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| WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY MINUTES |
| Click here for Year 2003 Minutes |
For minutes prior to January 2003, please contact Richard Linnartz,
Acting Director of Public Works
at 854-7791 or rlinnartz@norwalkct.org
DECEMBER 13, 2004
ATTENDANCE: John Atkin, Chair; Mayor Alex Knopp; Tim Buzzee; Jim McInerney; Fredrika Bikakis; Fred Bondi; Hal Alvord, Tom Hamilton
STAFF: Lisa Bardon, Operations Manager
Ralph Kolb, Wastewater Systems Manager
Ken Whitman, Tax Assessor
OTHERS: Vicktor Huliew, OMI
John Rickermann, OMI
Kevin Dahl, OMI
CALL TO ORDER
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM WPCA MEETINGS
a) October 18, 2004
** MR. MCINERNEY MADE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 18, 2004.
** MOTION PASSED WITH TWO ABSTENSIONS (MR. BONDI AND
MR. BUZZEE)
b) November 8, 2004
** MS. BIKAKIS MADE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 8, 2004.
** MR. MCINERNEY SECONDED THE MOTION.
** MOTION PASSED WITH TWO ABSTENSIONS, (MR. BONDI AND
MR. BUZZEE).
ACT ON SEWER USE APPEALS
a) Sixth Taxing District – 177 Rowayton Avenue
Mr. Alvord said that Dick Linnartz would not be attending the Authority meetings any longer, Ralph Kolb will pick up the review of those appeals. He said that letters were sent out regarding their recommendation for approval. Mr. Alvord stated that one letter was based on water usage and the other one on 26 Channel Avenue was not on the sewer system at the time they got billed for it. He recommended an adjustment to the bill and said that in the future they would be billed for sewer usage.
b) Resident Sewer Use Appeals – Previous Years
Mr. Alvord said that the Sixth Taxing District was billed at a certain rate based on usage and when he looked into the numbers they were correct.
** MOTION WAS MADE TO ACCEPT THE TWO ITEMS.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
TRANSFER OF FUNDS
Authorize the transfer of funds from WPCA Contingency Account to Account Number 22 40 62 5741 for the purchase of 3 computers (2 in connection with the PortoLogic Septage Receiving and Billing Software System; 1 for the Wastewater Systems Manager), for a sum not to exceed $3,600.00. (Approved by the ITT Committee on 10/20/04.)
Mr. Alvord said that the only action here is the transfer of funds from the reserve account into the proper account so that the computers could be paid for.
** MR. MCINERNEY MADE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM WPCA REPLACEMENT
RESERVE ACCOUNT TO ACCOUNT NUMBER 22 40 62 5741 FOR THE PURCHASE OF 3 COMPUTERS
FOR A SUM NOT TO EXCEED $3,600.00.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Authorize the transfer of funds from the WPCA Contingency Account to Account Number 22 40 62 5230 to pay for the PortoLogic Septage Receiving System Equipment and Software via the Agreement with Elemech, for a sum not to exceed $20,000.00. (Approved by the WPCA on 4/12/04.
Mr. Alvord said that the action is approving the transfer of funds from the reserve account into the proper account so that Elemech can be paid. He said that the Authority approved the purchase of the Elemech System, the septic receiving system which has been installed and was operational on November 1, 2004.
** MAYOR KNOPP MADE A MOTON MADE TO ACCEPT THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS FROM WPCA
REPLACEMENT RESERVE ACCOUNT TO
ACCOUNT NUMBER 22 40 62 5230 TO PAY FOR THE PORTOLOGIC
SEPTAGE RECEIVING SYSTEM EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE FOR
A SUM NOT TO EXCEED $20,000.00.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
DISCUSSION OF PRO-RATED SEWER USE FEES
Ken Whitman, Tax Assessor, said that this item deals with the issue regarding billing of the sewer use fee for changes that have happened from one Grand List to the next. He suggested that the Committee use rules that are similar to the way they deal with real estate, meaning that property is billed based on its usage as of October 1st. He recommended that they prorate the sewer use fee. He said that there have been hundreds of complaints from taxpayers who are paying these fees.
Mr. Atkin asked if there had been any analysis done with regard to what the impact might be on collections fiscally. Mr. Whitman said that based on the number of adjustments made so far, it would be a few thousand dollars.
Mr. Alvord suggested sitting down with Mr. Whitman between now and the January meeting and draft a specific proposal on the Authority’s process and procedure and come up with some idea of the cost to the Authority and what would be lost and what would be gained.
DISCUSSION OF WPCA MEMBERSHIP
This item was deleted from the agenda.
PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR REPORT
a) Introduction of Operations Manager and Wastewater Systems Manager
Mr. Alvord said the management restructuring that was built into this year’s budget is now completed with the joining to the staff of the Operation’s Manager, Lisa Bardon. He said that Ms. Bardon most recently served as Assistant General Manager of the Water Pollution Control Authority in New Haven. Mr. Alvord said that Ms. Bardon has not only served the City of New Haven in the Engineering Department and also as a consultant. In addition to being responsible for the wastewater treatment system in the City, she is also responsible for the highway section, garbage and recycling and fleet maintenance. Ms. Bardon is a registered Engineer. Mr. Alvord said that he is very pleased to have Ms. Bardon working for the City of Norwalk.
Mr. Alvord said that the other person that is relatively new to the City of Norwalk is Ralph Kolb, Wastewater Systems Manager. He said that both Ms. Bardon and Mr. Kolb would be attending monthly meetings of the WPCA. Mr. Alvord said that Mr. Kolb would be picking up the sewer use appeals. Mr. Kolb joins the City of Norwalk from BCM Engineers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he worked as a consultant in the wastewater systems business. Mr. Kolb is also a registered Engineer. Mr. Alvord said that a lot of his time has been automatically freed up by the hiring of Mr. Kolb and Ms. Bardon.
NPDES PERMIT STATUS
Mr. Alvord said that he invited the DEP, specifically Rowland Denny who is responsible for municipal facilities, to tour the wastewater treatment plant. He said that he was given a tour principally to demonstrate that a lot of the issues were being addressed at the DEP as a result of the expansion of the plant, like landscaping. Mr. Alvord said that there was a really good discussion afterwards with regard to where the City of Norwalk and the Authority’s future, Mr. Denny’s perceptions about what the City is doing and the NPDES permit. Mr. Alvord said that storm flow was discussed. He stated that Mr. Denny faxed him the design flow rate criteria that the Connecticut DEP uses and the recommendation by OMI, DPW staff and Malcolm Pirnie was to accept the capacity rating of 18 MGD versus the requested 20 MGD. He said that the DEP is ready to issue the permit at 18-design flow rate and 30-storm flow rate.
MONTHLY OPERATIONS MEETING (DECEMBER 8) – ACTION ITEMS
1. Nitrogen Amendment
Mr. Alvord said that the working group met (Action Log submitted). He said the Nitrogen amendment, which was an amendment to the contract, was already approved in August. He said it was sent to the OMI on November 24, 2004. He said there is some indication that the document that was sent was not the document that the Authority approved. He said that he has asked OMI not to execute anything until he has had the opportunity to compare the documents to make sure that they have the proper amendment that the Authority approved.
2. Chlorination/Dechlorination Agreement
Mr. Alvord said that this was approved by the Authority back in the early Spring. It was proposed to the Authority as a letter agreement by OMI. Mr. Alvord said that the law department created another amendment to the Contract (Amendment No. 3) to perform this work. Mr. Alvord noted that out of scope projects should not be handled as amendments to the Operating Agreement. He said that Ms. Bardon would meet with the law department to see if they can come up with a document that will serve this purpose without have so many amendments.
3. Energy Management
Mr. Alvord said that a draft Energy Management Program was presented. He said that Malcolm Pirnie was asked to review it based on their knowledge of working with various utility companies in the City of Norwalk. They did make good suggestions as far as potential rebates and OMI will follow up the Third Taxing District on the possibility of additional savings on the rebate program.
4. Asset Management
Mr. Alvord said that this is an ongoing item. Mr. Rickermann gave an update of what Mr. Sanford presented last month. He said that it is a condensed version of the Asset Management plan. Mr. Rickermann referred to a spreadsheet listing of each of the pump stations, an asset value and an install value. There are 24 pump stations at a cost of approximately $4.6 million dollars. There was discussion with regard to the maintenance of the pump stations. Mr. Alvord said that one of the goals is to eliminate pump stations wherever they can.
5. Collection System Management
Mr. Alvord deferred to OMI on this matter. Kevin Dahl provided an update on the progress of inspecting the collection system. Approximately 94% of the 142 collection system miles originally identified have been televised. Additional pipelines are being identified and added to the list. The exact number of collection system miles has not yet been established.
6. Items #7, 8, 13, 15 - handoffs
Mr. Alvord said that these are items for which he has received proposals from OMI over a number of months and has not been able to get to. He said that there would be responses and updates at the January meeting on each of these items.
OMI REPORT
a) Monthly Operating Report
A report was submitted for November. Mr. Dahl stated that there were 88 work orders completed for November and a backlog of 98. The backlog is cumulative. There were 3 chlorine violations for the month. There were pump station upgrades in the month of November and two bypasses were noted, one was a private line at 20 Glover Avenue. The other bypass was on Cedar Avenue. There were no changes in personnel and there are a total of 25 employees. There were two reported minor injuries.
b) Keeler Brook Pump Station
Originally put out to bid with no response. Mr. Rickermann said that he has been in contact with a couple of contractors. Mr. Alvord said that he would keep the DEP informed with regard to the bid process.
c) Collection system MRR
Mr. Dahl said that they had expended $154,000 for the pump stations. The MRR account balance for the collection system is about $512,000.
DISCUSSION – BOND COMMISSION UPDATE
Mr. Alvord referred to an email from the Mayor informing him that the City has finally received a commitment to include the Norwalk issue on the Bond Commission agenda for December. The Bond Commission approved it today. The grant has been increased to $1,581,000.00 and the paper work is being finalized for the grant and loan with the DEP.
DISCUSSION – OPERATING BUDGET DEVELOPMENT AND
CAPITAL BUDGET DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Alvord said that they do not have the first cut of either budget. He said that the City staff is in the operating budget/capital budget cycle right now. Mr. Alvord said that there was some discussion with regard to the approach of the operating budget. He said that he hopes to have a much more detailed operating budget this year for the January meeting. There will also be a capital budget proposal, which he hopes will be cut to the Authority next month.
Mr. Hamilton said that Mr. Alvord might need to expedite the capital budget in order to have it in place as part of the process. He said that it is a five-year capital plan and the budget is approved annually for one year.
DISCUSSION –SCHEDULE OF AUTHORITY MEETINGS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2005
2005 Calendar was submitted. WPCA meetings will be held on the second Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. The next meeting will be on Monday, January 10, 2005 at 5:30 p.m., Room 231, City Hall.
ADJOURNMENT
** MR. MCINERNEY MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda L. Custis
Telesco Secretarial Services
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