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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2022-06-082022-06-08 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 1 SJC MEETING June 8, 2022 SJC Members Staff Cynthia Brock, Chair Steve Thayer Bill Goodman Scott Gibson Rich DePaolo CJ Kilgore Ray Burger; Town of Dryden (alternate) Scott Reynolds Guest Rob Rosen Joe Slater: Town of Ithaca David Warden Ken Scherrieble: Camden Group Supervisor: Jason Leifer Dan Thaete: Town of Ithaca Susan Brock (via Zoom) Absent Jeffrey Barken (via Zoom) Cynthia called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m. (Prior to calling the meeting to order introductions were made and Cynthia honored CJ for his service over the years prior to calling the meeting to order). There were no additions or deletions to the agenda. Rich MOVED to Approve the April 13th minutes. Seconded by Jason. Approved 6:0. Financial Report – Steve Thayer May 2022 Financial Activity Revenues – We have collected $107,000.00 septage service to date. Trucked waste collected for the first few months of each year are mostly from the previous year. We have received the first two quarterly payments from all three owners. Expenses – to date are just over $2,199,000.00 - there are no real surprises. We have spent $67,000.00 in Contracts (5435) of which approximately $18,000.00 is the Camden Group. The Camden Group contact was for $60,000.00 January through June. The next 12 month contract is for $265,000.00. The 5435 account will be over budget for 2022. Open staff positions will be used to offset the contract. The Executive Unit is currently in negotiations and a compensation study is in the works. The search for a permanent replacement of the Chief Operator continues. They are working on putting together a signing bonus. The Insurance (5445) is a lump sum payment in January. Employee Health Insurance (9060) is one month ahead. Debt is due various times throughout the year. December 2021 Financial Activity: Not Final 2022-06-08 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 2 Revenues: We have collected $5,148,000.00 to date. We are $269,000.00 over our budget mainly related to septage service collections. Expenses: We have spent just over $4,748,000. We are approximately $130,000.00 under budget. Three small payables were posted last month. We should be closing 2021 this month. We have approximately $400,000.00 operating surplus at this time. Keep in mind that not all expenses follow the calendar. Capital Projects: CAP422J – Plant Improvements – Approximately $104,000.00 in expenses $102,000.00 related to construction and $2,000.00 in Engineering Services – related to digester work. 2023 Budget - guidelines should be out by the end of June. Rich asked about long term debt. Steve replied that we are currently in pretty good shape. Interest rates are moving up a bit. He prefers to stay short term for now and has been able to lock in some very good rates. Operations and Engineering Report – CJ Kilgore 1. Plant Maintenance & Operations – a. Aeration System – Turblex Blower Replacement Authorization – The blowers estimated return is the end of June. b. Gas Skid Chiller – The micro turbine gas skid chiller is in route. c. Boiler – boiler replacement estimate has been received. We are down to two unreliable high efficiency boilers (due to the conditions of the atmosphere). CJ hopes to replace the large thirty-five-year-old boiler with two small high efficiency boilers. Two years ago MRB Group studied the heating system of the plant. The study, draft resolution and supporting documents were provided to the members by email from Cynthia prior to the meeting. The original idea was to replace everything at one time and to possibly tie in sludge drying through a capital project. Covid hit and things fell behind. A few months ago the larger of the thirty five year old boilers developed a crack and had to be taken out of service. CJ feels that we need replacement before the next heating system. Danforth evaluated the situation and gave lead times on boilers that would work and fit in our space. CJ is looking at a program that piggy backs off of one similar to the one used by the Town of Greece. It is not state contract by the contractors are on a list approved by the State. This program eliminates the bidding process, expedites procurement and speeds up the project in general. 2022-06-08 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 3 Scott Gibson added that the EZ AQ system can be used by other entities as an approved process. JW Danforth is one of several approved contractors. They have been vetted through the process. Scott believes that this is a way to avoid declaring the boiler replacement and emergency. Cynthia asked how we could build off of the Town of Greece contract. Susan Brock is concerned about the legality of the contract and how the Town of Greece did the procurement process. She offered that declaring a public emergency allows us to avoid the bidding process (as an alternative). Cynthia asked how the resolution should be re-worded. Susan advised to reword the contract to make it more clear. She added that confirmation of procurement can be done post resolution. Bill suggested including that the SJC recommends that boards of the three owners approve the resolution Susan asked the resolution be modified to include: RESOLVED that the special joint committee recommends to its municipal boards that they approve funding. RESOLVED that funds necessary for said replacement of the nonfunctional cast iron boiler be derived from the following sources as determined by the City Controller: amendment to Capital Project 423J, operating funds, fund balance, serial bonds, capital reserves, grants and federal stimulus funds. This is similar language that has been included in similar resolutions. Steve suggested RESOLVED that Capital Project 423J be amended to not to exceed $650,000.00. for the purposes of boiler replacement for a total project authorization of $668,000.00 Steve thought that ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding or bonding could be used for the City portion. The resolution should include all sources of funding. David MOVED the Resolution including the friendly amendments. Seconded by Scott. Approved 7:0. Resolution for Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility (IAWWTF) – Boiler Replacement WHEREAS, the IAWWTF contains four (4) existing hot water boilers that are used for hydronic building space heating as well as process heating of the aerobic digesters, and WHEREAS existing dual fuel boiler which may run on natural gas or biogas is a cast iron boiler was installed in 1987 during the inception of the IAWWTF, and has an anticipated service life of 35 years, and WHEREAS, in daily operational status inspections by staff, it has been apparent that each of the 4 boilers have developed issues with leaks, maintenance problems, and failures, resulting in a 2022-06-08 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 4 loss of adequate redundancy and reliability needed for the essential heating of the IAWWTF, and WHEREAS, in a professional conditional survey of the four boilers by MRB Consultants in 2020, described: • Cast Iron Boilers – Cracks and leaks within the heat exchanger piping and within the boiler firebox. Problems are consistent with age so boilers are beyond their useful service life. Recommend replacement. WHEREAS, the dual fuel cast iron boiler is no longer functional, and WHEREAS, the replacement of the IAWWTF cast iron dual fuel boiler with two (2) high efficiency non-condensing packaged boilers is a recommendation within the MRB report, and WHEREAS, due to the essential heating role of the boilers in the proper functioning of the IAWWTF, the time required for the purchase, demolition, and installation of replacement boilers and all appurtenances, as well as the imminent heating season, staff deems this as an “emergency situation” which requires immediate action on the part of the IAWWTF, and recommends the immediate replacement of the existing dual fuel boiler with two high efficiency non-condensing packaged boilers , and WHEREAS, the IAWWTF received a cost proposal from J.W. Danforth for the replacement of the dual fuel boiler, in the amount of $601,580.56. Now, therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Special Joint Committee, recommends to its municipal boards the approval of emergency funding for replacement of the non-functional cast iron boiler, for a cost, with contingencies, not to exceed Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($650,000), and be it further RESOLVED, that funds necessary for said replacement of the non-functional cast iron boiler be derived from the following sources as determined by the City Controller: amendment to capital project 423J, operating funds, Fund balance, serial bonds, capital reserves, grants and Federal stimulus funds. Ken clarified that the larger thirty five year old boiler is covered under this resolution – it is being replaced with two smaller dual fueled boilers (Natural Gas and Bio Gas).. The two newer boilers (high efficiency condensing boilers) are failing prematurely due to the corrosive atmosphere and the lack of adequate make up air. CJ is concerned that these two functioning boilers may not be able to meet the needs of the plant during the winter months. Rich asked why the two newer boilers are failing prematurely – do we have any recourse. CJ does not believe that we have any recourse at this point. Ken will look into warranty options. Rob asked why external air (fresh air source) was not brought in upon installation. 2022-06-08 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 5 CJ added that two years ago – during the initial evaluation the conclusion was that it made more sense to generate electricity and to capture the heat as opposed to just burning it for heat. The piping configuration is presently prohibitive. The new boilers will have to be tuned. The final burner selection will be determined at the plant visit. David asked how the tuning works. CJ replied that our biogas is 65% methane and is fairly consistent. Dan Thaete asked if we installed air filtration. Susan reviewed the edited resolution to provide the necessary language. She needs a copy of the original contract. Cynthia asked if it might be best to hold a special meeting in two weeks or to treat this as an emergency repair. Staff could do the research that this is a viable contract. Rich suggested moving forward with the SJC’s recommendation contingent upon including due diligence in the wording of the resolution. Susan asked if the contract was priced out? She thought the percentage was high. Scott Gibson replied that we did not confirm the competitiveness of the bid. He feels that the 7.5% ($40,000.00 to $50,000.00) would probably be charged by a consulting or engineering firm and Danforth does provide design services (included). If the emergency route is easier he said to go with that. Susan suggested going the public emergency route. She needs to see the actuals contracts, all of the follow up paperwork and the construction catalog to go the Town of Greece route. Cynthia stated that she hears it most reasonable and expeditious to declare this a public health emergency situation. She offered to keep the resolution but include a whereas referring to an emergency declaration. *****Cynthia realized she needed to request a motion.***** David MOVED to amend the resolution to reference emergency declarations as described yet to be provided by staff that will allow us to proceed. Seconded by Scott. Approved 7:0 Dan asked if installing ventilation would extend the life expectancy of the two other high condensing efficiency boilers. CJ thought that there is no point - the two high condensing boilers could be backup and could be replaced as part of the next capital project. 2. Facilities Maintenance & Operations - a. Flow Monitoring I/I – 3. Staff Management – Ken Scherrieble will be taking over for CJ – He will be issuing reports to the SJC going forward. CJ said that he has enjoyed working with Ken and feels this will be a very positive thing for the future of the plant. Ken will make assessments and will put in place some long term planning. CJ believes that the new 2022-06-08 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 6 operator trainees will be able to advance quickly due to the number of upcoming retirements. He believes the timing is good. Ken has experience training operators and helping them prepare for their exams. 4. Reporting – 5. Business, Long Term development – 6. Energy Production Statistics – provided by CJ. Voting Items – Discussion Items – Long Term Planning - Announcements / Other Business – Remote Meetings – Allowing for Video Conferencing until 2024 Allowed if there is an emergency situation or extraordinary circumstances. The body would meet in person at a public accessible location. If we choose to comply we will need to make our meeting video accessible. The Towns and City have a policy. Susan believes the SJC will have to adopt their own policy. Part of the law is that members of the public need to be able to see each voting member. Rob feels we should just meet in person. Rich offered that we could set a policy in the future – he sees no need for this now. We would have to advertise the meetings. The meeting dates and agendas are presently posted to the City website. Bill prefers to keep the meetings via Zoom until the emergency declaration expires. Cynthia will bring this topic up in the future. Group of Six – Bill Goodman – Bill offered that they are very close to a draft Agreement. The sticking point pertains to the (Kline Road) meter out of service fee. (I the meter is down) Currently there is a set fee of $10,500.00 per year, a variable annual fee - called carry cost – our cost to maintain capacity and a usage fee – the gallons fee (measuring the gallons sent to us) based on our treatment costs multiplied by three. Bill feels the draft agreement will be available for the July SJC meeting. Rich Moved to Adjourn. Seconded by Dave. Approved 7:0 The meeting was adjourned at 2:39 p.m. The Next Meeting will be July 13th, 2022, 1:00 pm.