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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-07-15 SJC 1 SJC MEETING July 13, 2005 Present: Dan Cogan, Chair Bill Gray Supervisor Cathy Valentino Jeff Soule Bob Romanowski Steve Thayer Peter Stein Scott Gibson Mary Tomlan Dan Walker Supervisor Steve Trumbull Absent: Mayor Carolyn Peterson Larry Fabbroni Jennifer Dotson Dan Cogan called the meeting to order at approximately 12:30 PM. Approval of JUNE 8, 2005 The approval of the minutes will be brought up at the August 10, 2005 meeting. Capital Projects – Stearns and Wheler Proposal – Gerry Hook Gerry Hook from Stearns and Wheler was present to answer questions pertaining to their proposal to do a study phase of planned capital projects. Dan Cogan stated that the members were concerned about the third floor expansion and that a space needs assessment might be necessary. Cathy Valentino asked Jerry Hook to expand on the miscellaneous improvements. He said that Jeff, Scott, and Larry walked thru the plant with Stearns and Wheler and noted areas of concern during their assessment of the plant. The study will identify areas of concern and recommend remedies with budgetary estimates. Haulers concerns will be taken into account. Bill Gray mentioned his desire to stay within the building footprint so that the process structure retains the greatest flexibility. Cathy Valentino moved to hold off on the third floor administration building addition until a needs assessment was completed and discussed. Dan clarified that the third story addition ($4,230) would be replaced by the space needs assessment study ($2,340). Seconded by Mary Tomlin. All were in favor, the motion passed unanimously. Town of Ithaca Request to Redistribute City Grant Funds - Cathy Valentino A reimbursement from Bond act funding was applied for in 1998 for the plant rerating. The application submitted requested reimbursement of the City portion of expended funds and was submitted by the City. Cathy Valentino requested a meeting with the DEC to ascertain their view on funding approval and to what extent the intermunicipal project status played in the award of the grant. Cathy feels that this clarification is a necessary step toward resolving this 2 issue. When Carolyn and Larry return the subject will be revisited. Peter Stein voiced his concern with regard to ethical obligations. Dan asked for updates in the future. Financial Report Summary – Steve Thayer Steve stated that the next quarterly payment is due July 15th. Revenues and expenditures look good. He mentioned that utility costs are up from last year but things still look in line. He pointed out that the insurance premium comes due in September. Bill stated that the leachate and septage loads of the plant have increased greatly and that this has become a nice revenue source. The plant was not outfitted to handle such large amounts of septage. Bill feels that some of the income should be put toward plant improvements. Dan Walker mentioned that the treatment supplies expenditures of 17% looked low. The phosphorous Capital Project expenditures continue. EFP activity continues. On June 28th they priced the bond at 3.879% for the 30-year bond. The interest subsidy program will reduce the overall cost. The bond closing is on July 28th. The first payment for the bond will be an interest payment and is due October 1, 2005. The first principal payment will be April 1st 2006 and the last payment will be April 1, 2035. Steve hoped to have all of the project numbers available by the end of the month. Engineering Report Summary – Scott Gibson. Industrial Pretreatment – BB&L has all of the information on the maximum allowable headworks loading supplemental sampling and flow monitoring analysis. Scott said that the plant phenols look good. Tertiary phosphorous – certain goals have to be met in utilization plans. A certain percentage of the contract has to be carried by women or minority business enterprises. $100,000 worth of minority business enterprise goal was awarded to MBE contractor (BBR Construction). Crane Hogan has no MBE contractor at this time and is going to pick up the work. They will send a letter of explanation to the Environmental Facilities Corporation. Shop drawing are complete and in full construction mode. Plant to plant pretreatment agreements were presented to the City Board of Public Works. They have been forwarded to the City’s Attorney. The Town of Ithaca has but the Town of Dryden has not yet adopted the agreements. Engineering Report Summary (cont.) – Jeff Soule NYSERTA grant – Jeff Soule reported that Jose Lozano had completed a bench study and had determined that there was no significant gain. Solids were accumulating in his model digester and it just didn’t seem to be enough gas benefit from it to make it work. Dan Cogan noticed that there is another funding opportunity available through NYSERTA. Operations Report Summary – Jeff Soule Broome County Leachate has tapered off due to the dry weather. The lab analysis has been received from Brewer Road. Tompkins County still has not responded. 3 Letters went out to the waste haulers. Many of them met with Jeff. The septage haulers had a problem with the receiving station, wait time and prohibited waste (car wash waste). Jeff explained to the septage haulers that we are not set up to take sand and gravel. Peter Stein asked why we couldn’t put in a screen. Scott Gibson explained that with some modifications at the head we could. Jeff Soule pointed out that the wastewater plant is not a solid waste facility. The WWTF plant was not designed with a grit removal system. We accept grit that comes in with the system. The pumps and scrapers take the wear. There is a de-gritting device in the sludge area. Peter Stein offered that Stearns and Wheler could look into whether or not it makes sense to put a grit removal process in. Jeff sent the waste hauler policy to Susan Brock. Susan sent generic EPA contracts to Jeff. Installation of the gas clean on #3 and #4 aeration tanks is complete. All tanks have been gas cleaned. All final tanks have been clean with the exception of final tank #3. This tank will be out of service for some time. The septage tank was cleaned. The lab tech position was re-advertised. There were close to twenty-five candidates. Emerson Power Train has committed some sampling and recording violations. The response plan sent to Jeff by Susan Brock indicated that the plant should administer an Administrative show cause order. Jeff sent a registered letter to meet with them on July 27, 2005. Cliff Williams is a temporary manpower employee filling in for Terry Henry. Last month during a power outage the hypo pump for effluent disinfect ion went out and was did not get restarted. It was out for approximately 6 or 7 hours. Jeff notified the state. Cathy asked if the system was alarmed in any way. Most of the process equipment does have an alarm. Jeff instituted a checklist. Dan Cogan asked about looking into alarming the system. The effluent pump stopped pumping July 14, 2005. This time the pump was running but it was not pumping anything. Jeff assumes a gas bubble stopped the flow. A non –compliance report was necessary. Jeff has found out that air blocks are a common pump problem; he is going to open it up to let the air out. Bob Romanowski asked why critical pieces of equipment were not on auxiliary power and feels they should be. The influent pumps continue to run by the generator when there is a power outage. Return pumps, air blowers, primary pumps and the rest of the equipment require to be physically restarted. Dan Cogan recommended that Jeff look into and research possibilities to avoid these problems in the future. Cathy Valentino asked to investigate back up generators. Waste Hauler Policy and Procedures – Jeff Soule Dan stated that the EPA officially approved the Sewer Joint Committee as a stand alone committee. Agreements need to be adopted that reflect the sewer use law in controlling leachate disposal treatment and sludge disposal. Our contracts incorporate the sewer use law for outside the municipal boundaries. Jeff Soule has been given the authority to sign the contracts. Self- insurance was flagged by Susan Brock – allowing municipal agencies to self-insure was discussed. The SJC contracts have been set up for the generators of the waste. In some cases the 4 landfill pays the hauler and the hauler pays us. We are lacking a contract where the hauler pays us. Bill Gray suggested improving the concept. The wastewater and sludge disposal contracts are subject to modifications. This will allow sections to evolve over time. CathyValentino moved to approve the agreements in concept. Seconded by Bob Romanowski. All in favor – the motion passed unanimously. Hauled waste water policy and procedures Bob Romanowski moved to accept the hauled wastewater policy and procedures in concept. Seconded by Cathy Valentino. All in favor – the motion passed unanimously. Bill Gray stated that including a table of fees might be advisable - where some increases might by projected. Cathy Valentino motioned to adjourn. Seconded by Peter Stein. All were in favor, the motion passed unanimously. Next Meeting: August 10, 2005, 12:30 p.m.