January 2025

Minutes

VFSA Board Meeting Minutes
January 13, 2025

The Valley Forge Sewer Authority monthly meeting was held on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. In attendance: Board members: Terri Woodman, Samuel Cupp, William LaPorte, Richard Stipa, and David Demey. Also in attendance were staff members General Manager Leonard Pinchok, Operations and Engineering Manager Matt Jackson, Laboratory Supervisor Richard Taylor, and David Shirk, representing the Authority’s Engineer of Record, Buchart Horn, Inc.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Executive Session

The VFSA Board entered into an executive session at 7:01 pm to discuss personnel matters, manager performance review, and real estate. The executive session ended at 7:58 pm.

The regular monthly board meeting continued at 7:59 pm.

Public Comment 
There was no public comment.

Meeting Minutes

Mr. LaPorte made a motion to approve the December 9, 2024, meeting minutes, which was seconded by Mr. Demey, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Operations Report

Mr. Taylor reported there were no numerical violations of the permit during December 2024. He noted a few lab results are still outstanding but expects the results to be within permit limits. Mr. Taylor reported an annual PCB testing must be performed during a dry and wet weather event. The dry test was completed without issue. He noted there are only three accredited labs in Pennsylvania that can perform the preferred method for testing, and because of the current backload of the outside lab VFSA utilizes, the results of the wet test are delayed. These results are included in the year-end annual report due to PADEP by January 28, 2025. The staff will notify PADEP of the testing being completed on time, but the results are delayed and will forward the report once received. There was no odor complaints recorded during the month. Mr. Stipa made a motion to accept the operations report as presented, which was 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 December with a balance of $26,412,920. 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 $128,106 and the treatment plant fund actual for the month has a surplus of $758,224. Mr. Pinchok briefly reviewed several line items from each fund, with explanations for budget and actual differences. The impress fund reconciliation was $1,871.17. Petty cash reconciliation was $60.00. Credit card purchases for the month were $5,100.14. Accounts payable invoices totaled $444,305.74. Mr. Pinchok indicated a draft year-end financial statement and balance sheet should be emailed to board members within the next 2 weeks. Mr. Stipa made a motion to approve agenda items, which was seconded by Mr. Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

The financial report continued with requisitions totaling $55,539.80 from the Treatment Plant Construction Fund and requisitions totaling $185,590.13 from the Capital Improvement Fund. Mr. Stipa made a motion to approve the requisitions as presented, which was seconded by Mr. Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

New Business

Hydrated Lime Procurement Bid

Mr. Jackson presented the bid results for the Hydrated Lime contract. The Authority’s current 5-year contract expired on December 31, 2024, with an extension through January 31, 2025. Although the bid document was sent to several vendors, there was only one bidder. The $306,794.25 bid is more than double the 2025 budget. The staff confirmed surrounding treatment plants using hydrated lime is consistent with the price per ton offered to the Authority. Mr. Pinchok suggested inquiring about a cash-up-front offer to lower the cost. Mr. LaPorte made a motion for management to inquire about a cash offer; if not acceptable, then award the contract to Carmeuse Lime Inc. for $306,794.25, which was seconded by Mr. Cupp, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Revenue Fund Capital Budget Increase

The Operations/Construction and Administration/Finance committees approved the purchase of a crane truck for use in both the treatment plant and collection system. The total cost of the crane truck is $205,000. The cost share is a 50/50 split between the revenue fund capital and treatment plant construction budgets. A cost of $102,500 was included in the treatment plant construction budget approved on December 9, 2024, but not included in the Revenue Fund Capital budget. Mr. Cupp made a motion to amend the Revenue Fund Capital budget to include $102,500 for the crane truck, which was seconded by Mr. Stipa, and the Board unanimously approved the motion.

Old Business

Meadow Lane Sewer Extension

Mr. Jackson reported the project is completed with the exception of paving. East Pikeland Township is responsible for paving and is expected to be completed in the spring. Once the final invoices are approved and grant funding requirements are satisfied, the staff will prepare a special tapping fee resolution that will reimburse the authorities’ funding of the project. The resolution will be presented at a future 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. Buchart Horn is currently working on the treatment plant capacity assessment. Buchart Horn has identified several areas that will require additional sampling, particularly with the septage receiving area. It appears the additional capacity needed by the member municipalities is approximately the same amount of flow allocated for trucked waste. The additional sampling will help determine the total amount of BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) strength of waste and the amount of sludge it generates. The samples will also determine the overall impact on the treatment plant and the possibility to be considered in the alternate analysis. Mr. Shirk presented a letter dated December 30, 2024, with date extensions to several projects as approved by the VFSA management staff. No additional action is required.

Adjournment

Mr. Cupp made a motion to adjourn the meeting that was seconded by Mr. Stipa, and the board unanimously approved the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:45p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

David Demey

VFSA Board Secretary