Municipal Authority Meeting Minutes will be posted after they are approved at the following meeting.
Borough of Somerset Municipal Authority Meeting
June 17th, 2024 – 5:00 p.m. (In-Person) Borough Council Room
1. Meeting Called to Order: – Ben Flower
2. Roll Call:
Authority Members present: Ben Flower; Ruby Miller; Jeff Shaffer and Terry Jerin.
Authority Members absent: Lee Hoffman.
Also present: Municipal Authority Manager, Jessica Sizemore;
Director of Finance, Brett Peters; Administrative Assistant, Roger Bailey; Solicitor,
James Cascio; Borough Engineers, Tom Reilly and Jake Bolby.
Public Attendance:
a. None
3. Approval of Agenda
A. Approval of Agenda – Review and approval of the Agenda for June 17th, 2024
Meeting.
a. Motion to approve agenda as presented:
Mr. Flower moved, Mr. Shaffer seconded.
Motion Unanimously Carried
B. Executive Session – Personnel & Contract Negotiations.
Motion
Mr. Flower moved, seconded by Mr. Shaffer to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel & contract negotiations.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5:30 p.m.
Back in Session
5:52 p.m.
Motion
Mr. Flower moved, Mrs. Miller seconded to authorize Mrs. Sizemore to go to Borough Council to recommend an entry level GIS AutoCAD Mapping Coordinator position.
Motion Unanimously Carried
4. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting(s):
A. Approval of Meeting Minutes – Review and approval of the Minutes from May 28th,
2024.
a. Motion to approve the Municipal Authority Minutes from May 28th, 2024:
Mr. Shaffer moved, Mr. Jerin seconded.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5. Opening of Bids:
A. None
6. General Public Comments:
A. None registered
7. Payment of Bills/Requisitions:
A. None
8. Policy Agenda:
A.Old Business:
a. Water and Wastewater Rules & Regulations – Update from Manager/EADS.
Mrs. Sizemore said that the Rules & Regulations were not ready for the Authority to review and approve, however, she expressed that until the Waterline Project is complete, she feels it is best to wait until August/September for approval.
B. New Business:
a. Manager’s Report – Update on Operations.
Mrs. Sizemore mentioned that the LCRR Public Outreach meeting is rescheduled for July 15th, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. at the Fire Hall. More information will be sent to the residents and the public.
Mrs. Sizemore proposed that the Municipal Authority Meetings be moved from the 3rd Monday of the month to the 4th Monday of the month to 6:30 p.m. following the Borough Council Meeting. Hence, the next Municipal Authority Meeting will be held July 22nd, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
Motion
Mrs. Miller moved, Mr. Flower seconded to move Municipal Authority Meetings from the 3rd Monday of each month to the 4th Monday of each month to 6:30 p.m. following the adjournment of the Borough Council Meeting.
Motion Unanimously Carried
Mrs. Sizemore mentioned that a call was received from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, and the topic of our existing PennVEST Waterline Replacement Project was discussed. Their Office wanted to determine if we could possibly be a candidate to spotlight our project and the investment to our infrastructure with the Lieutenant Governor’ s support and a visit. More information will follow.
Mrs. Sizemore added that during the conversation we were also made aware of a tax credit for the installation of the solar energy at the Coxes Creek location. We will review this and see if this is money we can get back from the project.
b. Engineer’s Report – Update on Status of Projects for Water, Sewer and Stormwater.
Mr. Bolby discussed the following updates to the Engineer’s Report:
WATER:
1. Water System Capital Improvement Projects:
Mr. Bolby said they met with the Contractors last week for a Progress Meeting and discussed the following Updates:
The State Roads are to be paved starting July 8th - 11th.
The Water Project will be on East Main, Center Avenue & Patriot Street.
Colombia Gas’ paving schedule is set for August. Patriot Street will be partially paved in July from Edgewood east down to Pleasant. Last year, Franklin and Edgewood were done. In August it will be from Harrison back up to Edgewood. W. Main will also be done in August.
The Pay Requests were processed and the Contractor Payment Applications.
The 01-Waterline Contract is at approximately 95%. They have paving and restoration yet to go and have 60 days to complete it from the day of substantial completion. We expect them to meet or exceed the contract expiration date and to be done in the July time frame. Punch List items may go into August.
On Contract 02- the bulk of their project was generator installation. Those were all set, so they went from 30% to 75% in a week or so.
The tank has been built and the equipment has been put in. We are waiting for start-up and finishing off some of the electrical components that overlap with that particular contract.
SEWER:
1. Assessment, Repair, and Abatement Plan (Hydraulic Overload):
Mr. Bolby said that they are moving along with Preliminary Design, specifically, Phase 1A & Phase 1B of the collection system.
Previously, it was reported that a Design Coordination Meeting was held regarding Phase 1B with Borough Staff.
Act 537 Plan Approval was received which will allow us to submit Part 2 Permit for each of the Collection System Phases. Once those are in and approved, then we will be permitted to submit for funding.
We also had an Update Meeting with PennVEST in May 2024. He said that it was good to catch up with them, give them a Status Update and be reassured that they still have money to fund projects.
Mr. Bolby also mentioned that at the last Authority Meeting the sewer laterals was reviewed, particularly on the public side. It was decided that the testable version will be part of the design. This will be from the viewport to the main, making that portion testable.
Mr. Bolby said that the Design Report continues to be updated so we track exactly what decisions have been made, where we are basing everything off of using the input from all the meetings with Borough Staff, and direction that was received from the Authority & Council.
Discussion occurred among the Authority on some of the details of the sewer lateral project.
GENERAL:
1. Center Avenue Sidewalk:
Mr. Bolby mentioned that Center Avenue is progressing. South Center is done from the prospective of what we are asking Sanner Contracting to do. Because of the funding mixture, they will not be responsible for the mill & overlay on North & South Center. The curb to curb paving, that is required by PennDOT to be completed at the end, will be done as a separately bid project. Sanner Contracting will do all their trench paving, concrete sidewalks, all the utilities underground, and the light poles above ground. They will move out, and all the mill & overlay will occur separately by another contractor. There will be a time period between the close of their project and the restart of the mill & overall. Preliminary conversations about scheduling for mill & overlay included the work be done at night so there is less disruption to the flow of traffic, and it will be easier for the contractor.
Sanner is approximately 80% complete. The remainder of the work is on North Center. They have to do the light poles, some electrical, and then the sidewalk will be the main effort up there.
The underground sewer viewports is left. They will give us access, in the future, to do rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer line in that section.
This project is to be completed at the end of August. North Center will be completed in July, then a pipe crew will return to finish up 2 waterline connections in August.
There were 2 recent Payment Applications that processed through that project.
c. Facility Reports for May – Provided on the portal for informational
purposes.
d. May 2024 Financial Statements – Provided on the portal for informational purposes.
e. Kukurin Construction Contract No. 1, Change Order No. 9 – Acknowledgement of
approval of Change Order No. 9 for Contract No. 1 in the amount of $11,664.63 of
approved extra work order claim.
f. Kukurin Construction Contract No. 1, Change Order No. 10 – Acknowledgement of
approval of Change Order No. 10 for Contract No. 1 in the amount of $16,573.73 of
approved extra work order claim. This also includes the approval of $585/EA for valve
box removals on East Main Street.
g. Darr Construction Pay Application No. 5 - Acknowledgement of approval of Pay
Application No. 5 in the amount of $234,025.20.
h. Ligonier Construction Pay Application No. 11 - Acknowledgement of approval of Pay
Application No. 11 in the amount of $159,410.00.
i. PennVEST Payment Request No. 15 - Acknowledgement of approval of Pay
Application No. 15 request in the amount of $748,549.10.
9. Adjournment
A. Adjournment
a. Motion to adjourn.
Mr. Jerin moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Shaffer.
Motion Unanimously Carried
5:53 p.m.
B. Next Meeting
a. July 22nd, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
_________________________________________
Jessica Sizemore, Municipal Authority Manager