OLS – WPCA MEETING MINUTES When: May 18, 2019 Where: 14 Saltaire Dr., Old Lyme, CT The meeting was called to order at 9:08 AM by Joe Halloran. Present: Joe Halloran, Tom Annulli, Dede DeRosa, Bob Pallazo, John Cunningham, Matt Merritt, ex offico Special Guest: Keith Mikolinski, Fuss & O’Neill Dede DeRosa, acted as WPCA Secretary in Jack Reynolds’ absence Motion by Tom Annulli to approve minutes of the meeting of September 8, 2019 Second: Bob Palazzo Voted: Unanimous approval
Tom Annulli submitted the WPCA Financial Statement and Citizen’s Bank Statement dated 4/30/2019. Tom and John Cunningham have successfully migrated the WPCA financial process to Quickbooks which should make financial reporting much easier. The first Clean Water Fund payments were received from the State of CT which allowed us to pay Fuss & O’Neill and our legal counsel for services provided. All requests for payments are reviewed by the State before money is deposited in our account and subsequently dispersed to vendors. Now that we have secured the Clean Water Fund bonding and money has started to flow, the board discussed the need to establish and document the WPCA’s financial controls. Dede DeRosa, as head of the WPCA Audit Committee, will work on a draft of procedures and internal controls for review at the next meeting. Motion by Joe Halloran to accept the Treasurer’s Report Second: John Cunningham Voted: Unanimous Approval
Chairman Joe Halloran provided an update of recent activity and project milestones. In April, the Town of Old Lyme approved a change to the OL Zoning Regulations allowing for the siting of a pump station in a flood zone. This zoning change was required for all of our pump station location alternatives. Also in April, the State of CT approved two Clean Water Fund bonding requests. One is for the infrastructure design that will be shared by the three beaches (pump station, force main to East Lyme) and the second is for the design of the infrastructure within Old Lyme Shores. Ultimately there will be two additional bonds for Old Colony and Miami Beach.
A meeting was recently held with the Town’s WPCA Chairman and representatives from the three beaches to review the status of the Soundview WPCA project. A town wide referendum has been scheduled for August 14, 2019. Our support will be needed in
order to bring Soundview into our project and help to further spread our shared costs. Assuming that the Soundview project gains town approval, the three beaches will need to agree to open up our cost sharing contract to include Soundview. Since this will be a financial benefit to Old Lyme Shores’ residents, Tom Annulli made a motion to support the inclusion of Soundview in the inter-municipal agreements with East Lyme and New London as well as the beach associations’ Cost Sharing Agreement. Dede DeRosa seconded and the Board unanimously agreed. The group also discussed the pump station site options. The three beaches prefer the option to utilize Scott Boulanger’s lot which is across the street from the Soundview lot. The cost advantage it $150K. Since the Boulanger lot is non-conforming, it will require a variance by the ZBA. There are additional easements that need to be secured from the Town of OL and we are hoping to work together with the OL WPCA on these as the project progresses. Joe Halloran reported that he is working on an update for the Old Lyme Shores spring meeting in June. Key areas of focus will be the overall cost to residents and the timetable for initiation and completion of the construction. F&O will also provide a project update at the June meeting. We expect that there could be many questions and concerns raised by our residents as project expenses and construction impacts become better understood. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were reviewed and approved as the current information on the project. In addition to the fall/spring meetings we will continue to develop a more comprehensive communication process including ongoing FAQ’s, small group forums, etc. Dede and Jack will be working on this. Joe also reported that Tom Annulli and John Cunningham have agreed to serve additional three year terms on the WPCA. Their nominations will be voted on at the June meeting. A question was raised regarding the road widths, speed bumps and/or speed tables. The plan is to standardize all road widths at 20 feet (currently Billow and Seaspray are narrower). The group and Matt Merritt agreed that the OLS Safety Committee will lead the effort to determine what form of speed control will potentially be incorporated into the road repaving. The WPCA will then coordinate the road work, if required. Keith Mikolinski (F&O) joined the meeting to review the results of the Storm Water Management Plan commissioned by the WPCA. The WPCA had previously been provided with a detailed report covering the study methodology, critical drainage problems, alternatives and conclusions/considerations. Ideally, we would be like to incorporate storm water management improvements at the time our roads are open for the sewer and water installations. The alternatives are essentially “good” – “better” – “best”, ranging from $1M in cost to $2M. There may also be some “mix and match” alternatives that could be considered. At the end of a lengthy review of study, the group asked Keith to help provide a clearer cost and benefit assessment of each alternative. In addition to this updated information from F&O, we will need resident input and approval on the additional cost associated with any of the proposed alternatives. Motion by Tom Annulli to adjourn the meeting Second: Dede DeRosa Voted: unanimous Meeting adjourned at 11:49AM
