Buckeye Water District Board of Trustees

Thursday - Sept. 16: The BWD Board of Trustees held their regular monthly meeting this past Thursday at Wellsville Village Hall. Present at the meeting was Board President Mike Ryan and members Bob Wines, Rick Williams, Jack Call, Gene McGaffick and Tim O'Hara. Also attending was District Manager Al DeAngelis, District Legal Advisor Fred Emmerling and Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch.

In the Public Comment portion Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch thanked the Board for her 10 years of learning and expanding her knowledge. She told them she will miss them but said "I will be gone". Speaking on behalf of the Board, Ryan said they will miss her too.

Motions were passed to transfer $150,000 from CDARS to the Enterprise Fund and to transfer $600,000 from a Set Aside fund to cash to pay the USDA note that is due October 1. Gene McGaffick advised the Finance Committee met Wednesday, Sept. 15. Everything was found to be in order, a few questions were answered and made a motion to accept the Treasurer's Report for August which passed.

In that Finance Committee meeting it was reported that a total of 29.7 million gallons of water was billed in August. Wellsville accounted for 6.2 million gallons of that amount. Cash on hand to pay bills is $324,097. Expenses for August was $207,379 and receipts were $384,754.

In the Operations Report McGaffick noted that August was probably the best month ever financially even though the amount of water billed was down.

In the Committee Reports, Personnel Committee Member Jack Call reported there had been several interviews conducted for the soon to be vacant position of Fiscal Officer. It was the Committee's recommendation to hire retired Tony D'Angelo on a part-time basis for $28,000 per year. D'Angelo retired last year after working for 22 years as an auditor for the State Auditor's Office. He recently accepted the part-time job as Salineville Fiscal Officer which he personally advised us the day before that he would be resigning. There appears to be a conflict in that information. At their Counsel Meeting this past Monday, Salineville Mayor Dave Berta was quoted in the papers as saying D'Angelo will retain their Village's position and Salineville Council voted to keep D'Angelo. The BWD Board of Trustees voted in favor of the Committee's recommendation to hire D'Angelo. Other than wages D'Angelo will receive no benefits. He will be eligible to participate in the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System.

BWD Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch tendered her resignation effective at the end of the working day on Friday, Sept. 17. Crouch also served as Office Manager for the District. Assistant Office Manager Tracy Allen will step up and assume the duties of Office Manager.

There was no report for the Computer Study & Purchase Committee. Crouch commented that the District's computer supplier will be installing a program update and provide training. She recommended that the Committee look at this program before October 1. McGaffick noted that the District is looking into the Uniform Accounting Network.

There was also no report for the newly created Records Retention Committee but Crouch advised the Board that the Committee's schedule for old records has been submitted to the Ohio Historical Society. There should be a response in six to eight weeks. Once reviewed the report will be forwarded to the Ohio Auditors Office for their final approval. When that arrives BWD will be able to dispose of old records that have been accumulating since the District began. The material that will be disposed of will be shredded.

In the District Manager's Report, DeAngelis advised the Ohio EPA has dictated the access road to the finished Salineville Water Tank be reconstructed. A bid for the work from Tucson has been submitted which is currently being reviewed by the District's engineers. Once completed the bid will be submitted to CDBG for funding. DeAngelis noted there is some money left from Part B of the Salineville Waterline Project that was awarded by the CDBG. Tim O'Hara questioned whether the District could do the work themselves and Ryan responded BWD is not equipped for it. DeAngelis noted there is an estimated 600 tons of rock involved.

DeAngelis also suggested putting a couple of old trucks up for sale on a bid basis. Ryan advised he is going to have the Service & Property Committee check into it for their recommendations.

For the Operation's Report, DeAngelis advised the OEPA has okayed delaying the separation of the old Salineville Water Treatment Plant from the system until the access road to the water tank is completed. That way the final inspection can be done in one shot for Part B.

DeAngelis noted there are a lot of happy Salineville customers stating their water is a lot softer now that it is on-line with BWD. The Salineville system has been on-line for nearly five weeks now. When questioned DeAngelis said the pressure is good out there. It had to be reduced 80 psi with the PRVs to get it down to 100 psi.

Gene McGaffick commended Asst. District Manager Todd Brown and all for the outstanding August performance report.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 A.M. Next regular scheduled meeting is Thursday, October 21 at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall.

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