Water & Sewer Committee

Sammy Rich, City Manager Mike Hackett, Director John Boyd, Assistant Director WATER AND SEWER DIVISION Customer Service Department Bryan Parris, Director Operations Department Brandon M. Cook, Director Water Reclamation Facilities Johnny Massingill, Director Water Treatment Facilities Wayne Stanley, Director WATER AND SEWER COMMITTEE MEETING City Hall, 601 Broad Street, Sam King Room Thursday, August 5, 2021 8:30 AM PRESENT: Chairperson Jim Bojo Commissioner Wendy Davis Mr. Sammy Rich, City Manger Mr. Mike Hackett, Water & Sewer Division Director Mr. John Boyd, Assistant Division Director Mr. Bryan Parris, Customer Service Director Mrs. Toni Rhinehart, Finance Director VISITORS: Mr. Doug Walker, Rome News Tribune CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Jim Bojo welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order. REVIEW OF THE MINUTES No changes to the June 3, 2021 minutes were suggested. The minutes were approved by common consent. FINANCIAL REPORT Mrs. Toni Rhinehart reported total operating was up about $600,00.00 but was below budget. Non-operating interest was still in decline. Expenses are a little out of line with 2020 but is still under budget, so ok. There were some extra Minutes prepared by: Bryan Parris, Customer Service Director Water and Sewer Committee/ Commission Minutes, August 5, 2020 Page 1 of 3 expenses in 5710 this year that we did not have in 2020. Mr. Hackett related those extra expenses to the digester 3 project delays. He explained that the contractor is well behind schedule and that work by another contractor on digester 4 had to begin. This means we now have 2 digesters down. With only digesters 1 and 2 running, our sludge is too wet to take to the city landfill and we are paying these extra costs to take the sludge to Pine Mtn TN. Mr. Hackett told the committee a meeting had been scheduled to meet with the contractor on August 12th to discuss completion plans and possible legal actions if work was not finished by the last date the contractor had given. Mr. Hackett said we will also reach out to the contractor working on digester 4 to get a price for them to complete the work on digester 3. Mrs. Rhinehart stated even with these extra expenses and lower revenue our bond rate is still good at 1.87 which is just slightly below the 2.0 that we like to be. OLD BUSINESS 2021 Floyd County Water Rate Mr. Hackett explained the study by Stantec recommended a wholesale rate of $5.00 per one thousand gallons. The Water Division would like to recommend to tie the wholesale rate to our standard in city rate at a 20% discount which at our current rate would be about $3.00 per one thousand gallons. Doing this would mean any future rate increase would also apply to the wholesale rate. Mr. Hackett went on to explain that the study shows rates do not affect the amount of water Floyd County purchases from the city as they continue to purchase well above the required minimum from Calhoun at a higher rate. City Manager Sammy Rich said in his last discussion at Joint Service with Commissioner Bagwell and County Manager Jamie McCord some of the problem is that the city can not provide enough water to meet the county’s needs at the Bells Ferry connection. Mr. Hackett states we will have two new two million-gallon pumps online soon. Chairperson Bojo said he was told once we meet the county’s need then they would buy more water from the city and asked if we were ready to take this to the Board of Commissioners for a vote. Mr. Rich asked for a few days to discuss this further with Mr. McCord as he plans to meet with him before Aug. 16th. Capital Improvements Plan Mr. Hackett presented the committee with 6 Capital Improvement Projects based on probability. Four high probability projects will likely cost between $43 and $50 million. Two medium probability projects total $75 million. Mr. Hackett stated since the time of preparing this presentation and today, the $75 million figure would be significantly higher due to the reverse osmosis but was not sure at this time how much more. Commissioner Davis recommended we move forward quickly with these projects as it will likely become difficult to get contractors and material in a timely manner with the coming federal infrastructure funding. Meter Change Out Program Mr. Hackett and Mr. Parris updated the committee on the meter change out program. The division contracted with UWS Inc. to change out approximately 3134 meters at a cost of $36.25 per meter. A contractor will be installing Master Meter brand meters at a cost of $215.00 each. All infrastructure has been installed based on the propagation study conducted by Master Meter. There will likely be additional repeaters installed in some areas to improve coverage. To date 652 meters have been changed out with an expected completion of about 30 working days. Prior to contractor change outs, the division has changed out about 1400 meters. Hackett and Parris stated both were Minutes prepared by: Bryan Parris, Customer Service Director Water and Sewer Committee/ Commission Minutes, August 5, 2020 Page 2 of 3 pleased with the results so far and would like to speed up the over all timeline for replacing all meters. Chairperson Bojo and Commissioner Davis were both in favor of continuing the contract with UWS Inc. to complete the project. Engineering Update PFAS Pilot Study – Insite Engineering is reviewing data and working with manufacturers to complete a final report for the study. Etowah Raw Water Facility – Both Elevation review and Design work is complete. Still waiting on Army Corps approval. Final determination is expected by the end of the month. Flood Control 408 Permit – Elevation review survey is complete and permit development is in progress and expected to be completed this year. 2021 Rate Study - Stantec is working on rates, which usually takes 90-120 days to complete. The price for this study if $17656.00 Burwell Creek Sewer Interceptor Replacement – Design should be complete and ready for bid in early 2022. The project is expected to be between $3.5 and $4 million dollars with the construction estimated to take 7 months assuming favorable weather conditions. OTHER City of Plainville Mr. Boyd informed the committee that the City of Plainville has reached out and would like to meet concerning the possibility of accepting sewer from Plainville if they are awarded a grant to install sewer lines. Mr. Boyd stated this was in the very beginning stage and in favor of meeting with them to discuss. Adjourn There being no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned Respectfully submitted Mike Hackett, Director Rome Water and Sewer Division Minutes prepared by: Bryan Parris, Customer Service Director Water and Sewer Committee/ Commission Minutes, August 5, 2020 Page 3 of 3