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Friday, December 21, 2018

2018-12-19 - Service Authority Meeting Notes

by Neil Richard

The Service Authority Board of Directors started their last meeting of 2018 a minute ahead of schedule at 6:29pm. As the Pledge of Allegiance ended, roughly a minute later, Cathy Binder walked in and took her seat.

There were no amendments to the Agenda and no Public Comment.

Mike Bennett reported that he attended a meeting with Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, Jonathon Weakley, Service Authority General Manager, Jerry Gouldman, Chief Water Plant Operator, and Chris Werle, Board Chairman. The meeting was held with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). Bennett said the last meeting with VDH was in July 2018 and that VDH noted a change for the positive since then. VDH also expressed an appreciation for the changes and improvements made.

Richard Granger, Ruby Brabo, and Cathy Binder had no Board Report.

Chris Werle echoed Bennett's report saying he attended the meeting with VDH. He said they introduced the new General Manager, Jonathon Weakley, gave updates on staffing and workload backlogs, and other related topics. Werle also echoed the same comments that VDH was pleased with the progress being made on improving operations. Werle also said that VDH was looking forward to working with the Service Authority going forward. Werle said the same day as the meeting with VDH, December 6, he attended the Town Hall regarding the new Economic Development Strategic Plan. On December 12 he attended the County Christmas Luncheon and on the 13th he met with Weakley to discuss personnel and regulatory issues.

The Consent Agenda was approved.

The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.

Jonathon Weakley began his General Manager's report saying he would try to keep it brief in respect to the Supervisors having a lot of business to take care of. On the water side, Weakley said the St. Paul's water storage tank has been painted by a contractor. His goal was to look at using more in-house labor in the future. He met with VDH to discuss the various water systems and noted that VDH agreed to fewer samples being needed for the new St. Paul's - Owens interconnect, noting that it was running successfully. He said the third well in Fairview Beach is almost complete. Weakley said a water main break was repaired in Fairview Beach and that an old two and a half inch cast iron line should be considered for future replacement and that the most problematic areas should be considered for future capital improvements.

Weakley then updated everyone on the sewer side of the Service Authority, noting that a meeting with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is planned for January. He said the meeting would mirror the one held with VDH as an effort to meet state personnel and discuss ongoing issues and the plan to resolve them. Weakley said a new alarm system was installed at Potomac Landing and that DEQ has been informed of the continued efforts to resolve outstanding issues at the Purkins Corner Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP).

In other business, Weakley said he met with all staff on December 5 and will be meeting with managers weekly. He said DEQ training will return in the spring for all staff and thanked Chief Moody for offering to host the training sessions. Weakley said he followed up with Mr. Houston about their high water bill and felt that it was productive. He said the Houston's meter was replaced with a newer model to help better troubleshoot any future issues. He said he also has a meeting with VDOT coming up to discuss shoulder erosion that needs to be addressed and is scheduling one-on-one meetings with the rest of the Board and other County staff. Weakley also said budget sessions would begin soon. Weakley closed out his report saying that a job posting will be out soon for WWTP staff. He said this position was not a new position and that it had already been approved as part of the budget.

Werle commented that citizen appointees would need to be selected for the budget sessions. Brabo recommended that two citizens be appointed since some were unable to attend during the last session. She felt that with two citizens there was a greater chance for resident involvement. Werle agreed that it sounded like a good idea.

The meeting adjourned at 6:42pm.

Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Jonathon Weakley (General Manager of Service Authority)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)

Meeting Agenda

Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on January 8, 2019 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.

Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.

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