BWD Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday - June 17: The Buckeye Water District Trustees held their regular monthly meeting yesterday morning at Wellsville Village Hall. Present at the meeting was Vice-President Bob Wines, Trustees Rick Williams, Cal Carney, Jack Call, Tim O'Hara, Gene McGaffick & Chuck Bibbee, District Manger Al DeAngelis and BWD Legal Advisor Fred Emmerling.

In the Public Speaking portion of the agenda Mr.& Mrs. Bernard Jakubowski addressed the Board in regards to the reclamation of a township right-a-way fronting their property on Seigler Road. Presenting a letter to each Board member present, Shirley Jakubowski stated that through the years she & her husband maintained that right-a-way and landscaped it to eliminate mowing on a slope. Investing over $1,000 of their own money they have purchased Juniper plants, top soil, potting soil, landscape fabric, mulch and an estimated 40 hours of labor in beautifying that strip of ground. Having worked on it over 10 years it was landscaped where it could be cut using a riding mower.

Although promised it would be restored like it was Mrs. Jakubowski stated that has not been done and has since been advised it will not be restored back to the original condition. Since installing the pipe line Tucson Inc. has smoothed the soil and seeded it. Since it is a public right-a-way that was all that was required. After some discussion the Jakubowski's were invited to the June 30 Progress Meeting where it will be taken up with the contractor.

A resolution was passed adopting the proposed budget for 2011 with only minor modifications over the 2010 budget. Finance committee Chairman Chuck Bibbee explained the budget has to be prepared and submitted to the County Treasurer by July 1. Bibbee stated the District is operating in negative revenue but the carry-over keeps the books in the black. With the carry-over reserve and the sale of water, incoming revenue is forecasted to be $5.5 million with $3.7 million in expenses for 2011.

The Board retired into a short Executive Session for Personnel regarding rehiring an employee. During the report from Personnel Committee Chairman Tim O'Hara motioned that retired employee Mark Allison be rehired on a part-time basis. That was adopted by the Board.

Allison retired earlier this year after 30 years of service that started in the Wellsville City Water Dept. Allison was hired by the District when it was formed in 1995 and took over the Wellsville water system. Taking advantage of his experience and expertise Allison will be a Special Projects Coordinator.

For the District Manager's Report, DeAngelis reported that a contractor will be brought in to perform leak detection tests on the Wellsville system at a cost of approximately $3,000. The testing will also be done on Salineville lines once the new waterline is completed in July.

DeAngelis also reported that BWD came in fourth out of 54 candidates for grants for the GIS computer mapping system. The District will be awarded $70,000 to install the new program which maps out the whole system using global orbiting satellite technology. Once installed the system will be able to display everything that will be affected with a break in the line or what will be affected if a particular valve is shut off. The cost of the system runs around $100,000/150,000 but sharing with other districts will reduce BWD's share. BWD's share is expected to be $9,000 to $10,000.

DeAngelis also reported there have been a couple of breaks in the Glenmore area with the new sewer line contractor hitting the water lines. Another leak in St. Clair Twp. was discovered.

Under New Business Cal Carney reported he has been approached by St. Clair Twp. officials to install a radio repeater on the water tank on Irish Ridge Rd. St. Clair has been experiencing some dead areas in the township with their radio traffic. It was decided there would be no problem installing the repeater as long as the frequency did not interfer with BWD telemetry. District Manager DeAngelis will meet with them to iron out the details and obtain a letter of agreement on any liability issues. Carney also reported he has been getting favorable reports from Elkton Prison officials following the installation of the ""Mobile Booster Pump Station".

The meeting was adjourned at 10:05. Next scheduled meeting is Thursday, July 15 at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall.

ole nib