Minutes
of the Board of Directors Meeting
November 12, 2004
The Board of Directors of the
Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority met on Friday, November
12, 2004 at 7:30 a.m., at the Authority office, 1299 Harrisburg Pike,
Lancaster, PA.
Mr. Musser called for a moment of silence. The pledge to the flag followed.
ATTENDANCE
Board of Directors present were: Chairman Musser, Frost, Gordon, Hammel,
Houck, Kassees, and Wood. Absent was Rosier. Mr. Ebel arrived at 8:30
a.m. Staff present were: Warner, Buller, Forster, Lausch, Norris, Olson,
Zorbaugh and Dougherty. Also present were: Solicitor George Brubaker of
Hartman Underhill & Brubaker; Jim Klecko, Covanta Lancaster; Ad Crable,
Lancaster New Era and citizens as listed on the attached sign-in sheet.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
Mr. Musser asked about additions or corrections to the minutes of the
October 15, 2004 meeting. Mr. Frost moved that the minutes be approved.
Mr. Kassees seconded. Mr. Musser called a vote; the motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Donna Bare (107 Chestnut Grove Road, Conestoga) reported on dead trees
in the Landscape Buffer.
Mr. Norris said the contractor had been notified and the dead trees would
be replaced.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Mr. Musser asked for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee.
Mr. Frost, Mr. Kassees and Mr. Gordon volunteered to serve.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT - Mr. Warner reported
on the following:
- Financials - Mr. Warner gave a brief summary of
the financial operating results for the month of October. During the
month, the Authority benefitted financially from the amount of DEP grant
awards received. The Authority received $161,000, which was the balance
of the 90% of the cost of the wood shredder.
- Legislation Issue - Mr. Warner gave a report on a
House and Senate Bill that would establish renewable portfolio standards
(RPS) in Pennsylvania, the purpose of which would be to promote renewable
energy. Mr. Warner reviewed for the Board how RPS impacts the sale of
renewable energy credits, and identified other parties in Pennsylvania
who have interest in this Bill passing.
Mr. Musser asked for clarification of Tier I energy.
Mr. Warner explained the difference between Tier I and Tier II was to
what degree the energy was considered clean and renewable, and the difference
it made in market value for the Renewable Energy Credits (REC’s).
- Penn-Mar Ethanol - A meeting was held with Penn-Mar
Ethanol during October to review Agreements. PME will get back to us
with written comments. They have completed four of their conditional
use hearings.
- Transfer Station - Mr. Warner reported that the
Bid Documents were out, and the remaining issues were stormwater management
and issues with Gannett Fleming’s project management capabilities
and overages in their billing.
Mr. Gordon asked about Gannett
Fleming’s contract.
Mr. Warner said the contract was for a fixed price and any exceedances
were to have been requested in writing, which Gannett Fleming didn’t
do.
Mary Glazier (269 Chestnut Grove Road, Conestoga) asked when the project
would start.
Mr. Warner said it was the Authority’s hope the contractor would
be on the site February 1st.
Ms. Glazier asked about the outstanding permit from Manheim Township.
Mr. Warner said that demolition might still be possible, and it would
be taken up with Manheim Township.
- Annual Manor Township Meeting - Mr. Warner reminded
everyone about the Annual Manor Township meeting scheduled for Thursday,
November 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the Highville Fire Hall.
Ms. Glazier said that the notice
was not in the Township Newsletter.
Mr. Warner said Manor Township had been notified well in advance of the
Newsletter’s release, and had no control beyond that, but efforts
would be made to let residents know about the meeting.
Ms. Bare suggested that an announcement
be placed in the Lancaster Newspapers Community Calendar or Date Book.
Mr. Warner said Ms. Buller
would check on that.
Ms. Glazier asked about the
meeting’s agenda.
Mr. Warner replied that operations, real estate, test results and host
fees would be reviewed. It is a PowerPoint® presentation. He will
go over the host fee again so people know what it is and how it is calculated.
It will focus on what the Authority does directly and indirectly for Manor
Township and will be similar to last year’s presentation.
Ms. Glazier said she would
be sorry to miss the meeting.
Mr. Warner said he would be glad to send her a copy of the presentation.
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED by
the Board of Directors of the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management
Authority that:
- The 2005 Operating Budget attached hereto and identified as
“Exhibit A” is approved and adopted.
- The 2005 Capital Projects and Equipment Budget attached hereto
and identified as “Exhibit B” is approved and adopted.
- The Rules and Regulations shall be amended in accordance with “Exhibit
C” and are hereby approved and adopted.
On motion by Ms. Hammel, second
by Mr. Gordon and unanimous vote, the Board adopted Resolution 2004-3.
Mr. Warner added that the budget was presented to the waste haulers
and Citizens Advisory Committee.
Mr. Gordon said he was very
impressed with the budgeting process and commended the staff for the effort
they put into it.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
- Ms. Olson reported on the following:
October results show that revenue
is over budget due to the tons of waste received, and receiving the shredder
and 903 Coordinator Grants. Total operating and support expenses were
under budget by 2½% and that is due to the contingency that was
put in for the Transfer Station.
LCSWMA Preliminary Results
Actual vs. Budget - All Programs for the Month ended October
31, 2004.
LCSWMA Accounts Receivable
Report and Past Due Detail Analysis as of October 31, 2004.
Approval of Disbursements
- On motion by Mr. Frost, second by Mr. Houck and unanimous vote, the
Summary of Disbursements for October 2004 in the total amount of $5,305,773
was unanimously approved.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
DEPARTMENT - Mr. Lausch reported on the following:
Summary Tonnage Report
- The total revenue tonnage for October was 48,337, which was 5.1% ahead
of budget. Tipping fees were 4.5% ahead of budget at $2,930,189. The Resource
Recovery Facility received 24,634 tons and Landfill deliveries were 23,575
tons. Total MSW for the month was 4.76% ahead of budget at 34,608 tons,
and residual waste was also ahead of budget by 6.52% at 13,601 tons. Year-to-date,
total revenue tons are 489,501.
Residual Waste
- An Agreement was completed for Hershey Foods plant trash to be processed
at the Resource Recovery Facility. The associated revenues from the account
will be approximately $200,000 per year. Adding an account like Hershey
Foods is in keeping with the Authority’s philosophy on out-of-county
accounts, whereby when quality accounts like this become available, we
will consider adding them to give us the flexibility to eliminate less
desirable out-of-county accounts as needed.
Mr. Warner provided more information
on the history of the Hershey Foods account, and how the ability to attract
good customers allowed the Authority to remove less-than-desirable customers
from the program.
Recycling Program
- Because the Authority has done such an excellent job with compiling,
managing and storing recycling information, the PADEP has asked us to
test a new data management software program named Retrac to see if it
might be applicable for state-wide use. It appears that Retrac has the
capabilities to do some things such as financial analyses, as well as
generate reports that we have been doing through manual entry. Should
we go ahead with the program, 80% of the costs will be reimbursed through
the 901 Grant Program.
Insurance -
The GSIF Board held their semi-annual meeting on November 1st. The Pollution
Account Balance remains at $4,000,000 and the other claims account is
now slightly over $2.6 million. The Board reviewed several claims and
approved reimbursing the Authority $6,868 for several small damage vehicle
claims and one property claim which were within policy deductibles.
Compensation and Benefits
- The Managers have completed the Management Training course and are starting
the annual employee evaluation process. The goal is to complete these
evaluations by the end of November.
Employee Assistance
Plan - The Employee Assistance Plan was renewed for another year
with Life Management Associates. The core costs of the plan remain at
$3,588, which makes the third year in a row with no increase in price.
Mr. Warner remarked on how
the recent job layoffs at Armstrong would impact the Authority.
COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM
- Ms. Buller reported on the following:
The new website has gone live.
She invited the Board to take a look at it and to get back to her with
any comments.
A Mercury Thermometer Exchange
Program begins Monday. This program is designed to assist with removing
mercury from the county’s waste stream. Residents bringing in any
item containing mercury will receive a digital thermometer in exchange.
Ad Crable mentioned this program in the Lancaster New Era and we have
already had some residents bring thermometers to the HHW facility.
The Public Officials Meeting
scheduled for October 27th was faced with some stiff competition in the
form of President Bush’s visit to Lancaster the morning of the meeting.
In light of the cancellations received as soon as his visit was announced,
we cancelled the meeting for this year. The annual update of facilities,
operations, budgetary matters and capital projects was posted on the website
and officials were invited to view it from their offices.
Information was distributed
on the thermometer exchange program to municipalities for consideration
in their newsletters.
Work continues preparing informational
and educational materials for Christiana Borough regarding their imminent
change to a single contract-hauler.
The Authority has been invited
to participate in the “Sustainability Days” at Franklin and
Marshall College on November 16 and 17. This is an educational outreach
to students, faculty and staff regarding the issue of sustainability.
Staff is working on a display piece for the program outlining waste management
practices in Lancaster that reflect this ideology.
OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
- Mr. Zorbaugh reported on the following:
Administrative
-The RRF Tipping Floor Expansion project reached completion. Staff has
been moving furniture in this week and will officially begin occupying
the building on Monday.
The Reiber House relocation
took place on November 11th. There is foundation work and grading to be
done before the project is complete.
The Annual Haulers’ Meeting
was held on November 10th. There were about 25 hauling companies represented,
including all of the major haulers. We went over fee increase changes
for next year and discussed operational issues that occur throughout the
year. We also presented the status of upcoming capital projects. There
was tremendous positive response about the Transfer Station Redesign.
The haulers are looking forward to that project being completed. We also
solicited suggestions and improvements in our operations from them.
Facility Operations
- Frey Farm staff along with Weston (our capping contractor) did some
renovations to one of the sediment basins.
The wood shredder rental program
to municipalities was scheduled for 40 hours during October.
The Maintenance staff responded
to a failure of two Transfer Station compaction machines. Repairs were
completed within a few hours without any significant delays for customers.
Safety - October
was a safe month with no major accidents occurring. The Department of
Transportation performed vehicle safety inspections at the Transfer Station
on October 8th. Four citations were issued to waste haulers, three for
brake issues, and one for a driver’s licensing problem.
RRF CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT - Mr. Forster reported on the following:
Site Operations
- Electric revenues for October were $739,341, which is $85,659 below
budget since boiler availability, at 72%, was 7% below original estimates.
Also, there were 61 hours of unscheduled downtime, resulting in a loss
of about $30,000 in electric revenue. The turbine/generator had another
month of trouble-free operation.
All three of the units underwent
their planned fall outages and each were completed within 7 to 8 days.
The units were explosively cleaned, tube thicknesses measured, and Inconel
applied. The front, rear, left and side walls of the furnace in all three
units are 100% covered in Inconel. The second and third pass of the boilers
are approaching between 55% and 80% coverage.
The baghouse in Unit 3 underwent
a complete cage and bag change-out so that now the bags in that unit contain
the new pressed felt fabric, which lasts longer and is more durable. All
three units are now equipped with the better performing bags.
The ferrous recovery system
had no downtime, but only 378 tons of metal were recovered due to the
occurrence of the fall outages.
Regulatory Activities
- Randy Weiss of DEP was on site for an inspection in October. His report
contained no operational violations.
The semi-annual stack testing event has been scheduled for November 15
- 19. Results will be reported when received.
Other Activities
Attended Penn-Mar Ethanol’s
second and third conditional use hearings with Valerie Buller. The next
hearing will be held on November 17th where they will be addressing the
Traffic Study done by Buchart-Horn.
Mr. Musser asked how many people
attended the hearings.
Mr. Forster said there were
around 150 - 175 people at the first meeting, the second meeting slightly
less, and the third and fourth around 100 people.
TECHNICAL SERVICES
DEPARTMENT - Mr. Norris reported on the following:
Capital Projects
Transfer Station
- PaDEP has approved the construction of the HHW facility at the new location
shown on the Transfer Station Improvement Project Plans.
Phase 3 Capping Project
- The project has been completed. Weston did assist Authority personnel
with a sediment basin project. We are currently working on the “Construction
Certification” documents which will be sent to PADEP.
Technical Support
The Request for Proposal regarding
Laboratory Analytical and Field Services has been distributed to four
companies. The proposals are due the first week of December. We plan to
make our recommendation to the Board for awarding the contract at the
December meeting.
Facilities Compliance
and Assurance
We received the Frey Farm Landfill
Stormwater NPDES renewal from DEP (5-year renewal) and submitted the Creswell/Frey
Farm Landfill Title V (air permit) 5-year renewal permit.
CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Mr. Warner reported on the
CAC meeting held on October 27, 2004. He gave the CAC a presentation and
overview of facility operations in 2004, reviewed the 2005 budget and
capital projects and equipment. He also gave them an update on Transfer
Station Redesign and the Penn-Mar Ethanol project.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
After a 10 minute break, the Board went into Executive Session to discuss
personnel and real estate issues.
OTHER BUSINESS
There was no further business to come before the Board.
ADJOURNMENT
On motion by Mr. Ebel, second by Mr. Wood and unanimous vote, the Board
meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.
APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE LANCASTER COUNTY SOLID
WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY THIS 17th DAY OF DECEMBER, 2004.
Barbara B. Hammel, Secretary |
