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| WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY MINUTES |
For minutes prior to January 2004, please
contact Judy Archer of Public Works
at 203-854-7791 or jarcher@norwalkct.org
CITY OF NORWALK
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY
NOVEMBER 19, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Jim McInerney, Vice Chairman
Bill Krummel
Fred Wilms
Tony Doumlele
Frederika Bikakis-Hajian
Darren Oustafine
STAFF: Hal Alvord, DPW Public Works Director
Lisa Bardon, DPW Operations Manager
OTHERS: Kevin Dahl, CH2M Hill OMI
Gregg Higgins, CH2M Hill OMI
Catherine Mallon Traynor, Malcolm Pirnie
Lailani Metzler, Malcolm Pirnie
Diane Lauricella, League of Women Voters
John Frank, Norwalk Shellfish Commission
Peter Johnson, Norwalk Shellfish Commission
1. CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chairman McInerney called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM
2. APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM WPCA MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 15, 2007 (COPY INCLUDED)
Ms. Bikakis-Hajian said on page 4, Item 7C, to change “Biakkis” to “Bikakis”
** MR. DOUMLELE MOVED TO APPROVE THE ITEM WITH CORRECTIONS
** MOTION PASSED
** ONE ABSTENTION - MS. BIKAKIS-HAJIAN
3. REPORTS
a. FY07-08 Revenues/Expenditures Report (report included)
Mr. Krummel asked when the Town of Wilton would be billed. Ms. Bardon said they would be billed this month. Mr. Doumlele asked what price purchasing pays for electricity. Ms. Bardon said the City went out this year and hired a third party called Sempra. She said that South Norwalk Electric Works, Third Taxing District, and CL&P currently provide electric services to the WPCA. She said that the Purchasing Department contracted with Sempra to save money on the generation cost and at this point the billing has not been correct, and that the Purchasing Department pays the bills directly out of the WPCA account. She said she will be working to figure out what is actually being billed and that it is correct. Mr. McInerney asked why on the expense side are the support services and salaries already booked at 100 percent. Ms. Bardon said that comes from the Finance Department and that Mr. Hamilton said he would provide a breakdown of the actual per monthly if requested. Ms. Bardon said this is the first year that there were administrative costs related to finance so they booked it at the beginning of the fiscal year. Mr. McInerney said he would like to see a breakdown on a monthly basis.
b. Sewer Connection Fee & Sewer Use Bill Appeals/Adjustments
1) Status Update
Ms. Bardon said the appeals to date are still at $85,500 in adjustments and that $150,000 was budgeted for adjustments for this fiscal year.
2) St Jeromes R.C. Church sewer appeal (appeal attached)
Ms. Bardon said that St. Jeromes church has submitted a sewer appeal. She said they are located on Half Mile Road where there is no sewer available and that they had gotten billed on an error. Mr. Wilms asked how long they have been billed. Ms. Bardon said since 2001. Ms. Bardon said that under the appeals process that one year can be adjusted and that is what is normally done but is asking the Board to go back to 2001 on this particular appeal. Mr. McInerney asked what the amount of the adjustment would be. Ms. Bardon said she thinks approximately $1500 per year but would get that number from Mr. Kolb. Mr. McInerney said it seems fair but would like to have the actual number before making a decision. Ms. Bardon said she would provide him with that.
3) 8 Hawkins Street sewer connection
Mr. Alvord said that 8 Hawkins is a resident which has been listed with the Tax Collector and Tax Assessor as a single family residence but is actually a double residence and this was discovered by Planning and Zoning and they have since changed the land use code at that location. Ms. Bardon said there was no physical change to the property although the land use code changed from a single family to a two family residence. Mr. Wilms asked if this is a legal two family residence. Mr. Alvord said it is now. Mr. Alvord said beginning this year that the property owner would be billed for two separate units. Mr. Doumlele asked if the bill should go back to 2001. Ms. Bardon said yes.
c. Information Copies:
1) October 15, 2007 – CTDEP Inspection Report (copy included)
Mr. McInerney asked Mr. Dahl if the leaks that had been reported are being repaired. Mr. Dahl said they were in the process of being repaired.
2) Low Level Nitrogen – CWF Application (cover letter included)
Ms. Bardon said she has already received an approval letter and a deviation from the DEP for this project without a request being made. She said she would be submitting a request for documentation purposes. She said this is to receive the clean water funds 55% grant for the $200,000 for the low level nitrogen removal evaluation that CDM is currently working on.
3) Damages for Failure to Meet Performance Guarantees (letter included)
Mr. Doumlele asked which account would the money from the penalties go. Ms. Bardon said that penalties that were previously collected were posted to the replacement reserve account and these funds would also go to that account.
4) NACWA Newsletter (copy included)
No discussion.
4. CONTRACT OPERATIONS REPORT
a. Public Works Director Report:
1) WWTP Odor Management
Vice Chairman opened a public forum at 5:50 PM
Ms. Lauricella distributed a letter from the League of Women Voters related to the WWTP odor issues. She said the reason the League has decided to take this task is because they are a non-profit non-partisan group whose mission is to advocate for open government. She said while the WPCA along with the Mayor’s office are working to resolve these matters they feel a way to better handle this is to have the League get involved so that all the public feels somewhat satisfied and put together some forums and possibly lay a time line for this problem. Mr. Krummel said the League is requesting a forum in two to three weeks from the date of the letter and asked if a response was owed at this meeting. Ms. Bardon suggested going onto the next agenda item and speak about the overall plan.
Mr. Alvord said that there are odors emanating from the WWTP along with other sources of odors in the greater harbor area that are sometimes mistaken for WWTP odors. He said he is not trying to minimize the odors coming form the WWTP but that is not the only source of odors in the area. He said that when the tide is out and the temperature is up the title flats in the harbor will generate odors to the untrained nose will seem like it is coming from the WWTP along with the yard debris site, as well as unique circumstances. He said the WWTP treats wastewater from 85,000 residents and it is an aging plant. He said there are a number of projects in the process of being planned, engineered, and designed such as the low level nitrogen and head works project and each of those will incorporate some odor management into the eventual construction of these facilities and system.
Mr. Dahl said the existing odor control systems at the WWTP are located in the primary building where the primary wet well is located and at the gravity thickener which is where the gravity thickeners are pulled to a scrubber system and currently operate the scrubber fan only and do not operate the chlorine bleach that would scrub odors out because that has not been operational since the last WWTP upgrade in the 1990’s. He said they would be investigating options to get that back on line. He said there is also an ionization system in the dewatering building that is still in the testing phases and is not working as well as anticipated. He said the company that installed the system is currently reevaluating on how to redesign it and hopefully make the necessary changes by the end of the year. He said the potential sources of odors are in the dewatering building where the exhaust fans in that building are shut off so that odors emanating would only occur when the doors are opened which is when the sludge cake is being removed and that occurs twice a day and is a necessary function. He said that the primary tanks, the aeration tanks, and the final settling tanks are all uncovered and the primary tanks have the potential for emanating odors. He also said there are vents around the plant that could have odors periodically and are difficult to pinpoint.
Ms. Bardon said that OMI has on odor monitoring plan where they have a meter that measures hydrogen sulfide and that OMI has done and are doing testing but that has not determined where the odors are emanating from. She said that most of the odors are below the detectable levels. She said it varies day to day as to where and what the odors are. She said she is aware of the discussion in the public and the press but there has been no complaints made directly to OMI or to the Customer Service line. She said she would be putting something on the city’s website that would encourage people to call the 24 hour number for OMI or the Customer Service because having a generalization of the odor is not helpful because they need to know when the odors are occurring. She said the odors appear to be happening intermediately and they appear to be coming from the dewatering building when the sludge cake is being loaded and there is no way around opening the doors to pull the containers out. Mr. Wilms said that the WWTP has been around many years and has not been aware until recently that there was an odor problem and asked what has changed that there is a problem now. Ms. Bardon said that there are still have not been any direct complaints and that is what is needed because nothing has changed. Ms. Bikakis-Hajian asked Mr. Frank what time of the day that he notices the odors. Mr. Frank said early in the morning but not on a daily basis. Mr. Dahl said that the trailer comes in between 4:00AM and 6:00AM to load the sludge cake. Ms. Bikakis-Hajian said then there should be an odor everyday. Mr. Alvord explained it is dependent on the wind direction. Ms. Bikakis-Hajian suggested changing the times of when the trailers come in. Mr. Dahl said he would look into that but does not know if it is possible with the way the haulers business is set up. Mr. Dahl asked what the preferred times would be and that there has to be at least twelve hours between shipments. Ms. Bikakis-Hajian asked how long the process takes to load. Mr. Dahl said approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Ms. Bikakis-Hajian suggested changing the time to between 3:00AM and 5:00AM and 2:00PM and 4:00PM.
Mr. Alvord said to keep in mind whatever capital investment that the Board wants to make that anything that is installed today will be removed in the next few years when the new facilities and systems that CDM is currently working on come on line. Mr. McInerney said he would like to focus on communications going forward as to when the odors appear get communicated to staff and/or OMI. He said he thinks a forum would be useful but does not know if any members of the WPCA would be willing to attend a forum in the next few weeks. Mr. McInerney asked Ms. Lauricella to contact him when she schedules the forum and if he is available would attend.
2) Contract Operations Status – Annual Inspection Report & Specialized Electrical Inspection (copy attached - Representative from Malcolm Pirnie to attend)
Ms. Metzler said at this point that Malcolm Pirnie feels comfortable with the WWTP at this time and comes in every year to perform an inspection. She said the plant has increasingly exceeded in improving their mechanical conditions. She said from a mechanical standpoint they have found the plant to be in very good condition. She said they also inspected five pump stations and were also found to be in good working condition. She said the main concerns they had were primarily environmental compliance and believe was due to the multiple wet events that occurred in April. She said some of the equipment was found to be not operating and most was due to the wet weather conditions. She said based on the inspection the main source of odor was in the secondary control building, which has received the ionization system and is much improved. She said for the collections systems the City of Norwalk and OMI have jointly worked together to improve a lot of the aged infrastructure and reduced the number of sanitary sewer overflows. She said that OMI is currently interviewing and visiting commercial locations to try and identify any sources of fats, oils, and grease that could be making their way into the WWTP. She said in the long term the City of Norwalk will use the data that is collected and possibly implement a surcharge program. She said that the equipment was found to be in good working condition and that maintenance has improved. She said most of their recommendations were to review frequencies and tasks performed to be sure the wet events are being pro-actively addressed rather than re-actively. Mr. McInerney asked in the executive summary the recommendation of a plan be developed by the City of Norwalk and OMI if that is a part of an existing plan or does a plan need to be initiated. Mr. Dahl said that he has drafted a plan and needs to schedule a meeting with staff for review.
Mr. Frank said that they have water testing performed weekly and the person that conducts the testing said the effluent coming from the WWTP is generally the best that it’s ever been and is actually better quality then in the rest of the river. He said that their testing person is not out testing in severe rain events but during normal weather conditions our person has stated the effluent is in great shape and has statistical data showing that it is the better than it has ever been.
Mr. Alvord said that the Mayor’s water quality control committee does sampling along with Aquaculture and believes as a result of a lot of the discussions in the last six to eight months that Aquaculture has paid for a testing protocol for testing locations around the harbor.
Ms. Metzler said that last year a specialized inspection was performed on the
electrical system and most of the recommendations were from a management prospective
as to what preventive maintenance in addition to what they have to perform internally
and suggestions as to which maintenance to outsource. Mr. Dahl said a lot of
the tasks identified in the report are beyond their own capability and has contacted
vendors to start a schedule, which will be captured in the CMSS, and he would
report back when that is ongoing. Mr. McInerney said one of the recommendations
was out sourcing of testing and documentation. Mr. Dahl said that is included
in what he is working on now. He said he is preparing a request for proposal
for that work. Mr. McInerney asked what the cost would be. Mr. Dahl said that
cost is the responsibility of OMI, Inc.
Mr. Krummel left at 6:30 PM
b. OMI Report
1) Monthly Operating Report – September 2007 (copy included)
Mr. Dahl said there were a couple of performance guarantee violations on September 3, 2007, that were due to trying some different operational set points with the wet wells and pumps to attempt to improve the settling in the final clarifiers and during one of the testing periods went over one of the performance guarantees. He also said on September 30, 2007, which was the day before the annual open house that set points were changed to allow the public to access more of the plant and had a higher foam loading go to the final clarifiers and some of that foam got re-emerged into the water which caused the TSS violation and was corrected immediately. Mr. McInerney asked if there would be a review by staff as to whether there should by any action taken. Mr. Alvord said he is not recommending any action be taken.
2) Collection System and Pump Station MRR Accounts (copy included)
Mr. Dahl said the major project that is just beginning is the siphon rehabilitation project at the Maritime Center. Mr. McInerney asked if that would consume some of the $434,000. Mr. Dahl said it would consume approximately half of that. He also said that the construction management of the Westport Avenue rehabilitation project for the collection system will be $100,000 which would also be coming out of that account.
5. ACTION ON ANY ITEM DISCUSSED HEREIN
Mr. Doumlele said this would be his last meeting and wanted to wish everyone well and said it was his privilege to be a part of the WPCA for the last year.
6. ADJOURNMENT
** MR. DOUMLELE MOVED TO ADJOURN
** MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
The meeting adjourned at 7:00 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Dilene Byrd
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