Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 4/ 27 /15 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 Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Absent Village of Homer Trustee – Absent Bruce Adams, Chief Operator – Present Tom McCall, CPWOA President – Absent Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. Minutes from March 23, 2015, meeting for approval. Two corrections to the minutes from March 23, 2015, was requested by Bruce Adams. The presentation given by Todd Miller on the affects of leachate in the Ash for Trash deal was attended by Bruce Adams and Mayor Tobin. Mack Cook was not present at that meeting. The second correction was to our Region 7 NYS DEC Inspector's name. The correct spelling of the inspector's last name is ElPrince. Motion to approve the minutes from March 23, 2015, meeting by Sally Horak. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for April 27, 2015 (as written by Chief Adams) Administration– The non-standard CPE required by the DEC will cost $39,700. MBR Group had initially quoted $25,000 for a standard, by-the-EPA-book CPE. The additional fees cover the additional items DEC is requiring be included. On 4/9 I met with several County legislators to discuss opportunities for a cooperative project dealing with composting of diverted food waste. The County is acting in anticipation of new regulations on reducing materials ending up in solid waste landfills. The discussion was productive and I will be attending the next meeting of the Solid Waste Committee to explore the issue further. Ames Linen has requested we hold the water re-use study temporarily while they assimilate the new contracts they have taken on. They are still committed to the study and see great potential in the technology being developed. Again, if successful, this project will improve the competitive position of a significant employer within the City. I was regrettably forced to cancel the SUNY BIO 111 tours of the facility scheduled for the week of 4/20. Between the high flows, the site disruption of the project and the lack of available staff to accompany groups, it was simply not possible to accommodate them. I gave an in-depth tour to SUNY faculty who had not previously been to the plant so they could in turn share that experience with their students. Operations– High flows due to spring melting of the snow pack came on the heels of our efforts to recover from the toxic shock loading of 3/12. This led to settleable matter violations on two days and likely a percent removal violation for the month. Ed Poole has been working diligently on effecting a process recovery and over the course of the last week and a half has been largely successful. Marietta has experienced some issues with their pretreatment equipment caused by improper materials WWAB Minutes 27 April 2015 Page 2 of 5  disposal by their own employees. We have worked closely with them to assure they are able to continue operations while maintaining compliance with their discharge permit. We had some operational issues with the whey MBR after a new Byrne driver discharged fats into the receiving tank. We ended up having to empty and clean the receiving tank and Byrne has instructed their drivers that only whey is to be discharged here. Maintenance– The SBR project is moving ahead full force now that weather and flow have both improved. More than half of facility staff man-hours are being used in project. We are preparing for disinfection season. We have ordered a new chlorine residual analyzer to replace the antique. We have also ordered spare parts for the deox analyzer as a burst pipe over the winter ruined many of the spare parts we had on hand. When weather prevents working on the SBR project, we have been doing PM work on summer grounds keeping equipment. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 3/31/15, and 4/15/15, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Sally Horak. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received on 4/7/15, from Gregory and Dorothy Cooke, for property located at 4 Yong Street, City of Cortland. Mr. Cooke reported that on February 21st, he discovered that his water lines were frozen, along with his neighbors. He contacted the Water Department and was advised to contact Homer Iron Works to have their lines thawed out, which he did and was placed on their waiting list. He then went to the Water Works and spoke with an employee regarding the frozen water lines affecting himself and his neighbors, suggesting that the main line was frozen. The Water Department advised him that the main water lines were checked and found to be okay; however, they sent out an employee to flush the lines at each hydrant both sides of the frozen section. Mr. Cooke was then advised to run a stream (pencil sized) of water 24/7 to keep it from freezing. Homer Iron Works did come out to the property on February 24th and unfreeze the lines; however, on the morning of March 5th, he discovered the lines frozen once again. Mr. Cooke stated that he did receive a card from the Water Department suggesting that he may have a possible leak due to high water usage. Mr. Cooke is seeking relief towards his sewer bill due to weather related problems, requiring him to leave water running continuously around the clock. WWAB Minutes 27 April 2015 Page 3 of 5  Mr. Cooke was present at the meeting and explained the situation that occurred regarding his frozen pipes and presented with photographs of the damages as well. It was the decision of the board to grant a credit of $102.00, to Mr. Cooke towards the sewer portion of his billing. Motion to approve a credit of $102.00, by Sally Horak. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received on 4/07/15, from Angelo Maniccia, for property located at 221 Tompkins Street, City of Cortland. Mr. Maniccia had also filed a grievance to the Water Department. He is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing due to severe cold weather requiring him to run water continuously to keep his water lines from freezing. The board reviewed Mr. Maniccia's grievance and a motion was made by Bill Starr to grant a credit of $49.00, towards the sewer portion of his billing. Motion to approve a credit of $49.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: John P. and Pia K. Tucker submitted a sewer grievance application on 4/7/15, for property located at 14 Jewett Avenue, City of Cortland. Mrs. Tucker reported that twice this year, their water lines had frozen. Once thawed, she kept the water running continuously to prevent further freezing. The Tuckers are requesting relief towards the sewer portion of their bill due to severe weather requiring them to continuously run water to prevent further freezing of their water lines. Upon review of the Tucker's application by the board, a motion was made by Bill Starr to table the grievance until the next board meeting on Monday, May 18, 2015, in order to obtain clarification from the Water Department on the billing statement readings between the 2nd quarter of 2014, and the 1st quarter of 2015, as they are identical. Motion to table the grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Vince and Jean Minnella submitted a sewer grievance application on 4/07/15, for property located at 64 Church Street, City of Cortland. Mrs. Minnella reported that due to the severe cold weather, they left the water running at night to prevent their water lines from freezing. Mrs. Minnella is requesting a reduction in her sewer billing. Upon review of the Minnella's application by the board, a motion was made by Todd Morris to table the grievance until the next board meeting on Monday, May 18, 2015, in order to obtain WWAB Minutes 27 April 2015 Page 4 of 5  clarification from the Water Department on the billing statement readings between the 3rd quarter of 2014, and the 1st quarter of 2015, as they are identical. Motion to table the grievance by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Bruce Adams presented to the board an Analysis of Potential Treatment Facility Loadings Due to Leachate from Proposed Ash Monofill spreadsheet that he had prepared. The board had requested to view this information from the April 23rd WWAB meeting. This analysis was completed after Bruce's first initial review of the study completed by Barton & Loguidice, as well as the data supplied by Todd Miller as a courtesy. Bruce explained that overall, the data showed there was really no risk. Bill Starr had asked Bruce Adams if he had shared this information and if it was made available to the public, which Bruce stated that he did share this with our NYSDEC inspector, the WWAB, and a SUNY Professor who had been leading his class in a discussion of this, and Mr. Miller. Bruce further reported that he compiled this data for public consumption. John Troy stated that Mr. Miller had contacted him prior to April's WWAB meeting to cancel; however, John did extend an open invitation to Mr. Miller to make a presentation to the board. New Business: No new business Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 6:12 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 27 April 2015 Page 5 of 5