Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 12 /2 1/1 5 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 – Absent Commissioner Sally Horak – Present Commissioner Todd Morris – Present Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Absent Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. Minutes from November 23, 2015, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from November 23, 2015, meeting by Sally Horak. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for December 21, 2015 (as written by Supt. Adams) Administration– Civil Service forwarded four candidates for the operator trainee position. One declined because he had taken a position with the County. We interviewed the other three and made a selection. On learning of his selection, the candidate expressed second thoughts. If he declines, we will request Civil Service provide us with a full slate and continue the interview process. Cedarwood Engineering is working on the following items for Cortland at present: design work for the new digester and CHP; securing a $2,000,000 NYSERDA grant towards the digester; evaluating the existing digesters for structural integrity and optimum mixing technology; evaluating disinfection options; continuing work on the Clinton Avenue project. Operations– We switched back to conventional activated sludge to address the filamentous-caused settleability issues we experienced with the SBR process. We will continue in this mode through winter then use an anoxic cycle operating mode to determine nitrogen removal potential without using the decanters. Finally, we will then restart the SBR process. Cedarwood will work with Sanitaire and staff to develop control programming to enable the three operating modes described above. Starting after the holidays, we will clean the secondary digester. This involves an aggressive schedule of pressing to completely empty the digester. Maintenance– Staff is working through the punch list for the SBR process equipment. We are rebuilding the primary sludge pumps. Boiler 3 is due for its periodic major cleaning and inspection. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater WWAB Minutes 21 December 2015 Page 2 of 4 Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Todd Morris. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 11/30/15, and 12/16/15, 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 received from Harold Gregoire on 12/15/15, for property located at 27 West Main Street, City of Cortland. Mr. Gregoire reported that he received his water/sewer billing on 10/31/15, noting that the "water bill" section was missing and the remaining pieces were damaged. He then notified the Water Department on November 2, 2015, to report the damaged bill and to inquire when the bill was mailed, as it was due by November 2nd. Mr. Gregoire further stated that he immediately had a check issued that day by his bank for the water/sewer bill. He further reported that the last quarter bill was delivered to his neighbor, who found the bill in with his "junk mail". Mr. Gregoire received a letter dated November 11, 2015, from the Water Department advising him that he owed a penalty of $13.89. A payment for this penalty was made by Mr. Gregoire issued through his bank. Mr. Gregoire is requesting a refund on his penalty charges. The board reviewed Mr. Gregoire's grievance and John Troy made a motion that a credit for the total amount of $13.89, be granted, which the board agreed. Motion to approve a credit of $13.89, by John Troy. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS 2016 WWAB Meeting Schedule: The Wastewater Advisory Board meeting schedule for 2016 was submitted for approval. Motion to approve the 2016 WWAB meeting schedule by John Troy, Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS New Business: Sally Horak advised the board that she will not be renewing her term serving on the board, which expires on 12/31/15. John Troy commended Sally Horak on her years of service, giving thanks to her commitment. John Troy reiterated the need to continue searching for possible candidates for service to the board. Bruce Adams did report that he had spoken with Diann Potter about possible candidates and that she had expressed interest in serving; however, she declined as she would be unable to complete a three year term, as noted in the WWAB membership agreement. John Troy requested that Bruce contact Diann to discuss possibly serving on the board with a change in the length of service term. WWAB Minutes 21 December 2015 Page 3 of 4  The board was asked by John Troy to continue searching for possible candidates to serve. John Troy requested an addition to the January 2016 agenda of the election for the Chair and Vice Chair positions. Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 5:55 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Sally Horak. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 21 December 2015 Page 4 of 4