PLUM CREEK MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY
September 2011
A regular meeting of the Board of The Plum Creek Municipal Authority was held on September 20, 2011 at the Plum Creek Municipal Authority Business Office Building, South Manheim Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
Board members present at the meeting were Jim Ridderhoff, Tom Nagle, Jerry Weiss, and Matt Gruber. Also in attendance were Dave Bright (PCMA Engineer), Mike Stewart (American Water Service), and PCMA attorney Joe Zerbe.
Jim Ridderhoff called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
The minutes for the previous meeting were reviewed and accepted by motion of Jerry Weiss, seconded by Matt Gruber, carried by all.
The Treasurer's reports for July 2011 and August 2011 were reviewed and accepted by motion of Jerry Weiss, seconded by Tom Nagle, carried by all.
Mike Stewart reviewed his written report relating to managerial matters (submitted to the Board prior to the meeting) which addressed water and sewage operations. In water matters, he reported that:
In legal matters, Joe Zerbe said he attended to routine matters such as satisfaction and filing of municipal liens. Other than that, he had nothing to report.
Jim asked Jen if she finished writing the computer program to estimate meter readings for October’s water billing. She said the program was finished, but there was bound to be a few variations that she couldn’t program for, and those special circumstances would be handled on a one-to-one basis if and when they occurred. Actual readings could not be taken for the fourth quarter billing due to an insufficient workforce. Jim said, if the estimated reading program worked out well, perhaps the Board should think about doing it every other reading cycle to avoid reading in months affected by bad weather.
The Board reviewed an insert explaining the reasons for a rate increase that will accompany the October water billing. Upon motion by Tom Nagle, seconded by Matt Gruber, and carried by all, the insert was approved for inclusion with October’s water billing.
At 6:35 pm, Tom Nagle made a motion to enter executive session, seconded by Jerry Weiss, and carried by all. At 6:45 pm the Board returned from executive session. The purpose of the session was to discuss extending family leave for one of the Authority’s employees. Upon motion by Tom Nagle, seconded by Jerry Weiss, and carried by all, the Board extended Shawn Wynne’s family leave for another three months to be evaluated at that time for further action.
Jim addressed the Problem Identification Reports (PIRs) that were sent to Sewage Enforcement Officer, Wayne Bowen, and asked Mike if he’d received any feedback. Mike said he’s been contacted by Wayne about resolving some of the PIRs, and said he would be meeting with him in the near future.
Jerry asked Jen to contact the PCMA’s heath insurance carrier to ask about high deductible health savings plans as defined by health care changes that may be coming in the future. Jen said she would try to find out more information about it and whether or not it would be relevant to the Authority.
There being no further business, Jerry Weiss motioned for adjournment, and Matt Gruber seconded the motion, carried by all. The meeting was adjourned by Jim Ridderhoff at 7:15 pm.
Meeting minutes were taken, prepared, and submitted by Jennifer Hoy.
In sewage matters:
In engineering matters, Dave Bright said that there were no new regulations, and he had nothing new to report. The Board discussed the quarterly Synthetic Organic Chemical monitoring reports (SOCs) with Dave and noted how expensive they are. Dave said the PCMA had a waiver for SOC monitoring, but it was eliminated at the beginning of the year and a round of testing had to be done this year before a new waiver can be applied for. Jerry asked how long the waivers last. Dave said the last one was for an indefinite period of time, but for some reason it was eliminated for every authority across the state. Jim asked why the tests are required quarterly if the first test results were ok. Dave said he’s guessing that they want a longer “snapshot” of the test results.
