Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 7/ 24 /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 – Absent Commissioner Todd Morris – Present Commissioner Diann Potter – Absent 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 June 26, 2017, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from June 26, 2017, meeting by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Superintendent's Report: Superintendent's Report for July 24, 2017 (as written by Supt. Adams) Administration– Despite a Byzantine online portal, I have managed to upload the data required to proceed to a contract with DEC for the vermicycle pilot project. Larsen Engineering will start working on the steps necessary to gain a DEC permit for the project. Bill Bastuk of Larsen tells me DEC has expressed a great deal of interest in the project. I am nearing completion of the 2018 Wastewater Department budget. I only need the debt, GF transfer and HR expenses from the Finance Department to finish. We are expecting lower costs for chemicals and utilities. Upon review and possible adjustment by the Finance Department and Mayor, that budget will then be presented to the Common Council. Hubbard Construction has begun excavating for the new digester. They have already relocated the primary sludge and yard hydrant lines. We are still finalizing plans for how best to relocate the 48" effluent line. The CESIR High Level Assessment Report from National Grid is now considerable overdue. This report will tell us whether there will be any additional expensive requirements placed upon our generator interconnect. Cedarwood Engineering is doing what they can to get National Grid to deliver the report. Cortland County Civil Service informs us two of our employees have never taken the tests for their positions. Civil Service is not sure how this happened but it must be corrected. Civil Service will offer the tests later this year and we do not anticipate that either employee will have difficulty retaining their positions. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater Bruce reported that he had attended the Homer Village Board meeting this month as a resident; however, a presentation by Barton and Loguidice on the I&I project effort was on the agenda and Bruce participated. He will be working with them further in trying to determine a breaking point for getting the project funded. Motion to approve the Superintendent's Report by Todd Morris. Seconded by Gary Thomas. UNANIMOUS WWAB Minutes 24 July 2017 Page 2 of 5 Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report for July 24, 2017 (as written by Edward Poole, Chief Operator) Operations- The process is running well. Despite higher than normal flows in June, removal rates are still 94 percent or better. There were no violations for the month of June. The digesters are doing well. Detention times are increasing because of more efficient dewatering on our Gravity Belt Thickener. We are hoping this will help dewatering of our digested sludge and reduce polymer cost. I continue to send a monthly update to May El Prince, our DEC inspector via email. Because of higher than normal rainfall, we were forced to move SBR startup date again to August. Dennis Barnes, the process engineer for Xylem, will be onsite August 16th to the 18th to provide process training and support. Chlorine season is going well. All issues with the Dechlor analyzer have been resolved. Maintenance- The maintenance staff and I continue to work on creating entries in our computerized maintenance management system for the new equipment. Work continues on preventative maintenance on the process tanks. The maintenance staff and I have come up with a list of repairs needed in the Final Settling Tanks. We are still waiting on a quote for equipment replacement and structural repairs. We have finally received our Return Activated Sludge pump back after being rebuilt by Daman Industries. We will be installing it this week and should have it painted and laser alignment done by the end of the week. The Maintenance and Operations staff just completed a major service on the belt press. Some of the work completed includes changing belts, rebuild of shower assemblies, changing oil in all gearboxes and hydraulic unit, replacement of conditioning blocks and doctor blades. Because of cooperation between the staff members, this work was able to be completed in less than 8 hrs. Edward Poole Chief Operator WWAB Minutes 24 July 2017 Page 3 of 5 Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Todd Morris. Seconded by Gary Thomas. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 6/30/17, and 7/16/17, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Todd Morris. Seconded by Gary Thomas. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance was received from Reese Weyant on 7/3/17, for property located at 10 Glyndon Avenue, City of Cortland. Mr. Weyant reported that he was charged a penalty for a bill that he never received. He is requesting a credit on the penalty that was charged. The board reviewed Mr. Weyant’s grievance. Gary Thomas made a motion to approve a credit of $3.21, on Mr. Weyant’s sewer billing. Motion to approve a credit of $3.21, by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: Dianne C. Abrams submitted a sewer grievance on 7/7/17, for property located at 25 West Main Street, City of Cortland. Ms. Abrams reported that her payment was never received and was lost in the mail, resulting in a penalty charge on her account. She is requesting a credit on the penalty charge. Ms. Abrams’ grievance was reviewed by the board. Gary Thomas made a motion to approve a credit of $3.21, on Ms. Abram’s sewer billing. Motion to approve a credit of $3.21, by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was submitted by Lori A. Frisbie for property located at 23 Park Street, City of Cortland, on 7/12/17. Ms. Frisbie reported that she received her water and sewer bill for July 2017, and discovered that her April 2017 bill was never paid, resulting in a penalty charge on her account. She further reported that her son had placed the payment for the bill in the city’s drop box on 4/28/17. Ms. Frisbie spoke with the Water Department, who reported no record of payment being processed on the account during that timeframe and recommended that she check her records to see if the check for payment was cashed. Ms. Frisbie reported that her son had looked through his records and noted that the check was never cashed. She is requesting a credit on the penalty due to payment being lost after being placed in the drop box. After a brief discussion of Ms. Frisbie’s grievance by the board, Gary Thomas made a motion to approve a credit of $5.46, on Ms. Frisbie’s sewer billing. WWAB Minutes 24 July 2017 Page 4 of 5 Motion to approve a credit of $5.46, by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was submitted by Yefim Livchits on 7/18/17, for property located 10 Squires Street, City of Cortland. Mr. Livchits reports that his sewer billing charge is incorrect. Mr. Livchits was present at the meeting and stated that he had purchased the property in November 2016, with no problems reported through inspections. He then stated that upon receiving his water and sewer billing this month, he noticed an increase in his sewer billing. Mr. Livchits then went to the Water Department and discussed the bill with them. The Water Department went out to his property and checked his meter, discovering that it had been installed backwards. The meter was then correctly reinstalled. He is requesting a credit on his sewer billing. The board reviewed and discussed the grievance. A recommendation was made by John Troy that a possible credit of $78.00, could be granted. A motion was made by Gary Thomas to grant the credit. Motion to approve a credit of $78.00, by Gary Thomas. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 5:56 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Gary Thomas. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 24 July 2017 Page 5 of 5