December 2024

Minutes

VFSA Board Meeting Minutes
December 9, 2024

The Valley Forge Sewer Authority monthly meeting was held on Monday, December 9, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. In attendance: Board members: Norman Vutz, Terri Woodman, Samuel Cupp, William LaPorte, Richard Stipa, and David Demey. Also in attendance were General Manager Leonard Pinchok, Operations and Engineering Manager Matt Jackson, and Laboratory Supervisor Richard Taylor. Vince Pompo, representing the Authority’s Solicitor of Lamb McErlane, and David Shirk, representing the Authority’s Engineer of Record, Buchart Horn, Inc., were also in attendance.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Public Comment 
Mr. Henry Yordan and Ms. Julie Frissora, both Willistown Township residents, were in attendance via Zoom. There was no public comment at this time.

Executive Session

The VFSA Board entered into executive session with Mr. Pompo at 7:02 pm to discuss real estate matters. The executive session ended at 7:40 pm.

Meeting Minutes

Mr. LaPorte made a motion to approve the November 11, 2024, meeting minutes, seconded by Mr. Demey, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Joint Board Meeting – December 3, 2024

The VFSA Joint Board met on December 3, 2024, to discuss several agenda items as reported in the board packets. Mr. Pinchok reported the Joint Board approved meeting minutes from the May 30, 2024, and November 7, 2024, meetings.

Mr. Pinchok and Mr. Jackson reviewed the 2025 Treatment Plant Operating and Capital budgets with the board. The Joint Board unanimously approved both budgets as presented. Mr. Pinchok presented the October 2024 Treatment Plant Financials and the Treatment Plant Construction Projects.

Mr. Shirk provided updated information on the progress of the Act 537 Special Project Plan and how additional information is needed before resubmission of the plan. The process for completing the plan in June 2025 is still on schedule.

Mr. Pinchok shared the 2025-2035 asset management plans for the treatment plant with the partners. After several discussions about the long-term projects, the Joint Board tentatively approved the 2025 capital projects budget. The capital projects beyond 2025 will need to be reviewed and discussed in more detail in 2026.

Administration and Finance Committee

The Administration and Finance Committee met on November 25, 2024, to review and discuss the 2025 Draft Revenue Operating, Revenue Capital Improvement Fund, Treatment Plant Operating, and Treatment Plant Construction Budgets. After review, the committee will recommend a sewer rent increase of fourteen dollars ($14) per quarter, raising the new quarterly rate to ninety-nine dollars ($99) beginning April 2025. The committee accepted the 2025 draft budgets as presented and would make a recommendation to the full board in the December 2024 VFSA Board monthly meeting to approve. Mr. Pinchok reported the new rate would still be one of the lowest in the area.

Operations Report

Mr. Taylor reported there were no numerical violations of the permit during November. He noted a few lab results are still outstanding but expects the results to be within permit limits. Mr. Taylor reported a sanitary sewer overflow from the Valley Creek Pump Station force main. Mr. Jackson will provide an update on the spill during his report. There was no odor complaints recorded during the month. Mr. LaPorte made a motion to accept the operations report as presented, seconded by Mr. Cupp, and the board unanimously approved the motion.

 Financial Report

Mr. Pinchok presented the combined statement of operations for all accounts at the end of November with a balance of $26,906,365. Fund balances were presented for review, followed by the budget-to-actual summary, where the revenue fund actual for the month has a surplus of $480,738 and the treatment plant fund actual for the month has a surplus of $1,142,666. Mr. Pinchok briefly reviewed several line items from each fund, with explanations for budget and actual differences. Impress fund reconciliation was $598.12. Petty cash reconciliation was $66.53. Credit card purchases for the month were $11,267.53. Accounts payable invoices totaled $293,781.35. Mr. Stipa made a motion to approve agenda items, seconded by Mr. Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

The financial report continued with requisitions totaling $16,812.44 from the Treatment Plant Construction Fund and requisitions totaling $111,358.84 from the Capital Improvement Fund. Mr. Stipa made a motion to approve the requisitions as presented, seconded by Ms. Woodman, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

New Business

2025 Draft Revenue and Treatment Plant Budgets

Mr. Pinchok provided copies of the 2025 Draft Revenue and Treatment Plant Budgets for review and discussion. Mr. Pinchok noted the Administration and Finance Committee recommends approving 2025 budgets as presented with a sewer rent increase of fourteen dollars ($14) per quarter, raising the new quarterly rate to ninety-nine dollars ($99) beginning April 2025. Mr. Cupp made a motion to approve the budgets as presented, seconded by Mr. Demey, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Resolution 3 of 2024 – Chapter 110

Mr. Taylor presented Resolution 3 of 2024 Chapter 110 Sewer Use Article III, Appendix B Industrial Waste Control Program, Monitoring and Enforcement. He reported this resolution is partially from the results of an inspection performed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March 2024. It was recommended to revise the Enforcement Response Guidance Plan used when a violation occurs. Changes include how to enforce notices of violation and penalties for violations to permitted industries. This resolution does not include changes to the fee structure. Mr. Cupp made a motion to approve the budgets as presented, seconded by Mr. LaPorte, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Valley Creek Force Main Repair

Mr. Pinchok shared a video of the overflow from the Valley Creek Force Main located within the Valley Forge National Park. The Authority was notified through the Park Service of the overflow at approximately 3:00 pm on November 27, 2024. The staff immediately notified PADEP, downstream water and wastewater plants, Blooming Glen, the authority’s on-call contractor, and a waste hauler to remove flow from the wet well at the Valley Creek pump station. It was determined the overflow of sewage was from the Valley Creek Trunk Line (VCTL) backing up into the Valley Creek Pump Station Force Main. Aqua was asked to shut down the Wilson Road Pump Station that supplies the flow of the VCTL. Aqua was unable to shut down the pump station. The flow from the VCTL would need to be stopped before any repairs to the force main could be completed. The park service contacted an archeologist, required prior to any digging in the national park. The staff made several attempts to locate a company that could perform a hot tap into the force main to install a shut-off valve. A company named Garrison, located in central New Jersey, arrived at the scene around 10:00 pm ready to install the shut-off valve. After several hours of locating and exposing the force main, the installation of the shut-off valve was completed around 5:00 am, and the shut-off of the overflow was completed around 6:00 am on Thanksgiving morning. The permanent repair was completed on Friday, November 29, 2024. The staff is continuing with the after-action review of the event and how to prevent or address future events of this nature. The Authority did receive a Notice of Violation (NOV) of Sanitary Sewer Overflow from PADEP. No further action is required at this time. It was a wonderful team effort to minimize the amount of raw sewage flowing into Valley Creek and repair the broken force main.

Kimberton Glen Phase II and III Sanitary Sewer Dedication

The Kimberton Glen Phase II and III development project is complete. The new sanitary sewer lines have been televised, inspected, and tested. LTL Consultants recommend the infrastructure be dedicated to the authority. A warranty period of eighteen (18) months begins upon dedication that will ensure the sanitary sewer system is performing to VFSA standards. Ms. Woodman made a motion to approve the requisitions as presented, seconded by Mr. Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Old Business

Meadow Lane Sewer Extension

Mr. Jackson reported the project is substantially completed with a few remaining punch list items. The final invoice for the project is expected to be presented in the January 2025 monthly board meeting. Once the final invoicing is received and approved, the staff will prepare a special tapping fee resolution that will reimburse the authority for funding the project. The resolution will be presented in a future VFSA board meeting for approval.

Act 537 Special Study

Mr. Shirk indicated the process to complete a full version of the Act 537 Study was well underway. The allocation request letter sent to all the partners has been returned with the exception of two (2), but all indications are they will not be asking for additional capacity. Buchart Horn provided the collection conveyance capacity assessments to the VFSA staff for review and comment. The report indicates additional work on the gravity side of the system may be needed to handle the additional capacity. The treatment plant capacity assessment is on schedule and expects the report to be delivered by January 10, 2025. Mr. Shirk reported that biweekly meetings with Authority staff will continue throughout the process until the final submission of the plan to PADEP.

Executive Session

The VFSA Board entered into executive session at 8:25 pm to discuss personnel matters. The executive session ended at 7:30 pm.

Upon entering into the regular monthly board meeting, Mr. Taylor

Adjournment

Mr. Cupp made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Stipa, and the board unanimously approved the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

David Demey

VFSA Board Secretary