For minutes prior to January 2004, please contact Judy Archer of Public Works
at 203-854-7791 or jarcher@norwalkct.org

JUNE 13, 2005

ATTENDANCE: John Atkin, Chairman; Jim McInerney; Beatrice C. Ruiz; Fred Bondi.

STAFF: Ralph Kolb, Wastewater Systems Manager; Hal Alvord, Director DPW; Lisa Bardon, DPW Operations Manager.

OTHERS: Kevin Dahl, OMI; Vicktor Huliew, OMI; Thomas Hamilton, Director of Finance.

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Atkin called the meeting to order at 5:42 p.m.

APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM WPCA MEETING HELD ON MAY 9, 2005

Correction to the minutes of May 9, 2005 are as follows:

Page 5, Monthly Operating Report – March 2005, change “performance band B” to “performance band D”.

** MR. MCINERNEY MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 9, 2005 WPCA MEETING AS AMENDED.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. BONDI).

FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Mr. Hamilton reported that he expected the year-end projected results to be favorable with a fairly sizable surplus. Revenues were projected at $10,665,000.00 and expenses, including debt service, were projected at $9,637,000.00. Mr. Hamilton said that on the expense side there were a couple of areas of overrun and that his staff was still working on documenting some of the conflicts and there may be some other areas in here that may need adjustment before the close of the fiscal year but he thinks he can say with certainty that the results of the operation are favorable.

AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF $75,000 FROM INCREASED ESTIMATED REVENUES TO ACCOUNT NO. 224062 5258 TO COVER A SHORTFALL IN CONTRACT OPERATIONS EXPENDITURES.

Mr. Hamilton offered a spreadsheet related to OMI line items that he said were discussed at the last meeting. Mr. Hamilton said he was not at the last meeting and he understands there had been a request to analyze the account to determine the reason for the projected overrun and he said the spreadsheet basically does that. He said that the CPI increase used to prepare the budget was lower than the actual because of primarily an increase in fuel costs. Mr. Hamilton said in addition to that, the contract with OMI provides for certain reimbursements to the City for Contract Monitoring Services.

Mr. Atkin questioned the numbers not matching in the columns. Mr. Hamilton said that the $32,195 is a subtotal. He said that for some reason the budget started with $3,933,000 rather than $3,922,000 but the correct number to start with was $3,922,000. Ms. Bardon said that for next year’s budget they made corresponding revenue accounts which would adjust the line and that they will bill OMI separately for contract monitoring. Mr. Hamilton said it makes it a little difficult to figure out what the starting point is, and when reconciling the numbers they went back to the original contract and pulled all the CPI numbers to figure out what the right base fee is, which should be the $3,922,000. A $75,000 transfer from increased estimated revenues is required to cover the shortfall in operating expenses.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER.
** MR. McINERNEY SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

AUTHORIZE THE FINANCE DIRECTOR ON BEHALF OF THE WPCA TO MAKE OPERATING BUDGET TRANSFERS AS NECESSARY NOT TO AFFECT THE TOTAL ANNUAL APPROVED BUDGET.

Ms. Bardon said that staff was requesting approval to make line item budget transfers without Board approval so as to not affect the total approved budget. She said this was recommended by the Finance Department and parallels what the Parking Authority does. She said the transfers will be reported back to the Board at each subsequent meeting.

** MR. BONDI MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION.
** MR. McINERNEY SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WPCA TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH CAMP DRESSER & McKEE INC. TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE MAIN LIFT PUMPS/HEADWORKS PROJECT FOR A SUM NOT TO EXCEED $150,000. (FY 05-08 ACCOUNT NO. TBD BY COMPTROLLER)

Ms. Bardon gave a brief description. She said that staff previously informed the board that had prepared a Request for Qualifications soliciting engineering firms to perform a conceptual design for the main pump station and headworks project, and had received seven proposals. Three firms were short-listed for interviews and a panel consisting of Mr. Linnartz, Mr. Kolb, Mr. McInerney, Ms. Diaz and herself are recommending the firm of Camp Dresser & McKee. Ms. Bardon said they went through three different rounds of contract discussions. She said the sum was not to exceed $150,000 and would be funded from next year’s capital dollars.

** MR. McINERNEY MOVED TO APPROVE.
** MR. BONDI SECONDED.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WPCA TO EXECUTE A LETTER OF INTENT WITH THE THIRD TAXING DISTRICT TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY AND NEGOTIATE A POWER SUPPLY AGREEMENT.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO APPROVE.

Mr. Alvord said the process has proceeded according to the Board’s direction at the last meeting. They had held a press conference in the generator building of the Wastewater Treatment Plant the day before last and had agreed with the Third Taxing District and CMEEC on how they will proceed with the study and what the key parts of the study will be, and the Third Taxing District asked them to execute a Letter of Intent because CMEEC will be funding the feasibility study and they want to have some confidence that on conclusion of the study the WPCA will in fact sit down and negotiate in good faith on the replacement of the generators. Mr. Alvord said the Third Taxing District Commissioners are meeting that evening and are also have execution of the Letter of Intent on their agenda.

Mr. Atkin called for discussion on the motion. Mr. Alvord said they have thirty days good faith to negotiate the final contract. Mr. Atkin asked if this was enough time. Mr. Alvord said it was actually more than enough as they want to do it quickly so they can get the new generators in place as quickly as they can, and the Third Taxing District wants to do it quickly because they want to catch the electrical peak this season.

Mr. Atkin asked if there were any public relations issues associated with this, would the generators be bigger than before, noisier than before? Mr. Alvord said they were larger than the existing machines – the two they have now are an 800-kilowatt machine and a 1,000-kilowatt machine and they would be replacing those with two 2,000-kilowatt generators so they are a little larger, but the noise attenuation in the generator building is excellent. He said that when those generators are running nobody knows they are running, so there were no issues there. He said that also the advantage is that instead of the Third Taxing District buying power from the grid they will be producing power with these machines and shipping it out to their customers and avoiding the peak premium cost that they incur from buying power.

** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL LEGAL SERVICES SCOPE OF SERVICES WITH PEPE AND HAZARD TO INCLUDE REVIEWING AND ASSISTING WITH CONTRACT/AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS.

Mr. Alvord said the Board narrowly defined the scope of services initially with Pepe and Hazard to deal with the State regulatory agencies. He said there are instances that he would suggest to the Board where it would be beneficial to have Pepe and Hazard have input into other matters such as contract negotiations. He said they don’t currently have that option under the current resolution.

Ms. Bardon said they have already encumbered $15,000 to assist with the regulatory authorities and that the legal charges have been minimal so far. She said no additional funds are being sought. Mr. Alvord said there was more than enough of the $15,000 left for the remainder of this fiscal year, which is just the remainder of June, and the budget for next year gives them $50,000 for legal support for the next year.

** MR. McINERNEY MOVED TO AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL LEGAL SERVICES SCOPE OF SERVICES WITH PEPE AND HAZARD TO INCLUDE REVIEWING AND ASSISTING WITH CONTRACT/AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS.
** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

AMEND MAY 9, 2005 AUTHORIZATION OF THE CHAIRMAN TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH CONESTOGA-ROVERS & ASSOCIATES IN CONNECTION WITH THE UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK REMOVAL PROGRAM FROM AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $30,000 TO AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $37,000. (ACCOUNT NO. 224062 5789)

Mr. Kolb said Conestoga-Rovers & Associates come out to all six sites along with their subcontractor, Connecticut Tank Removal, to look at the sites and provide a finalized cost estimate. He said that previously they had not been to the site and had given some quick cost estimates. There was more site work and construction than they had anticipated which was why they were asking for an increase in the proposal now. Mr. Kolb said there was a range from $28,000 to $37,000 depending on site conditions. Mr. Kolb said that the Woodward Avenue tank must be registered; since the tank is not just for emergency backup but also heating.

** MS. RUIZ MOVED TO ACCEPT THE AMENDMENT.
** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Aktin left the meeting at 7:30 p.m.
SEPTAGE DISPOSAL

a) ADVANCE AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 92, SEPTAGE DISPOSAL TO THE ORDINANCE COMMITTEE.

Mr. Alvord said that Mr. Kolb prepared these amendments with his and Ms. Bardon’s support and Mr. Alvord wanted to discuss the process. He said ordinance changes have to go through the Authority to advance it and present it to the Ordinance Committee. After the Ordinance Committee approves and holds a public meeting it goes to Common Council for approval.

Mr. Kolb said that he updated the ordinance to today’s septage receiving station procedures, removed references to the Public Works Committee and inserted Water Pollution Control Authority. He presented the existing ordinance marked up with the new changes. Ms. Bardon said there was also a slight change in revoking a license, as they have had some problems with haulers illegally discharging currently at the site. Instead of going to a public hearing, the Director can revoke a license and then the revocation can be appealed.

Mr. McInerney asked if there was a procedure in place now for revocation or suspension of license. Mr. Alvord said yes but that it was very cumbersome, they would have to go to a public hearing and during all that time that they were going through the process, the people involved would still be eligible to dump. Mr. McInerney asked what would happen with a licensee if they were unscrupulous and find someplace else to dump. Mr. Alvord and Ms. Bardon said they would have their license suspended. Mr. Bondi said that it sounds like there aren’t as many suspensions that there could be with this new procedure. Mr. Alvord said that was correct and that one of the reasons he feels the timing is right for it is with delinquent contractors because they will not be issued a new license if they are delinquent in their accounts at all. He said that if they get shut off in any manner at all it gets their attention very quickly. He did not want to be in a position of being a year behind and still going through a public hearing process. This new procedure will allow the license suspensions prior to any hearings.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO ADVANCE THE AMENDMENT TO THE COMMON COUNCIL.

Mr. McInerney asked if this was going to the Council for review. Mr. Alvord said that it would go before the Common Council and be submitted to the Ordinance Committee of the Common Council. The staff support for the Ordinance Committee is provided by the Law Dept., Katherine Lasberg will receive this from the WPCA when the Authority advances it tomorrow, she will do the legal review before it is put on the Ordinance Committee’s agenda. Mr. McInerney asked if this was the last time they would see the amendment. Mr. Alvord said they could go to the Ordinance Committee meeting if there were something that he wanted to change or he could ask staff to attend. Mr. Alvord said the Ordinance Committee meets next week and chances were good that even if the Authority advances this tonight it won’t get on to that agenda.

** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

b) APPROVE UPDATE TO THE SEPTAGE DISPOSAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

Mr. Kolb said they modified the existing rules to reflect how the WPCA currently administers the rules. The Health Department inspects all vehicles; upon approval the DPW registers the vehicles with a $100 registration fee that septic haulers have to pay at the time of registration; and it covers both renewals and new applicants. Ms. Bardon said the new system streamlines the process. Mr. Kolb said that also if a hauler did not pay by five days after the invoice due date, the account of the vehicle owner will be frozen and the only way to get access to the septage receiving station would be to pay the unpaid balance and also a $100 activation fee. They have thirty days to pay after the invoice due date plus an additional five-day grace period before the account becomes inactive. Ms. Bardon said they have had a number of problems with septage receipt and there have been a lot of concerns. Mr. Alvord said they have had issues with two trucks that will come in from different companies, that if one disconnects and the other connects quickly enough it the septage receiving unit doesn’t recognize another discharger, or haulers will come in with a 3,000-gallon truck and plug in a pin number for a 1,500-gallon truck. He said the accounts are billed by volume and truck size, so one of the short-term approaches would be to have an observer onsite at all times, and they were looking at a series of things they could do to tighten up the controls. Ms. Bardon said the new system gives them a little more control over these situations and is a significant revenue for them now. Mr. Bondi asked if this becomes effective immediately. Mr. McInerney said it does.

** MR. McINERNEY MOVED TO APPROVE THE UPDATE.
** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR REPORT

a) BYLAWS

Mr. Alvord said there was a draft of the bylaws in the members’ information packets and he submits that from the staff standpoint they were actionable. Mr. Alvord said they were comfortable that this was a workable set of bylaws. Ms. Bardon said that as mentioned in a previous meeting the WPCA ordinance refers to the bylaws which they discovered they did not have. She said that many of the bylaws are the same language as the ordinance; there were a few things that were added such as voting; what constitutes a quorum; meetings and how they were to be conducted; amending the bylaws and that the bylaws were a little bit more defined than what was in the ordinance. They added things such as cost of service; auditing; Article 10, flow of funds which talks about how additional revenue should be used.

Mr. McInerney asked if the bylaws limit them in any way. He wanted to know about how the cost of service was determined each year and what is the process, saying it sounds like a pretty large task. Ms. Bardon said the first year it will be, but then it will be just an updating after that. Mr. McInerney said the initial effort will be significant. He also asked about the Director making the rates effective if the Board did not approve. Ms. Bardon said the intent was to get the bills issued to cover the cost of the operation as to not have a cash-flow issue.

Mr. McInerney said this is just one of many options but there needs to be consistency and efficiency in whatever process we come up with. Mr. Alvord says we deal with two water companies, Second and First, and one would like to do the billing and the other doesn’t want anything to do with the billing; there needs to be consistency. If we have to close that out but we’re not at a point where we feel we can make a recommendation on what the appropriate approach is, the first decision we need is, are we going to bill on consumption now. Ms. Bardon said that with the cost of services study in a first-year effort there could be alternatives given the impact on customers, this is where a cost of services study would seek to understand the differences.

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO APPROVE.
** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

b) CONTRACT OPERATIONS MONITORING

Ms. Bardon said they put out a request; they have six firms submitting and they did interviews on June 3rd and invited Ms. Ruiz. She said they should have something for the next meeting.

c) COLLECTION SYSTEMS ISSUES – GENERAL: NORTH MAIN

Mr. Kolb said that last week there was a problem and OMI was notified that there was sewage coming through the walls at a business on North Main so OMI went out and investigated the problem and they identified that the sewer line in 2 locations had big gaps in a 12-inch line which had eroded the adjoining soil. OMI is getting A.J. Penna out there to fix those two areas before they become a bigger problem.

Mr. Kolb wanted to add another location, Chapel Street. Apparently a DPW crew identified a sinkhole adjacent to a manhole; they notified OMI who went out and inspected it. There is no pipe collapse; however, OMI poured water down the hole and it was coming into the sewer line, so they discovered an unused lateral that has a hole in it, so OMI is contacting A.J. Penna to do an emergency repair to avoid problems of a bigger sinkhole in that area. A.J. Penna will excavate, repair the cracked pipe and stop infiltration to the main sewer line so there aren’t any accidents.

d) WPCA PART TIME GIS INTERN

Ms. Bardon said she just wanted to let the Board know that they had budgeted for a GIS consultant in next fiscal year and that the City has hired GIS interns. She wanted to inform the Board that the WPCA will be using the part time GIS intern at $14.00 per hour to be billed against the GIS account.

e) INFORMATION COPIES

1) OMI LETTER – CONTRACT YEAR 06 ADMINISTRATIVE FEE AND MAJOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT FUND ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
Mr. Kolb said there was a letter in the packet from OMI. The CTI adjustment was 4.17 percent so we have CYO6 on the revenue shows that is OMI’s annual fee based on the CPI adjustment, and the pump station MRR account and the collection system from MRR replacement account. As discussed earlier, this coming fiscal year the WPCA budgeted an a CPI of 3.5 percent, but the actual is 4.17 percent.

2) STORMWATER DISCHARGE REGISTRATION
Mr. Kolb said there are two storm water outfalls at the waste treatment plant. They recently received a certificate of registration. Mr. McInerney asked about the status of the NPDES permit. Ms. Bardon said she had contacted a DEP on numerous occasions and she was told that they were not ready to discuss the City’s comments although she had asked several times. She was told the DEP would get back to her but they have not.
3) CLEAN WATER FUND LETTER TO CTDEP
Mr. Kolb said he sent a letter to DEP of project priority list asking for clean water funding; he identified $8 million dollars in projects, one of which was ongoing right now, a headwater/pumps project; the second one was storm drains, scheduled for later in the year, and the third one was emergency bypass overflow. Based on OMI’s investigation there has been $21 million dollars in collection system rehab identified; and down the road they need to look at if we want to put in $200,000 for a study for nitrogen removal and $20 million for design and construction of nitrogen reduction improvements. He said plan for the future was needed as nitrogen removal will be more stringent.

4) UPDATED SEWER USE RATES, BILLING INFORMATION & APPEALS PROCESS
Ms. Bardon said we adopted the updated appeals process in February with billing rates for the next year and that the ordinance change was approved by the Ordinance Committee so that was approved as well. For billing adjustments, they changed the wording to make it more consistent to how customers were actually billed.
CONTRACT OPERATIONS REPORT

a) PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR REPORT

1) MONTHLY OPERATIONS/WEEKLY COORDINATION MEETINGS BRIEFING
Mr. Kolb said they were going to change from monthly operations group meetings to quarterly operations meetings, but they will continue their weekly meetings with OMI. Mr. Alvord said he didn’t want to discontinue the active approach, he said the Monday working group that involves the independent engineer, the operator OMI, and the Authority staff he wanted to keep on track as they have been, and the day-to-day operational issues his staff and Kevin’s staff can deal with.

b) OMI REPORT

1) KEELER BROOK CONSENT ORDER UPDATE
Mr. Dahl reported that there was a notice to proceed with All-State Power Vac. He said they did have some initial concerns with their references. He said All-State will use a subcontractor, A.J. Penna for the excavation work.

2) MONTHLY OPERATING REPORT – APRIL 2005
Mr. Dahl said there were no violations at the plant or any pump stations. There was a grease event at the intersection of Connecticut Ave. and Richards Ave. from one of the restaurants in the area.

3) COLLECTION SYSTEM AND PUMP STATION MRR ACCOUNTS
Mr. Dahl said he added in Contract Year 06 CPI adjusted funds to the MRR accounts.

ACTION ON ANY ITEM DISCUSSED HEREIN
All actions were taken previously.
ADJOURNMENT

** MR. BONDI MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Linda J. Hayes
Telesco Secretarial Services

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