Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 8/ 22 /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 – Absent Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Present Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Meeting called to order at 5:32 p.m. Minutes from June 27, 2016, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from June 27, 2016, meeting by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for August 22, 2016 (as written by Supt. Adams) Administration– NYSERDA has, after restoring additional funding to PON 2828, awarded Cortland 2 million dollars towards our anaerobic digester and CHP project. After interviewing the eligible applicants for the open Operator Trainee position, we have decided to wait for a new list of eligibles to be generated after the Civil Service test is given again in October. None of the applicants we interviewed would, in our opinion, be a good fit with the department. I have engaged the services of Tim Seeler to assist in addressing the issues found in the EPA pretreatment audit. Tim Seeler is a P.E. with substantial experience in pretreatment matters and was instrumental in Cortland's efforts to issue a discharge permit to Marietta in 2013. Operations– We have, as of the July DMR, come back into compliance on the 12-month total phosphorus parameter. We were 295 lbs under the 23,100 lb limit. With luck, a few more months of low flows and reasonable results will pad that margin out. The facility continues to run very well under Ed's process control. In July we had 98% removal for BOD and 98% removal for TSS. We are preparing for the arrival of SUNY Cortland students by increasing the biomass. Maintenance– Work on the WQIP PAC distribution project is continuing. This project should finish up within a few weeks. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater WWAB Minutes 22 August 2016 Page 2 of 6 Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 7/16/16, 7/31/16, and 8/16/16, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance was received from Dudley Tallett on 6/09/16, for property located at 94 Bartlett Avenue, City of Cortland. Mr. Tallett reported several leaks, the hot water heater that he had to replace, the hot water line to the kitchen sink, as well as a bathtub faucet leak. These leaks were discovered on 3/1/16, and repaired on 3/9/16. He is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing. The grievance application was reviewed by the board and a decision was made to table the grievance until the next board meeting on Monday, July 25, 2016, at 5:30 p.m.; however, this meeting was canceled and was again reviewed by the board on August 22, 2016. The board requested information of where the water from the leak went to, if it went into the system. A letter from Mr. Tallett was received on 8/12/16, providing clarification on the nature of the leaks and that the water from the leaks did not go into the system. The problems were resolved by his plumber. John Troy stated that a possible maximum credit of $444.00, could be granted based on Mr. Tallett's past quarterly averages of his sewer billing. A motion was then made by Bill Starr to grant this credit. Motion to approve a credit of $444.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Gertrude Seeber submitted a sewer grievance on 6/20/16, for property located at 93 Wheeler Avenue, City of Cortland. Ms. Seeber reports that a leak was discovered in the crawl space under her house on 4/6/16, and repaired at that time. She is requesting an adjustment on the sewer portion of her billing. Ms. Seeber's sewer grievance was reviewed by the board and a decision to table the grievance until the next board meeting on July 25, 2016, was made; however, this meeting was canceled and was again reviewed by the board on August 22, 2016. The board requested additional information on the leak in relation to the hot water heater and if the water went into the system. At this time, the requested information was not available and it was the decision of the board to once again table the grievance in order to extend to Ms. Seeber the additional time to provide the information. The board further noted that if this information was not available at the next board meeting on September 26, 2016, Ms. Seeber's grievance would no longer be considered. WWAB Minutes 22 August 2016 Page 3 of 6 Motion to TABLE the grievance by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance was received from D. Jo Schaffer on 7/13/16, for property located at 31 Pearl Street, City of Cortland. Dr. Schaffer reported that a washing machine hose had split causing flooding to her basement. Dr. Schaffer further reported that this occurred while she was out of town and a friend, who was checking on her residence, had discovered the damage on April 11, 2016. Dr. Schaffer also stated that her friend had checked on her property on April 8, 2016, finding no problems. Dr. Schaffer is seeking relief towards the sewer portion of her billing. Dr. Schaffer was present and explained to the board that her plumber replaced parts to her water heater due to the damage caused by the flooding from her washer hose. John Troy explained to Dr. Schaffer the board's policy on how credits are determined based past quarterly billing averages. Per John Troy, a possible maximum allowable credit of $242.00, could be granted. A motion was made by Todd Morris to grant this credit. Motion to approve a credit of $242.00, by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A grievance application was received from Upscale Rentals, LLC, on 7/25/16, for property located at 99 West Main Street, Apt. A, City of Cortland. The property management reported that a leak was detected on 6/14/16, and repaired on 6/15/16. A copy of the plumber's bill was also submitted which showed boiler work service performed on the property. Upscale Rentals LLC, is requesting a credit towards the sewer portion of their billing. The board reviewed the grievance submitted by Upscale Rentals LLC, and a decision was made to table the grievance until the next WWAB meeting on Monday, September 26, 2016. A request was made by the board for additional information regarding the grievance as to the nature of the leak, how the leak occurred, and where the water from the leak went to. Motion to TABLE the grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Mountain Village, LLC, c/o Ann Wittmaack, submitted a sewer grievance on 7/29/16, for property located at 161 Port Watson Street, Apt. 1 & 2, City of Cortland. Ms. Wittmaack reports that she thoroughly checked her property which also included conducting a test on the toilets; however, she was unable to locate any possible leaks. She further reported that the tenants indicated that they may have used more water than usual, and that she will have a plumber come out to inspect the property. She is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of her billing. WWAB Minutes 22 August 2016 Page 4 of 6  After review of Ann Wittmaack's (Mountain Village LLC), grievance, a decision was made by the board to table the grievance until the next WWAB meeting on Monday, September 26, 2016. The board is requesting clarification on any findings of leaks, possible causes or problems located by a licensed plumber indicating high water usage. Motion to TABLE the grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Nancy Medsker submitted a sewer grievance on 8/15/16, for property located at 39 Tompkins Street, City of Cortland. Ms. Medsker reported that her large sewer bill was due to a water line break from her property of 39 Tompkins Street, extending to the back house at 39.5 Tompkins St. She further reported that she believes the leak may have been happening for a while as her water bill seemed to be increasing. Her tenants had complained of problems with low water pressure. She is requesting a reduction in her sewer billing. Ms. Medsker was present at the meeting and she reported to the board that this leak may have been ongoing for some time as her water and sewer bills were increasing. After careful inspection of the property to locate other possible sources of leaks, it was determined to be the water supply line. She further reports that she has since replaced the main water line, installing a new line, in June. John Troy explained to Ms. Medsker the board's policy of how the board comes to a determination on issuing credits. On review of her grievance, a maximum allowable credit of $2,739.00, was determined by John Troy. A motion was made by Bill Starr to grant this credit. Motion to approve a credit of $2,739.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS New Business: Discussion of Administration Order Bruce Adams reported to the board that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), inspector recently conducted an audit of our Industrial Pretreatment Program, which is mandated by the EPA and also included as part of our DEC permit. Bruce stated that this audit is conducted every five years. He further reported that the primary issue of the audit was that there were two businesses that needed to be permitted but were not. Ames Linen, based strictly on flow, and Precision E-Forming based on their status as a categorical industry because they utilize an electroplating process. Bruce Adams and the EPA inspector had conducted a site visit of both Ames Linen and Precision E-Processing. The audit of Precision E-Processing revealed that they believed they did have a permit and upon inspection of their documentation showed that this was only an Industrial User Survey from 2008. The survey did show that they used an electroplating process and should have been permitted. The audit further revealed that they were processing correctly and that they would need to be permitted. WWAB Minutes 22 August 2016 Page 5 of 6  Ames Linen discharges over 40,000 - 45,000 gallons per day, which is over the 25,000 gallons per day hard limit, and is considered a significant industrial user requiring a permit. This means that Ames Linen is subject to everything in the sewer user ordinance, including the pH requirements. The sewer user ordinance limits discharge of pH to no lower than 5, and no higher than 10. This is an issue with Ames Linen as their pH tends to run higher than 10, and she is currently looking to have this changed in the sewer users ordinance. Another issue on the audit was not issuing Notice of Violations (NOV), primarily to the Cortland County Landfill as they have no control over what constitutes their leachate, so they were regularly blowing their ammonia limits and they did have a problem with phenols. Bruce stated that based on our lab results and their more recent lab results, he is attributing this to the lab they are using. Bruce reported that he will be removing the ammonia testing from their permit because we do not have a parameter in our sewer user ordinance. Bruce also stated that he has been working with Tim Seeler, Seeler Engineering, on the industrial pretreatment processes. Tim Seeler had asked Bruce if there was any documentation of ammonia testing requirements. Upon further reflexion, Bruce discovered that the ammonia testing was included in their first permit which started in 1986 or 1987, when the wastewater treatment plant was a phys chem plant. Now that we have a fully nitrifying biological process that does treat for ammonia, Bruce can take this out. Bruce explained that the Administration Order has a timeline of items that he needs to properly respond to that will bring the pretreatment program back into compliance. He further reported that he will be finalizing the permits this week to Ames Linen and Precision E-Processing. John Troy discussed that the city has plans to do vermicomposting in Cortlandville; however, the idea was not well received by the community. He further stated that the county has room at the landfill and is very preliminarily working with the city regarding the possibility of vermicomposting. Bill Starr had asked what about vermicomposting and what this entailed. Bruce explained that the current vermicomposting plan consisted of building four trenches, 3' deep, with an impenetrable liner and covering them with tile. Two of the trenches consist of diverted food waste only and the other two would consist of various ratios of diverted food waste and sewage sludge. Bruce further explained that this is not labor intensive as traditional composting. The main work involved is monitoring and controlling the liquid level so the worms don't drown. Bruce also stated that both compost and liquid are marketable commodities. Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 6:20 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 22 August 2016 Page 6 of 6