Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 5/ 22 /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 – Absent Commissioner Gary Thomas- Absent Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Present Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Edward Poole, Chief Operator - Present Meeting called to order at 5:28 p.m. Minutes from April 24, 2017, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from April 24, 2017, meeting by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Superintendent's Report: Superintendent's Report for May 22, 2017 (as written by Supt. Adams) Administration– The presentation to Council on 5/2 went well. What feedback I have received was positive. The presentation sparked a story in the local paper that widely missed the mark. I invited the reporter to the facility for a tour and a deeper conversation about what we are doing. This led to a much more positive story being printed the following week. The meeting with Byrne Dairy was productive and positive. We explained to Byrne the changed situation with regards to National Grid and what it means to pursue an export rather than an import generation scheme. They are on board with what we have to do to make that work. The Environmental Funding Corporation will be making a site visit on 5/30. This is only the second such visit since the project has started and its purpose is for them to get a feel for how the project is progressing. We were notified by National Grid that we will begin seeing a “Reactive Demand Rate” on our monthly electric bills. This was triggered by going over 500 kW in any two of 12 consecutive months. This was caused by pump demand under high flows. The charge will go away once we have 12 consecutive months with no usage over 500 kW. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater Motion to approve the Superintendent's Report by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS WWAB Minutes 22 May 2017 Page 2 of 5 Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for May 22, 2017 (as written by Edward Poole, Chief Operator) Operations- The process is running well. Even with high flow this month, removal percentages are in the high 90’s. We have turbidity readings consistently under one. We had a violation for the month of April for exceeding design flow of 9.0 MGD. The average flow for April was 11.8 MGD. We still maintained a high level of treatment and were in compliance for all other permit limits. The digesters continue to exceeded expectations. I continue to send a monthly update to May El Prince, our DEC inspector, via email. As soon as flows are manageable, we will be taking tanks offline and cleaning to prepare for summer operation and SBR startup. We were forced to move startup date to June 26th, to allow more time for reduction in flow. At startup Dennis Barnes, the process engineer for Xylem, will be onsite to provide process training and support. On May 15th, we started chlorinating and dechlorinating effluent as required by permit. We are required to chlorinate until October 15th. Maintenance- The maintenance staff and I continue to work on creating entries in our computerized maintenance management system for the new equipment. We will start working on process tank preventative maintenance as soon as weather allows and tanks are cleaned. The maintenance staff and I were responsible for the chlorine equipment startup. There are several pieces of equipment that have to be checked and monitored to ensure a smooth disinfection season. All equipment started with minimal problems. Edward Poole Chief Operator WWAB Minutes 22 May 2017 Page 3 of 5 Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 4/30/17, and 5/16/17, 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 submitted by Tanya Quail, Manager, on behalf of the Ramada Inn, for property located at 2 River Street, City of Cortland. Ms. Quail also submitted an invoice dated 3/31/17, from their contractor, Douglas Withey, W2Operator Training Group, in which he recommended Ms. Quail submit a sewer grievance. Mr. Withey reported that there were numerous broken sewer lines. Ms. Quail is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of their billing. It was the decision of the board to table the grievance at the previous meeting on 4/24/17, so that additional information regarding the leak could be obtained. A letter was received from Douglas Withey, W2Operator Training Group, on 5/02/17, with the requested information on how the leak occurred and repairs made. The board reviewed the grievance and letter. A motion was made by Bill Starr to grant a credit of $41,596.00, with agreement by the board. Motion to approve a credit of $41,596.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Keith Pace submitted a sewer grievance for property located at 15 Washington Street, City of Cortland, on 5/08/17. Mr. Pace reported that over the college Christmas break, a leak was discovered on the exterior outside faucet Silcox, at the connection in the basement. The leak was detected while conducting an inspection of the property and was immediately repaired by him. He is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing. The sewer grievance was reviewed by the board and a motion was made by Bill Starr to grant a credit of $573.00, as the board felt the owner made repairs in a timely manner. Motion to approve a credit of $573.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Keith Pace submitted a sewer grievance for property located at 150 Tompkins Street, City of Cortland, on 5/08/17. Mr. Pace reported that while conducting an inspection on WWAB Minutes 22 May 2017 Page 4 of 5  the property over the college Christmas break, a toilet leak was discovered. Mr. Pace stated that part of the toilet assembly snapped causing the upper tank to continually overflow. Repairs were made immediately by Mr. Pace. He is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of his billing. The board reviewed Mr. Pace’s sewer grievance. A determination by John Troy was made that the maximum possible amount that could be granted was $262.00; however, Bill Starr made a recommendation that a credit for $180.00, be granted due to water that had already gone through the system and the owner was diligent in completing repairs in a timely manner. Motion to approve a credit of $180.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was submitted on 5/17/17, by Bharati and Ravi Desai for property located at 78 Tompkins Street, City of Cortland. Mrs. Desai reported that a frozen pipe broke causing a leak. Mrs. Desai further stated that water from the leak did not go into the sewer. She is requesting relief towards the sewer portion of her bill. Mr. and Mrs. Desai were present at the meeting. Upon review of their grievance, which the board discussed briefly asking Mr. and Mrs. Desai about the timeframe of the leak and repairs made. John Troy stated that the allowable amount that could be granted would be $663.00, in which the board initially made a motion and voted on unanimously; however, Mrs. Desai made a plea to the board for more leniency towards the amount due. John Troy then made a recommendation that the maximum amount possible that could be granted was $1,000.00. The board then agreed to amend the credit from $663.00, to $1,000.00. Motion to approve a credit of $1,000.00, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 6:08 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Bill Starr. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 22 May 2017 Page 5 of 5