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

JULY 10, 2006

ATTENDANCE: John Atkin, Chairman; Jim McInerney;
Mayor Richard A. Moccia; Beatriz Ruiz; Fred Wilms

STAFF: Hal Alvord, Public Works Director (5:37 p.m.);
Lisa Bardon, Operations Manager;
Ralph Kolb, Wastewater Systems Manager

OTHER: Kevin Dahl, OMI; Tom Hamilton, Finance Dir. (5:36 p.m.);
Bruce Kirkland, Malcolm Pirnie;
Cathy Mallon, Malcolm Pirnie;
Tony Doumlele; Diane Lauricella

1. CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Atkin called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.

2. APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM WPCA MEETING HELD ON JUNE 12, 2006

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JUNE 12, 2006.

** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE (1) ABSTENTION (WILMS).

Mr. Hamilton arrived at 5:36 p.m.

3. APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM WPCA SPECIAL MEETING ON JUNE 16, 2006

** MR. WILMS MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JUNE 16, 2006 (SPECIAL MEETING).

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Alvord arrived at 5:37 p.m.

4. ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND SECRETARY

Mr. McInerney said he will act as Chair while they vote for Chairman. The vote for Vice Chairman and Secretary will then take place.

Chairman

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO NOMINATE JOHN ATKIN AS CHAIRMAN.

** MR. WILMS SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Vice Chairman

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO NOMINATE JIM MCINERNEY AS VICE CHAIRMAN.

** MR. WILMS SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Secretary

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO NOMINATE DALENE BYRD AS SECRETARY.

** MR. WILMS SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

It was mentioned that the Secretary role is not a member of the Board, and it is a non-voting position.

5. AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEBRUARY 1, 2006 AGREEMENT WITH MALCOLM PIRNIE, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $159,000 TO INCLUDE DESIGN, BIDDING, AND CONSTRUCTION PHASE SERVICES FOR THE REHABILITATION OF THE SEAVIEW AND COVE AVENUE INTERCEPTOR IN ACCORDANCE WITH A SCOPE OF WORK DATED JULY 7, 2006. (REPRESENTATIVE FROM MALCOLM PIRNIE TO ATTEND.)

ACCOUNT NO. 09004060 5777 C0043

** MS. RUIZ MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE FEBRUARY 1, 2006 AGREEMENT WITH MALCOLM PIRNIE, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $159,000 TO INCLUDE DESIGN, BIDDING, AND CONSTRUCTION PHASE SERVICES FOR THE REHABILITATION OF THE SEAVIEW AND COVE AVENUE INTERCEPTOR IN ACCORDANCE WITH A SCOPE OF WORK DATED JULY 7, 2006.

Ms. Bardon explained that at the last meeting, Mr. Bruce Kirkland from Malcolm Pirnie gave a presentation on this. There were a number of sewers that would need rehabilitation before the Collection System Master Plan would be put into place. The section of sewer is about 5,000 feet, and it is the same 36 inch interceptor sewer that collapsed (Item 10B). The goal would be to do this work before it becomes an emergency. The rate would be $900-$1,000 per ft. on an emergency basis, and $180-$200 per ft. on a non-emergency basis.

Mr. Kirkland gave a brief overview of the presentation, explaining that the rehabilitation procedure uses cured, in-place lining and watertight manhole covers.

Ms. Bardon explained that in a review of the budget process for this year, they had identified just over $1M of unexpended GO bonds from previous years that would fund this project.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

6. AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH OMI TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO CONDUCT AN INDUSTRIAL PRETREATMENT PROGRAM (IPP) SURVEY FOR A SUM NOT TO EXCEED $191,000 IN ACCORDANCE WITH LETTER PROPOSAL DATED JUNE 30, 2006. (COPY INCLUDED).

ACCOUNT NO. 2240625230

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH OMI TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO CONDUCT AN INDUSTRIAL PRETREATMENT PROGRAM (IPP) SURVEY FOR A SUM NOT TO EXCEED $191,000 IN ACCORDANCE WITH LETTER PROPOSAL DATED JUNE 30, 2006.

Mr. Alvord explained that this price is in the range for a city the size of Norwalk. This is intended to be a compliance program, not a revenue generator, but it is expected to generate a revenue of about $500,000.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

7. AUTHORIZE THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO TRANSFER AND APPROPRIATE $191,000 FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RELATED TO THE IPP SURVEY FROM THE WPCA AVAILABLE FUND BALANCE TO OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (ACCOUNT NO. 224062 5230).

** MS. RUIZ MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO TRANSFER AND APPROPRIATE $191,000 FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RELATED TO THE IPP SURVEY FROM THE WPCA AVAILABLE FUND BALANCE TO OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.

Mr. Hamilton said that this will go to the Board of Estimate & Taxation and Common Council for approval.

8. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT

a. YTD Revenues/Expenditures Report (MUNIS report included)

Mr. Hamilton reviewed his written report. He said that from a revenue standpoint, the operations are producing more than originally budgeted. The collections are mostly complete for the year at $9.4M, which is about $740,000 more than budgeted. The septic disposal fees came in at $518,000, and they were budgeted for $320,000. The investment income for WPCA is about $335,000 for the year. The positive budget results are due to higher interest rates and the fund balance. He said that on a cash basis, they are about $900,000 over for the year.

9. SEWER USE FEES

a. Sewer Use Fee Billing Status – Appeals & Questions (report included)

Mr. Kolb said they received about 15 calls regarding sewer fees. Some are basic questions, and some were requests for adjustments.

b. 24 Monroe Street sewer use fee appeal (letter included)

Mr. Kolb explained that the HVAC/ductwork cleaning was done by a cleaning company whose worker ruptured the water main. The main was repaired, but the building flooded after the water was turned back on because the building was closed. The water consumption rate for last year was the highest. Mr. Kolb asked the Board to turn this into an action item to authorize him to do an adjustment using last year’s consumption data. Mr. Alvord confirmed that billing them at last year’s rate would be a reasonable resolution.

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD AN ITEM TO THE AGENDA.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE ADJUSTMENT BASED ON ACTUAL PREVIOUS USE.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

10. PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR REPORT

a. DEP Inspection July 7, 2006

Mr. Kolb explained this inspection by the DEP was in response to an anonymous call that there were suspended solids and an oily sheen coming from the wastewater treatment plant. After the inspection, it was determined that there were no problems. Ms. Bardon said that the DEP is required to send field notes on inspections of this type.

b. 36-inch sewer interceptor at WWTP Update (proposal included)

Mr. Alvord said the estimate for the emergency repair at the wastewater treatment plant was $200,000. The bids came in at $345,000 and $369,000. They plan to meet with the contractor tomorrow.

c. Collection System Issues – General:

1. Woodward Avenue Sewer Collapse

Mr. Dahl explained that a rock was blocking off the pipe. The pipe was repaired by AJ Penna in one day.

2. Westport Avenue Sewershed Issues/6 Gwendolyn Update

Mr. Kolb said the work is being conducted again, after a brief hiatus to do an emergency project.

d. Third Taxing District Generator Project Update

Mr. Alvord explained that they have had meetings with NexGen. They received their proposed scope of the work today. They would like to send CMEC a letter requesting a term sheet for the proposal of the generator installation. He confirmed that there would be four generators in total, one 5-mw machine and three 2-mw machines. One would be used as backup to the plant with redundancy for backup to a second machine. The other 9 megawatts would be for ISO New England and CMEC to use for peak shaving and load response.

e. Information Copies: None

11. CONTRACT OPERATIONS REPORT

a. Public Works Director Report

1. Contract Operations Monitoring – Board comments

Ms. Cathy Mallon from Malcolm Pirnie said the report of the annual inspection of the facility as well as the periodic audit and equipment conditions was provided. She said they have seen improvement on the periodic audit over the last four years, which demonstrated commitment by the City and OMI. The annual inspection showed good performance from OMI during this period. She said the system was in good shape overall.

Mr. McInerney asked about the ranking system that was used, and why it seemed that the risk ranking system was used the most. Ms. Mallon did confirm that there was some confusion regarding the ranking system but explained that it was used based on previous years to be as consistent as possible. There were different ranking systems used for the periodic audit vs. the annual inspection. He asked that of the 22 pumping stations, how did 5 of them get identified as risk-ranked. Ms. Bardon explained that not all of them are done every year, but instead 5 one year, and 5 another year. They are revisited if they are found to be in poor shape, in order to be prioritized.

b. OMI Report

1. Monthly Operating Report – May 2006 (copy included)

Mr. Dahl read from his written report. There were 125 work orders completed, with 165 backlogged. Three safety tailgates were conducted. There were no personnel changes, and they still have the Operator 2 job for the 3rd shift open. There were no safety or lost time incidents. Total nitrogen performance was 5.5 per liter.

2. Collection System and Pump Station MRR Accounts (copy included)

Mr. Dahl said there were no MRR repairs.

11. ACTION ON ANY ITEM DISCUSSED HEREIN

Mayor Moccia said that they will be appointing proxies in order to assure that they have quorums for the meetings.

He also said that he recommended Ms. Bardon to be on the Task Force for the Clean Water Fund.

12. ADJOURNMENT

** MAYOR MOCCIA MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services

Next WPCA Meeting: Monday, August 14, 2006
5:30 p.m.
Room 231, Norwalk City Hall

Back to Previous Page	Back to Home Page