Water Resources Board

MINUTES MURFREESBORO WATER RESOURCES BOARD July 28, 2020 The Murfreesboro Water Resources Board met on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 in the conference room at the Operations and Maintenance Building, 1725 S. Church Street. Consistent with the Governor’s Executive Order, members of the Water Resources Board participated by electronic means as has been determined necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Present at the meeting were Board members: Mr. John Sant Amour, Dr. Al Carter, Mr. Brian Kidd, Ms. Sandra Trail, Ms. Kathy Nobles, Mr. Kirt Wade, and Ms. Madelyn Scales-Harris. Also present were Darren Gore, Michele Pinkston, Valerie Smith, Doug Swann, Roman Hankins, Ryan Potts, Marshall Fall, Steve Tate, Sharon Seibert, Jimmy Stacey, Matt Powers, Alan Cranford, Joe Russell, John Strickland, Randy McCullough, Brent Fowler, Linda Sullivan, Jay Bradley, Travis Wilson, Mike Bernard, and Ronnie Martin along with other members of the public. Item D was removed from the Consent Agenda. Items A, B, and C of the Consent Agenda were presented for the following considerations: A. Consider sole source purchase of Pit Raider & Nutri Pro odor control products – In 2013, O&M noticed an increase in the number of odor complaints from the Saratoga Drive area. After investigating the matter, it was found the odor was coming from the Kensington Drive Pump Station which is fed by Tortuga Court Pump Station. The force main between these two pump stations is long and often experiences low velocity. These factors create an odorous and corrosive conditions. O&M conducted a trial of Pit Raider, a sole source proprietary odor control product, to improve these conditions. It is a bacteria-based hydrogen sulfide treatment combined with a nutrient supplement furnished by State Chemical Products. The trial demonstrated Pit Raider reduced hydrogen sulfide to a minimal level, virtually eliminating the odor and greatly reducing corrosive effects to the manholes. The chemicals were purchased and distributed through the Kensington Pump Station to control ongoing odor issues. Odor complaints diminished, and the department works closely with a state chemical representative to minimize costs by maintaining optimal feed rates during summer dry and winter wet months. Staff recommended the Board recommend to City Council to approve the sole source purchase of Pit Raider and Nutri Pro odor control from State Industrial Products. State Chemical pricing for FY21 to distribute chemicals periodically to the Kensington Pump Station will be $1,427 for Pit Rader and $408.75 for Nutri Pro (per 55-gallon drum). The department has budgeted $50,000. Page 45 Water Resources Board Minutes July 28, 2020 Page 2 B. Consider purchase of GE GlobalCare Support – Our GE GlobalCare software support will expire on August 7, 2020. This software support renewal is for the GE iFix application that the Water and Wastewater Plants use to view and control the operations of the plant and remote sites. It is critical that this part of the control system continue to function as needed to enable the operators to monitor and control the processes. The GE GlobalCare Support renewal includes technical support for any issues with the iFix application and software updates. The pricing is available single sourced from our appointed distributor, Automatech. Staff recommended the Board recommend to City Council approving the purchase of the GE GlobalCare Support for 1 year in the amount of $30,153.60. C. Consider WRRF Zetag 8160 Polymer sole source purchase – Zetag 8160 Polymer is used at the Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) as a coagulant to dewater sludge. TDEC and the EPA require proper disposal of solids removed from the treatment process. In 2000, the WRRF began dewatering sludge, so that the solids could be disposed in the landfill. From the beginning, Fournier dewatering presses using Zetag 8160 Polymer have been effectively used to accomplish this task. Fournier exclusively uses Zetag 8160 Polymer and its effectiveness has been confirmed through in-house and independent testing. The estimated annual cost for polymer is $190,000 and the per pound price over time is tabulated below: Price/Pound Effective Dates $1.75 Current to September 30, 2020 $1.80 October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022 $1.85 October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023 Staff recommended the Board recommend to City Council approving the purchase of Zetag 8160 Polymer from sole source Solenis LLC. The expenses for Zetag 8160 Polymer are reflected in the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Operating Budget. The prices will be good through September 30, 2023. A motion was made by Dr. Carter to accept Items A, B, and C of the Consent Agenda as presented and it was seconded by Kirt Wade. The Board voted unanimously to approve. Item D removed from the Consent Agenda was discussed and voted on as an individual item. D. Consider SSR Engineering Task Order 17-41-016.0 Amendment No. 1, Northeast Regional Pumping Station and Conveyance – Staff is requesting approval for Amendment #1 to SSR Task Order 17-41-016.0, which is the design of the NERPS and all associated conveyances. Staff has requested changes to the scope of work as defined below. Page 46 Water Resources Board Minutes July 28, 2020 Page 3 Since 2011, staff has proposed this regional pumping station near the Stones River Water Treatment Plant. The Board previously approved Engineering Design services for the NERPS and Conveyances. The Task Order total was broken down into three major categories: • Planning/Report/Survey Phase Hourly with an Estimated Price of: $ 247,055 • Design: Hourly with an Estimated Price of: $1,397,340 • Bidding and Construction Phase: Hourly with an Estimated Price of: $ 586,855 • Total (Not to Exceed) Estimate: $2,231,250 The original scope of work entailed the design of both gravity sewer and force main, along with abandonment of three large pump stations (PS #14, #26 & #27). Staff has requested a couple of changes to the scope of work. The first is to design an additional gravity sewer extension approximate 850’ to abandon an additional pump station along English Hill Drive (PS #32) and the other change is to survey a new route for a portion of the sewer forcemain to the Tommy Hord property instead of through the rear of the Oak Leigh Subdivision. The amount of this additional work and Amendment is $30,640. Staff believes that these changes will ultimately save the Department money with regard to overall easement purchases and the decommissioning of the electric service to PS#32. Staff recommended approval of SSR Task Order Amendment #1 in the amount of $30,640 for a total revised Task Order amount of $2,261,890. The Northeast Regional Pump Station (NERPS) is the largest or most significant capital construction project foreseen in the next five years. Staff established a sinking fund for this project and “sunk” $3.4M of earmarked money into the Department’s working capital reserves to help pay for this capital project, since fiscal year 2015. FY21 has set aside $500,000 as a reserve expense into the working capital account as well. Additionally, in the FY17-FY21 5-yr Capital Improvement Plan, staff has identified $2,500,000 in engineering expenses and $20.5M for construction expenses. While these funds are designated to come from the Department’s working capital reserves, staff will investigate funding these projects through State Revolving Fund (SRF) loans administered through the TN Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) or through the TN Municipal League (TML) bond fund. A motion was made by Brian Kidd to accept Item D of the Consent Agenda as presented and it was seconded by Kirt Wade. The Board voted unanimously to approve. The June 23, 2020 Board Minutes were unanimously accepted as presented. The Board considered Hobas Pipe Inspection Final Change Order and review of results. After having two pipe failures along the Southwest Sewer Interceptor, which is Hobas pipe, staff brought a Task Order (TO) to the August 2019 Board meeting for approval, through our Master Services Agreement with S&ME. The TO was to prepare bid specifications for televising/inspecting our Hobas Page 47 Water Resources Board Minutes July 28, 2020 Page 4 Sewer Interceptor Sewer Mains 15 feet in depth and greater. Bids were received and the project was awarded to Vortex Services, LLC in the amount of $185,401.66. Vortex was able to complete the majority of the inspection in October, except for a portion of the interceptor under Hwy 99 (Salem Hwy) and two sewer segments upstream. These sections were full of debris due to a sag or other issue inside of the tunnel under Hwy 99. Right after Vortex completed this initial inspection, the wet weather began and it wasn’t until early June that O&M felt comfortable that they could by-pass the sewer, clean the line and keep the remaining sewer inside the pipe down enough for Vortex to re-mobilize and attempt to finish the full scope of the work. The inspection found five sewer segments that staff felt were critical and in need of repair prior to another winter season. Four of the five were found in October and S&ME has determined the best repair method is to install a cured in place liner for the length of each segment from manhole to manhole. These line segments have been placed in the 2020/2021 Sewer Rehabilitation Project for repairs. Since the fifth segment, being under Hwy 99, couldn’t be televised until June, a repair method hasn’t been determined. Staff is hopeful that we would be able to repair this segment as well prior to this coming winter season. Since complete, the project is ready to close out. The final change order increases the contract amount by $9,429.77 as well as adds 242 days since the project was on hold by the Department due to wet weather. Funding for this work was not budgeted, so funding was approved from the Department’s working capital reserves. Staff recommended that the Board recommend to the City Council approval of the Final Change Order. Brian Kidd made a motion to approve. Dr. Carter seconded. The motion unanimously passed. The Board considered bids for 2020/2021 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Contract. At the March 24, 2020 Board meeting the Board approved the Engineering, Construction Administration & Resident Inspection necessary for this next sanitary sewer rehabilitation project with S&ME. S&ME completed the project design and bids were received July 14th. Only two bids were received although at least ten contractors picked up plans and specifications. One of the bids received was a “No Bid”. The Base Bid of the project includes 3,515 linear feet of open cut sewer main replacements, 2,600 linear feet of cured in place pipe (CIPP), lining and/or repairing 52 manholes which is approximately 375 vertical feet of manhole lining and 80 sewer lateral repairs. The Additive Alternate Bid includes 1303 linear feet of CIPP lining of 36” to 54” diameter Hobas Pipe. This Additive Alternate is to make repairs to the pipe segments identified in the Lidar TV Inspections as having structural issues and are in need of immediate repair. S&ME recommends awarding the Base Bid in the amount of $2,788,172 as well as accepting the Additive Alternate in the amount of $1,461,920, to SBW Constructors, LLC (SBW) in the amount of Page 48 Water Resources Board Minutes July 28, 2020 Page 5 $4,250,092. They were the lowest responsible and responsive bidder for the project, they also were the contractor on three previous rehabilitation projects and were very good to work with. Is has been our practice to budget $1.25M from the Rate Funded Budget and $1.25M from Working Capital Reserves yearly +/- for sewer rehabilitation. Staff requests to go over and above this amount this year due to the structural repairs necessary for the large Hobas Interceptor lines. Staff did not want these Hobas repairs to take away from the typical sewer system rehabilitation. Staff recommended that the Board recommend to the City Council approval of expending an additional $1,750,092 from Working Reserves and to award the contract to SBW in the amount of $4,250,092. Funding for the Engineering, Construction Administration, Inspection and Construction was approved from a combination of 2020/2021 Budget & Working Capital Reserves. Funding Source Budgeted Construction Remaining Amount Expenditures Rate Funded Operating Budget 2020-21 $1,250,000 $0 $1,250,000 Working Reserves 2020-21 $1,250,000 $0 $1,250,000 Engineering & Inspection Expenditures $448,000 $98,889 $349,111 Additional Requested $1,750,092 $0 $1,750,092 Working Reserves 2020-21 Total $4,698,092 $98,889 $4,599,203 Brian Kidd made a motion to approve. Dr. Carter seconded. The motion unanimously passed. The Board considered Specific Energy Distribution System Optimizer (DSO) System sole source purchase. In June staff brought a request to purchase equipment to modify the existing actuators at all five storage tanks. Staff is now requesting the Board to approve the purchase of Specific Energy’s DSO system. The challenge facing Murfreesboro’s water system is associated with the fact that the Stones River Water Treatment Plant (SRWTP) fills a single pressure zone that then stores water in five distribution storage tanks (DSTs) spread throughout the service area. Unfortunately, because each tank is located at different distances from the SRWTP and the demands in the areas surrounding each tank vary, the tanks fill and drain at different rates. Generally, the three tanks closest to the SRWTP fill more quickly and the furthest two tanks, Tiger Hill and Stoney Meadows fill the slowest. This has led to two primary challenges for the SRWTP operations staff. First, maintaining suitable water quality in Tiger Hill and Stoney Meadows DSTs can be challenging. Because of their slower fill times and longer residence times within these tanks, it has been a challenge for operations staff to maintain a consistent chlorine residual in these tanks. Second, in order to fill these tanks with fresh water, all three of the closer DSTs must already be full. Certain Page 49 Water Resources Board Minutes July 28, 2020 Page 6 customers near the SRWTP experience very high-water pressure, and it is believed the distribution system loses a lot of water through leakage in these high-pressure areas. To alleviate these challenges, a solution was proposed in the Water Resource Integration Plan (WRIP) that would add two booster pumping stations near the Tiger Hill and Stoney Meadows DSTs to fill these tanks more quickly. The estimated one-time capital costs were $870,000 with $7,500 annual operating costs. Since then, a better solution has been identified. By modifying the actuators to allow them to modulate, or partially open and close, Specific Energy’s Distribution System Optimizer (DSO) system can be incorporated to better manage the filling and draining the DSTs. The DSO solution will allow the filling of the Tiger Hill and Stoney Meadows tanks faster, will balance the hydraulics of the system to reduce peak pressures (which is anticipated to reduce water loss in the system), will reduce pressure surges by controlling the speed of opening and closing of the valves on each tank, and will integrate the distribution system water quality to the operation of the high service pumps to improve both water quality and energy efficiency. The proposed cost of the DSO solution is $145,500, including the first year of annual service for the software interface, communications, updates, and data storage. After that, the annual service will cost $8,000 per year. The DSO solution is expected to afford the department over $700,000 in cost savings. This is budgeted in the Department’s FY21 capital expenditures. Staff recommended the Board recommend to the City Council approving the sole source purchase from Specific Energy in accordance with their proposal. Sandra Trail made a motion to approve. Kathy Nobles seconded. The motion unanimously passed. The Board considered purchase of Specific Energy Pump Asset Management System for the membrane feed pump station. The Board previously approved the purchase of Specific Energy for the High Service Pump Station (HSPS) and the Raw Water Pump Stations. The standard procedure previously for plant operators, operating raw and finished water pumps, was simply to turn on the pump that provides the flow needed for water demand. Operators did not have the tools to determine if a pump is operating on its pump curve or if the pump is operating efficiently. This fact was noticed on the day the operators gained access to the Specific Energy software. Operators have continuously used the Specific Energy to select pumps for the specified flow, at the lowest specific energy and operating on the pump curve. The membrane pumps operate somewhat differently than the raw water pumps and high service pumps. Their function is to pump water through the Pall membrane systems. There are four pumps for the membrane feed pump station. To operate the membrane system there can be anywhere from one to four pumps operating at a time. They are not currently operated on efficiency or even necessarily in the preferred Page 50 Water Resources Board Minutes July 28, 2020 Page 7 operating range. Staff currently has no way to determine the most efficient use of the membrane pumps without some type of interface like Specific Energy. Staff has seen benefits at other locations that has justified the purchase of the software and equipment. Having seen that previously the pumps were operating off the curve and staff was not aware of this is likely the reason for the repairs needed to the pumps. Repairs generally cost >$25,000 each time a pump is pulled and repaired. The cost for purchasing the Pump Asset Management and Optimization Software for the Membrane Feed Pump Station is $21,300 including the first year’s annual service fees. Funding is in the FY21 capital budget. Cost for annual service fees for the Membrane Feed Pump Station is $5,600. This amount will be budgeted in the annual operating budget. The software does afford the Department a proposed payback given the assumed power reduction by running the pumps in optimal conditions. A 48% reduction in power pays back the purchase of the software in 5 months and a 13.5% reduction in power has a pay back of 2 years and 2 months. Staff recommended that the Board recommend to the City Council approving the purchase of Specific Energy for the membrane feed pump station in accordance with their proposal. Brian Kidd made a motion to approve. Kirt Wade seconded. The motion unanimously passed. Staff presented and discussed COVID related revenue and expenses. Staff presented and discussed the Water Resources Dashboard Performance for June 2020. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. John Sant Amour, Chairman Page 51