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Commission Minutes
GREENWOOD
METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
MINUTES OF THE
April 9, 2008
Regular meeting
The regular meeting of the
Greenwood Metropolitan District Commission was held
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 3:00 p.m., in the Training Room
of Greenwood Metropolitan District Technical Service
Facility, 110 Metro Drive.
In attendance:
Commissioner Bob Haynie,
Chairman Richard Coleman Roy Hemphill
Commissioner Byron Smith,
Vice Chairman George Martin Paige
Holley
Commissioner Gene Hancock,
Secretary Marion Boone Marsha Meyer
Commissioner Michael G.
Monaghan
Daniel Clark Jamie Peeler
Commissioner Henry Watts
Wayne Daniel Steve
Pohlman
Commissioner Tim
Burke Richard Gentry
Brian Waldrep
I.
Chairman Haynie called the meeting to order and Mr.
Martin gave the invocation.
II.
Chairman Haynie gave the statement of compliance with
the notification provision of the Freedom
of Information
Act.
III.
Commissioner Hancock made a motion to approve the
March 12, 2008 minutes as mailed;
Commissioner Smith
seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.
IV.
Service Reports
a.
Collections Systems
Commissioner Watts said he
noticed Metro working on Marshall St. He noticed the road
appears to be caving in around the sewer line. Commissioner
Watts said he noticed Metro working on Creswell Avenue
towards Marshall Road. Mr. Daniel said they are cleaning
and videoing sewer lines. He said it is not a sink hole;
the sewer line has settled. The line has been checked for
holes and none were found. Commissioner Watts inquired
about Milwee Street and New Market Street and if there is a
sink hole. Mr. Daniel said he would send someone to check.
Chairman Haynie asked if the call in Runnymeade was before
or after some residences in Wellington Green addressed the
Commission. Mr. Daniel said this call was before the
residences came to the meeting. Commissioner Monaghan
wanted more information on the car knocking off the manhole
top. Mr. Daniel said they received a call and resealed the
manhole cover. Commissioner Monaghan asked if the manhole
was flush to the road. Mr. Daniel said it is flush, but
over time the vibrations will loosen the manhole lid.
Commissioner Watts asked if there was any vehicle damage.
Mr. Daniel replied no. Commissioner Burke inquired about
the call to 104 Sullivan Court. Mr. Daniel said the
homeowner claimed that they had problems ever since CPW ran
a water line. Metro does not have proof one way or the
other. Metro did check the sewer lines and found no problem
and relayed the information to CPW. Commissioner Watts said
he will check on this with CPW.
b.
I/I Abatement
Chairman Haynie inquired
about the settlement on Sproles Avenue. Commissioner
Monaghan asked if Metro has any responsibility. Mr. Martin
replied no, Metro does not have any responsibility. Mr.
Boone said he has spoken to Davis and Floyd, Inc (D & F). D
& F has spoken to Lander and Lander said they would fix the
problem. Mr. Boone said he has informed D & F that SCDOT
will have to approve the method used to make the repair.
Commissioner Monaghan said that he was told that Lander
would do the repair. Chairman Haynie inquired about the
punch list items. Mr. Boone said the punch list stills need
to be addressed. D & F is scheduling a meeting between
Metro and Lander to go over the punch list items. Chairman
Haynie said Metro will need the punch list items taken care
of before the road repair is made. Mr. Boone said the
warranty will not start until all punch list items are
addressed and resolved. He said this project is 2 ½ years
past due. Chairman Haynie inquired on when will the flow
monitors be delivered. Mr. Boone said the contract stated 4
to 6 weeks. He asked the vendor to check to see if the time
frame has changed. Commissioner Monaghan said he did not
understand the comment “I instructed Mr. Eck to contact
sewer availability to this property.”Mr. Martin said this is
a piece of property in the city limits and the sewer is
available around this property, but no sewer is available at
this property. Commissioner Monaghan said he did not
understand who the owner should contact. He wanted to know
what the comments should have said. Mr. Martin said the
comment should have said that Metro showed the owner where
the sewer lines were located.
c.
Wilson Creek
Commissioner Monaghan asked
for an update on the clean-up at the farm. Mr. Pohlman
responded everything has been removed except the silo.
Commissioner Monaghan asked if anyone had an idea on how to
remove the silo. Mr. Martin said Metro will work on getting
the silo removed. Manager Coleman said several years ago
Metro tried to give it away, but nobody would take it.
Commissioner Monaghan asked about the status of the bridge.
Mr. Martin said that he is working on the bridge. He has
been unable to find a lot of people that would give a
quote. Mr. Pohlman reminded the Board that it has over 400
yards of swamps to build a bridge over. Commissioner
Monaghan asked if the amphibious
vehicle for the Collections Department would work. Mr.
Martin said it would go across the area. Commissioner
Monaghan asked about the office trailer. Mr. Pohlman
responded it has been removed. Commissioner Monaghan said
now a building will need to be built for bathroom purposes.
d.
General Service Report Information
Mr. Martin said at the South
Carolina Environmental Conference both the West Alexander
and the Wilson Creek treatment plants were recognized by
DHEC. He said to win this recognition of excellence
includes collection lines, pretreatment, pump stations and
the treatment plants. The Board congratulated the staff for
their awards. Manager Coleman said there were not a lot of
awards given. Mr. Martin said there were 6 entities that
received the award. Commissioner Smith inquired if the
operation challenge team’s picture was ever in the
newspaper. Mr. Martin replied the picture was in the
newspaper.
V.
Action Items
a.
Disposal of old computers
Chairman Haynie said in the
management letter there was a recommendation for disposing
of old computers. Mr. Martin said Metro will notify the
Board on where the computers will be donated. This is a
policy that CPW is currently using. Mrs. Meyer said she has
already started the inventory process and will provide a
list to Mrs. Grogan stating who received the computers.
Commissioner Hancock made a
motion to approve the disposal of old computers as stated in
the management letter; Commissioner Smith seconded, and the
motion was unanimously approved.
VI.
Old Business
a.
Review Draft Report on Design Manual
Chairman Haynie said the firm
that reviewed the design manual suggested a meeting with
Metro and the Board to discuss their recommendations.
Commissioner Monaghan commented to his understanding the
purpose was to see if the design standards are too good. He
had no question on whether the procedures were adequate.
Mr. Martin said he thought they addressed by saying “The GMD
Design Manual, Specification, Standard Details are very
thorough and cost effective. The specifications allow
alternatives which is advantageous to receiving the best
value on projects.” Chairman Haynie said the explanation
would require a face-to-face meeting, but it appears that
they did what were asked. Mr. Martin is to check with the
review firm to schedule a meeting.
b.
City Pond
Commissioner Monaghan asked
for an update on the timeframe for the City Pond Project.
Mr. Martin said the plans are with DHEC for review.
c.
LMI Grinder Pumps
Commissioner Monaghan said
that he reread the Attorney General’s opinion on the grinder
pump maintenance fee. He noticed the opinion said Metro
does not have the right to waive the fee. Commissioner
Monaghan wanted to know if it would be legal if Metro said
anybody served by a trunkline and service lines built under
a LMI Grant would have a lower grinder pump charge.
Commissioner Burke inquired if Commissioner Monaghan noticed
the handout from the Utility Advisors Network. Commissioner
Monaghan said he did not see the handout. Manager Coleman
said he handed this out before the meeting. Manager Coleman
said the question that Mr. Parker with the Utility Advisor
Network addressed was could Metro eliminate the $12 grinder
pump fee for those in the LMI area. Mr. Parker response was
“It would be inappropriate, inequitable, and possibly
illegal to simply eliminate a charge for customers that live
in a specific area, but maintain it for other customers in
neighboring areas. This could be considered as
discriminatory pricing and could potentially open the
utility up to legal action. The problem with simply
eliminating the charge to all customers in a specific area
is that there may be customers in the area that do not meet
the LMI criteria. If so, the will be receiving an
underserved financial benefit that must be supported by all
other customers of the system. In addition, there may be
other customers ‘across the street’ that meet the LMI
criteria but are not offered the financial benefit of the
eliminated charged.” Mr. Coleman said the next paragraph
said it is basically a function of City or County Government
to have an assistance type program as opposed to a utility.
Commissioner Monaghan said the object is not to have an
assistant type program; the object is to gain additional
sewer lines through the use of grants. Commissioner
Monaghan said his fear is by charging the grinder pump
maintenance fee Metro will not receive more grants. He said
that is his motive. Commissioner Monaghan said it would be
anybody that was served by the line installed from LMI Grant
money. He said it would either be legal or illegal and if
it is legal then the Board can discuss whether or not they
want to remove the fee or not. Commissioner Monaghan said
he is worried that charging this fee would hurt Metro’s
chances of obtaining another grant for the remaining areas
at the lake. He said that Mrs. LaForge has some reservation
about Metro being able to obtain more grants. Mr. Martin
said Mrs. LaForge has reservations for that particular
area. Commissioner Monaghan wanted to know how many other
areas on Shrine Club Road are left. Mr. Martin replied
four. Commissioner Monaghan said that is $2 million. He
said Metro is going to throw away $2 million for $5,000 in
revenue. Commissioner Burke asked if all of the areas would
be serviced by a low pressure grinder pump system. Mr.
Martin responded one section could be a gravity sewer line,
but it would not be LMI. Manager Coleman said not all of
the remaining sections would be LMI; Metro has not surveyed
the entire area. Commissioner Monaghan said on one side of
the road is an effluent area and the other side has mobile
homes. He said he would hate to lose the ability to obtain
another $2 million from grants. Commissioner Burke asked
what would be the possibility of having those houses (around
8 to 10) on a small sub pump station. He said maybe the
houses could gravity to the sub-pump station and Metro could
maintain the sub-pump stations. Mr. Martin said Metro
looked at that issue first. Manager Coleman said part of
the area can be done like that, but not the majority. Mr.
Martin said Metro will go back and again look at the
sub-pump station issue. Commissioner Monaghan said Mr.
Parker did not address the question he was asked.
Commissioner Monaghan asked if there are any other sewer
systems that had comparable rates for that problem.
Chairman Haynie said he thought Mr. Parker addressed the
issue. Commissioner Monaghan said Mr. Parker and Mr.
Hemphill both addressed the issue, but Mr. Parker did not
address what he had asked. Manager Coleman said he would
ask Mr. Parker again.
d.
Septic Receiving Station
Commissioner Monaghan said he
heard the septic tank receiving station at Wilson Creek
would not allow septic tank pumpers to dump. Manager
Coleman said the station was going to be closed during the
construction of the BNR system. Mr. Martin said the pumpers
have had years to dump out there. Manager Coleman said they
have been allowed to dump until the construction of the BNR.
Chairman Haynie said when the rate changed the pumpers
stopped dumping at Wilson Creek. Commissioner Monaghan said
Metro did have a rebate program. He asked if anybody has
ever taken advantage of the rebate. Manager Coleman
responded nobody has taken advantage of the rebate program.
Commissioner Burke asked for more explanation on the rebate
program. Mr. Martin said that anybody that lives in the
Metro District and has a septic tank can receive a $25
rebate. Metro will have to verify that the tank was dumped
at Wilson Creek before the rebate is granted. Commissioner
Monaghan suggested including that on the CPW bill once the
station is opened again.
e.
As-Built Drawing
Commissioner Monaghan asked
if Metro is still having a problem obtaining as-built
drawings. Mr. Boone said some of the contractors are real
slow. Commissioner Monaghan asked if Metro is sending
written requests. Mr. Boone said it is a part of the punch
list items. Mr. Martin said in the capacity fee letter it
states Metro will need a copy of the as-built drawing before
issuing the letter of acceptance. The contractor will need
the letter of acceptance to obtain the permit for DHEC. Mr.
Boone said Metro is not having many problems from their
contractors. It is mainly from the developers of
sub-divisions.
f.
Block Grant
Mr. Gentry said Metro has
been working very hard to finish the block grant
application.
VII.
Commissioner Hancock made a motion to go into
Executive Session to receive legal advice and
to discuss a
contractual matter; Commissioner Burke seconded, and the
motion was unanimously
approved.
VIII.
The meeting returned to open session. No action was
taken during executive session.
IX.
Insurance Reserve Fund
Commissioner Hancock made a motion to increase the insurance
reserve fund by $73,311.13
(Metro’s portion);
Commissioner Smith seconded, and the motion was unanimously
approved.
X.
With no further business, the
meeting was adjourned.
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