Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 11 /2 4/1 4 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 – Absent Village of Homer Trustee – Absent Bruce Adams, Chief Operator – Present Mack Cook, Dir. of Finance & Admin- Present Tom McCall, CPWOA President – Absent Meeting called to order at 5:28 p.m. Minutes from October 27, 2014, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from October 27, 2014, meeting by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for November 24, 2014 (as written by Chief Adams) Administration– Our long-time DEC inspector, Meghan Gilbert, has transferred to the Division of Air. She is being replaced by May Elprince, a new hire to DEC. Ms. Elprince and Ms. Gilbert visited the facility in the context of an annual inspection on November 7th. Cedarwood Engineering has completed a study of the Clinton Avenue sanitary sewers. This study will form the basis of additional efforts to secure funding for the repair of infrastructure under Clinton Avenue. On November 5th, I participated in a kick-off meeting for a National Fish & Wildlife-funded study of stormwater management in an area generally centered around Clinton Avenue but also extending somewhat further up and downstream of the West Branch of the Tioughnioga River. I have been rewriting our internal report generation tools to accommodate the changed requirements of the permit modification we received on October 3rd. That task is nearly completed and will be finished prior to the submission of our next DMR. We are requesting permission from EFC to include the costs of the MBR pretreatment system in the overall project funding. The pretreatment system will be critical when we are modifying the existing digesters. This will not increase the cost of the project. We will use savings realized in other aspects of the project. We put in a bid for the operation of the Virgil wastewater treatment facility. If we are awarded the contract, we will utilize the services of the individual currently operating that facility. I met with the mayor and staff of Village of Homer to explain why their third quarter billing did not decrease commensurate with their decrease in flow. Operations– Completed quarterly industrial sampling. Employees’ time off continues to run high. Operation of the Marietta pretreatment facility continues to go well. We have developed a very good working relationship with the company. Maintenance– Work on the MBR pretreatment project is consuming the majority of our available man-hours. All of the equipment for the MBR project is now on site. The last piece was the used blower we purchased from the Village of Walton. WWAB Minutes 27 October 2014 Page 2 of 5  Cleaned the remaining aeration basins on the South side in preparation of concrete work for the SBR decanters. Bruce Adams Chief Operator Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Paul Lorenzo. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 10/31/14, and 11/15/14, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received from Ronald Walsh, Attorney at Law, on behalf of Sharyn Guingo on 11/14/14, for property located at 38 Pearl Street, City of Cortland. Mr. Walsh had also sent a letter which was received on 11/13/14, requesting that sewer charges on Ms. Guingo's sewer bill be deleted. Ms. Guingo had submitted a previous grievance application for this property in April 2014, which was subsequently tabled until the following WWAB meeting in May 2014, for additional information. The decision of the board at that time was to deny the grievance due to water already being processed through the system. Mr. Walsh was present at the WWAB meeting on behalf of Ms. Guingo. Mr. Walsh presented to the board photographs that were taken of the property showing damage that it had sustained from the broken pipe. He had further reported that due to the poor health of Ms. Guingo, she has been unable to maintain the property. John Troy, Chair, explained to Mr. Walsh the policies that the board follows when reviewing the grievances and how possible credits are determined based on the quarterly billings. Upon further review of the grievance application by the board and discussion with Mr. Walsh regarding the responsibilities of the property owner and timeliness in resolving the issues with the property, a motion was made by Paul Lorenzo to grant a credit of $2,350.00. Motion to approve a credit of $2,350.00, by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was submitted by Timothy A. and Linda A. Smith on 11/18/14, for property located at 75 Maple Avenue, City of Cortland. Mr. and Mrs. Smith reported that they had left for vacation on July 30, 2014, and upon returning home on WWAB Minutes 27 October 2014 Page 3 of 5  August 7, 2014, discovered that their outside spigot had split and water was spraying out. They are requesting credit towards the sewer portion of their billing. The board reviewed the grievance application and a motion was made by Todd Morris to table the grievance until the next WWAB meeting on Monday, December 22, 2014. The board requested that additional information and clarification be obtained from Mr. and Mrs. Smith as to any repairs made to the outside spigot with copies of bills and receipts for parts purchased for repairs, or a plumber's bill. A letter of request for additional information will be sent by Margie Becker. Motion to table the grievance by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer grievance outcome letters were submitted. Discussion of Plant Reorganization: Mack Cook, Director of Finance and Administration, was present at the meeting to discuss a proposal on a plan for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Reorganization. Mack Cook stated that the scope of Bruce Adams' involvement in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), is growing exponentially and requiring a lot of his time, that a proposal for a plan for reorganizing duties and rolls of management at the wastewater treatment plant was initiated. Mack Cook reported that the WWTP is the economic driver that the city is using in partnership with the IDA, Cortlandville, and Homer. The city is looking to secure economic growth and with the start up of C'Ville Yoghurt as a model and this has worked well. The second item Mack Cook discussed is that the city is looking to secure a $30,000 TAD (Technical Assist) grant for a sewer study, as well as a $40,000 TAD grant for the National Fish and Wildlife for storm water. The city is starting to address our infrastructure- sewer, sanitary, water and streams. The WWTP has to be a player as we start to rebuild and secure money to rebuild our systems. Mack further noted that the Clinton Street sewer system is one of 50 streets that we need to rebuild. Most of the systems were built in 1904, and are noted to be built to last approximately 80 years, in design. Mack further noted that infrastructure problems are well known in other cities as well. We have over 50 miles of sewer, sanitary and water lines underground that are in need of rebuilding. Mack stated that this is where help from an operator is needed in finding the study, weaknesses as well as finding the money to go after the infrastructure. Mack further stated that he is relying more on Bruce Adams' assistance to accomplish this. The third item mentioned by Mack Cook is that we are trying to change the culture of the wastewater treatment plant is that we are actually a "bioprocessing" or "refinery" (resource recovery, per Bruce Adams). Mack further reported that we are already seeing us moving in that direction, in which we are looking at how to use methane, cogeneration or being compressed natural gas. Which way to go on that is under debate. Mack Cook reported that the city is also talking about a better use for sludge. Mack Cook reported that on December 10, 2014, we will possibly be awarded a 1 million grant on a pilot program for vermicomposting. The concept of this will be that the sludge has commercial value and how do we capitalize on that. This is another roll which will shift back to the WWTP. WWAB Minutes 27 October 2014 Page 4 of 5  The main point made by Mack Cook is that Bruce Adams has an overwhelming amount of responsibilities given to him with operating the wastewater plant on a daily basis as well as being an active participant in a more global use of wastewater assets. The purpose of the proposal is to try and recognize Bruce Adams in his position as an overseer of a multifaceted operation and to divide the Operator and Chief Operator position. The Deputy Chief is more of an in house construction manager than an operator, overseeing the construction of in house construction operations. The proposal is to place Ed Poole into the Operator of Record position, in which the responsibilities are for the day to day operation of the plant and its discharge qualities and DEC compliance. Mack Cook stated that he may come back and request the board's input and support aid in presenting this proposal in a resolution to the Common Council on December 16, 2014. Bill Starr had asked Mack Cook if he saw any possible pushback from the council as to the position of the Operator of Record request and Mack stated that the only question he could foresee is why they would do this. Mack further stated that Bruce Adams is already the city liaison to the environmental committee and is also the city liaison to what is becoming a very active storm water management program. John Troy, Chair, had asked Mack Cook if he would like the board to make a motion in support of the reorganization management plan, at which time Mack stated that their support would be greatly appreciated. A motion was made by Bill Starr in support by the board of the Reorganization Management Plan. Sally Horak seconded the motion. UNANIMOUS. John Troy asked Mack Cook if he would like for him to sign a letter of support, as well as attend and address the Common Council at the next meeting on behalf of the board. Mack Cook felt that would be most welcome and appreciated. Mack then thanked the board for the all of their support over the past few years. Paul Lorenzo had asked the board about possibly adding to the grievance application that if you used an unlicensed plumber, the grievance application will not be accepted. John Troy made mention that some repairs are made by the property owners. Bill Starr stated that we used to have a list of licensed plumbers available, then John Troy made a request to Margie Becker to obtain a current list of licensed plumbers. Margie Becker will request this list through the codes office for the next WWAB meeting. New Business: No new business. Old Business: No old business. Motion to Adjourn at 6:43 p.m by Paul Lorenzo. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 27 October 2014 Page 5 of 5