##VIDEO ID:dcJInfEuno0## [Music] good evening everybody I'm calling this meeting to order it is 6:36 p.m. um excuse me excuse me Dr Roach please do the roll call yes um Mr an baronson here Mr Fugi yes Miss franois here Mr Schmidt here and chairwoman Ford here please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one ation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you okay in accordance with the provisions of chapter 231 New Jersey public laws of 1975 the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by giving of notice to the Cora news posting the agenda in the public Lobby of this building 48 hours prior to this meeting delivery of this notice to the Franklin Township Clerk at least 48 hours prior to this meeting and mailing notice to those persons properly requesting to be mailed notification of meetings at least 48 hours prior to this meeting okay is there a motion to open the meeting for public comments motion that's commissioner and baronson yes please will you second thank you all in favor I I any oppose motion's Carri seeing that there is no one here from the public is there a motion to close the meeting for public comments no move for second second okay all in favor hi hi hi any oppose motion's carried okay regarding the minutes has everyone had a chance to review the minutes are there any questions any corrections or anything regarding the minutes okay then is there a motion to okay is there a motion to accept the minutes as is motion to accept the minutes September 3rd thank you is there a second second all in favor I I any oppose the motion's carried uh executive director please present your reports thank you chairwoman I uh I'll present both of my reports in a row as normal um for the monthly executive project summary and status of profession profs uh our legal service uh included Commerce Drive Weston Canal uh Wesson Canal um Pump Station the Shirley Avenue project um our rules rates and regulations uh private developers private real estate holdings um private collection system uh meetings resolutions bankruptcies and general uh legal support uh I'm proud to announce a great job our administrative manager has uh done with the finance program uh our platform at Dr Roach uh headed up this meeting uh this project it's a first of a Kind not only for the authority but also for Dr Roach uh as a reminder we had phase one of the Edmunds um on boarding and that handled our finance and all the applicable staff training was success successfully completed by September 19th the final data was pulled over to the new system from the old system on September 26 and the staff will be actively inputting the data on um on October first uh into the Edmonds uh system phase two is our Utility Billing this uh this would include the training and those dates are tenative planned uh for sometime in October oh jeez I'm sorry please call me back please call me back that's my surgery center call me for Friday I hope they heard me uh anyway um Edmonds Phase 2 the bill uh utility bill billing the training dates are tentatively planned for sometime in October and the utility building go live day will be determined based upon the training outcomes that I just mentioned April since you're handling that project did I basically cover all the pertinent points covered very well thank you Joe and thank you for doing a superior job on that project thank you for the opportunity I do appreciate it the high Bay garage project was being managed by uh our Engineers CDM the we did have a product warranty with the high Bay garage uh that warrant is from the manufacturer um Howard Matson from CDM was uncomfortable with some of the wording uh he and the attorney been going back and forth in manufacturing uh and they did get um an amendment to the warranty that uh is acceptable to all parties um unfortunately our modeling um for the 100-year flood plan and that zone Corridor area we couldn't get it to where we wanted to uh it's being reported by our engineer that we're going to need to do some a little bit more work and then in the end we're going to have to submit uh a waiver um to that uh designated area because our building is within it uh we don't expect that to be too painful but it's more than we expected that we would have to do when we started the project the Somerset Street Pump Station Rehabilitation project that's also a CDM project the the contractor which is Sovereign Consulting they are about to begin the work very soon um a couple of um unique uh changes coming up uh will include lowering the elevation of the pumps and raising the tops of the manhole from the original design but everything else is as expected and that project will begin very shortly the cousin or the sister project to that is the Brookline Avenue rehabilitation uh project uh that's being managed by a CME uh the vendor is National water main that is going without any bumps in the road and we do expect that work to begin in six day six days from now which is would be October 7 uh the next steps will be uh to review the shop drawings they're sending in uh that has they have been received and they are currently being reviewed the Wesson Canal Pump Station uh rebuild project um we are still uh the through the engineer um are still working on the draft license agreement or the uh draft uh uh access license agreement um for us to basically use the d uh portion of the land that they own uh we it is being reported to us that that license agreement is under review by the D leadership uh they've reported that a couple of times since we've checked in with them but that's where we are if it if it's still the status um if the status hasn't changed by next month I'll get involved and see if I can't rattle some of their cages over there uh the other update on this project is the um engineer did hold a meeting with pscg again that meeting was uh held on September 11th uh all are in agreement that really until either pscg gets the sale process started uh with the EP or we get the licens uh uh the license access agreement uh moving uh this project basically is a a complete hold uh we can't really go forward with it at all so more to come hopefully by next month Commerce Drive Pump Station Rehabilitation project being managed by CME the contractor did pick up the bid documents uh they are to be uh uh reviewed and returned by the contractor which is Sovereign Consulting uh by October 8th and then once we receive them back we'll fully execute it and share that that executed document with everybody the next steps uh are to uh work with uh njde um on the project and also then have a preconstruction meeting with the the the contractor so uh Shirley avue Pump Station that's kind of on hold for two reasons uh one reason is a third option came in that's kind of expensive and I would like to um go over this with commissioner farooqi um to have another set of professional eyes on it um however being that I will be on disability I may ask CME to do that in my stad uh along with Scott if for uh commissioner farooqi would like to participate and conduct a a review of this other option I think it would be an excellent value for us all the other I will definitely I will definitely do this excellent thank you commissioner Fuki um I'm just not comfortable going forward without a a third set of independent eyes on on the options uh you you would be bringing a great value to the table the other reason why I kind of put a hold on this was I did speak to the land owner I discussed the appraisal with him and though he's very Cooperative uh he was shocked of how low the appraisal amount came in so um I would like to discuss that conversation with the board in an executive session we're not talking about a lot of money uh really but you know we're talking maybe we're 10 15% off the expectations of the landowner so but I it it calls for a discussion in an executive session and we're not there yet not until you know we got time because uh you know commissioner faruki is going to look at the project with the engineer and uh and our staff so just know probably next next uh meeting I'm going to ask for executive session to discuss that project um I highlighted a new project at the at the bottom of my report the private systems repairs I did that because um that's going to be I'm going to put in this project that titled private system repairs because of the damage uh that we found and that we kind of discussed last meeting um so we have manholes at the end of South mbsh Road that are being that have demonstrated uh damage and deterioration and we believe that we have substantiated the reason why is because of the private system upstream and its lack of Maintenance or its level maintenance has causes damage so um there there's a a chance that we will be doing the repairs or handling repairs I don't know there's a chance that the Upstream private developer will be paying for all or some of it in any case I'm just using the project that I've listed on here titled private system repairs to um to be this project should we be personally involved in that project of repairing those manholes and any of those lines and so I put in there the F the one and only bullet point South M Bush Road manholes and lines so again it's more of a holding place right now but that's it under General engineering uh New Brunswick agreement the har happy to report the Harrison Towers if you all I elected to do a flow study on Harrison Towers the reason why is I want to see if we can create a correlation or at least a proportional relationship of sewer flow coming out of howon towers relative and compared to the water usage during that same time that's relevant because the Harrison Towers is the big single contributor to sewage that happens to go to New Brunswick and we we wanted to know that relationship so the study was done a couple of months ago and the vendor who did the study has provided the data to us and now that data is in hands of our our engineer and that data is being studied by them uh so we have no conclusion right now but I wanted to share that with the board so that concludes my U summary status of professional reports and projects I if there are no questions or comments I'll I'll move on to my executive director's report chairwoman are you are you okay with me moving on yes all right thank you all right okay uh under revenue for as of September 30th 20124 we received in checks $553,000 66 which is about average for the month of September year-to date collected was 4,141 27627 we still maintain an open balance due of non-m billing of 3,754 49440 the penalties generate generated for the month of September was $1 14,985 198 which falls right into the average category under expenses as of August 31st um the expenditures for the month was $386,000 67 and year-to date expenses is 3,129 357 and 38 we've we've spent 7.65% of our budget and we are already through the Cal 25% of the calendar our cash position as of August 31st under unrestricted we have 2 m 2,874 8969 69 under restricted we have 12 Milli 95936 328 under designated we have 4,667 42969 that gives us a total net cash pos position of of 20, [Music] 51,6 18966 the notable areas of discussion tonight will begin with audit for 2024 the GIF completed its annual payroll audit no remark submitted to us which is good and we are addressing the final requests from our General Financial audit um relative to the fiscal year ending May 31st 2024 when those um uh our responses to the final requests are uh reviewed and finalized the auditor will finalize the fiscal year audit and make a presentation to us either in November or December I believe at the latest under bonding we were asked um uh by the Bank of New York uh a small survey SL audit going back uh 20s something years uh for for me to have completed a survey on all of our bond notes going all the way back to our 01 note uh just for just to give you a point of reference we're in bond note number 11 now and they they asked me to uh survey going all the way back to I think 2002 but that's all completed um on the uh open public records Act and the open public meetings act initiatives uh like I reported last month we're making uh big changes here to not only adopt the GRC form and modify our website but our website is going to have a lot of more documents um accessible to the public uh that we're uploading through uh multiple different platforms uh we're not only going to put some documents up on our website but also on our website we're going to have links directly to um other document holding platforms um every category we can think of that would uh grasp a document category will up on the website if we could think of a category that's where we're going to put it uh so everything will be meaningful and accessible 247 by the whole world including meeting videos um uh vouchers um minutes uh you know basically 99% of the commonly asked for documents uh uh okay uh yeah meeting agendas meeting minutes attendance discussions all our reports everything bid documents okay uh as reported last month I am uh re-reviewing our volunteer firefighter policy I still have not finalize that uh under Franklin municipality if I can ask the two Council people um I sent an email I probably will get a response but I'm still waiting for the township to finalize the Harrison Towers water meter issue as we recall you know Harrison Towers I think their water meter is the original from 19 69 and they're supposed to put a new one in and and I'm looking for an update again on that so if you see Bob can you ask him for the update I'll follow up I think we might have a public works meeting next uh Tuesday so I can bring it up at that time okay and if you don't if you don't get a response before then okay thank you just for reference you know we are we have a an in place enforceable agreement with New Brunswick that you know is solid but however that agreement took into account the water usage of Arison towers and the water usage is part of the was one of the factors they used to bill us after we executed that agreement they found out that Harrison Towers water meter has been has never been updated and it's 50 years old and if you know water meters as they get older they get less accurate and they freaked out now they want a whole new agreement um you know we knew three years ago we were told three years ago that the water meter will be replaced or calibrated neither has been done so far um nothing new on the solar initiative though I kept it highlighted I'm excited about uh the solar project to bring solar panels to the authority uh and start moving over somewhere appropriate vehicles or equipment over to um solar or electric where it's possible a lot of work's going into the rules rates and regulations uh not only updating the developers agreement uh the labor rates and the vehicle rates but also addressing the private collection systems like I I discussed earlier from the condos and apartments uh that's all being updated so we don't continue to be victimized by Bad actors and uh I I really appreciate the work that Scott has put into it a lot of lot of insight from Scott uh the attorney and our engineer uh it's a it's a work in progress that I'm already proud of under Traffic Safety so uh with these projects when we update uh and rehabil it a collection system we have to either shut down the road or partially shut down a road I met with the police several times said of the STA uh we're we're looking to not only especially the Brookline project not only have police on either end of the project but where there's one two three or really two three four streets being involved that on the same day I actually approached the police of having one extra car that can move around uh among the different streets instead of the cars just being stationary for the whole time there's a value of having one car being able to go wherever they want lately I've been paying close attention to uh Road jobs throughout our Township and I'm noticing more and more uh police cars from out of town and the sheriff's department that indicates to me that the police can't staff all the outside Road jobs so then I said well then that takes the value away from having a Mobile police car that would be like the supervisor of the other Franklin P you know if it's an out of town or you it's not as valuable because a roving car can not only handle the traffic but they could uh handle this uh safety security and actually do police work if needed but an outside traffic police officer can so I asked the police to look into it report back to me about their Staffing so more more to come as needed uh the last two months actually but certainly the last month has been very quiet uh for internal engineering again we've had uh one or zero connections um I think I have a little confusing data being presented to me but you basically zero connections um for the uh for the month of uh September jumping down to the New Brunswick um again Harrison tow water meter that's really big to us we got to resolve that water meter uh cannot overstress that uh will I will note that New Brunswick presented us uh with a a flow metering technology that was extremely expensive possibly over $60,000 I thought that was Preposterous uh we then um replied back that uh they should consider using our vendor with the known technology that we've used plenty of times in the past we made a presentation to them and the last I I read that New Brunswick is amenable to using ours at maybe half or one third the cost so in the end New Brunswick I mean it's not unfair of them to say hey guys we don't want to do flat rate we don't want to do based upon the Water we want to me we want you to meter the actual flow and we're going to go based upon the meter it's not unfair and it may cost us some money I mean certainly if it was my sewer system that's the way I would do go if I was new bronswick I will report that somerson County uh Colleen Mah uh I saw her last week at an event she asked me verbally for an update of where we are with our project relative to the county grants of the federal money that they're going to give us she knew this must be you know uh on a front barer because she knew that we did not send in any vouchers to get paid so I I I gave her an update on our project so I look forward to getting her money all projects are moving forward as expected there are no hiccups no bumps in the road uh no real uh permanent obstacles I'm happy to report uh I mean there are hiccups but everything's going uh very good the only thing that's not fully in the green again is the uh High Bay garage which that project is B basically complete we just now have to ask for Project's complete we now have to ask for approval for the project I just think that's funny uh the uh standard resolutions for the month uh all uh payroll operating expense general fund renewal replacement and escrow are in front of you under consent uh under the the consent agenda there is no North track resolution under additional resolutions we have five the first one is a supplemental off uh resolution to authorize the issuance of a not to exceed $2 million project notes for the ftsa so just to let you know uh our ability to borrow money is based upon our own resol it begins with our own resolution off uh authorizing ourselves to borrow money and there is a limit uh to that so that limit has been reached and the Bank of New York uh noted that and they provided us a supplemental resolution for us to vote on so we can increase our lending our borrowing limit to for another $2 million so we can um bond for the Commerce Drive Pump Station the next uh resolution it authorizes the change of title we are getting rid of the title that was receptionist I did not like the title at all it was inappropriate and nor did it match the job function of the person in the front office so we're changing the title from receptionist to administrative support specialist that being said the next uh resolution is now authorizing the hiring of uh esis cologne to the position of administrative support specialist the next resolution is a simple one we've done many of them in the past that's a the removal of account 000035.00 from our system the final resolution is regarding the state health benefits um the state health benefits plan had made some changes and we have to either uh go along with those changes or we have to decide not to make any changes and that's what that resolution is doing and chairwoman that concludes my executive director's report oh thank you uh only on their Staffing uh I will note that again as I reported I have surgery this Friday uh so I will be going out uh the first week um sick days and then I'll be on considered on disability thereafter and our disability insurance policy will cover the expense of my absence uh but I I fully intend to be accessible uh by the phone by email by text uh signing paperwork and you know doing a lot of the functions even while I'm out of the office and at some point I'll be um come into the office just more and more often at some point as long as I can keep my leg elevated so they tell me so you're not planning to have a delegate at all even for a couple days I I am I have two managers that are delegated responsibility okay good luck on the surgery keep us posted how it goes okay I I absolutely will I I I intend to communicate with the chairwoman uh giv her updates as well thank you very much we just want you to get some rest and have a speedy recovery we don't want you working if you don't have to you know so that's why I as the question just in case something goes wrong you need to have somebody that you delegate to you know absolutely right thank you councilwoman for your concern no but bus I mean business continuity is Big yeah it is organization you never know anything can happen God forbid God forbid listen if if if you're gonna have a prayer this is what I tell people don't pray for me pray that the doctor has a really good day at work on Friday pray that the doctor's spouse doesn't annoy them Thursday or Thursday night pray that the doctor is really happy driving home on Friday that's long PR you're praying for two high goal there anesthesiologist the most oh that's right anesthesiologist that's right they're they're giving me EP epidural a nerve blocker into my thigh the fent and all through oral pills I mean they got they got you locked down I'm sure you'll be fine God spe to you okay thank you chairwoman very nice of you yeah we'll be praying for you J thank let's move on to committee reports negotiations Personnel committee nothing to anything is there anything to report nothing to report Madam shair oh okay what about Municipal liaison nothing what about the construction committee commissioner farooqi uh not really anything with me but uh with the with the exception of the Shirley Avenue Pump Station uh you know you you're going to be elbows deep in that soon okay um Safety Committee so go ahead uh so Madam chair we had no accidents or injuries for the month but I would like to report we did have a uh a gif inspection from our risk control management team at the GIF um we were assigned a new inspector due to switching territory um the gentleman was very very impressed he he used to work for say Valley Water Commission um and he was very impressed with our overall operation everything went well glad to hear it thank you we're going to move on to the resolutions now um with regard to the consent agenda the approval of the resolutions will be done by consent agenda all the items listed below are considered to be of a routine nature thereby requiring one motion and one second for all items and if any member wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda please advise me at this time which resolutions need to be handled separately and they will be addressed and voted on separately resolution number one is the payroll account $169,300 55 resolution number two is the operating expense account 221342212 resolution number four is the renewal and replacement account $ 17,8 34 resolution number five is the escrow fund account $4,180 75 is there a motion to approve these resolutions mode and who made that motion Rah commissioner R commissioner embarass is there a second yes is that commissioner farooqi yeah this fori I second okay all in favor I I I any oppose resolution is approved uh with regard to the additional resolutions there's going to be a motion for each one resolution number six the supplemental resolution authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $2 million project notes of the township of Franklin sewage Authority is there a motion to approve that resolution motion R second okay all in favor I I I any oppose resolution is approved resolution number seven resolution authorizing a change in position title from receptionist Administrative Assistant to administrative support specialist is there a motion to approve that resolution I'm sorry did someone say something uh yeah I said motion to approve okay is there a [Music] second okay all in favor I I any oppose resolution is approved resolution number eight resolution authorizing the hiring of Isis cologne to the position of administrative support specialist is there a motion to approve this resolution so move Fran okay is there a second second okay all in favor I I I any oppose resolution is approved resolution number nine resolution authorizing the removal of account number 00305 from billing due to the property being capped is there a motion to adopt this resolution motion to adopt is there a second I second all in favor I I I any oppos resolution is adopted resolution number 10 resolution regarding the state health benefits program is there a motion to adopt this resolution to adopt okay it's your second second R thank you all in favor I any oppose resolution is adopted and with that uh executive director is there a need to go into the executive session I'm unaware of a need for executive session nothing nothing for me Madam chair thank you okay in that case is there a motion to excuse me close the meeting toour go R second all in favor I I any oppose good night everybody good night good night [Music]