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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-28-2022MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF WATERWORKS A meeting of the members of the Commissioners of Waterworks was held September 28, 2022, at the Paducah Water office, 1800 North 8th Street, Paducah. Mr. Barker called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. A quorum was present. Those present were as follows: Commissioners Present — Ed Barker, Chair; Tom Clayton, Vice Chair; Chip Bohle, Bill Shannon; Commissioners Absent — Angela Copeland, Randy DeHart; David Guess, Ex Officio; Counsel Present — W. David Denton of Denton Law Firm; Paducah Water Personnel Present — Jason Petersen, Secretary/Treasurer and General Manager; Tillman Burnett, Office Manager/Controller; Jacob Northington, Engineering Manager; Scott Shrum, Distribution Superintendent; Tee -Tommy Vinson, Plant Superintendent; Clarissa White, Administrative Assistant. Guests — Kim Beanland, Williams, Williams & Lentz. FINANCE & AUDIT COMMITTEE AUDIT — FYE JUNE 30, 2022 Kim Beanland of Williams, Williams & Lentz presented board members and staff with a copy of this year's audit report. Ms. Beanland highlighted several pages in the audit report. She noted changes in accounting practices "due to the adoption of GASB Statement No. 87, Leases." Another change affecting the audit process included PW's merger with West McCracken Water District. PW's total net position as of June 30, 2022, was $62.77M, a $5.98M increase over last year. Findings for this year's audit show PW financial statements to be materially correct. PW is in a good financial position, with good internal controls. Mr. Shannon offered a motion to accept the audit as presented. Mr. Clayton seconded the motion, which carried unanimously by vote of 4 — 0. MINUTES Mr. Barker asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the August 31, 2022, meeting. Mr. Shannon made a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting as presented. Mr. Clayton seconded the motion, which carried unanimously by a vote of 4 - 0. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Mr. Burnett reviewed the financial statements for August 2022. He stated water sales were approximately 5% over budget for the month. Operating revenue was over budget by about $38,000, and operating expenses were very near the budgeted amount. Net Revenue Before Capital Contributions was approximately $63,000 over budget for the month. A hot, dry summer has given us a good start to the fiscal year. Mr. Burnett directed attention to page 4 and explained the overages in Purification and Pumping Utility expenses. He stated the increase was due power costs associated with pumping more water to meet higher demand. The Supplies & Expense - Chemicals line item was slightly over budget because poor water quality in August required additional treatment chemicals. Also, the Plant Maintenance — JI Building & Fixtures line item exceeded the budget slightly due to the timing of the budgeted purchase of anthracite. On page 5, Distribution and Engineering Expense, the Salary Expense line item for the Engineering department was over budget due to time charged for two employees who have worked extensively on two different projects. The Professional Services line item on the Business Office expense sheet exceeded the budget mainly because of audit expenses associated with the PW -West McCracken merger. After review and discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Clayton to approve the financial statements for August 2022. The motion was seconded by Mr. Shannon. The motion carried unanimously by a vote of 4 — 0. GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORTS Monthly Drug Testing Mr. Petersen noted all results for August were negative. Safety Report Each department held safety meetings as required. Specific safety data, meeting topics and information j were presented in the August Safety Report, which was distributed prior to the meeting. J General Manager's Summary Mr. Petersen discussed the GM Summary and handouts. Plant The water quality group continues to meet weekly. Raw water temperature is approximately 78 degrees and slowly dropping. Miscellaneous • Since Phase 1 of the alternate coagulant trial is complete, Mr. Vinson and Mr. Petersen added a new chart to the monthly Pumping and Purification report to show the hyper -ion coagulant's potential. The charts show the product reduced the amount of caustic needed for treatment and reduced total organic carbon (TOC) values, which will in turn minimize disinfection byproducts (DBP) and total trihalotnethanes (TTHM). Studies will continue, but the product has been effective thus far. • A meter reader left PW. His position has been filled internally by a distribution laborer. The open laborer position was filled by a temporary employee who has worked in the distribution department for a few months. • The City's dredging project at the transient boat dock is currently out for bids. PW requested notification of dredging done by the City in order to protect raw water intakes and to carefully monitor water quality during the process. • Design of the air stripping project has begun. The upgrade to the Customer Information System (Springbrook) to cloud -based software should be complete in late October. Project Reports Mr. Northington informed the board of the following: • Cairo Road Elevated Tank — The tank painting will begin soon. The project continues to progress well. • Cairo Road 16" Main Improvements — Restoration is ongoing and should be complete prior to the next board meeting. • Otis Dinning Drive Replacement — This project lacks approximately 450' of main installation and has progressed very quickly. • Lead Service Line Project — Of the 28 lead service lines that have been discovered in the current project area, 22 have been replaced. All replacements are heavily documented for posterity, as required by EPA. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 911 Committee Funding Options Mr. Petersen stated there has been little movement on this issue. The committee is working on RFPs and is making an effort to determine the future committee's structure. Mr. Petersen will begin attending the committee's bi-weekly meetings and will keep the board informed. NEW BUSINESS Engineering Committee Meeting — Report 2022-02 In Mr. DeHart's absence, Mr. Petersen repotted he and Mr. Northington met with the Engineering and System Development Committee on September 13, 2022. The purpose of the meeting was to identify projects for the second round of Cleaner Water Program grant funds. PW and JSA will receive a grant of $4,123,045. The entities have reached mutual agreement regarding the allocation of funds as indicated below: Utility Consensus Allocation Joint Sewer Agency $2,473,827 60% Paducah Water $1,649,218 40% Total $4,123,045 100% PW staff identified and recommends four projects to be funded entirely, or in part, by this grant: Paducah Water Projects Project Name Allocation US 60 Tank Painting and Mixing $350,000 I24 Tank Painting and Mixing $225,000 West McCracken Model Update $60,000 Air Stripping $1,014,218 Subtotal $1,649,218 After discussion, Mr. Bohle offered a motion to accept the recommended funds allocation as presented. Mr. Shannon seconded the motion, which carried unanimously by vote of 4 — 0. McCracken County Payroll Tax Calculation Mr. Burnett provided a handout detailing a recently discovered county payroll tax issue. He explained PW has been incorrectly calculating payroll taxes when an employee works within the City and the County ducting a pay period. PW has unknowingly used the wrong formula since at least 2007. PW found the error during the process of converting the customer information system to cloud -based technology and reported the finding to the County Tax Department. PW now has the correct formula, which has been implemented into its payroll system, and PW employees have been notified of the error and the potential increase in their taxes. The County and PW are working to find a solution to this problem. Mr. Burnett will notify the board of all developments. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m. This meeting was held in compliance with KRS 61.800 et s . Secretai Approved at a meeting of the Commissioners of Waterworks 26 ay of t7 u tr , 2022. Chair Vice Chair Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner 7