Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 6/ 22 /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 – Present Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Tom McCall, CPWOA President - Absent Meeting called to order at 5:29 p.m. Minutes from May 18, 2015, meeting for approval. Bruce Adams made mention of a correction to the members listing on the first page of his title from Chief Operator to Superintendent of Wastewater. Motion to approve the minutes and correction from May 18, 2015, meeting by Bill Starr. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for June 22, 2015 (as written by Chief Adams) Administration– Mack Cook and I met with Larsen Engineering and Casella Organics to discuss reapplying for state funding for a vermicomposting project. We are hoping to include sludge from Virgil and Dryden and at some point possibly Auburn. The electrical contractor on the current phase of the upgrade project has been denied for M/WBE status. They are appealing the decision. If they are unsuccessful in their appeal, it will make it exceedingly difficult to make the required 20% M/WBE percentage. The contractor is doing their best to make good faith efforts to source equipment and supply purchases from M/WBE certified businesses. Our equipment supplier was also counting on using the electrical contractor to satisfy their M/WBE requirements. To date they have not submitted a contingency plan should the appeal be unsuccessful. A visit by a DOL inspector revealed our boilers do not have a current inspection. We arranged with the City's boiler insurance carrier to have them inspected as quickly as possible. Operations– Excessive rains have resulted in higher than seasonal flows. This has required putting additional tanks online than is normal for this time of year. It also creates higher chemical usage for disinfection. We have had some minor difficulties with both the new chlorine residual and the old dechlor residual analyzers. These issues have been successfully addressed and no permit violations were incurred. Maintenance– Seasonal grounds work including facility-wide weed control. Project work is on schedule. SBR decanter installation is complete save for grouting in the North basin mounting plates. We discovered that parts are no longer available for the aeration system grid. We are cannibalizing the aeration system out of the East chlorine contact tank in order to do the repairs currently needed. I have requested a quote for replacing the aeration grids two basins at a time. We will need to budget for this work over the next several years in order to have a system for which we can obtain replacement parts. WWAB Minutes 22 June 2015 Page 2 of 4  Performed repairs as necessary on West Final Clarifier. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater Bruce Adams extended an invitation to the board for a walk through tour of the plant to view the upgrades that have been made. Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 5/31/15, and 6/15/15, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Sally Horak. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was submitted by Lois Sellers on 6/15/15, for property located at 5 Yong Street, City of Cortland. Ms. Sellers reported that there was a toilet leak at the property which was repaired by Halco on 2/6/15. Ms. Sellers further reported that the problem was exacerbated by pipes freezing underground due to the extreme cold temperatures throughout the winter. She was advised by her plumber, as well as two other services that came out to the property to thaw out the pipes, to leave water running constantly to avoid freezing pipes. Ms. Sellers is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of her billing. The board reviewed Ms. Seller's application. John Troy stated that the maximum allowable credit that could possibly be granted was $75.00, based on Ms. Seller's quarterly billing averages. Sally Horak made the motion to grant the credit. Motion to approve a credit of $75.00, by Sally Horak. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business Old Business: No old business John Troy recommended that a walk through tour of the plant be scheduled for the next WWAB meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. John also requested that an invitation be extended to the Common Council members. A letter of invitation will be sent to the Common Council members by Margie Becker. WWAB Minutes 22 June 2015 Page 3 of 4 Motion to Adjourn at 5:44 p.m. by Bill Starr. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 22 June 2015 Page 4 of 4