner Adams to move that approval be granted to award the contract for Phase One Design/Build Services for the North Mainland Sewer Improvement Project Phase 1 to Constantine Constructors, Inc. in the amount of $77,854.00.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

4. Peninsula Development MOU – C. Dorminy

Charlie Dorminy presented to the Commission a request for approval for the Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Water and Sewer Rights and Responsibilities for the Developments Known as Peninsula at Golden Isles and Longwood Preserve.  He gave some of the background information explaining that on March 31, 2017 the developer and Home Owners Association of the residential subdivisions on Buck Swamp Road known as “The Peninsula at Golden Isles” and the developer of “Longwood Preserve” approached BGJWSC in the attempt to dedicate the water and sewer infrastructure by easement to the BGJWSC.  This was due to a request by the Developers to Glynn County to abandon the roads within the subdivision. He noted that at that time there had been no easement filed addressing the water and sewer maintenance rights and responsibilities.  The infrastructure within the subdivision was not installed to the JWSC standards and remains in a substandard condition. The Developers own all but 10 lots within the subdivision.  Additionally, there are only 2 homes constructed in the subdivision and both are utilizing STEP systems located on private lot-owner property.  Mr. Dorminy further explained that upon investigation, there existed a disagreement between the parties regarding the water and sewer rights and responsibilities.  Therefore, the JWSC and the Developers desire to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of delineating the water and sewer rights and responsibilities of the Parties.  He also noted that the general elements of the agreement are as follows: importantly the rights and responsibilities of the 10 lot owners that already purchased their property, including the 2 home owners will not change whatsoever.  Mr. Dorminy also advised that letters were sent to each of the 10 lot owners advising them of what was going on and invited them to attend this meeting to be heard, and no one showed up.  He repeated again that the rights and responsibilities of those 10 lot owners will not be changed.  The additional general elements of the MOU were included within the memo provided for review and discussed.  Mr. Dorminy displayed a map showing the lots and the subdivision for the Commission to review.  There was some continued discussion regarding the STEP system.

Commissioner Bowen made a motion seconded by Commissioner Ford to approve the Memorandum Of Understanding between the BGJWSC and the Peninsula Developers.  Motion carried 7-0-0.  

5. Industrial Pre-Treatment Permits – A. Walker

Angela Walker presented to the Commission three industrial wastewater pre-treatment permits for approval for implementation.  She gave the background that the JWSC is required by the GA EPD to maintain an industrial pre-treatment program in Glynn County, GA.  The industrial pretreatment program is mandatory for any utility which treats over 5 million gallons of sewage a day.  Currently there are 5 major contributors that discharge industrial wastewater to the Academy Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant which require pretreatment permits to be issued.  All of the industrial pretreatment permits are due for renewal.  The draft permits were completed by Brown & Caldwell after a review of the local limits for the Academy Creek Plant.  Three of the draft permits have been finalized.  Mrs. Walker provided these permits in the documentation for the Commission to review.  She noted that based on staff’s evaluation and review of the current draft permits for King & Prince, Rich Products and Quaker City Plating, a recommendation for approval by the Commission with implementation beginning July 1, 2017 is proposed.  Mrs. Walker also mentioned that 2 of these users are mostly biological, but are significant since they discharge over 25,000 gallons of wastewater per day to Academy Creek, which is the reason they must have a permit, and the other is a categorical user and they are under stricter limitations with their discharge, so they have a different permit and more strict limits that what our local limits are at Academy Creek.  There was a brief continued discussion by the Commission.

Commissioner Harvey made a motion seconded by Commissioner Browning to move that approval be granted to finalize the three pre-treatment permits (King & Prince, Rich Products and Quaker City Plating) with implementation to begin on July 1, 2017.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

6. Christmas Eve Holiday Observance on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 – J. Junkin

Mr. Junkin presented to the Commission the recommendation to observe the Christmas Eve holiday on Tuesday, December 26^th.  With the holiday being actually on a Sunday, it was originally scheduled to be observed on the Friday before (December 22^nd).  He recommended to change the observance to Tuesday, December 26^th since this was the better day to observe the holiday due to employees traveling and other reasons.

Commissioner Harvey made a motion seconded by Commissioner Adams to move that approval be granted to revise the BGJWSC 2017 calendar and change the observance of the December 24^th holiday to Tuesday, December 26^th.  Motion carried 7-0-0.  

DISCUSSION

1. May End of Month Financial Comparative – J. Donaghy

John Donaghy presented the May end of Month Financial Comparative Report for the period ending May 31, 2017 to the Commission, and mentioned that this completed the first 11 months of the Fiscal Year.  He first explained the balance sheet, noted the bond sinking fund and that balance of $2,913,000.00, and made note that on June 1^st the payment will be made to the Bond Holder in the amount of $2,910,00.00 leaving a balance short of $4,000.00 in that account. $2,020,000.00 will be paid in principal on the bonds and $893,000.00 in interest. He then moved on to the second page of the report which is the Supplemental Schedule of Cash Balances and noted that it was relatively stable from the previous month.  Mr. Donaghy continued to the Revenues and Expenses portion of the report and noted that the pro-rated budget for the year at that point was $25,771,000.00 and the actual was at about $27,226,000.00.  The operating expenditures pro-rated budget was $20,396,000.00 with the actual at $20,426,000.00, with about a $30,000.00 difference in operating expenditures, resulting in an excess of revenues over expenditures of about $1.5M. He then noted the non-expenditure cash requirements of debt principal, capital expenditures and reserve deposits and after that is deducted from the cash there is about $2,740,000.00 in excess of cash needs. He continued to note that there are just over $2,870,000.00 in outstanding purchase orders which have not been invoiced as of yet, which leaves a deficit of about $130,000.00. It is not expected that all of those outstanding purchase orders will be invoiced before the Fiscal Year end. What is not invoiced by June 30, 2017 will go against the next Fiscal Year. Mr. Junkin asked for an overview of the aged accounts receivable.  Mr. Donaghy advised that as of the collections policy being approved for change by the Commission a few weeks prior, there were over $2M in accounts receivable that were over 60 days past due. Due to the efforts of staff to start collecting on the past due money, to date about $150,000.00 has been collected. A good number of customers have signed promissory notes for payment plans over time. Mr. Donaghy also noted that out of the $2M past due, one customer owes over $250K, which is the Board of Education of Glynn County.  He added that if the school board does not pay that amount then all other customers’ bills will be increased as a result to recover that amount.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

Mr. Junkin advised that the night before (Wednesday) was the first Town Hall meeting regarding the rate structures and that the meeting went well.  The questions asked were good ones.  The people were more interested in what was being done to correct the system and how it got into the current state of condition as it is.

CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE

Chairman Elliott discussed that the regularly scheduled Committee meetings will only be the Finance, Facilities and Human Resources & Safety, and that the Compliance & Legislative and Public Information & Customer Relations Committee meetings will be held on an as needed basis. The Public Information & Customer Relations Committee meeting scheduled will stay on the calendar for June 27, 2017. After that, the Commission Chairman and the respective Committee Chairman will determine when there is a need for one of these Committee meetings, and it would be announced at a regular Commission Meeting and scheduled.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Commissioner Harvey made a motion seconded by Commissioner Browning to adjourn into Executive Session to discuss litigation issues.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

The Chairman stated that there will not be a vote after the Executive Session.

Return to Regular Session.

Commissioner Adams made a motion seconded by Commissioner Bowen to return to the Regular Meeting.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

Commissioner Harvey noted that for the next Commission Meeting, he would like to discuss the benefits package for BGJWSC employees including medical, dental, vision, etc.

Commissioner Harvey made a motion seconded by Commissioner Ford to adjourn the Meeting.  Motion carried 7-0-0.

There being no additional business to bring before the Commission, Chairman Elliott adjourned the open meeting at 3:31 pm.