Water Resources Board

MINUTES MURFREESBORO WATER RESOURCES BOARD April 26, 2022 The Murfreesboro Water Resources Board met on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 in the conference room at the Operations and Maintenance Building, 1725 S. Church Street. Present at the meeting were Board members: Dr. Al Carter, Mr. Ron Crabtree, Mr. Kirt Wade, Ms. Madelyn Scales-Harris, Mr. Brian Kidd, and Ms. Sandra Trail. Also present were Darren Gore, Valerie Smith, Doug Swann, Michele Pinkston, Roman Hankins, Robert Haley, Marshall Fall, Alan Cranford, Joe Russell, John Strickland, Donald Hughes, Matt Powers, Steve Campbell, Linda Sullivan, Travis Wilson, and Brent Fowler along with other members of the public. The Consent Agenda were presented for the following considerations: A. Consider Barton Lawn Care contract amendment – Operations & Maintenance received bids for grass cutting and landscaping services for O&M on March 1, 2022, and the contract was awarded to Barton Lawn Care. Staff is requesting approval to add pump stations at 521 Warrior Drive, Sam Jared Road, and 1917 Barfield Road to the contract. Barton Lawn Care agreed to cut each pump station for $30. Staff estimates 24 cuttings per year resulting in a yearly cost of $2,160. Staff recommended the Board recommend City Council approve the additional sites for lawn care services. B. Consider custodial contract – The current custodial contract expires June 30, 2022. This contract includes Operations & Maintenance, Administration & Customer Service, and Engineering. It was advertised and five bids were received. COMPANY NAME TOTAL Versatile Enterprise $43,016 Culp’s Cleaning Service $46,000 MasterCorp $52,057 Young & Sons, LLC. $81,140 House of Servants $124,891 Staff recommended the Board recommend City Council accept the lowest bid from Versatile Enterprise in the amount of $43,016. The contract expires in one year, with the option of two additional one-year renewal terms by mutual agreement of Contractor and the City. Water Resources Board Minutes April 26, 2022 Page 2 C. Consider SRWTP chemical bids – Bids were publicly opened on March 22, 2022, for water treatment chemicals to be used at the Stones River Water Treatment Plant. There were 13 chemicals bid this year. None of the chemical vendors would extend their contract for FY23 due to the rising costs of raw materials, fuel, and other reasons. The table below are the lowest responsible and responsive bids for each chemical. Estimated Company Name Chemical Unit Price Annual Expense Brenntag Mid-South, Inc Sodium Carbonate $0.2200/lb $10,000 Brenntag Mid-South, Inc Sodium Hydroxide $0.1750/lb $5,000 Carmeuse Lime Calcium Oxide $0.13639/lb $370,000 G2O Technologies, LLC Polyaluminum Hydroxychloride $0.2376/lb $30,000 Hawkins, Inc Calcium Thiosulfate $0.53/lb $3,000 Hawkins, Inc Hydrogen Peroxide $0.47/lb $45,000 Hawkins, Inc Phosphate – 50/50 $1.22/lb $40,000 Hawkins, Inc Phosphate – 70/30 $1.27/lb $40,000 Hawkins, Inc Phosphate – 85/15 $1.27/lb $40,000 Hawkins, Inc Sodium Permanganate $1.16/lb $325,000 Polydyne, Inc Polyelectrolyte Coagulant Aid $1.10/lb $70,000 Univar Solutions USA, Inc Citric Acid $1.2500/lb $28,000 Univar Solutions USA, Inc Fluorosilicic Acid $0.2200/lb $20,000 Univar Solutions USA, Inc Sodium Chloride $0.2000/lb $55,000 The price of the chemicals will be reflected in the FY23 operating budget with a contract price through June 30, 2023. Staff recommended the Board recommend to City Council approving the chemical bid from the lowest responsive and responsible bidders. D. Consider SRWTP High Service Pump Station & Membrane Feed Pump Improvements Change Item No. 4 – Change Item No. 4 includes the demolition of the existing concrete pipe supports under the existing high service pumps and backwash pump, and the installation of new steel pipe supports under both the existing pumps and the proposed pump. The change item will be paid out from the remaining $1,919 credit from the contractor for the previously scoped Pall Membrane Feed Pump Control System update and the remaining $11,477 will be paid out from the contingency allowance. Total cost for CCF No. 4 is $13,396. The contingency allowance budget after this change would then be $14,369. There will not be a change in the contract time. SSR has reviewed the proposed changes and recommends they be approved. The total contract price will not be adjusted. Water Resources Board Minutes April 26, 2022 Page 3 Staff recommended the Board recommend to the City Council approving Change Item No. 4 from J. Cumby Construction Company, Inc. in accordance with their request. E. Consider SRWTP lagoon sludge removal contract renewal – The Stones River Water Treatment Plant has two lagoons that are used to store sediment removed during the water treatment process. There is only one lagoon in operation at a time. Typically, a lagoon is in operation for a period of two years. At times, depending on the raw water quality, a lagoon may be in operation for only one year. Staff evaluates the lagoon that is in service each year to determine if there is enough space in the lagoon to remain in service for two years. Slurry Systems Company has done an excellent job performing their duties in accordance with the existing contract. The water treatment residuals removed from the lagoon have been applied to farms in the area of the water treatment plant. It is time to conduct a cleaning of the #1 lagoon. The cost of removing the lagoon water treatment residuals is in the FY22 Operating Budget in the amount of $249,000. Staff recommended the Board recommend to the City Council to approve the second renewal of the Slurry Systems Company contract to begin on May 1, 2022 and end on June 30, 2023. F. Consider WRRF purchase of UV parts – The Trojan ultraviolet (UV) system provides disinfection of the effluent water discharged at the WRRF. Components that make up the system have a limited life expectancy and require periodic replacement. The current usage of the system requires that the lamps be replaced about every two years. New Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts are only available from a single source. The manufacturer is directly distributing for this area. Staff recommended the Board recommend to City Council approving the purchase of UV parts from Trojan Technologies ULC in the total amount of $77,814. The UV parts purchase was budgeted in the Department’s rate funded capital budget. G. Consider O&M vac truck purchase – In MWRD’s FY2023 capital budget there is a line item to replace Unit 65, a 2003 International with Vac-Con body (Jet/Vacuum Sewer Cleaner). Jack Hyatt, manager of Fleet Services, agreed and approved the replacement of this unit due to the age and high machine hours. Staff located the desired vehicle on the Sourcewell Contract with GAP-VAX through 502 Equipment located in LaGrange, Kentucky. The cost of the equipment is in the amount of $503,640. Staff is requesting approval to enter a requisition for this item before final budgets are approved due to the lead time required for this purchase. Staff is working with purchasing and legal to draft a contract. Staff recommended the Board recommend to the City Council to approve the purchase of this equipment. Water Resources Board Minutes April 26, 2022 Page 4 H. Consider computers and monitors purchase – The Department replaces outdated PC equipment on a five-year lifecycle to ensure continued reliable performance of department’s IT network and infrastructure. Regular replacement also ensures that systems are kept up to date, which aids in security in today’s cyber environment. Staff recommended the Board recommend City Council approve purchase of computers and monitors in the amount of $19,776.71. Funding will come from FY22 rate-funded capital expenditures budget. I. Consider Specific Energy annual service fee – Staff is requesting approval for Specific Energy’s Annual Service Fee for the Dynamic Pump Optimization (DPO) system for the high service pump station, lake raw water pump station, river raw water pump station, membrane feed pump station and the Distribution System Optimization (DSO) for the distribution system. The total cost for annual service fee, including all locations, is $40,552. Funding is in the FY22 operating budget. Staff recommended that the Board recommend to the City Council approving the annual service fee cost for Specific Energy in accordance with their quote. A motion was made by Brian Kidd to accept the Consent Agenda as presented and it was seconded by Kirt Wade. The Board voted unanimously to approve. The March 22, 2022 Board Minutes were unanimously accepted as presented. The Board considered SSR Task Order 2141013.0 Amendment No. 1, Agreement for Consulting Services Stormwater Quality Management Assistance. Staff recommended to amend the existing professional service task order with Smith Seckman Reid (SSR) to extend the original task order for regulatory assistance related to water quality as well as add a part-time contract consultant position for assistance with stormwater quality management, regulation, and ordinance revisions and to continue these services through the end of June 2023. Mr. Robert Haley, the Department’s current Stormwater Manager, desires to discontinue full-time employment with the Department for family medical reasons; however, he would like to continue working part-time 15-20 hours a week. Allowing Mr. Haley to continue working part-time as a contracted consultant provides benefit to the City. Robert’s major role will be transitioning all of the stormwater databases he maintains to other personnel within the Department providing assistance for continued program development, revising the City’s Stormwater Ordinance to align with TDEC’s upcoming revisions to the NPDES permit, etc. Staff recommended the Board recommend City Council approve SSR Task Order 2141013.0 Amendment No. 1. Water Resources Board Minutes April 26, 2022 Page 5 The original Task Order was approved in the amount of $47,500 which will remain until June 30, 2022. Amendment No. 1 will be an additional amount not to exceed of $127,800 for a total of $175,300 through the end of June 2023. Brian Kidd made a motion to approve. Ron Crabtree seconded. The motion unanimously passed. The Board considered SSR Engineering Task Order 22-41-009.0, MWRD Water Model Update. For over 15-years, MWRD has used a water model program called InfoWater. It has been over 10- years since the last update of the model and the model needs updating to accurately simulate the distribution system network. Staff has recently been in discussion with another company, Qatium, that does water modeling. The Qatium model will provide benefits to AMI, Operations & Maintenance, and the Water Treatment Plant. Qatium will allow data from the SCADA and AMI systems to have a digital twin and run simulations that allow staff to model flows and pressures, manage water shutdowns, conduct unidirectional flushing, and monitor water quality. In order for this to take place, the model needs to be updated and moved from the Innovyze program to Qatium. Staff requested SSR to provide a proposal to update and move the model to Qatium. Total cost for the task order is $48,835 with funding to come from reserves. Staff recommended the Board recommend to the City Council approving SSR Task Order 22-41- 009.0 in accordance with their proposal. Sandra Trail made a motion to approve. Kirt Wade seconded. The motion unanimously passed. The Board reviewed Hobas sewer interceptor inspection results. After having two pipe failures along our Southwest Sewer Interceptor, which is “Hobas” pipe, the Board approved a Task Order in August 2019 to design and bid out the televising/inspection of our Hobas sewer interceptor sewer mains 15 feet in depth and greater. This work was awarded to Vortex Services (VS). In May 2021 the Board approved another Task Order to design and re-televise a portion of the previously televised lines that had an ovality of 6% or greater as well as the remaining Hobas lines that meet the same depth criteria. This second portion of televising/inspection was contracted directly with VS through a Sole Source purchase. VS agreed to hold their prices from the previous contract. The thought was to have the same crew performing the work as well as the same equipment since accuracy is key with regard to deflection and ovality. This would allow LJA and staff to determine if the existing portion of sewer mains have deteriorated any further with regard to ovality and determine if there are additional mains to be concerned about. The total length of line televised this second time was ~20K feet with 5712 feet of this amount being the portion that was televised previously. Water Resources Board Minutes April 26, 2022 Page 6 The inspection found approximately 8222 LF of interceptor that LJA recommends, and staff agrees, repairing via CIPP. The defects found vary from cracks, holes, offset joints and infiltration to increases of ovality from previous CCTV. LJA projects the cost of this work would be in the $9M to $9.5M range. Staff recommended designing a rehabilitation project specifically for these larger interceptor lines, separate from our normal and customary sewer rehabilitation project. Funding for this work is not budgeted and would come from the Department’s working capital reserves. The Board considered Water Resources and Stormwater Funds 2023 draft budgets. The Water Resources FY23 draft budget is balanced and is not expected to deviate significantly from the overall revenue and expense total of $57,561,000. This amount is $667,000 over the FY22 budget and $1,039,722 over FY22 projected revenues. The FY23 total budget increase equates to a 1.2% increase. The percent increase represents nominal increases based on metered water sales and sewer sales. Tap receipts, or system development charges, based on one-time revenue associated with growth is budgeted to decrease by $500,000, or a 6.5% decrease from FY22, representing a conservative outlook on FY23’s growth trends. Staff has earmarked $2,875,000 of sinking funds to assign the excess revenue for future construction or repair and replacement; additionally, $1,832,815 has been reserved for future unforeseen capital expense. The use of sinking funds reduces the need to incur debt thereby alleviating the need for future rate increases. Staff is not recommending any changes to the system development charges (a.k.a., connection fees) for residential or nonresidential uses. The FY23 total operating expenses, including benefits and payroll, increased $2,559,385 or 9.8% over the FY22 budgeted amount. Total expenses including transfer to reserves increased 1.2%. The total budgeted costs associated with salaries for FY23 is $9,350,300. This salary budget represents a 6.9% increase from FY22. In March of 2022, a 7% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was afforded all personnel across the organization by City Council to counter rising inflation costs. An additional 2.5% increase in salaries is programmed for July 1, 2022. The rate funded capital budget is $8,455,900, which is a decrease of $2,730,155 from the FY22 budget. This amount is offset through an increase in the Department’s expected operating expenditures in FY23, $2,559,385. MWRD’s goal is a minimum of $5 million per year for routine rate-funded capital purchases. The Stormwater Fund budget is independent of the Department budget. It is funded from revenue based on a user fee of $3.25 per single family equivalent. No change is recommended to the fee. The net revenue generated by the stormwater fee is budgeted at $3,305,000 with operation expenses budgeted at $2,687,500, stormwater repair and replacement at $200,000, and rate funded capital expenditures at $350,000. The anticipated excess funds above operating expenses and rate funded capital expenditures are Water Resources Board Minutes April 26, 2022 Page 7 $67,500. The stormwater fund has developed a Capital Improvements Plan, currently totaling $3,926,000 from FY22 through FY26. A five-year pro forma has been developed to demonstrate the banking of excess revenues to pay for proposed capital improvements without incurring any debt. Financial policies for the stormwater enterprise fund were adopted by the Water Resources Board and City Council in 2013. An amendment to these policies was approved in FY18 to allow the minimum working reserve balance to be lowered to no less than three months of operating expenses. Since 2019 the fee has grown by approximately $70,000 each year through new commercial, industrial, and residential development within the city which equals to approximately 1,795 single family unit equivalents annually. The average impervious square footage is equal to 3,470 square feet per single family unit, which equates to the city adding approximately 143 acres of imperviousness annually. Staff recommended the Board recommend approval of the FY23 Water Resources Draft Budget to City Council. Brian Kidd made a motion to approve. Ron Crabtree seconded. The motion unanimously passed. Staff recommended the Board recommend approval of the FY23 Stormwater Draft Budget to City Council. Kirt Wade made a motion to approve. Brian Kidd seconded. The motion unanimously passed. Under Other Business, the Board considered SRWTP vehicle purchase. On March 30, 2022, Unit 112, a 2012 Ford Escape for Cross Connection Control, was totaled in an accident. Staff has reviewed the available standing contracts and selected the most appropriate vehicle for its intended use. The vehicle is on the State of Tennessee Statewide Contract 209 with Lonnie Cobb Ford, Henderson, Tennessee. Staff has spoken with the Fleet Managers of the Tennessee dealers on the statewide contract and the Fleet Manager of Lonnie Cobb has confirmed pre-order for the vehicle. If approved, the vehicle will be tagged for the Department and will significantly reduce the wait time on a new vehicle. The cost for the vehicle is in the amount of $25,511. Funding is to come from reserves. Staff recommended that the Board recommend the City Council to approve purchase of this vehicle in accordance with the existing statewide contract as identified. Ron Crabtree made a motion to approve. Sandra Trail seconded. The motion unanimously passed. Staff presented and discussed the Water Resources Dashboard Performance for March 2022. Staff presented the Financial Reports for the year ending March 31, 2022. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. ____________________________ Alphonse Carter, Jr., Vice Chairman