WATER POLLUTION CONTROL COMMISSION
Regular Meeting
Virtual Zoom Meeting
January 20, 2021
MINUTES
Present: Amy Atamian, Todd Eubanks, Dave Pattee, Vanessa McPherson
Also, Present: Eugene Burke, Jeremy Nixon, Carlos Pavia, and John Oatley of Veolia. Katherine Stauffer, WPCC Administrator. Kishor Patel from Millone and Macbroom (SLR).
Amy Atamian called the meeting to order at 7:35PM
ITEM 1: APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 16, 2020 REGULAR MEETING AND DECEMBER 30, 2020 SPECIAL MEETING.
MOTION: APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE DECEMBER 16, 2020 MEETING. D. PATTEE, MOTION. V. MCPHERSON, SECOND. PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
- Item 2>Points for Discussion>Kaeser Ultrasonic Testing Completed: Finish sentence.
- “A. Atamian asked how they know whether the leaks have been fixed. E. Burke said there is no way to truly know but hopes to be able to tell in the coming days.”
- Item 2>Points for Discussion>Compressor Upgrade Quote: add third bullet to action items for Veolia.
- Page 3>Third bullet from bottom: grammatical error.
- “E. Burke stated that he and K. Stauffer will be speaking about the Mulvaney quote.”
- Item 2>Points for Discussion>Kaeser Ultrasonic Testing Completed: After hyphen change to “Six leaks were found.”
- Item 2>Points for Discussion>Kaeser Ultrasonic Testing Completed: First Bullet
- “Of the leaks identified, the fittings associated with four leaks have been tightened.”
MOTION: APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE DECEMBER 30, 2020 SPECIAL MEETING. T. EUBANKS, MOTION. D. PATTEE, SECOND. PASSED UNANIMOUS.
- Last page of special meeting minutes>bullet 2:
- “V. McPherson pointed out that the compressor quote was given before the leak study was done. Both were done by Kaeser, so they already knew that the compressor was going to need to be replaced.”
MOTION: APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE DECEMBER 20, 2020 SPECIAL MEETING. V. MCPHERSON, MOTION. A. ATAMIAN. PASSED UNANIMOUS.
ITEM 2: REVIEW OF THE MILLONE AND MACBROOM BUILDING FAÇADE REPORT:
- Millone and Macbroom is now joining up with SLR and will change names.
- Building was inspected from the interior and exterior for the first time since last year when they first came out. The cracks have gotten a little bit wider and are greater than 1/8 inch.
- In the places where the borings were close to the building, there was not as much cracking. Millone and Macbroom is starting with suggesting some borings be put into the ground.
- The cracks are being caused by the ground settling in places where borings are not and the ground was not level.
- There were openings done after the building was built and vents were being put in, so there are small cracks all around them.
- Next step would be installing 3 borings and then to come up with a remediation plan and to help oversee the bidding process.
- Oatley asked if the vibrations from the railroads could have expedited the ground settling. K. Patel stated that while it is possible, he thinks it has more to do with the ground, soil, and weight of the building.
- Millone and Macbroom will be going into the basement to see if cracks have spread to the foundation. J. Oatley said although the building is a full story, they may not be able to get all the way in because that is where the recycle wet well is.
- Since crack gauges were not installed A. Atamian asked if there will be a credit issued. K. Patel stated that he will check, but WPCC should not be charged for it.
- Millone and Macbroom will be scheduling a visit to the plant next week.
ITEM 3: REPORT FROM VEOLIA WATER PLANT MANAGERS
Health and Safety
Veolia Water monthly safety training topics conducted in December 2020 included:
- Bloodborne Pathogens: Safety in the Workplace
The project has completed 20 years with no safety incidents.
Noteworthy Operational Information / Maintenance and PM
- Weekly power washing of the on-line primary drum screener.
- Wasted 37,375 gallons of sludge from recycle wet well to the GBT
- 13,138 gallons of waste sludge was hauled off-site for disposal
- Generator service completed
- Yearly forklift service was completed
Regulatory & Compliance
- There were no permit violations for Redding in the month of December
Alarms
- None
CBYD
- None
Points for Discussion
- Drum screener – waiting on quote from Kovacs.
- Quotes from Municipal Maintenance and Northeast Water have come in. Waiting on Kovacs.
- Backflow preventer in original plant building – Three quotes received.
- E. Burke stated that since there was no formal RFP process, they have made sure that all the quotes received are uniform and will be replacing everything.
MOTION: APPROVE THE BARRETT QUOTE TO REPLACE THE BACKFLOW PREVENTER FOR $2989.00. V. MCPHERSON, MOTION. D. PATTEE, SECOND. APPROVED UNANIMOUS.
- Aeration Level sensor – failed unit was approved for replacement.
-
- Level sensor did fall under warranty. Waiting on manufacturer to get a date on shipping the replacement. Pure Power will be putting it back in place and will charge for labor.
- Compressor upgrade quote
- Maintenance staff is being brought in from Veolia to repair existing leaks. Once that is done, a recommendation will be made as to whether another leak study should be done.
- J. Oatley stated that unless all leaks are addressed, there is no way to tell what the true air demand is. Until everything is repaired, the decision for replacement should be made.
Other Discussion:
- J. Oatley stated that Veolia has a corporate policy that everything over $25k must go through the procurement team and get 3 quotes. He stated that he has instructed the Georgetown team to reach out to the procurement team to get assistance on certain repairs that are over $3k-$5k. He knows that consistency has been a concern when it comes to the cost of repairs, therefore he hopes this will be a good solution.
- V. McPherson again stressed the idea of ‘repair vs. replacement’ and that it would be beneficial to assess criticality. A. Atamian stated that there is a computer system that does that. J. Oatley stated that there is a computerized maintenance tool that Veolia uses. It is more of a maintenance schedule, but there may be a way to build onto that to estimate replacement cost.
ITEM 4: DISCUSSION AND ACTION ON INVOICES AND FINANCIAL STATUS
MOTION: Approve all bills subject to fund availability (except for Veolia Monthly January $29,171.53 and Little Blue Construction $967.50) totaling $41,652.92. T. Eubanks, motion. A. Atamian, second. Approved Unanimous.
- Aquarion Monthly: $486.42
- Aquarion Meter Readings Oct/Nov: $54.18
- Aquarion Meter Readings Dec: $15.91
- Eversource: $5,619.92
- Frontier: $326.55
- Hocon- Propane Tank Rental: $15.00
- Hocon – Propane Delivery: $1,440.00
- Hocon – Propane Delivery: $1,444.32
- Hocon Gas – Propane Tank Change Forklift: $81.29
- Oak Ridge Hauling: $160.37
- Santa Fuel – Diesel for Generator: $657.04
- Veolia Meter Readings: $486.41
- Veolia CBYD – November 2020: $30.00
- Veolia Reimbursable – November 2020: $694.76
- Veolia Monthly – December 2020: $30,170.75
- K. Stauffer and A. Atamian put together usage trends for the past year for the customers using the Georgetown sewer system.
- There has been a decline in usage that seems to be coming from Meadow Ridge and the few commercial properties in Georgetown.
- An engineer reached out to K. Stauffer and A. Atamian regarding potential plans for a 17-unit apartment building and asked whether the plant would have the capacity for something like that. The answer was yes, there is capacity for a building like that with the average usage for 1–2-bedroom apartments.
- The Town of Redding will be foreclosing on the GLDC property in the middle of February.
- There was discussion on the Little Blue Construction snowplow bill. There has never been a contract signed with the company. In past years there has been a $90/hr. charge, and this year, there seems to be a $110/hr. charge. There is also a charge for sand and removing the snow with a backhoe.
- V. McPherson asked if the Town could take care of the snowplowing at the sewer plant, K. Stauffer will check with the Highway Department to see if they can do the snowplowing or their subcontractors can add the WPCF to their list of lots.
- Discussion followed.
- K. Stauffer will reach out to Little Blue to get more information on the bill. She will also be putting together an RFP to be sent out in the coming month.
- Black Cat Grille’s health permit is expiring in February. The Tax Collector’s office has advised the Health Department not to renew its permit until payment is made in full. The bank portion of the property is also not paid, but that is separate from the restaurant.
- D. Pattee will ask the bank to reach out to K. Stauffer regarding the delinquency.
- T. Eubanks brought up the owner coming before the commission and having his bills adjusted years ago because his meter was broken. Since then, he has made nominal payments.
- Discussion continued.
- The WPCC may want to piggyback onto the Town’s HVAC contract with Mulvaney Mechanical. K. Stauffer will reach out to Steve and Shaun regarding the possibility of this happening.
ITEM 5: COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS
NONE
ITEM 6: PUBLIC COMMENT
NONE
ITEM 7: ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn: V. McPherson, motion. T. Eubanks, second.
Meeting adjourned at 9:42PM
ACTION ITEMS:
SLR:
- Visit plant next week and look at foundation and make plan for additional borings.
Veolia:
- Get drum screener quote from Kovacs.
- Contact Barrett to install backflow preventer.
- Danbury staff to repair leaks in the pneumatic system by Jan 29; Plant staff to then evaluate if the currently working compressor can meet demand. If so, contact Kaiser to determine if the down compressor can be repaired.
- Work with Veolia Procurement department regarding quotes for large items: Drum Screen, Pumps, Dryer.
- John Oatley to coordinate a demo of the VMAS system for the February meeting.
A. Atamian:
- None
K. Stauffer:
- Review Little Blue invoice with Veolia and coordinate with other town departments re. snow removal seasonal contracting.
- Coordinate with Doug/Tax assessor regarding Black Cat and TD Bank Properties.
Submitted by Katherine Stauffer