Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 2/ 27 /17 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 Commissioner Gary Thomas- Present Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Present Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Edward Poole, Chief Operator - Present Meeting called to order at 5:29 p.m. Minutes from January 23, 2017, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from January 23, 2017, meeting by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Superintendent's Report: Superintendent's Report for February 27, 2017 (as written by Supt. Adams) Administration– On 2/9/17, there was a meeting regarding the Clinton Avenue project. Attendees included City administration, engineering personnel, and the County IDA head. Mack Cook detailed what the current funding status is and the engineers discussed the practicalities of the various elements of the overall project. I have been having informal discussions with the executives of each of the outside communities we serve. The purpose of these meetings is to listen to their desires as to the outcome of the negotiations and to impart a collaborative tone to the formal negotiations once they start. The Pretreatment program Annual Activities report went out on 2/24/17. The labor contract negotiation is ongoing with some movement on both sides towards a mutually agreeable framework. Ed Poole and I are becoming certified as Underground Storage Tank operators, at the direction of the County environmental health department. We have two in-ground fuel oil storage tanks. We are seeking options for taking them out of service and removing them in favor of smaller, above-ground storage tanks. The purposes for which those tanks were installed are no longer here, so it's better to avoid the liability and remove them. After many years' absence, I attended a regular meeting of the Cortland County Local Emergency Planning Committee. They hosted a speaker from the State agency overseeing LEPC's . Very informative and I look forward to regularly attending meetings going forward. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater WWAB Minutes 27 February 2017 Page 2 of 6  Bruce Adams added that a new weather station has been ordered due to the age and outdated software of the current weather station. The city is planning on computer system upgrades, which will include updating the Microsoft Office Suite 2003, which we are currently using, to the 2013 version. Motion to approve the Superintendent's Report by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for February 27, 2017 (as written by Edward Poole, Chief Operator) Operations- The process is running well. Removal percentages are in the high 90's. The new PAC feed system is performing well and we are showing significant reduction in phosphorous. We are still doing a product comparison to determine performance /cost ratio. Our new operator, Joe McMahon, is a very good employee and is adjusting very well. Kevin Bradshaw has successfully completed his training and has met the necessary work experience to be eligible for a 1A operator certification. Both employees are very enjoyable to work with and are great assets to the city. WesTec was here Feb. 21st through the 23rd for the north digester mixer and cover start up. They also started the heat exchanger for the whey tank. Startups were also completed by Koester for the Penn Valley pumps for whey and the Vogelseng pumps for the heat exchangers. All startups were successful and we will be putting the north digester and the whey holding tank online the week of Feb 27th. Startup of "enhanced biological" mode of operation will be Monday Feb. 27th. We are hoping for improved nitrogen removal. Maintenance- The maintenance staff and I continue to work on creating entries in our computerized maintenance management system for the new equipment. We currently have one of our return activated sludge pumps removed for a major rebuild. I'm still waiting on an expected lead time for the work that's performed. The maintenance staff have been working on upgrading our unit heaters in the screening building and sludge dewatering building. We are anticipating mostly labor cost associated with this project. Edward Poole Chief Operator WWAB Minutes 27 February 2017 Page 3 of 6 Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Gary Thomas. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 1/31/17, and 2/15/17, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Bill Starr. Seconded by Gary Thomas. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance letter was received from John Barden on 1/04/17, for property located at 134 Groton Avenue, City of Cortland. Mr. Barden reported that late last year a water main pipe had broken due to the freezing temperatures and flooded his basement causing extensive damage. Mr. Barden further reported that he had previously requested to have the curb box shut off on this property but was not done as water continued to pour into his basement. He is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing. Mr. Barden's grievance was reviewed by the board on January 23, 2017, at which time Bill Starr stated that this grievance falls in line with previous grievances in which water had not gone into the system, resulting in some form of allowance, but will need to obtain supporting documentation, receipts, etc, for the board to review and render a decision. A motion was then made by Bill Starr to table the grievance until the next Wastewater Advisory Board meeting in order to provide Mr. Barden the opportunity to submit the sewer grievance application with additional supporting documentation such as copies of plumber's bills and/or receipts for materials used in completing repairs. Margie Becker sent a letter of request for additional information to Mr. Barden on 1/24/17. At this time, a response has not been received from Mr. Barden. In further review by the board, John Troy stated that the maximum allowable credit that could be given was $1,104.00. A motion was made by Bill Starr to grant half of this amount in consideration of the grievance, which is $552.00. Motion to grant a credit of $552.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. Gary Thomas opposed this credit. APPROVED Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received from Wen Juan Zhang on 1/18/17, for property located at 12 Park Street, City of Cortland. Wen Juan Zhang reported a high meter reading on the 4th quarter sewer billing and is requesting relief on his sewer billing that averages with the first three quarters of 2016. Mr. and Mrs. Demunn were present at the January 23, 2017, board meeting. Mr. Demunn explained that in mid December, he was notified by the Water Department that there was a high reading on his property. He immediately went over to the property and did an inspection finding no leaks or causes of high water usage. After discussing his findings with the Water Department, an inspection was conducted along with testing on the water meter by Mr. Wethje at the residence, determining that the meter was working properly. Mr. DeMunn further reported that the meter is very old and disputed the accuracy of the readings. WWAB Minutes 27 February 2017 Page 4 of 6  Mr. DeMunn spoke with Chris Bistocchi, Superintendent, disputing the accuracy of the water meter, requesting a new meter, which was installed. Mr. Demunn had agreed to have the old meter tested as advised by the Water Department and had presented the test results of the certified meters to the board. The results showed a 99.10% to 100% accuracy rate, indicating that the meter was working properly. However, Mr. DeMunn stated that he believed that the readings were incorrect and disputed the accuracy results of the meters. The grievance had been tabled from the last WWAB meeting on January 23, 2017, pending the outcome of the Water Board's decision; however, due to lack of a quorum on February 14, 2017, this meeting was canceled and will reconvene on March 14, 2017. The board discussed the grievance with Mr. Demunn, who was present, and a motion was made by Bill Starr to table the grievance once more pending the Water Board's decision. Motion to TABLE the grievance by Bill Starr. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Gary Baccile, (Baccile Enterprises, LLC), submitted a sewer grievance for property located at 5 Argyle Place, City of Cortland, on 1/27/17. Mr. Baccile reported that he did not locate nor find any leaks to cause a high meter reading as indicated on his 4th quarter billing. He is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing. The board reviewed Mr. Baccile's grievance, which did not report leaks or possible causes of high water meter readings. A motion was made by Gary Thomas to deny the grievance. Motion to deny the grievance by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance was submitted by Bharati and Davi Desai on 2/24/17, for property located at 78 Tompkins Street, City of Cortland. Mrs. Desai reported that a broken pipe had occurred on the property causing a large amount of water usage, resulting in a high sewer bill. She further stated that her husband made all repairs and also noted that the water did not go into the system. She is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of her bill. Mr. and Mrs. Desai were present at the meeting and explained to the board the issues of the broken pipe and resultant bill from the 4th quarter. John Troy recommended that the maximum allowable credit was $1,628.00, based on prior quarterly billings, which he explained to Mr. and Mrs. Desai. A motion was made by Diann Potter to grant the credit. Motion to grant a credit of $1,628.00, by Diann Potter. Seconded by Bill Starr. Gary Thomas opposed the credit. APPROVED WWAB Minutes 27 February 2017 Page 5 of 6 Executive Session: Mack Cook, Dir. of Admin. and Finance, was present. Bruce Adams made a request to go into an executive session. Motion to go to executive session by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS Motion to return from executive session by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 6:36 p.m. by Diann Potter. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 27 February 2017 Page 6 of 6