Town Board Meeting April 29th, 2024
Town Supervisor Rickard opened the meeting following the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:00pm.
Legal notice is on the table.
Supervisor Rickard:
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the situation at the sewer treatment plant. Mike Borck has resigned. Tomorrow is his last day. We have to replace him.
Three companies did walk-through of the plant. Of the 3, only 2 made proposals; those were given to the engineer. H2O Innovations & Aqua Blue Solutions. Jason recommends H2O Innovations. They run the sister plant to our plant in the T/O Mamakating. The contract went back and forth between our attorney and their attorney. Their attorney agreed to our language changes from our attorney.
We do not own a centrifuge which is a scientific device used for testing. It costs $1600 to buy one. In speaking with the company, we will get the biology straight and take care of safety improvements.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mike Meere: Asked if the new company can make purchases on their own. Supervisor: in the contract, they can’t purchase anything without prior approval even if it’s an emergency. The non-working pump that was in the pump station has been replaced and the controller is working currently. The alarms are currently working per Mike Brock today. The pump was $5500 to be replaced – we had no option. It had to be replaced. He further noted that either party can cancel this agreement with 90-day notice.
Mary Carver: spoke re: having to have someone there 2 hours/day. Supervisor: they are going to abide by our permit which require 2 hours/day. She asked if they have to spend more time there, will they charge back the town? Supervisor: no but they believe that at least in the beginning, they will have to spend more time there. All 3 companies that did a walk through of the plant all thought that the mixed liquor was not the right color just from their experience and lack of oxygen. If something goes wrong in the middle of the night we’d have to pay prevailing wage for emergency callbacks. She verified the contract is valid from the rest of 2024 through 2026.
Brian Monahan appreciates the effort in moving forward and trying to deal with this. We need far greater oversight with this company. It needs to come from the board and the supervisor. He would like to be able to have the opportunity along with other residents to meet with the person/persons from the company while they are there – after a few weeks. We understand that changing the biology is going to take some time to do to get the oxygen levels where they need to be. There are 2 separate issues: one being the plant has to get working and two getting the infiltration piece under control. Hope to see more movement from the company on that. We have concerns that the people in Hidden Valley have to pay for other people signing contracts without the town knowing. He asked for an update with the meeting with Senator Skoufis. Supervisor: that meeting was cancelled because of the budget vote. We are rescheduled for May 1. He will update at the next meeting. There are also some new financial policies in place. Nothing can be purchased without prior approval. Once the company is up and running, I would like to set up a meeting
for progress and they will give us regular reports which we will keep on top of. He talked about the QR tanks.
Mike Meere asked about the budget process. Supervisor explained that the budget process will start in June.
Ed Jahrling verified the cost of the pump and that it was installed.
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BOARD COMMENTS:
Councilmember Jennings thinks this is the right direction to go with this company.
Councilmember Furman thinks it’s a great idea to go with this company.
Councilmember Carey agrees to go with H2O Innovations.
Councilmember Davis agreed with the other board members.
Supervisor Rickard noted that Mike Brock started with us in 1988. He wanted to thank him for his service. His intentions were always good. He did the best to his abilities. I think he did what he thought was in the best interest of the town and the sewer district. Some things were beyond his control like the infiltration.
MOTION TO AUTHORIZE THE TOWN SUPERVISOR TO SIGN THE CONTRACT WITH H2O INNOVATIONS:
MOTION offered Councilmember Carey 2nd Councilmember Furman to authorize the town supervisor to sign the contract with H2O Innovations. All in favor – Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; motion carried.
MOTION TO ADJOURN:
MOTION offered Councilmember Furman 2nd Councilmember Jennings to adjourn at 7:31PM. All in favor: Davis, Carey, Rickard, Furman, Jennings; carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Myers
Town Clerk
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