Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 4/ 28 /14 Ti me : 5 :30 p m Chairman John Troy – Present C on fe r en ce R o om , C or t la nd Wa st e wa t e r Vice Chair William Starr – Present Commissioner Sally Horak – Present Commissioner Todd Morris – Present Commissioner Paul Lorenzo – Present Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Present Village of Homer Trustee Michael Berry – Absent Bruce Adams, Chief Operator – Present Tom McCall, CPWOA President – Absent Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. Minutes from March 24, 2014, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from March 24, 2014, meeting by Sally Horak. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for April 28, 2014 (as written by Chief Adams) Administration– Byrne’s expected start-up of test operations has slipped to the second or third week of May due to issues with their pretreatment installation. We are still negotiating with Byrne on a put-or-pay agreement for whey acceptance. We are very near a mutually acceptable contract. I met with the County and Barton & Loguidice to review their data on ash leachate. The data presented, though preliminary, was reassuring in that it appears the ash leachate would pose no issues for the POTW. The City and County had a separate meeting to discuss logistics and finances of monetizing the sludge and leachate disposal. No decisions were made at the meeting. Marietta has started discharging pretreated wastewater to the City’s sanitary sewer. They report the pretreatment equipment is working very well. We will soon begin negotiating a labor-only contract to operate and maintain their pretreatment system for them. We are in what I hope are the final steps in closing the EFC bonding for the upgrade project. Significant delays in getting DEC to sign off on the Environmental Review has put the whole process behind. We will need to renew the Bond Anticipation Note to get us to what is now expected to be a July or August bond closing. This may cause problems with the amount of work that is able to be completed this building season, but it can’t be helped. Operations- We’ve begun Spring clean-up activities around the plant grounds. Cleaned Aeration basins 3 and 4 as well as the East final clarifier. Installed hook-up for receiving whey in the GBT holding tank. This is a temporary measure until we complete installation of MBR treatment equipment in whey holding tank. The GBT continues to work very well. We have arrived at a routine of operating the GBT for about two hours each weekday, followed by pumping primary sludge into the holding tank. Maintenance- Worked on restoring the old Perth gas recirculation mixers to operation. The North one is functioning, the South one had a catastrophic failure. We will not invest the $10,000 minimum it would take to make it work but instead try to use the belt press feed pump to effect some mixing until the new mixing system is installed. Serviced all groundskeeping equipment in preparation for summer work. Began installing wiring for automated valves to be used in moving sludge from the primary clarifiers and SBRs to the GBT holding tank. WWAB Minutes 28 April 2014 Page 2 of 6  Started installing replacement atmosphere monitoring equipment in screening building. Bruce Adams Chief Operator John Troy added that he was able to sit in on the Barton & Loguidice meeting with Bruce Adams and was very impressed with what they were able to do, not only with the data on the ash leachate; but they also did a comparison of other facilities that had the MSW base with ash on top. John further reported that the numbers looked very good with nothing to alarm anyone. Bruce Adams reported to the board that the Wastewater Plant has joined the Energy Curtailment Systems. This program is coordinated through the New York Independent System Operator to save on energy usage by lessening the power load on the grid, which has a heavy usage during the summer. The Wastewater plant will switch to generator use for a short amount of time during the summer season which begins in May. A monetary incentive is offered through this program. Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 3/31/14 and 4/15/14, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance was received from Reese W. Weyant on 4/04/14, for property located at 10 Glyndon Avenue, City of Cortland. Mr. Weyant reported that on January 3, 2014, his boiler broke causing water to leak onto his cellar floor. He further reported that in order to maintain heat in his residence, he had to remove the water every two hours using his shop vac, dumping the water onto his driveway. This process continued daily until he replaced his boiler with a new one on January 10, 2014. Mr. Weyant stated that the daily volume of water dumped was approximately 5 gallons. He is seeking credit towards the sewer portion of his bill. The grievance was reviewed by the board and a motion to deny was made by Bill Starr, as there appeared to have been no change in his current sewer bill in comparison to past quarterly billings. The denial was supported by the board with a recommendation that Mr. Weyant may submit another sewer grievance if his future sewer billings show an increase. Motion to deny Mr. Weyant's grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Gerald Riker submitted a sewer grievance application on 4/08/14, for property located at 1 Holley Terrace, City of Cortland. Mr. Riker stated that a leak from a disconnect pipe was found WWAB Minutes 28 April 2014 Page 3 of 6  in the basement of the property, somehow connected to the property next door on Pleasant Avenue at one time. Due to the cold temperatures, this pipe may have been compromised. He further reported that the valve was shut off and he capped off the pipe that goes outside underground. The leak was detected on 3/27/14, and repaired on 3/28/14. Mr. Riker is requesting an adjustment on the sewer portion of his bill. After reviewing the grievance application and information submitted by Mr. Riker, Bill Starr made a recommendation that the grievance be tabled until the next board meeting on May 19, 2014, to obtain additional information. The board is requesting clarification on which quarter Mr. Riker is aggrieving, which was not noted on the application. The current billing from the past three quarters showed a gradual increase, especially from the 4th quarter (2013) to the present quarter. Paul Lorenzo made a recommendation to obtain a history of previous quarterly sewer billing totals to better assess the normal average billing per quarter. Margie Becker will obtain this information from Stephanie Mattice at the Water Department. Motion to table Mr. Riker's grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was submitted by Dolores Heller on 4/09/14, for property located at 26 Charles Street, City of Cortland. Mrs. Heller reported that she cannot afford to pay her bill for the first quarter and stated that three men from the Water Department came out to the residence and checked the water meter on 3/28/14, and the problem is unresolved. A report was received from the Water Department regarding this property detailing a chronology of interactions with Ms. Heller, who was notified on 12/16/13, with a blue card from the Water Department advising her of an increase in water usage. After processing meter readings taken on 3/11/14, it was noted that the units of water used were high at 197. Mrs. Heller was notified via telephone by Margaret Noble (Water Dept), on 3/12/14, of the high use at her property, in which she was displeased and had advised Margaret that this had happened before. Mrs. Heller has had a plumber come out to her property several times at the recommendation of the Water Department to inspect the property and see if they could locate the source of possible leaks, which they were unable to find anything. The Water Department offered to come out to the property and inspect the meter due to Mrs. Heller's concern that it was faulty. The meter was checked and found to be working properly. Mrs. Heller also sought assistance via email with her Alderman, Carlos Ferrer, on finding a solution to this problem. Alderman Ferrer has been in contact with the Water Department personnel working to assist Mrs. Heller. On 4/02/14, a reading was taken at the property which showed that 14 units were used in 25 days. The read indicated that the water used since the last reading on 3/11/14, was back to "normal" when compared to the 2nd quarter reading of 2013. On 4/28/14, Mrs. Heller came into the office and dropped off additional information regarding her grievance. Mrs. Heller is seeking relief on the sewer portion of her bill. The board reviewed the grievance and additional information submitted both from Mrs. Heller and from the Water Department. A recommendation was made by Paul Lorenzo to deny the grievance due to water already having been processed through the system and no problems found. It was also noted that the current meter readings submitted were normal. The board WWAB Minutes 28 April 2014 Page 4 of 6  supported the recommendation for a denial with an understanding to Mrs. Heller that she may submit another grievance if a problem is found. Motion to deny Mrs. Heller's grievance by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Sharon Guingo submitted a sewer grievance application on 4/03/14, for her property located at 38 Pearl Street, City of Cortland. Ms. Guingo reports that while staying with family due to poor health and other personal reasons, a broken pipe was discovered on her property on 3/14/14. The water was then shut off at the curb. Ms. Guingo further stated that she was unaware of the broken pipe and due to financial difficulties, was unable to have this repaired. She has since found a repairman that will assist her. She is seeking relief towards the sewer portion of her bill. The board made a decision to table the grievance until the next board meeting on 5/19/14, in order to obtain additional information and clarification from Ms. Guingo. Bill Starr made a request for more specific details on the broken pipe. Paul Lorenzo asked for clarification on where she was staying during this time, if local or out of state. Paul further requested that a statement be obtained from Ms. Guingo's repairman on all of the details regarding the broken pipe and repairs. Todd Morris also added a request if Ms. Guingo had made any provision for someone to check the property in her absence. This additional information request will be sent to Ms. Guingo by Margie Becker for clarification and a possible decision at the next board meeting. Sally Horak made a request for Margie Becker to check with the Water Department regarding any mechanisms in place that will allow property owner's to make payments on their bills. Margie Becker will contact the Water Department and discuss their payment policies and report to the board at the next board meeting. Margie Becker had informed the board that the Water Department now has a Water Board which was recently initiated. Paul Lorenzo asked if Ms. Guingo had filed a grievance with the Water Board, which Margie Becker will check on this and report back to the board. Motion to table Ms. Guingo's grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Ann Rongo submitted a sewer grievance application on 4/05/14, for property located at 192 Central Avenue. Mrs. Rongo reports that a leak to the main water line on the property was detected on 3/03/14, and was repaired on 3/04/14, by Romer & Sons Plumbing. Mrs. Rongo is requesting an adjustment to the sewer portion of her bill. After review of the grievance by the board, a recommendation was made by Paul Lorenzo to issue a credit of $26.00. Motion to approve a credit of $26.00 to Mrs. Rongo by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS WWAB Minutes 28 April 2014 Page 5 of 6  Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received from Kathleen Paino on 4/12/14, for her property located at 37 North Church Street, City of Cortland. Ms. Paino had submitted a prior grievance in January 2014, for the 4th quarter, in which a running toilet was discovered and water was been turned off to the toilet at that time. The board had denied her grievance as the water had already processed through the system. Ms. Paino is seeking relief towards the sewer portion of her bill on the 1st quarter of 2014. Mrs. Paino's grievance was reviewed by the board and a motion to deny was made by Paul Lorenzo and supported by the board, based on water having already been processed through the system. Motion to deny Mrs. Paino's grievance by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business. Old Business: No old business. Motion to Adjourn at 6:20 p.m by Todd Morris. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 28 April 2014 Page 6 of 6