Wastewater Treatment Board

CITY OF CORTLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Meeting Minutes Members: Da te : 2/ 26 /18 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- Absent Village of McGraw Mayor Allan Stauber – Present Bruce Adams, Supt. of Wastewater – Present Edward Poole, Chief Operator - Absent Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. Minutes from January 22, 2018, meeting for approval. Motion to approve the minutes from January 22, 2018, meeting by Bill Starr. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS Executive Session: Bruce Adams requested to go into an executive session to update the board on the potential litigation with DEC, which the board agreed to. Motion to return from executive session by the board. UNANIMOUS Superintendent's Report: Superintendent's Report For February 26, 2018 (As written by Supt. Adams) Administration– Pending the issuance of a Bond Anticipation Note, we are temporarily funding project expenses out of our operating budget. Upon issuance of the BAN, we will be reimbursed for those expenditures. I will be meeting with the Mayor and Corporation Counsel in early March to discuss the intermunicipal wastewater contracts. We will map out an approach for re-entering negotiations to renew these important agreements. Our engineer has expressed a desire to secure additional high-strength waste deliveries to ensure we will be producing sufficient biogas to run the new generator. We have reached out to a waste broker for a large dairy company and will work towards negotiating an equitable agreement for accepting additional trucked whey and DAF waste. Larsen Engineering is continuing to shepherd our vermicomposting pilot project through DEC. Currently they are finalizing the application for the operating permit we will need for the project. Bruce Adams Superintendent of Wastewater WWAB Minutes 26 February 2018 Page 2 of 4 Motion to approve the Superintendent's Report by Diann Potter. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Plant Manager’s Report: Plant Managers Report For February 26, 2018 (As written by Edward Poole, Chief Operator) Operations The process is running very well and the effluent is high quality. We had no violations for the month of January. I continue to send May El Prince an update on process, operations and digester combined heat and power project. Maintenance We have started preparations for chlorine season. We will continue until May 15th, when chlorine seasons starts. We had to remove the north Wemco pump and replace it with a spare. We will be rebuilding that pump in the next few weeks. Work continues on preventative maintenance on the process tanks Presented by Bruce Adams, Supt., for Edward Poole, Chief Operator Motion to approve the Plant Manager’s Report by Bill Starr. Seconded by Todd Morris. UNANIMOUS Finance: Financial statements and abstracts dated 1/31/18, and 2/15/18, were submitted for approval. Motion to approve financial statements and abstracts by Bill Starr. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS WWAB Minutes 26 February 2018 Page 3 of 4 Sewer Grievance: Sam Ness, on behalf of New York Sterling Management, submitted a sewer grievance on 1/26/18, for property located at 44 Rickard Street, City of Cortland. NY Sterling Management had submitted payment for their October 2017 billing; however, the check was returned for non-sufficient funds. Mr. Ness is requesting a scheduled payment plan on his sewer billing due to financial hardship from increased heating costs. The board reviewed the grievance and felt that they did not have the authority to grant this request and, therefore, they are referring the grievance to the city’s Corporate Council, Rick Vandonsel, for review and decision. Motion to refer the grievance to the city’s corporate council, by Bill Starr. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS Sewer Grievance: A sewer grievance application was received from William, Ann and Gino Ruggio on 2/9/18, for property located at 56 Owego Street, City of Cortland. Mrs. Ruggio reported that a toilet leak was detected on 12/18/17, in one of their apartments and was repaired on 12/19/17. Mrs. Ruggio further reported that the tenants failed to notify them immediately of the leak. She is requesting relief towards her sewer billing. The Ruggio’s grievance was reviewed by the board. John Troy determined that the possible maximum allowable credit of $579.00, could be granted; however, the board felt that as water has already gone into the system, a partial credit could be granted. Todd Morris made a motion for a credit of $300.00. Motion to approve a credit of $300.00, by Todd Morris. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS New Business: No new business Old Business: No old business Motion to Adjourn at 5:57 p.m. by Todd Morris. Seconded by Diann Potter. UNANIMOUS Respectfully submitted by: City of Cortland WWTF WWAB Minutes 26 February 2018 Page 4 of 4