HomeMy Public PortalAbout20070208WSCommMinutes.pdfWater and Sewer Committee Minutes 2-8-07
Eddie Crone called the meeting to order at 5:30PM on 2-8-07. Present in
addition to Crone were, Doyle, Wolff, Fox, Reese, Lovett, Schleicher and Mitchell.
Mayor Buelterman was also present.
Mr. Crone asked how many properties were still on Septic Tanks excluding
anything on Hwy 80. Mr. Reese said he doesn’t have any idea how many are left.
He said there are a few on Bay Street and one on Live Oak. Ms. Fox said she
would produce a list of who is not being billed for sewer and then they can take
it from there.
Mr. Reese said he couldn’t make them go on grinder pumps because we don’t
have an ordinance for it. Mr. Crone said the city needs to put lines down so they
can hook up. Mr. Reese said it is required that they hook up if they are 250 ft
away but some of them are 500 ft away. He said they would require a grinder
pump.
Ms. Schleicher asked if individual households have grinder pumps. Mr. Reese said
yes but we don’t maintain them. She said first we should bring the non compliant
ones into compliance and then change the ordinance to include the grinder
pumps.
Ms. Schleicher said she had talked to the EPD about getting the data of who was
taken off of septic on 80 to make the case to the EPD about our permit.
Mr. Lovett said last week’s GMA legislative update listed a bill pending to require
people on septic tanks and private wells to hook onto the City’s system if water
and sewer is available. He said he would provide Ms. Schleicher with the update.
Mr. Lovett said he has seen Municipalities charge a sewer availability charge if
sewer is available and then have an ordinance that says when their septic tanks
fail they will tie into the city system rather than repairing their septic tanks.
Mr. Wolff said the County doesn’t know if a septic tank fails unless someone calls
them to go and look. He said he is talking to the County about getting Spanish
Hammock hooked up. He said if we can do a Jack and Boar under 80 and run the
sewer lines parallel to theirs. He said he is hoping the County will give Tybee
some of their permit and help with the upgrades.
Mr. Reese said the new water lines on South Campbell haven’t been started yet.
Mr. Crone said we need to make sure the road isn’t repaved before this is done.
Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Reese said they have a priority list with this is on it but they
are trying to find a way to accomplish the task with the present manpower.
Ms. Schleicher asked what the City is responsible for. Mr. Reese said we are
responsible up to the meter.
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Mr. Lovett said the city will tie into the lateral and lay a new lateral over to the
meter.
Mr. Reese said when the six inch line was put in, there were no stubs. Ms.
Schleicher said it is up to us to put in the stubs and re-tap them.
Mr. Lovett said Mr. Harden (Their design Engineer) had met with Bill Mitchell and
George Reese and reviewed the plans again for the Ft. Screven Line. He said
they would survey that next week. He said they need a letter from the city
stating to the best of their knowledge none of these lines are going to be on a
landfill. Mr. Wolff asked if anyone had looked into the 65/50/45 federal grant
money. Mr. Lovett said they need the city to sign those too.
Mr. Lovett said their cost estimate for the Ft. Screven Water line is 1.8 million.
He said that is the cost for the whole project.
Mr. Lovett said he would update the report and cost estimate and provide it to
Mayor Buelterman to send with request for federal funding.
Mr. Lovett said he thinks we could bid this project this spring.
Ms. Fox said she would see how fast they can turn around the loan portion. She
said if we get a grant it won’t hurt anything but we have to apply for a GEFA
loan.
Mr. Lovett said if we obtain federal money it will have different parameters
applied that will drive the cost up. He said but for 65% money it is worth every
dime of the increased cost. He said if we have to wait for 90 days for the 65% it
is well worth it.
Mr. Lovett said the aerator company sent shop drawings that HGB&D rejected.
He said the company has agreed to do the aerators as was originally envisioned
and they haven’t given a price increase. He said they expect the shop drawings
back next week for their approval. He said these are the aerators that we direct
purchased from House Manufacturing because they are so hard to find. He said
they should be online by March.
Mayor Buelterman asked if new regulations on what can be put into the system
will affect Tybee. Mr. Lovett said the EPD is coming out with a no discharge into
the Savannah River regulation. He said everything you see from the EPD says
the Savannah River ends at Fort Jackson. He said your discharge point is tidally
influenced and we are saying that you have a discharge to the ocean instead of
the Savannah River. Mr. Lovett said he would send Ms. Schleicher the verbage
needed to send a letter to the EPD Chairman.
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Mr. Lovett said several months ago they requested a waste load allocation from
the EPD. He said that is the first step in expanding the waste water treatment
plant. He said one of the reasons it has been held up is trying to get them to say
discharge into the ocean and not the Savannah River.
Mr. Wolff asked if we could do what Richmond Hill did to create an artificial
wetland just east of the water treatment plant. Mr. Lovett said the parameters of
that type of plant are; it takes a tremendous amount of land. He said you have
to create a wetland. He said Richmond Hill just happened to be able to get that
much land at a reduced price. He said it is a very efficient plant and it doesn’t
cost that much to operate. He said he doesn’t think Tybee has enough land. Mr.
Wolff asked about creating a dual system to help our discharge. Mr. Lovett said
all Richmond Hill does is go into an aerated basin and discharge from the basin
to an overland flow. It is not spray irrigation but it is piped out to go over large
tracks of land that are planted with grass. He said as it trickles over the grass the
grass takes the nutrients out of the water. He said that is a part of the treatment
process rather than being a part of the disposal. He said what we can look at for
Tybee would be to treat it to a level that we could discharge it into a wetland.
Ms. Schleicher said this should be a part of the upgrade.
Mr. Lovett said the EPD is not increasing any permits. He said Tybee got a permit
at the end of December that was a stamp of the existing permit without an
increase.
Mayor Buelterman requested another meeting between Wolff, Lovett, Gus and
himself, to discuss saltwater intrusion.
Ms. Schleicher asked if we can treat the wastewater at the peak-flow during the
summer why do we have a seasonal permit for the winter. She said the shoulder
seasons are usually when we bump the permit limits. If we have the capacity to
treat it at the height of summer why would they lower the level? Mr. Lovett
explained that they look at the pounds of pollutant that Tybee puts into the
Savannah River a year. They calculated your poundage per month and then
added it up for a twelve month period. Mr. Lovett said if you upgrade your
treatment plant and you’re classified as an ocean discharge instead of a river
your poundage may go up.
Mayor Buelterman said he visited the treatment plant and some of the control
rooms were unlocked. He said anyone could go in and shut the whole system
down. Mr. Reese said they do not keep the control room locked during the day
but the gate is locked. He said the person working on weekends doesn’t stay in
there all the time. Mr. Crone said they need to lock it when they are not there.
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Mr. Reese said on Pump Station #9 they are waiting on Georgia Power and as
soon as they are done we can hook it up. He said on # 7 they are waiting for a
pump to come in to exchange for the existing pump. He said the supplier doesn’t
have the pumps in stock so it takes a long time to get one.
Mr. Crone asked about the 6 inch water line and backflow prevention at the
Guard house. He said we are holding up the contractor because he can’t do any
work until the sprinkler system is in. Mr. Mitchell said we have to core that road
out front to see how think it is to find out if it is possible for us to do the work.
He said they talked with the City of Savannah about helping us do that work
because we don’t have the equipment to tap the 12 inch line. He said we will
have to pay for their labor. He said Mr. Marlow has the equipment to core the
road and it is supposed to be done tomorrow. Ms. Fox recommended they go
ahead and order the backflow preventor in order to have it by the time the road
work is done. Mr. Mitchell said he would order it.
Mr. Wolff moved to approve the minutes for January, Ms. Doyle seconded and
the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Lovett said Steve Estes came and did an inspection of Tybee’s treatment
plant. He said they received the letter from the EPD and two things came to his
attention. He said one is that Mr. Reese should be commended for his operation
of the plant; because the plant had significant problems and he got temporary
aeration in there and prevented Tybee from having a violation. He said the
other thing is Tybee needs to start thinking hard about expanding its wastewater
treatment plant. He said you are bumping your permit limits and there are
several hundred units that have been approved and could come on line.
Mr. Lovett said they should get someone from the Corps of Engineers to come
and see if the wetland has converted to upland. He said if you can convert it
back to a wetland you get credit for that.
Mr. Wolff moved to have Mr. Lovett contact the corps regarding recreating the
wetland, Ms. Doyle seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Mr. Crone requested the City Manager write a letter to send to the people on
Hwy 80 explaining the situation to them regarding hooking up to the Sewer line.
Ms. Fox asked when Mr. Boswell is planning on finalizing the Hwy 80 project. Mr.
Reese said he requested the final as-builts be done so that Mr. Boswell can sign
off on them.
Mr. Wolff moved to adjourn, Ms. Doyle seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Respectfully submitted by Vivian Woods
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