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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-30-18Minutes of the Pulaski Town Council budget meeting held at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 30, 2018 in the Council Chambers of the Town Municipal Building at 42 First Street, N.W. In attendance were: Mayor: David L. Clark, presiding Councilmen Present: G. Tyler Clontz; Brooks R. Dawson; Joseph K. Goodman; Lane R. Penn; James A. Radcliffe Councilmen Absent: Gregory C. East Administration: Shawn M. Utt, Town Manager Nichole L. Hair, Deputy Town Manager Staff: Kim Caudill, Adm. Manager, Public Works Gary Jennings, Chief Operator, Filter Plant Bill Pedigo, Town Engineer David Quesenberry, Clerk of Council Angie Viers, Pulaski Police Department Others: Chris Conner Janet Jonas 1. Call to Order Mayor Clark called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Following the call to order, the roll was taken. Present were: Mayor Clark, Mr. Clontz, Mr. Dawson, Mr. Goodman, Mr. Penn and Mr. Radcliffe. Absent at roll call was Mr. East. A quorum of Council to conduct business was present. 3. Department Review 3.a. Water Fund Before beginning her presentation, Ms. Caudill highlighted four general features of the Water Fund Budget as presented. Those features were: administration of salaries/benefits line items by Human Resources which were not directly charged by the Water Fund; processing of electric bills by Accounts Payable which were not directly charged by the fund; unexpended balances in some line items which was used to offset overages on other line items in the same account; and unfunded line items which remained active accounts. Mr. Utt briefly reviewed the existing debt service of the Water Fund which included the NBB Refinancing and purchase of vehicles through Carter Machinery. 3.a.i. Water Fund CIP Ms. Caudill then reviewed the proposed capital projects for the Water Fund. Mr. Pedigo noted that $190,000 left unexpended from the Crestline tank project would be used as the Town's match for the Brookmont HAAS Project which would rehabilitate the Needmore tanks and pumps; install a fill tube and mixer for the Veteran's Hill tank; take the Pleasant Hill tank out of service; and complete the connections making the area a single pressure zone. During the review, there was discussion concerning fire hydrants and their replacement. Mr. Pedigo told Council that some of the hydrants for the Town were not standard; did not have valves; and were on four - inch lines which complicated replacement. To Mr. Goodman's question if they could be replaced, Mr. Pedigo replied it would be cost prohibitive and it was cheaper to replace what the Town already had. Page 1 of 5/October 30, 2018 The review continued noting the need to replace the Raw Water line to the Filter Plant, upgrade telemetry to the Filter Plant and pay for engineering services for the Brookmont HAA5 Project. Regarding telemetry, Mr. Jennings told Council that the Filter Plant staff and others adopted a mobile 911 system which can issue various alarms and reports on the status of the water system by cellphone. This would remain in use until a more permanent system was installed. There being no more discussion, Ms. Caudill began a review of the Transmission and Distribution operating budget. 3. a. ii. Water Transmission and Distribution Ms. Caudill's review of the operational line items of the Water Transmission and Distribution budget noted the division was down to three employees. Highlighted during this review was Repair and Maintenance Supplies which included all items for repairs to or installation of water lines. Highest expenditure for supplies was noted for crusher run gravel to do fill-in following a water line repair, since waterlogged soil could not be used as fill. After reviewing the remaining expenditures, Council moved on to the Filter Plant budget. 3.a.iii. Water Filtration Plant Mr. Pedigo introduced Mr. Jennings, Chief Operator of the Filter Plant, to Council. Mr. Jennings forwarded the thanks of his employees to Council for the purchase of a new fork lift. Mr. Jennings reviewed the operational budget line items for the Filter Plant. He mentioned the expense in mailing the HAAS notices in the Advertising line item. With respect to other mailings, the Postal Services line item covered the mailing costs of monthly utility bills in addition to legal notices and correspondence. One important line item he reviewed was Training and Meetings, since employees were required by the state to be licensed. Employees who were licensed had to pay a fee in addition to attending training every two years to maintain their license. Mr. Jennings noted that it was a big expense to the Town to train a new hire which required expenditures for classes, books, training and overtime. Mr. Radcliffe asked how long it took for a trainee with no experience to get to the top level. Mr. Jennings replied two years, which depended upon the trainee doing very well. He added that the testing protocol had changed from open book to closed book. This had resulted in a 10% passage rate for Class Two and Class One applicants. He reported that of the seven employees at the Filter Plant, five were Class One license holders. With respect to Uniform and Wearing Apparel, Mr. Jennings noted that past use of a professional vendor had proven expensive and unsatisfactory in that uniforms were ill-fitting, damaged or otherwise in poor condition. He elected to take the appropriation and apportion it among the employees. Overall expenditures he said, were halved under this line item. Mr. Jennings focused on Other Operating Supplies which accounted for the purchase of chemicals for treating the water. He reviewed the various types of chemicals and their role in water treatment. The biggest change in treatment was replacing chlorine gas with sodium hypochlorite resulting in much safer operating conditions at the Filter Plant. Sampling and compliance monitoring were paid for out of the Consultants line - item which paid for mandated testing for various substances. Mr. Radcliffe encouraged Council members to tour the Filter Plant and complemented Mr. Jennings and his staff for doing a good job. Council then moved to a review of the Sewer Fund. 3.b. Sewer Fund Ms. Caudill noted the same general features of the Sewer Fund, as with the Water Fund concerning Human Resources administration of salaries and benefits; payment of electric bills by Accounts Payable; Page 2 of 5/October 30, 2018 unexpended balances used to offset overages in other line items in the same account; and retention of some line items that were not funded but remain active accounts. Mr. Utt briefly reviewed the Sewer Fund Debt Service which consisted of: the Town's portion of Peppers Ferry's debt service; the loan through the Va. Revolving Loan Fund for renovations to Pump Station 4A & 46; a portion of the debt refinancing from 2012; and the 2015 General Obligation Bond for the sewer vacuum truck. 3.b.i. Sewer Fund CIP Ms. Caudill, in her CIP review, highlighted under the Pump Station Equipment line item, a one-time expense for rental of a generator for 4B due to an issue at that facility. The Town was reimbursed through its insurance for that expense. Referring to capital projects, she briefly listed the non -funded projects first. In her review of funded projects, Ms. Caudill said that the Sewer Line Replacement had not proceeded due to staff shortages. Mr. Goodman asked if the unexpended funds were carried over or put back into reserves. Mr. Utt said the funds were carried over and were used similar to the reserve funds in anticipation of a major sewer line replacement. Ms. Caudill said that funds for the Pipe Storage Building had been carried forward due to staff shortages. She added there were only two persons in the General Properties division to build it. Mr. Pedigo reviewed the remaining line items including repairs to the Grit Chamber at 4A. The chamber, Mr. Pedigo explained removed grit out of the effluent after it settles. The reserve account for 4A & 4B was to replace or rebuild pumps and motors, which required constant attention due to the corrosive effect of the sewage. The Force Main Reserve line item was used to accrue funds in case of a line collapse, which was anticipated to happen. The Manhole Rehabilitation Reserve line item was needed to set aside funds for repairs to manholes to keep out the inflow and infiltration of rainwater into the sewer. Mr. Pedigo also mentioned using the technique of "slip lining" the larger sewer lines to prevent the infiltration of rainwater into the sewer. The final project reviewed was the James Hardie Sewer Direct Injection project which would allow wastewater from the plant to be injected into the sewer force main directly to Pump Station 4B, to the overall benefit of the sewer system. He added that the Preliminary Engineering Report for the project was complete. Mr. Utt said there was $2.6 million in the budget for the injection project and added that Hardie had hired a grant writer with the goal of getting a large percentage (50%-75%) of the project cost met by grant funding. Mr. Dawson asked how much of the sewer line to Pepper's Ferry was owned by the Town. Mr. Utt and Mr. Pedigo replied 80% with the remaining 20% owned by the PSA and Town of Dublin, with costs apportioned based on the percentage of ownership. Mr. Goodman asked if the cost had been checked to be sure the 80% was still correct. Mr. Pedigo replied the figure was set in the agreement. Mr. Dawson asked if there were issues with the sewer line. Mr. Pedigo replied that due to the corrosive nature of the effluent, there would be. He pointed out after five years, the line and manholes had to be rehabilitated. The situation was better he added, since the outflow was being treated with chemicals. With discussion on the CIP concluded, Council moved on to the Sewer Collection budget. 3.b.ii. Sewer Collection At the start of Ms. Caudill's review of the operational costs of the Sewer Collection budget, she informed Council that there was only one employee in the department, who was set to retire in January. She highlighted the Repair and Maintenance Supplies line item for costs involving: the specialized adhesive Belzona, exhaust fan installation, outside AC units at the Dora Highway pump station, and pump rental. Mr. Pedigo and Mr. Utt told Council that the Critzer Pump Station had been rebuilt with Belzona used to coat the pipes and the wet well at the station. Mr. Pedigo said the material appears to have worked well. Page 3 of 5/October 30, 2018 After reviewing the remaining operational line item, with there being no questions from Council, discussion then moved to the Pepper's Ferry budget. 3.b.iii. Pepper's Ferry Mr. Pedigo distributed a copy of the latest bill from Pepper's Ferry and walked Council through the charges on the bill and the Pepper's Ferry Treatment Charges line item from which payments were made. He followed with a review of the operational charges for maintenance, electrical service and materials and described how Town work on the facilities was tracked and charged. After Mr. Pedigo's review of other operating line items dealing with CIP reserves, electrical and chemical charges, he concluded his presentation. Mr. Dawson suggested that the Town should get away from saving to an unknown figure for capital items. He felt the Town needed to know where it was going, what it would need to get there, and how far from the goal it was. Saving to an unknown figure he ventured, did not seem desirable. Mr. Utt said work had been done on reserves in anticipation of conversations during the upcoming budget year. Mr. Goodman asked how many people was Public Works down. Ms. Caudill responded eight, with two retirements scheduled in two months. Mr. Goodman, noting the potential shortage of ten positions, mentioned past conversations on recruitment including possibly increasing salaries, etc. He added that coming up with a dollar figure (for salaries) was needed. Mr. Utt suggested a short-term and long-term direction could be taken. The short-term approach would be to use temp agencies or have a contractor on call, while the long-term approach would need to include a conversation on salaries. Mr. Goodman said that as the time got closer for budget development there was a need to come up with the numbers to change Public Works in a way to recruit employees. The Town he continued, could not compete with Volvo. But if the Town were more "in the ballpark" with a benefits package, he continued, that might help make up the difference to keep Public Works adequately staffed. He added that there were several projects mentioned in the last two meetings that could not be done because of lack of staffing. These projects needed to be done to maintain the Town's systems. If the projects were not done, this made failure more likely with added costs for repairs that was more expensive than preventative maintenance. 4. Closed Session Following the budget discussions, Mayor Clark called for a motion to enter Closed Session for one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 1, a personnel matter concerning interviews for the Planning Commission. Mr. Goodman moved to enter Closed Session. The motion was seconded by Mr. Dawson and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent James A. Radcliffe -Aye Council then entered Closed Session at 7:12 p.m. Council returned from Closed Session at 7:47 p.m. Mayor Clark asked for a certification motion that Council discussed only the single matter for which it went into Closed Session: one item under Va. Code 2.2-3711 (A) 1, a personnel matter concerning interviews for the Planning Commission. Mr. Goodman moved to certify the Closed Session. His motion was seconded by Mr. Clontz and approved on the following roll call vote: Page 4 of 5/October 30, 2018 Lane R. Penn Brooks R. Dawson Gregory C. East -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye -Absent James A. Radcliffe -Aye Mayor Clark then requested another motion from Council. Mr. Goodman moved that staff be instructed to prepare the necessary paperwork to appoint Chris Conner and Janet Jonas to the Planning Commission and have that material ready for the next Council meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Penn and approved on the following roll call vote: Lane R. Penn -Aye Joseph K. Goodman -Aye Brooks R. Dawson -Aye G. Tyler Clontz -Aye Gregory C. East -Absent James A. Radcliffe -Aye 5. Adjournment Mayor Clark reminded Council of the upcoming Legislative Council Meeting on Tuesday, November 6, 201 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Goodman then made a motion to adjourn which was seconded son and approved by unanimous voice vote of the Council at 7:51 p.m. ATTEST: David N. Quesenberry Clerk of Council 1 Page 5 of 5/October 30, 2018 Mayor Clark