EAST
BRANDYWINE
TOWNSHIP
MUNICIPAL AUTHORITY
Tuesday,
April 13, 2004
7:30 AM
Those
in Attendance:
Michael Corbin
, Chairman
Gerald
Kirkpatrick, Vice-Chairman
Joseph Anthony
, Secretary
David
Summers, Treasurer
Sandra Moser
, Member
John Spangler
, Municipal Authority
Solicitor
Thomas Brown
, Municipal Authority
Engineer
Joseph Boldaz
, Municipal Authority
Engineer
Scott T. Piersol
, Township Manager
Mary
Beth Smedley, Secretary/Treasurer
The Municipal Authority met on
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
. Also in
attendance were
Scott T. Piersol
, Township Manager;
John Spangler
, Municipal Authority
Solicitor;
Thomas Brown
, Municipal Authority Engineer;
Joseph Boldaz
, Municipal Authority
Engineer; and Mary Beth Smedley, Secretary/Treasurer
Mr.
Corbin called the meeting to order at
7:30 A.M.
Minutes:
February
10, 2004
and
March 9, 2004
Mr. Corbin asked if
there were any additions or corrections to the above minutes. There were none.
Mrs. Moser made a motion to approve the above minutes as presented.
Mr. Kirkpatrick seconded the motion, with all voting Aye.
Request for
Public Water – Old Horseshoe Pike
Mr. Piersol stated that a resident of Old Horseshoe
Pike has asked for permission to connect their home into Aqua Pennsylvania water
system. Aqua
Pennsylvania
is currently
installing pipe along Old Horseshoe Pike as part of their interconnection
project with Downingtown Municipal Water Authority.
This area is not part of Aqua Pennsylvania’s certificated territory.
Before making a recommendation regarding providing water to residents along Old
Horseshoe Pike, the Municipal Authority would like a mechanism in place to track
remaining water availability that has been allocated to
East
Brandywine
Township
through Aqua
Pennsylvania and their interconnection with Downingtown Municipal Water
Authority. Mr. Corbin asked Mr. Boldaz to provide an estimate of planned
development that will use public water vs. what water is still available.
This estimate should be independent without contacting Aqua America or
other water suppliers at this time. This
will help the Township and Municipal Authority plan for future development that
may connect to public water while keeping in mind that there isn’t an
unlimited supply to water.
Hide-A-Way
Farms
Water
Service
Mr.
Piersol sent a letter dated
March 8, 2004
to William Ross at Aqua Pennsylvania asking him to confirm the sources of the
water supply for the Hide-A-Way Farms development, and how these sources will be
monitored in the future. Once the
requested information is provided, and it is found to be acceptable.
East
Brandywine
Township
will support the expansion of Aqua Pennsylvania’s certificated territory to
include the Hide-A-Way Farms subdivision.
Gravity
Sewer and Force
Main
Mr. Boldaz will ask that the applicant show on to the
plan where safety fence will be installed to minimize tree disturbance.
It was suggested that the fencing be put in certain key areas, rather
than the whole area because contractors are more likely to pay attention to the
areas surrounding by the fencing. Mrs.
Moser suggested that Planning Commission Chairman
Bruce Rawlings
walk the site to make sure he is satisfied with the
fencing installation.
Groundwater
Monitoring Plan
Mr.
Boldaz completed the final review of the Permit Application and is satisfied
that all comments have been adequately addressed.
WQM
Part II Permit Application
Mr.
Boldaz stated he has reviewed the most recent WQM Part II Permit Application.
There are minor revisions that the applicant has agreed to make.
Mr. Boldaz was concerned with the sizing of the pumps.
The applicant wanted to use a 30 horsepower pump.
Based on Mr. Boldaz’s comments, the
applicant plans to use an 11 horsepower pump.
The efficiency of the pump has increased from 30% to 70%.
Mr. Boldaz stated that the applicant is requesting the application be
signed and forwarded to PADEP, if he provided the Township with a letter stating
all items are resolved. Mr. Summers
made a motion to approve signing the WQM Part II Permit with the condition that
Mr. Boldaz provides a letter to the Municipal Authority stating that all
outstanding items are resolved. Mr.
Anthony seconded the motion, with all voting Aye.
Mr. Boldaz will complete the final review this week.
Permeability
Testing
Percolation
testing with PADEP was completed in late March.
Mr. Boldaz attended the testing on behalf of the Municipal Authority.
Soil permeability was conducted on eight proposed subsurface disposal
beds. The Municipal Authority
discussed the need to construct all 8 beds immediately, vs. just building 4 beds
now and escrowing money to build 4 beds later.
If all beds are constructed now and not used, they may fall into
disrepair and have to be reconstructed. On
the other hand residents may object to constructing the other basins at a later
date. Mr. Boldaz will review this
issue with PADEP and the applicant.
Keats
Glen/DCCC
Dedication
Agreement - Mr. Spangler stated that
the last issue to be resolved was the budget amount used to derive the sewer
rates vs. the actual budget. Mr.
Cooke used the 2001 TMH proposal to calculate fees, rather than using what TMH
actually billed for their services. Southdown
Homes and the
Delaware
County
Community College
have agreed to subsidize the plant if costs
exceed the budgeted amount for the remainder of 2004.
Mr. Cook will be discussing the rate for operation and maintenance of the
system with both TMH and Severn Trent. In
addition, Mr. Piersol has contacted Clean Water, Inc. who provide services to
Wallace
Township
, and they will be submitting a proposal next week.
All three operators if chosen, would prefer to have a multi-year
contract.
As stated in the
Agreement, any excess capacity will be reserved solely for the Community
College’s use. Up to four edu’s
of sanitary sewer capacity in the system may be used by the Municipal Authority
to meet emergency needs of the Authority or residents.
Mr. Brown stated that 4 edu’s is sufficient.
The Municipal Authority will maintain general liability insurance and
property damage coverage for the operation of the system.
Mr. Spangler and Mr. Brown agree that there is no need to carry special
environmental pollution insurance.
Invoices
will be on letterhead of the Authority, provided by the Authority.
Since Southdown will be billing for pre-dedication fees, the Municipal
Authority will provide the envelopes and letterhead for Southdown. Southdown
Homes will then be billed by the Municipal Authority for this administrative
service.
After review of the Agreement, Mr. Summers made a
motion to approve signing the Lease and Operating Agreement subject to the
changes outlined in the Municipal Authority Meeting.
Mr. Anthony seconded the motion, with all voting Aye.
Mr. Corbin left the meeting at 8:35 A.M.
It is likely that the sewage rates will increase next
year. Mr. Brown stated that the
current rate of $476 per year is reasonable compared to yearly rates for other
systems of the same size. The
Municipal Authority may investigate hiring a part-time contractor at some point
in the future but for the time being will continue with one of the above
contract operators.
Mr. Summers left the meeting at 8:50 A.M.
Guthriesville
Sewer District
Disposal Beds
Rouse/Chamberlin is making plans to excavate and
rebuild the disposal beds in the spring. Construction should take approximately
4 to 5 weeks. The onsite
pre-construction meeting is scheduled for today, April 13, 2004 at 10:00 A.M.
Dedication
Dedication is dependent upon resolution of the
disposal bed issue and completion of the remaining items on the five
consolidated punch lists. The items
that have been completed so far have not been verified.
Operation & Maintenance Manual
A revised O&M Manual has not been submitted yet.
As-Built Drawings
Mr. Brown has
reviewed the As-Built Drawings and will provide his comments to the applicant.
Pumping Station Re-inspection
Mr. Brown noted at the last Municipal Authority
Meeting that the re-inspection of the pumping station was done back in October
and his findings were reported in a letter dated October 24, 2003.
Most of the issues were minor, but have not yet been resolved.
McCue Easement Update
Mrs. Smedley has contacted Mr. and Mrs. McCue twice
in order for them to sign the easement document with the correct description of
the property attached. As of this
date there has been no response from them. Mr.
Spangler wrote to the McCue’s attorney, Mr. John Kiefel to determine if there
were other outstanding issues to be resolved.
To date he has had no reply. He
will attempt to contact Mr. Kiefel again.
Overlook Road Farm
Mr.
Boldaz stated that the applicant is still looking at different treatment
processes. No decisions on sewage
treatment have been finalized.
Wawa Food Market
Mr. Spangler contacted the applicant’s attorney
about the Wawa right-of-way. According
to Mr. Spangler, there should not be a problem getting the revised right-of-way,
but Mr. Brion would like to resolve the historic issues regarding the Mama
Lena’s property first.
Brandywine
Wallace
Elementary School
Mr. Piersol and Mr.
Brown met with representatives of PADEP to discuss the School District’s
desire to connect the
Brandywine
Wallace
Elementary School
to the East Brandywine Hopewell/Guthriesville Sewer System.
PADEP confirmed that the Township’s Act 537 Plan must be amended before
they would permit the school to connect. In
lieu of preparing a full Act 537 amendment, PADEP confirmed that the Township
may amend its plan through the Department’s Sewage Facilities Planning Module
process, using module component 3M.
East
Brandywine
Township
would need to complete the work for the Swage Facilities Planning Module, but
would be reimbursed by the
School District
. There may be grants available to
help offset some of the costs.
There are residents
along
Keller Way
,
School Lane
and
Dilworth Road
who are interested in connecting to public water and sewer.
There is currently no additional capacity to connect these homes to the
sewer system at the Little Washington Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Mr. Kirkpatrick
moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 A.M.
Mrs. Moser seconded the motion, with all voting Aye.
Executive Session
The Municipal Authority met with their Solicitor,
John Spangler
, to discuss the
Fling/Neff Agreement and the Little Washington WasteWater Treatment Plant.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Beth Smedley
Secretary/Treasurer
East
Brandywine
Township