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KEUKA WATERSHED IMPROVEMENT COOPERATIVE (KWIC) MEETING
MONDAY OCTOBER 26, 2009 AT THE TOWN OF URBANA
AS AMENDED AT 11/23/09 MEETING
Chair Dawn Dowdle (Wayne) called the meeting to order at 7:00 p. m. Board members in attendance were Gordon Lanphere (Urbana), Arnie Sorensen, (alternate Milo),William Weber (Pulteney), Ken Christiansen (alternate Barrington), Anne Green (Hammondsport), Daryl Jones (Jerusalem). Penn Yan was not represented. Manager Paul Bauter was also present. Guests were Sue Lange, Barbara Allardice, John Webster, Bill Laffin, Bill Feinstein, Roger Ribble, all of KLA and Dick Osgood new gate manager.
The minutes of September 28, 2009 were reviewed and accepted on motion of Jones and second by Lanphere. Barrington abstained since he was not at the September meeting. The Treasurer’s Report from Bookkeeper, Jack Snow was reviewed and accepted on motion of Jones and second by Dowdle.
MANAGER’S REPORT: Manager Paul Bauter submitted his written report especially noting that the watershed inspectors have been asked to submit written reports on the documents of their municipalities that would need changes due to the new wording i.e., the approval not permitting by KWIC. It was noted by some Board Members that in general it was not a problem for them because their watershed inspectors and code enforcement officers were one and the same. So most often construction of septic systems did not mistakenly begin based on KWIC’s approval without a building permit. The next watershed inspectors meeting is December 30, 2009.
The violations and summons report was reviewed. It was the consensus that if a homeowner corrects the violation between the summons issued and the court date that our or the Municipality’s costs should be recovered and the case not dismissed, therefore the Manager is expected to pursue all violations and follow through the legal processing of all summons issued.
The report of inspections by municipality was again discussed as the charts are not readily understandable by the Board. Manager Bauter explained which were year to date figures and whether Zone 1 or 2 inspections were counted and that the goal for each year was the total number of systems divided by 5. The goal in reality changes during the year because of new construction and property transfers. The manager also stated the reports are included in the monthly stats if turned in by the 15th of the month. Manager Bauter confirmed his report totals reflect only the single inspection of a household that passes, inspections that fail and require more than one inspection visit are not counted. Therefore, the manager’s report gives only a view of how many systems passed inspection in a given municipality. It does not give an indication of the actual number of inspections that were required for the reported number and is not reflective of inspection activity.
Meetings with Pulteney and Wayne about their specific issues have either taken place (Pulteney) or will on October 27th(Wayne).
Software Report: First, Manager Bauter reported that he, Colby Petersen and Demmin met Oct.23 for 4.5 hr discussing the data needs. There was also a written report to the Board from Scott Demmin stating the project is still in the beginning stages as the parties determine what data is needed and which already collected data is useful and useable. Some of the discussion above on the Manager’s report of inspections by municipality should be taken into consideration when discussing the type of reports the Board would want.
Keuka Lake Looking Ahead: Bill Laffin of KLA reported that at the biannual meeting of the Keuka Lake Association Water Quality Committee which is chaired by Bill Laffin and whose members include 5 members of the KLA from some of the various Towns and Villages around the lake as well as Peter Landre, CCE, Paul Bauter, Watershed Manager and Jim Balyczak from Yates County Soil and Water Conservation District. During the meeting both Peter and Jim expressed concerns over the then current county budgeting cycle and the fact that some budgets could be targeted for cuts. While the 30 + years water quality testing program of Keuka lake is funded mostly by the KLA, some grants are received from other agencies such as the soil and water districts in Yates and Steuben Counties and the Finger Lakes Lake Ontario Planning Agency. We agreed that the water quality testing program will definitely continue and if some of the g rant money is discontinued then the gap will be picked up by the KLA.
Other Business:
Fee Schedule: The fee schedule was reviewed again with Barrington, Jerusalem, Wayne and Urbana reporting on their boards’ reaction. The manager will bring to the next meeting a revised schedule reflecting these comments and hopefully the schedule will be adopted at the November meeting.
Software Update: See within the Manager’s Report.
2010 Budget: a revised proposed budget which reflects the software contract costs and KLA and each municipality’s increased contributions was reviewed.
At 8:20 the meeting was recessed for an Executive Session concerning personnel issues. Motion by Weber and second by Christiansen. At 8:40 p. m. we came out of executive session and resumed discussion on the budget resulting in the budget proposal as amended being approved upon motion of Green and second by Christiansen. See attached budget. Given the confusion and concern over the proposed change in the KWIC permitting process, the directors moved to table this action.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p. m.
Next Meeting at Hammondsport November 23, 2009 at 7:00 p. m.
