Commission Meeting Minutes Thursday, July 25, 2019
For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Commission Meeting held on Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.
Commission Meeting Minutes 7-25-19 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, July 25, 2019 at 2:00 PM
COMMISSION MINUTES
PRESENT:
G. Ben Turnipseed, Chairman
Steve Copeland, Vice-Chairman
Donald Elliott, Commissioner
Bob Duncan, Commissioner
ALSO PRESENT:
Andrew Burroughs, Interim Executive Director
Jacob P. Kitchen, Legal Counsel HBS
Todd Kline, Director of Engineering
Pam Crosby, Director of Procurement
John D. Donaghy, Director of Finance
Jay Sellers, Director of Administration
Janice Meridith, Exec. Commission Administrator
ABSENT:
Wayne Neal, Commissioner
Tripp Stephens, Commissioner
Cornell L. Harvey, Commissioner
MEDIA PRESENT:
Taylor Cooper, The Brunswick News
Pamela Permar Shierling, The Islander
Chairman Turnipseed called the meeting to order at 2:05 PM.
Chairman Turnipseed provided the invocation and Commissioner Copeland led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Chairman Turnipseed opened the public comment period.
There being no citizens for public comment, Chairman Turnipseed closed the public comment period.
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION – B. Turnipseed/C. Barnhart/J. Donaghy
Retirement Presentation
Laura Shiver – Retirement 20 Years of Service
Chairman Turnipseed presented Laura Shiver with a retirement plaque recognizing her 20 years of excellent service to the utility and the community. Chairman Turnipseed congratulated Ms. Shiver and wished her well. Director of Finance John Donaghy and Cindy Barnhart from Teamwork Services were alongside to congratulate Ms. Shiver and wish her well in her future endeavors.
COMMITTEE UPDATES
Facilities Committee – Chairman Turnipseed
Chairman Turnipseed stated that the Facilities Committee had met on the previous day and approved the Pump Station 4105 Engineering Agreement to be moved forward to the full Commission for approval.
Finance Committee – Commissioner Copeland
Commissioner Copeland advised that the Finance Committee had also met the previous day. Items approved to be moved forward to the full Commission were the Altama Avenue CIPP Project, Pump Station 4105/4107 Basin Expansion Project, Academy Creek Roof Repair, and the disposition of five pieces of surplus equipment. Discussion items included the engagement of Mauldin & Jenkins Auditors, Bank Selection RFP, and financial statements for month ending June 30, 2019. Commissioner Copeland noted that the next Finance Committee Meeting will be held on August 21, 2019 at 1:00 p.m.
Chairman Turnipseed stated that there will be an Emergency Preparedness Committee Meeting held on August 1, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.
Chairman Turnipseed advised that there was not a quorum present and approval items would not be addressed or have any motions made on. He asked Mr. Burroughs to provide a brief description of the projects.
Altama Avenue CIPP Project – Mr. Burroughs advised that this project includes some gravity sewer lines that run under Altama Avenue from Fairway Oaks all the way to MLK Blvd. These include clay and ductile iron crossings that need to be repaired. These lines will be CIPP repaired trenchlessly so that the roadways will not be shut down during the work, and some of the lines parallel to Altama Avenue will be repaired also while crews are in the area.
Pump Station 4105 Basin Expansion Project – Mr. Burroughs stated that the purpose of this project is to increase pumping capacity at two pump stations in the north mainland on Cate Road. This will allow for continued commercial and residential development in that area as well as provide an additional 200 to 300 REU’s.
Academy Creek Roof Repair – Mr. Burroughs provided that the existing operations building at Academy Creek which houses SP&M and warehouse inventory has leaks in the roof which has already been repaired, yet unsuccessfully. Staff is seeking approval for a roof replacement.
Chairman Turnipseed requested Mr. Burroughs to also update on the upgrade for Pump Station 4021 located by Sonic on Altama Avenue, as well as the “Smart Ball” presentation for the evaluation of the force main running from Pump Station 4003 to the Academy Creek plant.
Pump Station 4021 – Mr. Burroughs noted that Pump Station 4021 is an existing pump station that is currently over capacity and has held up some development in the Atlama corridor. With a plan in place taps are being allowed to be sold for that pump station and upstream from there. Staff has been determining whether to go with a duplex or a triplex station, and has decided to go with a duplex station and expects to have it ready to go out for bid next month. Construction is hopeful to begin in the fall of 2019.
PS4003 “Smart Ball” – Mr. Burroughs explained that JWSC contracted a company to insert a “Smart Ball” inside the force main from PS 4002 and PS4003 which manifold together. The “Smart Ball” provides an interior look at what is going on inside the force main to determine if there are air pockets or a deterioration of the line. A report should be available in the next four weeks.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
Mr. Burroughs reported that the kickoff meeting for the SPLOST North Mainland Downstream Repair Project was held the Tuesday before. Safety Stand Down Day will be held on July 31st and Mr. Burroughs invited the Commissioners to attend. He noted that the pilot program for paperless billing would be started on August 1, 2019 and anyone wishing to be a part of that pilot program can speak to customer service to be included. Also to begin on August 1st is the pilot for auto-drafting payments from customers’ checking accounts. Lastly Mr. Burroughs provided that notification from the EPD was received on this same day (July 25, 2019) advising the granting of the termination of the existing EPD Consent Order of which JWSC entered into in November 2014 due to the collection systems issues system-wide and some efforts that needed to be accomplished, of which the conditions of that Order have now all been satisfied. This took a lot of hard work by JWSC staff including a good amount of project work and shows the level of improvements that have been made over the past five years. He noted that staff is continuing to make those improvements as we move forward.
CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE
Chairman Turnipseed advised that the Academy Creek Plant will be moving forward also. Not only are repairs to be made, but also making sure JWSC is providing capacity throughout the system. With a limited amount of money JWSC needs to be good stewards of that and want to ensure that all projects come in at under budget. All treatment plants have been operating within permit levels throughout the entire year of 2019.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no Executive Session.
There being no additional business to bring before the Commission, Chairman Turnipseed adjourned the meeting at 2:18 p.m.