Buckeye Water District Meeting - September '09

The regular monthly Board of Trustees meeting was held this past Thursday at Wellsville's Village Hall. All board members were present except David Lloyd. Also in attendance was District Manager Al DeAngelis and Fiscal Officer Sara Crouch. Tracy was there too.

Two resolutions were passed without any opposition. The first was to amend this year's Operating/Construction budget to make adjustments that are in the best interest for the district's fiscal policies. The second resolution approved was to accept the bid from America's Body Co. to supply the body for the district's new crew truck.

In the Public Comment portion of the agenda both Southern Local School Superintendent James Herring and Highlandtown VFD Chief Tim Roush addressed the board in regards to the new water line to Salineville. Herring was asking for reconsideration for the tap-in fee for the school district. Presenting a detailed study of actual water usage to each board member he stated that the tap-in fee is much higher than what it should be. Although his request will be referred to the appropriate committee board members stated that the fee was determined on a standard EPA formula that has been used consistently through out the district. That formula determines a standard tap-in fee based on the number of students in the school system. Southern Local has around 900 students on average.

Chief Roush asked that the board reconsider the number of fire hydrants that are planned to be installed in Highlandtown. Stating that although he hasn't actually measured the actual distance between planned hydrants some are 1,000 feet apart and in many spots won't allow using their water hose lines to reach some structures. Roush had previously met with district officials. District Manager DeAngelis stated that their request for additional hydrants will cost an extra $160,000 over the nearly $3 million contract to install the first ever water line through Highlandtown. Board President Mike Ryan stated the request will be referred to the Engineering Committee and commented any addition to the planned contract would be over and above what is already financed. It would be up to the district to find money to cover the extra costs.

Highlandtown mainly uses tankers to get water to fires for areas where there are no hydrants or water lines. If they have access to an existing hydrant they do tap into it. Not too long ago they had such an incident using over 400,000 gallons of water to fight that fire at no cost. BWD does not charge for water used to fight fires.

For Committee Reports Chuck Bibbee commended the work performed by the County Engineer's Office when they recently did the chip & sealing on the road from Rt. 45 to the new Water Treatment Plant. At a cost of $6,472.50 they scrapped, graded and applied the chip & seal. BWD personnel provided the labor for the job. District Mgr. DeAngelis reported the early August water line breaks cost the district lots of over-time. He reported that it is believed the break along Hibbets Mill was suspected of leaking into the creek for some time. Stating the refilling of the Rt. 45 holding tank takes a lot less time than it did before the breaks were repaired. District officials are now checking into grant funding to replace that aging main line into the village. Hopefully everything will be in place and contracts can be awarded to do that in 2010. DeAngelis also reported that the bond for the new reservoir should soon be released.

Personnel Committee Chairman Tim O'Hara advised that long time employee Marc Allison is contemplating retirement in the 1st quarter of 2010. Allison started out nearly 30 years ago with Wellsville's Water Dept. Stating it was felt prudent to have a line of secession in place O'Hara recommended that Water Treatment Plant Mgr. Todd Brown be named to District Superintendent and Marcus Dalrymple be named District Distribution Superintendent. Both appointments were made on an interim bases at appropriate pay scales. Allison currently has both jobs.

DeAngelis advised that the new security surveillance cameras are partially installed. The work at the new Water Treatment Plant is completed and AT Video Surveillance is in the process of completing the installation at the new Pumping Station. One BWD employee recently told me those cameras are so powerful you can see the hair on a man's arm standing on the WV shore. I've seen the monitors and the cameras are remarkably powerful with very impressive clarity when you zoom in on something. There are several cameras in both locations covering all angles at the reservoir, the treatment plant and the pumping station.

Next scheduled meeting is October 15 at 9 A.M. at Wellsville Village Hall. Next Tuesday, September 22, both the Rate Study Committee and the Engineering Committee will conduct meetings.

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