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HomeMy Public PortalAboutTri-Town Groundwater Protection District -- 2010-06-28 MinutesORLEANS, BREWSTER, EASTHAM CROUNDVVATER PROTECTION DISTRICT BOARD OF MANAGERS It1EETING JUNE 28, 2010 Board of Managers Present: John Kelly, Chairman, Orleans; George Flemming, Brewster; .loy Brookshire, Eastham. Others Present: Jay Burgess, Chief Operator; Pio Lombardo, Beverly Carncy, Orleans resident. I. Meeting called to order at 2:00 p.m.. A motion was made by George Flemming to approve the Board of Managers Minutes dated April 16, 2010, and May 26, 2010 as amended. This motion was seconded by John Kelly and approved and passed. Joy Brookshire abstained. 3. Nitrogen Removal at the Tri.-Town Plant: Pio Lombardo, of Lombardo Associates, Inc., stated he contacted .lay to see if there was any interest in their services, knowing the plant has a nitrogen effluent requirement to meet. The size of the facility that you would need to have is virtually identical to the one that they recently engineered and oversaw the installation of, in North Carolina, which has been operating since the first of the year. The system in North Carolina cost about $350,000. There were some portions of the plant that had to do with upgrades to the treatment plant. The life of the system is projected to be 40 years plus. This was done with a combined middle and high school, and they are using a recirculating sand filter at the present time. They have a nice highly nitrified effluent, but they only get nitrogen down in the 70. They are knocking it down around 50`%. We were sought out and selected by the state school system to install this system. We engineered it and designed it but did not construct it. That went out to bid. Their total nitrogen is generally below 2 on the entire system. The annual operation costs on this one in your situation would be close to zero because the only thing you are paying for annually is the electricity for the pumps that are discharging into the pressurized system, and the pumps have a life of 5-10 years. There is no additional labor, the staff here at the plant could handle it. There my be a need to open or close a valve. This would be a substitute fora chemical feed denitrifying filter, which are used all the time in wastewater treatment plants. • John Kelly stated the design profile is obviously different. Tri-To~ti~n has a 45,000 gallon a day design discharge permit. The issue is that we don't know what the State is going to require in terms of discharge. Right now our permit is for 50 parts per million. I think Jay indicated he is at 30 parts per million. So obviously, the design parameters are going to be a little bit different. We use the RBC"s now. • Pio Lombardo stated what they did was shoe horned the nitrex filter into the existing system, which is what they would propose to do here. He stated .lay gage him the design parameters of 25,000 gallons a day and 30 mgms. per liter of nitrogen. • John Kelly stated for planning purposes, if the $350,000 gets what they had in North Carolina, I don't know what that relates to in Cerms of a system that would be a little bit bigger here. • Pio Lombardo stated that from what information Jay has provided, and for the level of detail we are talking about, that's a good number to go with. We had 70 mgms. coming in. What I did for discussion purposes, 1 cut it in half and the flow is twice as much, so it balances out. • Jay stated that when he and Pio spoke ,that was what we were discharging. We can discharge as high as 45,000, maximum per• day. • Pio Lombardo stated you need to do whatever the permit states and it is designed based on sustained peak, because sometimes it's more cost effective to add some equalization packs rather than building capacity for the peak that only happens over a short period of time. That's how we optimize our systems. Jay may see 45,000 gallons a day periodically, but if you put in a 40,000 gallon tank you can absorb some of that, and only design it for 30,000 gallons a day. You have all the data to allow you to make that determination. So that's how we optimize it, because otherwise, it gets bigger than it really needs to be. Joy Brookshire stated that is what happened at Nauset High School. They built a plant for peak flow and wanted to borrow septage from other places because it was not working due to inadequate flow. Pio Lombardo stated they try to engineer these so that there is highly utilization throughout the year. You don't want it just sitting there because it is a waste of money. I had my assistant put together some illustrations of its installation. Basically it is a lined lagoon, and for discussion purposes, it is 10,000 square feet. Then we have piping that goes in the bottom because it is an up tloat system. There are two sections: there's a pipe in there that allows us to open and close as we see fit. What eve do is stay with all of our projects for at least the first two years to make sure that everything runs smooth. • Joy Brookshire asked if that is built into the contract or if there is an additional charge. • Pio Lombardo stated that is all built into the contract. The surface of the system can be landscaped in a lot of different ways. • George Flemming asked if they subcontract the construction work, and do they cover the insurance on the subcontractors. Pio Lombardo stated they subcontract the construction work. As fir as the insurance coverage goes, they have done it both ways: one being construction manager at risk, where the contractor does work for us. You will have to go out to bid. What we did in North Carolina, is we wrote the spec and did the design, and the school system went out to bid. There is a very rigourous design and installation procedure for the liner and tests galore that are conducted. People spend days there pressure testing, etc.. These are all industry standards that are used to let the contractor off the hook to say, yes you complied with the design documents. Along with that, we do water testing and the integrity of it is maintained. Joy Brookshire asked if the $350,000 includes all the materials, the design and the contract. Pio Lombardo stated, yes that includes everything. He stated you need to decide if this is something worthwhile pursuing. We can discuss with you in a variety of options. Installation could be around nine months. John Kelly stated if the Board decided to go with this system, we would have to submit a proposal to DEP as part of the approval, and whatever requirements they would have to guarantee performance because all the testing to meet permit needs to be done. The Board of Managers has no authorization to borrow monev. We would have to go back to each of the three town meetings and have a vote of the town and each town has to approve each capital project that we cannot pay with cash. Our budget for maintenance of the plant is limited to what we can afford to pay in cash. If we were to go forward ,and we assume at some point we will have to address nitrogen removal for the plant to continue after 201?, we will have to figure out how we want to address it. • The current permit reserves the right for DEP to come in at any time to change. the parameters of our discharge. They have told us privately that it is very much tied to the Town of Orleans efforts going forward with our final CWMP. Joy Brookshire stated the future of this plant is up in the air, and money is tight in all three towns. I think that we need to research grant writing and find out from the sources what the likelihood would be to get money. Then it would put us in a better position to go to our respective towns to ask for additional monies. I think it is something we are going to have to do but the money is an issue, and the uncertainty of the plant, and I think that the grant money is extremely important. Pio Lombardo suggested pursuing SRF for a grant because they have the most money, as well as they have a green reserve . They have the capacity to give loan forgiveness. In the past, they use that for funding alternative energy sources. • John Kelly stated the Orleans Board of Selectmen have the ability and authority, under the [nternumicipal Agreement, to provide notice on or before May 2013 if they do not wish to continue beyond that. After 2015 it extends for an additional 10 years, with a 2 year window of termination. The permit is up for renewal in August 2012. • ,loy Brookshire stated she is on the Cape Cod Commission and is tamiliar with the nitrex system, and they review projects where there are a cluster of systems of alternative treatment plants, and they have gotten rave reviews from the engineers who have come before them for different things. Aside from the money part of it, if the plant is still here, we are going to have to do something. • Pio Lombardo stated the grant window is now. • Joy Brookshire stated if the town of Orleans could decide if we are going forward with this, but it's not going to occur for another five years, at least we know what is going to happen and start making our own schedule of action. 4. Chief Operator Updates - Jay Bureess: • Process -Nitrogen reading was 30 mgms. per liter, TSS, BOD, Phosphorus were all in the single digits Maintenance Update - We did an emergency repair to the No. 4 RBC unit. We had to weld a media support. We are also running into some metal problems on the scale that is starting to corrode in the receiving area. The parts are in and we will start working on the scales. Pumping Letters -Orleans and Eastham send out reminder letters to their residents to remind them to pump their septic systems. Brewster does not. Since Orleans has decided to stop that program due to funding, the District offered to take over the program. We have all the materials to start sending out the letters. Since Tri-Town will be sending out the letters, we may change some of the wording in the letters. • John Kelly stated he has no problem in changing the letter to have it read as a letter from Tri Town. The goal is to have the residents pump frequently enough to maintain their systems, and to have the flow come here. Jay stated that Eastham did something unique by including a list of licensed haulers in their town along with their letter. When the letters go out, we receive a lot of phone calls asking who they should call to pump their system. John Kelly stated that we could inchide a list of licensed haulers with the letter, as well as a rate schedule. The goal is to get the flow in the oft season. We could tell them about our Scent annual sale. It would be helpful for the homeowners to have a list of pumpers licensed in their town, and be told what the hauler is charged per gallon at the plant, versus what they may be charged in another town. They need to be informed. • Joy Brookshire stated if we do a comprehensive list, we can put on there approved by the town of Orleans, Brewster, Eastham. • Jay stated he would start sending out the letters in September. He stated the Orleans Town Planner will supply us with all the information we need to start the program. John Kelly asked Jay to put together what he would like to see as a draft letter and schedule for sending out the fetters for the next Board meeting. He stated the District could set up it's own website, and update the information and send out postcards to residents and keep things current inexpensively. We could also put an ad in the newspaper reminding people what we charge. You could also do a town wide mailing postal patron ,and do an introduction with our rates, check our website, and please make sure your hauler comes here, etc. • Joy Brookshire stated we should use a website as much as possible and send all the infomlation to all the town websites who utilize this plant. • Trucks -Jay stated he mentioned at the last Board meeting that we had some truck issues. We also had some communication issues at the same time. We have addressed that and switched from a pager to a cell phone for the driver and the on-call operator so we can have communication with them while they are on the road if there is any trouble. We have the basic $50 a month cell phone plan. • Emer~ency Repairs - We had a mechanical seal go on one of our plant water pumps that runs the water system for the plant. Most of guys spent the night here, but we did get it up and running. We ordered additional spare parts. • Flows -This month should be a million gallon month. A motion was made by George Flemming to approve Treasury Warrant Nos. 15 & 16 for payment. This motion was seconded by Joy Brookshire and approved and passed. 6. Old Business: • George Flemming asked where is the tinal inspection report from Wright-Pierce on the RBC's? • Jay stated he has not heard from Wright-Pierce Engineers. He stated that he has talked to everyone he had to talk to regarding the equipment malfunction, as w-ell as given tours of the equipment. He stated Wright-Pierce has been apprised by the manufacturer's representative who came to the plant. • John Kelly asked Jay to e-mail him the last information he had from Wright- Pierce and he will forward it on to Mike Giggey for a final determination. • Joy Brookshire stated in the April 16, 2010 Board of Managers Minutes, there was discussion regarding the health insurance for the District employees at their time of retirement. She stated its time that the Board of Managers, together, meet with the three towns Boards of Selectmen or at least the Town Administrators to discuss this. John Kelly stated the issue is what happens when and if the District dissolves, and there is no answer at this point. When a District dissolves, which has happened several times in Ban stable County, the remaining members of the Barnstable County Retirement group absorbed those ongoing payments. However, we cannot get a determination as to what happens with the health insurance for retirees. Right now, there are no retirees in the District. That's a future liability that has not been discussed yet. • Joy Brookshire stated it needs to be discussed now. She stated she brought this up with David Dunford in Orleans, regarding the future of the District employees, and his response was they haven't thought about it or talked about it. She stated it's time to think about it. • John Kelly stated he has advised his Board of Selectmen that this was an issue that was discussed, and an issue of the three towns, regardless of where we go, this is part of the liabilities that the three towns have. • George Flemming asked if there will be another joint meeting of the Boards of Selectmen. • John Kelly stated at some point there will. • Joy Brookshire stated it is imperative and we have a commitment and obligation, and the question has to be answered. • John Kelly stated you each need to go to your own Boards of Selectmen and advise them of the issue of the future liability. I have already advised my Board and give them copies of the Board of Managers Minutes of the discussion so they are aware of what is going on. We have a CWMP and are trying to figure out where we are going. • George Flemming stated that the last session he had with his Board of Selectmen, they were considering having their own wastewater plant in Brewster. They have the land and funding. My concern is, and always has been, the District employees. If someone retired tomorrow, 1 would be on top of all three Boards. • John Kelly stated if someone retired tomorrow, they are entitled to what is in the Intermunicipal Agreement. • Joy Brookshire stated but when the Intermunicipal Agreement expires what happens? ~ ~ f i • Joy Brookshire stated Eastham full time employees get 65°/, health insurance benefits at time of retirement. John Kelly stated Orleans and Brewster employees are at 75`%. for health insurance benefits at time of retirement. He stated to the other Board members to raise dlis question regarding health insurance benefits for the District employees upon their retirement with their respective Boards. You are also talking about a Board today that is going to be asked to address a situation that a future Board may have to deal with, opinions change, decisions change, etc.. • Joy Brookshire stated she will talk with her Town Administrator and report back to the Board of Managers at the next meeting. 7. A motion was made by George Flemming to adjourn the meeting at 3:30 p.m.. This motion was seconded by Joy Brookshire and approved and passed. Respectfully submitted, ~~ , Cyndi Bachman District Secretary EF~Ii~4?tR ~illclr~ f:~~p~. 'i it iii 1I~11 7.~~~5~~