Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 5/ 19 /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 April 28, 2014, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from April 28, 2014, meeting by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for May 19, 2014 (as written by Chief Adams) Administration– We are still negotiating with Byrne on a put-or-pay agreement for whey acceptance. The City has temporarily postponed monetizing the leachate and sludge disposal relationship. The bench scale study of recycling spent wash water. The results were positive and we are planning to do a pilot- scale study at the Ames location. As part of this study Ames will use the recycled water in one of their machines to assess compatibility with their process. CDH Energy has determined our NYSERDA incentive for the energy reduction achieved by our new blowers. The incentive will be approximately $70,000. Together with the original $30,000 Climate Smart Communities grant from CNYRPDB the City paid only about $200,000 for this upgrade. With a calculated savings of about $58,000, the simple payback is less than 3½ years. I have enrolled in an energy curtailment program. This program is designed to protect the NY power grid by requiring participating users to curtail their usage upon request when loads are expected to be very high. Our likely incentive for participation will be $13,000 or more. We have been working with the Village of Homer to connect them with possible sources of funding to address their I&I issues. If Homer completes a successful I&I abatement project, that frees up hydraulic capacity in the treatment facility, allowing the greater Cortland area to host additional development. Operations- We began running the disinfection system on May 14 to be in compliance with permit requirements on May 15. All disinfection equipment is running well and maintaining proper residuals. High flows associated with heavy rains have required putting additional tanks on line. All operators have had pulmonary function tests and fit testing for respirator use as we move into disinfection season. The gravity belt thickener continues to work very well. Deputy Chief O’Connell has successfully cut way back on usage of the permanganate we’ve been using for odor control. At $8.50 per gallon that’s a good thing. Maintenance- Both final clarifiers have been cleaned and all needed repairs were made. Both chlorine contact tanks have been cleaned twice. Aeration basins 3, 4 and 8 have been cleaned. New diffusers have been installed in basin 3. This exhausts our current stock. We have ordered diffusers to change the other 7 tanks. WWAB Minutes 19 May 2014 Page 2 of 4  All emergency generators have had their annual service. Several trees were removed by a National Grid contractor. Facility staff assisted. Stainless steel pipe and fittings have been ordered to replace the PVC downlines. This will address the annual pipe repairs we have had to do in these tanks almost since the beginning. Started the summer mowing activities. Also began doing the mulch in the front of the facility. Bruce Adams Chief Operator Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 4/30/14 and 5/16/14, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Bill Starr. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Gerald Riker had submitted a sewer grievance application on 4/08/14, for property located at 1 Holley Terrace, City of Cortland. The grievance was tabled from 4/28/14, meeting pending a request by the board for clarification and additional information from Mr. Riker. Mr. Riker had stated that a leak from a disconnect pipe was found 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. The requested additional information has not been received to support Mr. Riker's grievance and a motion was made by Paul Lorenzo to disallow the grievance. Motion to deny Mr. Riker's grievance by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Bill Starr. 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. The grievance was tabled from 4/28/14, meeting in order to obtain additional information from Ms. Guingo. Ms. Guingo had reported 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. WWAB Minutes 19 May 2014 Page 3 of 4  Ms. Guingo had submitted a letter to the board in request of the additional information. Ms. Guingo reported that she had not been able to have a plumber repair the pipe due to financial difficulties; however, she will be obtaining an estimate. While the board sympathizes with Ms. Guingo's situation, a motion to deny was made by Paul Lorenzo. Motion to deny Ms. Guingo's grievance by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business. Old Business: No old business. Motion to Adjourn at 6:10 p.m by Todd Morris. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 19 May 2014 Page 4 of 4