1. Board of Commissioners (BOC)

MINUTES TOWN OF PITTSBORO BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021 5:30 PM Members Present (Virtual): Mayor James Nass, Mayor Pro Tern Pamela Baldwin, Commissioner John Bonitz, Commissioner Jay Farrell, Commissioner Michael Fiocco and Commissioner Kyle Shipp. Staff Present (Virtual): Town Manager Chris Kennedy, Public Utilities Director Adam Pickett, Town Clerk Cassandra Bullock, Call to Order-Mayor Nass Mayor Nass called the meeting to order at 5:34pm. Town Manager Briefing and Updates on Greensboro's 1,4 Dioxane Contamination of the Haw River Town Manager Chris Kennedy provided the Board and the public an update on the latest with the Greensboro 1,4 Dioxane contamination event on June 30, 2021 of the Haw River. While staff is not receiving as much information as we desire, we have a few meetings with North Carolina Division of Water Resources (NCDWR) on the schedule in the coming weeks. The purpose of these meetings is to continue the debrief and to discuss the state's plan of action as a result of this contamination event. The good news is that our water levels are restored back to non-detect for 1,4 Dioxane from the Haw River. To date, staff has spoken with NCDWR about the debrief and what we can expect with SOC (Special Order by Consent), however that conversation has been limited because there is litigation against the SOC. Currently, the City of Fayetteville is litigating against the terms of SOC via their utilities arm, PWC (Public Works Commission). The Town of Pittsboro has not not entered into any agreement with litigation against the Greensboro SOC, but that may very well be one of the topics of conversation this evening. One piece of information we do have is that the state Environmental Management Commission (EMC) held a Closed Session, due to pending litigation, and part of that session requested that a Special Investigation be conducted by NCDEQ and NCDWR for the Greensboro contamination event on June 30, 2021. Such a r~quest for investigation is not common per the state officials staff spoke with. Conversations with NCDWR representatives this week leave staff with the understanding that the results of the investigation are probably several months out. Staff is also hoping to get another meeting scheduled with NCDWR representatives to ask about funding opportunities for our advanced treatment costs, both known and expected. Town Manager Kennedy stated that he contacted our consulting engineer CDM Smith for a price quote to install UVAOP at our water treatment plant and that CDM Smith came back with a cost figure range of $4 - $6 million. Town Manager Kennedy stated that the Town flat out does not have that kind of money on hand. Staff's argument to the state has been if Greensboro is provided leniency to comply with contamination levels over a couple of years per the SOC, then Pittsboro expects some consideration of that impact on us at the state level and funding commensurate with our forced patience and impact. Board of Commissioner Comments Commissioner Farrell asked Town Manager Chris Kennedy to confirm the dollar amount stated for UVAOP at the water treatment plant. Town Manager Chris Kennedy responded by stating the quoted price, estimated, is $4 - $6 million for the UVAOP project. The main difference in the price range is an unknown for the plant's electrical capacity to serve this type of system. UVAOP requires a higher electrical load demand, and the plant's existing feed from Duke Energy may be insufficient. If the electrical connections need upgrading, the price is likely to be closer to $6 million for the UVAOP project capital costs. Commissioner Fiocco asked if that quoted dollar amount is just for our 2-million gallons per day of treatment capacity and if the plant's treatment capacity were to increase, would this UVAOP project need to be expanded or increased. Town Manager Chris Kennedy stated that it is his understanding those price quotes are for the full, current plant capacity and that any capacity upgrades for the amount of water treated at the plant would require further upgrades to the advanced treatment projects as well, which means added costs above that quoted previously. Commissioner Shipp asked Town Manager Chris Kennedy about the cost for treating the additional one-million gallons of water treatment plant capacity with the advanced treatment methods, GAC, that the Town is installing now. Town Manager Chris Kennedy stated that the costs to provide advanced treatment at the water plant for PF AS alone is closer to $10 million, including the $2.6 million already programmed. If we add UVAOP, then that adds another $4 - $6 million, bringing the total to around $15 million or more. We are hopeful that the Community Project Funding, federal earmark legislation, through Congressman Price at $2.28 million helps further offset these anticipated expenses. Commissioner Fiocco asked Town Manager Chris Kennedy to remind the Board what our protocols are for testing and monitoring. Town Manager Chris Kennedy advised that the Town does not test on a regular basis. During the advanced treatment pilot study, the Town conducted frequent sampling but outside of that we sample as,needed. Instead, the Town uses its access to samples conducted by outside organizations that we work with, but the Town's sampling is conducted in a more ad hoc manner. Town Manager Kennedy did note that after this most recent contamination event, that staff is reevaluating this protocol and determining the costs to sample more frequently. Commissioner Fiocco asked if the Town can intermittently operate the UVAOP system to save operational expense. 2 Town Manager Chris Kennedy advised intermittent operation may not be feasible as the sampling information for contamination for 1,4 Dioxane lags a few days, but if one thinks about the cost figures just for the initial capital expense to upgrade the electrical at the plant, that should provide some indication of our electrical bill is going to do when we need to run that system. Mayor Nass stated he desires to keep public updated on the latest issues and would like to begin to scope out an estimated timeline for our next steps. Mayor Nass continued by stating that he would like to have frequent water quality updates to the community moving forward. Town Manager Chris Kennedy agreed. Board discussion ensued about the effects of contaminants such as PFAS and 1,4 Dioxane the desire to chart the risks and exposure limits, in layman's terms. Particularly, information to help us better understand the risks of daily consumption versus monthly consumption versus yearly consumption and the various effects or the acuity of the effects. Also, beyond oral consumption, whether swimming, bathing or other types of exposure carries any risks. Mayor Pro Tern Baldwin asked Town Manager Chris Kennedy how long it will take before that GAC system will be in place. Town Manager Chris Kennedy responded stating that the contractor is still on track to deliver the project by the end of this calendar year but did acknowledge the we are still awaiting delivery of certain components necessary for completion and the COVID-induced supply chain issues may affect ultimate start-up dates. Commissioner Fiocco expressed concern about our existing pipes contributing to the risk of contamination. Public Utilities Director Adam Pickett responded by stating that the Town feeds a corrosion inhibitor which protects the inside of our pipes and that the Town has an extensive flushing program which turns over water to keep the pipe walls clean. Public Comment Terri Tyson asked what the Town recommends for the average Pittsboro citizen to do to make the water coming out of their tap in their home safer and whether customers should they install a special system. Town Manager Chris Kennedy advised that the Town's position in response to those questions is that the most effective measure is for the Town to install industrial size treatment at the Town's water treatment plant, rather than filters at each individual end user. The Town's goal is to provide the infrastructure at the water treatment plant so that every drop of water goes through our public system. The plant will have advanced treatment applied to it so the end users at each home, apartment and number restaurants, business don't need to have that infrastructure and to maintain that type of infrastructure. The Town has a better economy of scale at our industrial level. 3 Katie Bryant stated her agreement with the Town's plan for macro-scale treatment solutions as common home filtration systems, such as reverse osmosis, disrupt biofilms that may have been directed to things in the home, so if a homeowner installs a whole home reverse osmosis system, then you may put your home as risk for Legionnaire's disease. Ms. Bryant stated that she does not trust upstream people to alert the Town, so she encourages the Town to come up with a plan looking at trending data in the past for 1,4 Dioxane dumps. Ms. Bryant recommended looking at NC State University's data, more so than NCDEQ's. Per Ms. Bryant, NC State University's equipment is much more sensitive and calibrated than state equipment. Ms. Bryant stated her support for some sort of text alert system to better inform the public. Laura Petersen asked if there was an identified timeframe for installing UVAOP to combat 1,4 Dioxane. Ms. Petersen also stated that she lives in Chapel Ridge and AQUA supplies them with water sold to AQUA by the Town and that residents in Chapel Ridge were led to believe that the 1,4 Dioxane levels were non-detect, when in fact they were not, so that gave a false impression. The labs AQUA used can only go as low as 15 ug/L while the Town considers less than 2 ug/L to be non-detect. Ms. Petersen requested that the two entities partner to create consistent data. Town Manager Chris Kennedy advised that he hoped it would be only a few months to install UVAOP, but funding would be an issue and the engineering work would likely push this out longer. The Town was hopeful that the 1,4 Dioxane would not reoccur, but we did contemplate stubbing out the plant design to insert the UVAOP to address the 1,4 Dioxane as needed. Town Manager Chris Kennedy stated that he spoke with Joseph Pierce, the Director of Operations for AQUA, and that the Town and AQUA are seeking to create a better communication line for the benefit of our customers. Town Manager Kennedy stated that Chapel Ridge residents receive the exact same water as our customers, so the numbers presented in the finished water at our plant should correlate approximately with what is in the water tank serving Chapel Ridge. Jennifer Platt stated that she was one of the members of the Pittsboro Water Quality Task Force and stated that she has asked the Board to develop an interim plan for access to safe drinking water. Ms. Platt continued by stating that she is willing to find creative ways for people that cannot afford the in-home reverse osmosis systems a way to access clean water. Ms. Platt stated that experts are recommending an additional COVID booster for those exposed to PFAS affected drinking water due to the likelihood that immune systems are compromised. Ms. Platt thanked Town Manager Chris Kennedy for speaking at the EMC's triennial review public hearing and noted that the EMC did not even include PF AS in its draft of water quality standards. Mayor Nass asked if the Board agreed with having additional meetings from time to time to provide an update on water quality concerns. The Board agreed. Commissioner Farrell asked Town Manager Chris Kennedy about the pending litigation against the Greensboro SOC. Town Manager Chris Kennedy stated that as he understands the matter, Fayetteville PWC has filed lawsuit against the North Carolina EMC to renegotiate or alter the terms of the SOC. Commissioner Fiocco requested that a risk pr~file card be an aclion item from today's meeting. 4 Town Manager Chris Kennedy advised that staff can make that a deliverable, but staff would request the assistance from Ms. Katie Bryant who has volunteered. Mayor Nass stated that he would like to see better action taken by the federal EPA with regard to these contaminants. Commissioner Bonitz asked Town Manager Chris Kennedy when the Town can set aside time, perhaps on the next agenda, to discuss the concept of litigation and how we can seek to recover the expenses that the Town has already spent or committed to spend. Town Manager Chris Kennedy responded that he thinks it depends on the type of conversation. Typically, discussion pertaining to litigation are handled in Closed Session by the Board as allowed by state statute. If the Board desires to simply discuss options, maybe that can be done in open session. Town Manager Kennedy then recommended that if the Board wishes to discuss more specifics, then it would be best done in Closed Session, and that can be done anytime you have a meeting. Mayor Nass suggested that a conversation to discuss litigation occur sooner rather than later. Town Manager Chris Kennedy responded that he would discuss with Town Attorney Paul Messick, and that a Closed Session at the end of the September 13, 2021 Regular Meeting of the Board might be a good date to target. Adjournment Commissioner Fiocco made a motion to adjourn at 6:50pm, seconded by Commissioner Farrell. Vote: Aye- 5 Nay-0 Mayor Nass: N/A Mayor Pro Tern Baldwin: Aye Commissioner Bonitz: Aye Commissioner Farrell: Aye Commissioner Fiocco: Aye Commissioner Shipp: Aye Motion Passed. Attest: 5