The Telford Borough Authority Meeting held this date was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairman Timothy Hagey, with the following members in attendance: Abram Diehl, John Harrell, David Musselman and Robert Nice. Also present were Manager Mark Fournier, Public Works Director Gary Yoder, Solicitor Mark Weand, Engineer Patrick DiGangi and Recording Secretary Megan McShane.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the January 16, 2014 Authority meeting were approved unanimously (5-0) by a Nice/Musselman motion.

 

COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE:

 

There were no comments from the audience.

 

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

 

1.         TMDL Update

 

On November 15, 2013, the Court granted TBA limited discovery on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction. Limited discovery was initiated to determine whether EPA had rendered a final agency decision in 2010 as to Telford’s reconsideration request. This discovery included interrogatories, document requests, and notices of depositions of key EPA individuals. EPA then filed a motion to stay discovery or, at a minimum, prevent TBA from taking depositions. On December 18, 2013, the Court transferred the matter to a Magistrate judge to rule on EPA’s motion to stay discovery.

 

On January 30, 2014, the Magistrate granted EPA’s motion to stay discovery and dismissed EPA’s second motion for protective order as moot. The Magistrate relied upon EPA’s assertion that it will be issuing “formal documentation evidencing a final decision on Plaintiff’s request for reconsideration by March 21, 2014.” Ultimately, the   Magistrate reasoned that, if EPA renders a final decision in March on this matter, then        discovery would be moot with regards to subject matter jurisdiction. In reaching this Conclusion, however, the Magistrate recognized that there is a significant difference between the Agency’s 2010 denial and the 2014 decision and stated that any debate over which of the decisions constitutes a final agency action could be determined during the regular discovery process.

 

On February 19, 2014, Hall & Associates advised TBA that the Judge denied EPA’s Motion to Consolidate the litigation with Lower Salford.

           

 

REPORTS:

 

TREASURER’S REPORT: accepted as presented

 

WATER DEPARTMENT REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

COLLECTION REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

WASTEWATER TREATMENT REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

Manager Mark Fournier reported that the WWTF had a violation for ammonia, which was related solely to the cold temperatures that we’ve been having.

 

Engineer Patrick DiGangi commented that he knows of another WWTF with a similar problem, and Manager Fournier added that Paul Jardel from DEP told Dan Wurst that a lot of municipalities are having this same problem.

 

PTWA REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

SOLICITOR’S REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

ENGINEER’S REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

Mr. DiGangi informed the Authority Board that Secant Medical submitted their land development plans to the Borough for review.

 

MANAGER’S REPORT: We received a written report for the file.

 

Mr. Fournier reported that representatives from EPA and DEP conducted an inspection of all of our wells.

 

OTHER BUSINESS:

 

A discussion took place regarding the option for customers to use ACH or credit cards for water & sewer payments. Chairman Timothy Hagey directed Mr. Fournier to move forward with researching different companies who provide this service, and implementing this option for customers. John Harrell stated that he would like to see more information provided to the customers on the bills, i.e., usage for the past year.

 

Payment of the bills and requisitions for the month of January in the amount of $ 312,106.17 was approved unanimously (5-0) by a Harrell/Musselman motion.

 

Signing of the checks was approved unanimously (5-0) by a Harrell/Nice motion.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 pm with a Diehl/Musselman motion.

 

 Respectfully submitted,

 

 John Harrell

 Secretary