Link to meeting minutes –> WPCA Meeting Minutes 8-22-2023
OLSBA WPCA QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING – DRAFT
MAY 23, 2023 7:00PM via ZOOM
CALL TO ORDER
Al Roy called the meeting to order at 7:03pm. Members of the board present in addition to Al were Tom Annulli, Dede DeRosa, John Cunningham, Sue Mahoney and Bryan Even (ex-0fficio). Absent: Bob Palazzo. There were approximately 31 residents on the call.
John Cunningham made a motion to accept the minutes from the May 2023 meeting; Tom Annulli seconded the motion. The minutes were accepted into the record.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Tom Annulli walked through the WPCA Balance Sheet, P&L Statement and Summary of Liabilities covering the period from May 1, 2023 through June 30, 2023. There was no financial activity in July therefore the WPCA Checking Account balance was $350.39 at the end of June and remained the same at the end of July. The only check written in the last three months was a $9000.00 legal bill for the review of the DEEP consent decree and other WPCA related contracts. Total amount owed to the State of Connecticut for pre-construction work remains at $878,087 or $4,573 per household. This number includes shared infrastructure pre-construction work allocated to OLS at 21% assuming the Town of Old Lyme (Soundview) officially joins the Alliance. Tom also provided a projection of OLS liabilities in the case that the Town does not officially join the Sewer Alliance. This scenario would increase the cost per household to $4,994. Financial statements along with bank statements from May – July 2023 will be posted to the OLS website along with these minutes.
SEWER UPDATE
Chairman’s Opening Remarks
There has been no change in the sewer project status for well over a year. All WPCA and Alliance efforts have been focused on several initiatives intended to secure additional grant funding for the project prior to seeking a new round of bids. To that end, we have some new information to share this evening. More on that in a minute.
As previously pledged, the WPCA has not and will not commit to any new expenditures for project development until we have a reasonable guarantee on financial backing. Until now, the intent has been to secure financial assurances and then seek new construction bids and conduct a thorough financial analysis to evaluate “economic feasibility” of the project as per terms of the Consent Order, and, equally important, evaluate project affordability from our association members’ perspective.
Eventually, the WPCA will be able to obtain sufficient information and perform analysis to formulate options to be voted on by OLSBA members. In early 2023, we planned on having the required information available and analysis completed in time for the Annual Fall Meeting. Unfortunately, because we are working at the speed of government, we are now focused on the 2024 Annual Spring Meeting.
Follow up with State of CT/DEEP on Project Funding
CT DEEP in a letter we received yesterday, announced the potential for $15M being available in the form of a forgivable loan. This letter was shared with all OLSBA residents via MailChimp last night, as it represents a possibly significant development in terms of project financials.
While the prospects of securing an additional $15M in funding would certainly influence our financial modeling and development of options, we must first fully understand and navigate a complicated financial capability test to qualify for these additional funds.
The DEEP is requiring us to perform a Clean Water Act Financial Capability Assessment to determine whether we qualify for this additional funding. Essentially, we need to demonstrate need based on Median Household Income for “project area users,” which may involve using the most recent census data. We have already reached out to our contacts at DEEP to seek guidance on performing this complicated assessment.
New London IMA Contract Extension Negotiations
The agreement with New London to receive and process wastewater flow is set to expire on September 1, 2023. Flow to New London was anticipated to start well before the deadline when this agreement was signed four years ago. Negotiations with New London are incomplete, as the Alliance is still seeking the most favorable terms possible.
Other OLSSPA (Alliance) Activity
We have clearly and firmly articulated with the Alliance members several issues needing to be resolved prior to seeking another round of construction bids. More importantly, we also presented a comprehensive list of unresolved issues and concerns that must be addressed before any consideration can be given to awarding construction contracts. Obviously, solving the critically important financial concerns is the first priority. Creating and presenting this list served to document our intent and requirement to address these unresolved issues and concerns if we are ever able to move forward on the project.
Fall Meeting
As mentioned earlier, we are not ready to present any proposals for consideration this Fall. A brief status and update will be provided.
The next WPCA quarterly meeting will be held Tuesday, November 21, 2023 @ 7:00pm.
No correspondence was received.
Resident Comments
John Mandrachia asked whether the Financial Capability Assessment that DEEP requires to obtain the $15M forgivable loan would involve assessing the capability of an individual resident, Old Lyme Shores as a group or, more broadly, the Town of Old Lyme. Al Roy responded that we are seeking more specific guidance from DEEP and will be meeting with them as early as next week. A quick reading of the lengthy guidelines indicates that the assessment would be done at the municipality/town level based on census data.
Roger Zito raised the concern that OLS is still reacting to an illegal consent decree that was manufactured by Fuss & O’Neil and not based on actual health violations. Al responded that after legal review, a request was made by OLS earlier this year to be removed from the consent decree and it was denied.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:43pm.
Financial Statements –> WPCA July 2023
May 2023 Bank Statement–> STATEMENTS,May2023-9145
June 2023 Bank Statement–> STATEMENTS,June2023-9145
July 2023 Bank Statement–> STATEMENTS,July2023-9145-1