WATER POLLUTION CONTROL COMMISSION
Regular Meeting
Virtual Zoom Meeting
April 21, 2021
MINUTES
Present: Amy Atamian, Todd Eubanks, Dave Pattee, Kirby Klump, Vanessa McPherson, Charles Cilo
Also, Present: Eugene Burke, Jeremy Nixon, Calos Pavia, and John Oatley of Veolia. Katherine Stauffer, WPCC Administrator.
Amy Atamian called the meeting to order at 7:33 PM
Amy Atamian welcomed Charles Cilo as the newest member of the Water Pollution Control Commission. He is from the Planning Commission.
ITEM 1: APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 17, 2021 MEETING.
Header for item 1, change date to February 17, 2021.
Motion: Approve the minutes of the March 17, 2021 meeting as amended. D. Pattee, motion. V. McPherson, second. Approved unanimous.
ITEM 2: REPORT FROM VEOLIA WATER PLANT MANAGERS
Health and Safety
Veolia Water monthly safety training topics conducted in March 2021 included:
- Fire Prevention and Response
- Fire Extinguisher Use
This project has completed 21 years with no safety incidents.
Noteworthy Operational Information/Maintenance and PM
- Weekly power washing of the on-line primary drum screen.
- Wasted 29,292 gallons of sludge to the GBT.
- Wasting has gone up due to the addition of PAC.
- 11,606 gallons of waste sludge was removed from the holding tank for offsite disposal.
- Membrane inorganics backwash was completed.
- This helps with effluent production.
- UV System is online.
- Poly Aluminum Chloride system is now running.
- Quarterly Aquatic Toxicity and Sludge metals testing was completed.
- Annual hoist load testing and inspection was completed.
- Annual inspection of the forklift was completed.
- Backflow preventer and new lab faucet/eyewash install completed.
Regulatory and Compliance
There were no permit violations for Redding in the month of March 2021.
Alarms
- Influent pump fault – rag build up was found in the impeller
- Problem could not be determined remotely. Went to the plant, cleaned out impeller of rags and got it back up and running.
- A rag letter was mailed with the April 1, 2021 Billing
- Kaeser Compressor filter malfunction.
CBYD
There were no CBYD requests for the month of March 2021
Points for Discussion
- Kaeser completed repair to filter on the compressor system and PM on blowers.
- New influent pump was installed by Veolia Naugatuck crew.
- Installed on March 24, 2021
- Door lock repair – quotes are ongoing – working on getting best price.
- Fairly expensive due to the fact that it is a commercial door.
- Since the lock is 30+ years old, one will have to be retrofitted to the door.
- McPherson stated that she will help with trying to find a cheaper option for a replacement.
- Update on purchases approved at meeting on March 17, 2021
- All items have been received and installed.
- Grinder:
- When the Naugatuck crew was at the plant looking at the drum screener, they found rag buildup in the drum screener. They went to look at the grinders and found that they were very worn down.
- They recommend that the cutters within the grinders be replaced.
- There was a rag letter sent out with the April 1, 2021 Billing.
- There was a quote given for a new grinder for $8,930.48
- McPherson asked if there is a way to install a coarser screen prior to everything going into the grinder to lessen the number of things being ground up and sent into the drum screener. J. Oatley stated that there may not be a way to add an additional screen before the grinder.
- McPherson asked if, before buying 2 new grinders, to see if there can be a rack or tray installed in place of the nonfunctioning grinder. J. Oatley will check with members of other plants to see if there has been any success with this process.
MOTION: Approve the purchase of a new grinder not to exceed $9,500.00. T. Eubanks, motion. K. Klump, second. Approved unanimously.
- Annual maintenance was done on all four blowers. The last blower (#4) has been offline since last year. During the maintenance, it was found that the blower had a seal that was leaking. The blower will have to be sent to Kaeser to have it analyzed.
- Atamian authorized an expenditure of $1,900 prior to the meeting to have Kaeser remove the blower from its housing.
- Update on Maintenance Cloud Asset Management System:
- It has been installed and training has begun.
- Atamian stated that there should be a plan for next year to jet clean the sewer lines. J. Oatley stated that he will put a quote together for that.
- Discussion on when the Veolia contract is up occurred. J. Oatley stated that it was automatically renewed in 2017 for a 15-year term.
- Atamian asked about the Lab Services and noted that the spending in that line item has increased in the past couple of years. J. Oatley stated that Veolia geta a corporate discount to use Phoenix but is going out to bid for a new vendor soon.
- McPherson asked for an update on the level sensor transducer. That was installed. On April 8th.
- McPherson asked for an update on the recirculation pumps. J. Nixon stated that the tank needed to empty first. Now that the tank has emptied to their satisfaction, he will call out the Naugatuck crew to come out.
Veolia left at 8:41 PM
ITEM 3: DISCUSSION AND ACTION ON INVOICES AND FINANCIAL STATUS
MOTION: Approve all invoices, except for Veolia Monthly – April, subject to fund availability. K. Klump, motion. T. Eubanks, second. Passed unanimously.
APPROVED INVOICES:
- Abel Womack – Forklift Chain Repair: $530.93
- Abel Womack – Annual Forklift Maintenance: $145.00
- Aquarion Monthly: $239.51
- Aquarion Meter Readings: $70.09
- Eversource: $4,996.63
- Frontier Communications: $328.43
- Hocon Industrial Gas: $15.00
- Hocon Gas – Propane: $1,166.40
- Mulvaney Plumbing – 29 Old Mill Road: $150.00
- Mulvaney Plumbing – Commercial Meter Check: $825.00
- Keough’s Paint and Hardware: $17.08
- Michael Barrett – Backflow Preventer: $3,739.44
- Oak Ridge Hauling: $160.37
- Quality Data Service – Blank Bills: $74.95
- SLR International Corporation: $181.60
- SLR International Corporation: $3,357.50
- SLR International Corporation: $480.00
- Redding Town Clerk – Lien Releases: $150.00
- Trojan UV – New Lamps: $2,068.30
- Veolia Reimbursable – February 2021: $13,751.83
- Veolia Monthly – March 2021: $29,171.53
INVOICES NOT APPROVED:
- Veolia Monthly – April 2021: $29,171.83
Other Discussion:
- Mulvaney Plumbing checked all commercial meters and there are two that need to be replaced. K. Stauffer is going to be getting a quote to replace all of the residential meters.
- Stauffer is waiting for a copy of the lease on the TD Bank building to say they are responsible for paying the sewer usage fee.
- SLR sent in their final invoice for task #2, which included their recommendations. A. Atamian will try to have Shaun Donnelly go to the plant and see what can be done to fulfill the recommendations.
- McPherson asked if Aquarion had been out to check the backflow preventers. K. Stauffer will reach out to them to have them check the work.
ITEM 4: COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS
NONE
ITEM 5: PUBLIC COMMENT
NONE
ITEM 6: ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn: T. Eubanks, motion. V. McPherson second.
Meeting adjourned at 9:07 PM
ACTION ITEMS:
Veolia:
- Be sure that grinder quote is all inclusive of shipping and handling.
- Veolia to provide lock information to V. McPherson for architect consultation
- Veolia to provide quotes for plant water pump and blower.
Amy/Katherine:
- Reach out to Sal at Meadow Ridge to see if their grinder needs to be emptied of debris or serviced.
- Ask Jeff Hanson if the Highway Department can seal the cracks in the parking lot.
- Call Aquarion to inspect new backflow preventer.
- Amy to provide building crack report to Shaun Donnelly for review and comment.
Submitted by Katherine Stauffer