Monroeville Municipal Authority member questions union contract, attorney change

A Monroeville Municipal Authority board member is concerned that a lack of transparency among its seven members will lead to water- and sewer-rate hikes in the near future.

Gary Delorenzo, who has been on the board for almost 10 years, has taken issue with two recent decisions the board has narrowly approved.

The first was the 4-3 approval in April of a contract for the authority’s 18 union members that includes salary raises. Dissenting members included Delorenzo, Dave Magill and Tom Pegg.

The approval concluded a year-long negotiation, with those who dissented attempting to delay the vote for a month to allow time to analyze the contract’s financial impact on the authority’s $18.3 million budget.

Chairman Paul Caliari, a newcomer on the board, presented the contract proposal during the April 20 meeting.

Delorenzo said he took issue with Caliari’s contract proposal from a “point of order” perspective.

He said the labor contract had been in negotiations between the authority’s and union’s negotiation committees for more than a year. When the process came to a stalemate, a mediator was assigned to help the parties come to an agreement, Delorenzo said.

But, he said, Caliari drafted a contract proposal with terms “he felt the union would agree to.”

“He recommended it independently. He independently drafted a contract proposal, which was not coordinated and agreed upon by our committee, which was formed to support the common good,” he said.

The contract, which the Tribune-Review obtained, includes salary increases of 3.25% to 3.5% through April 2023. Since the contract expired in April 2019, union members would receive a retroactive salary bump of 3.25% for work performed through April 2020. Raises then jump to 3.5% through the end of the contract.

“This contract is an example of something not being in the best interest of the constituents of Monroeville,” Delorenzo said, adding that he expects water and sewer rates to increase to cover the pay bumps. He said rate hikes could be a tough burden for people already financially strapped from pressures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Representatives from the authority’s utility workers union and Caliari were not immediately available for comment.

During the April meeting, when Caliari was asked by Delorenzo if he thought rates would increase, Caliari said: “You know, if they go up a little bit, I’m actually – personally – I’m OK with that. It’s not going to be anything horrendous.”

Jim Hunter, the authority’s general manager, said the proposed contract’s cost to the water authority would be “substantial.”

Hunter said the last time rates increased was in 2018, when both sewer and water increased by 3%. The current rates can be found on the authority’s website under the “Customer Service” tab.

In 2017, the sewer rate increased by 5%, while water stayed the same.

Hunter said rates are determined in December, when the following year’s budget is voted on by the board. Then, every July, rates are considered again based on where the authority is financially.

Delorenzo said he also took issue with the board’s approval at a June 15 meeting to terminate the board’s contract with Bruce Dice, its longtime solicitor. Delorenzo said Dice’s contract was not set to expire in June. During the same meeting, Bob Wratcher, Monroeville’s solicitor, was hired to fill the position.

Delorenzo said the votes for each motion related to the solicitor were identical — 4-3 — with Delorenzo, Magill and Pegg dissenting.

The actions were not on the board’s agenda. Instead, Caliari made a motion at the beginning of the meeting to terminate Dice’s contract, Delorenzo said. When that was voted upon, Caliari made another motion to hire Wratcher, who Delorenzo said was present at the meeting.

“I’m a believer of due process,” said Delorenzo. “We should have gone through with a (request for proposals) process, look at the options, pick a replacement person. We didn’t do that.”

While the board is not legally required to request proposals for professional services, Delorenzo said, “… it’s just good business practice.”

In fact, he said, the board discussed in May the possibility of conducting an annual audit of the water authority’s professional service contracts, which include that of the solicitor, accounting, internal technology and engineering services, among others.

Delorenzo said there was no discussion of Wratcher’s pay or his contract with the water authority.

Dice and Wratcher were not immediately available to comment.

A recording of the June meeting does not exist, and the minutes have yet to be approved. The board will vote on the June meeting minutes during its regularly scheduled July 20 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the authority’s building at 219 Speelman Lane. The meeting’s agenda is online.