Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 3/ 28 /16 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 Todd Morris – Present Commissioner Diann Potter – Present Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Absent Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Meeting called to order at 5:26 p.m. Minutes from February 22, 2016, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from February 22, 2016, meeting by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for March 28, 2016 (as written by Supt. Adams) Administration– We met with state senator James Seward's chief of staff last week. Senator Seward's office will assist us in securing the NYSERDA funding toward the digester and CHP project. I will shortly be meeting with representatives from Marietta to discuss their pretreatment system. The system vendor was unable to address the increased fouling we've been seeing. There seems to be little will to control product spills into the process drains, which is overwhelming the system. Operations– The process continues to run very well under Ed Poole's stewardship. We have not had further issues with filamentous settling issues. On 3/24 our DEC inspector performed our official annual inspection. The facility and the process were both in good shape and Mr. Poole was told the visit last fall was not an "official" inspection. That is good since the process at the time was not running well at all. We will shortly begin installing the PAC delivery system. This is being funded through the WQIP grant for chemical phosphorus removal. That grant was for up to $300,000 with a 15% participation requirement. The system Cedarwood has designed will cost around $200,000. We will provide labor and some purchasing to meet our 15% requirement. Maintenance– Phil Tryon has retired. Common Council has approved filling the position and I have asked Civil Service for a list of eligibles. I anticipate filling the position by promotion. Owing to looming time constraints, we are switching gears on developing digester capacity to service Byrne Dairy's disposal needs. We are now going to focus on doing a thorough rehab of the existing digesters and convert the existing secondary digester to a third active digester. This will provide digestion capacity sufficient to treat the whey and DAF waste of Byrne Dairy. In turn the digesters will produce methane allowing us to create electricity and heat. This work will be performed on an emergency basis as a change WWAB Minutes 28 March 2016 Page 2 of 4  order to an existing contract. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 2/29/16, and 3/16/16, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Diann Potter. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received from Andrew Lowell on 3/14/16, for property located at 27 West Court Street, City of Cortland. Mr. Lowell reported that a concealed pipe located in the attic had burst due to extreme cold temperatures in mid February and was not discovered until days later. The burst pipe caused severe damage to the entire middle of the house, both floors. Mr. Lowell is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing due to the unexpected expenses incurred from the damage to his property. The board reviewed Mr. Lowell's grievance and a motion was made by Todd Morris to table the grievance until a copy of the plumber's bill could be obtained for further review by the board. Upon further discussion by the board, it was agreed to table the grievance until the next WWAB meeting. Motion to TABLE the grievance by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Dirk and Diane Van Patten submitted a sewer grievance on 3/23/16, for property located at 36 Hubbard Street, City of Cortland. Diane Van Patten reported that after her tenants moved out of the apartment on the property, a leak was discovered. Mrs. Van Patten further reported that she was unaware of the leak and that there were additional occupants residing in the apartment at that time resulting in additional water usage. She is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of her billing. Mr. and Mrs. Van Patten's grievance application was reviewed by the board. The board requested that additional information be obtained as to the type or source and location of the leak that was detected, as well as a plumber's bill or receipts from any repairs WWAB Minutes 28 March 2016 Page 3 of 4  completed. A motion was then made by Todd Morris table the grievance until the next WWAB meeting. Motion to TABLE the grievance by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business Old Business: John Troy mentioned as a reminder to the board for continuing the search for a new board member. Motion to Adjourn at 5:56 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 28 March 2016 Page 4 of 4