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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2024-05-08SJC MEETING May 8, 2024 SJC Board members P Robert Cantelmo, City of Ithaca P Dave Warden, City of Ithaca E Clyde Lederman, City of Ithaca P Rob Rosen, Town of Ithaca P Scott Reynolds, City of Ithaca P Jason Leifer, Town of Dryden P Rich DePaolo, Town of Ithaca E Ray Burger, Town of Dryden P = Present, PZ = Present via zoom, A = Absent, E = Excused Staff P Steve Thayer, City of Ithaca P Peter Wernsdorfer, Camden Group P Scott Gibson, City of Ithaca P Joe Slater, Town of Ithaca E Rod Howe, Town of Ithaca A Dan Thaete, Town of Ithaca PZ Chanelle Corder, City of Ithaca P Wendy Cole, City of Ithaca P Ken Scherrieble, Camden Group P = Present, PZ = Present via zoom, PP = Present via phone Guests Jimmy Jordan-Ithaca Voice Meeting called to order at 1:02pm. Agenda review, no changes. Approval of April 10, 2024 minutes, Scott Reynolds moved. Robert Cantelmo seconds. No edits to the minutes. All in favor 5:0. Financial Report provided by Steve Thayer The results for 2023 aren’t final yet but about a month away from closing it up. Steve gave a rundown of the activity for 2023. Revenue: Budgeted was $5,852,844.00 and actual is $5,922,000.00. There will be more receivables to post. Expenses: No changes for 2023 from last update. Expenses total $5,789,000 through December 2023, giving a surplus of $130,576.00 Revenue 2024, • April activity shows that the first and second quarterly payments have been made by the owners. • Have received about $116,000.00 in septage service. Expected to make budget by the end of the year. • So far have collected $1,793,785.00 Expenses 2024, • Expenditures total $2,204,000 with a deficit of $680,000.00. • In the contracts line, $107,500.00 relates to the Camden contract. • Insurance came in as a lump sum payment of $57,573. • Debt payment of $1,073,441. Operations and Engineering Report – Peter Wernsdorfer 1. Operations • Regulatory Compliance – There are no regulatory issues to report. • Personnel –Camden is supplementing staff. 2. Maintenance • Blowers –Operational. Howden sending a VPN unit. • Micro Turbines – Running well and providing the heat needed for digestion. Haven’t pulled any natural gas off the system. • Asset Management – Staff are trained on the basic use of the system. • Clarifiers – The parts to bring PST 1 into operation were ordered. • Boiler Replacement – The project is nearing completion. We await training but Danforth is on strike. • Facility Improvements – The VRF heat pump installation continues. Lab and shop installs are underway. • ActiFlo – status quo. 3. Staff Management 1. Morning and midday huddles continue. Team building is an ongoing effort. 2. Regular check-ins continue with function leads. 4. Reporting • Regulatory reports were sent as scheduled. 5. Business, Long-Term Development • Capital Planning –We await kick off. The operators are anxious to contribute and have many good ideas about what they want in there. • Energy Management – SEM workshop one occurred on April 16th. Ops information attached • Did not waste anything off the flare Question regarding the hazardous waste incident at the plant • There was no “incident”. It was a leaking valve in the sulfur dioxide tank. It was found on walk through, and response was exactly as it should be. Fire dept was called for the clean-up because our operators are not trained for gas cleanup. Update on the Barton Leguidice contract • B & L uses a standard contractual document with a lot of language in there that might not apply to this contract so there has been a lot of deletions and modifications so it is taking a little longer than anticipated. It is now in B & L’s attorney’s hands to go over Susan’s comments. It shouldn’t be too much longer for a follow up. Kick off might not be until August. Discussion of when there will be a resolution for grease management • We don’t need an ordinance because there is a state code to follow. • Handled by the plumbing inspector from the front end. • Inspection of grease traps should be done annually. • There is no method of enforcement of ordinances. Personnel update • Camden hiring and bringing in two more employees because there aren’t enough city staff to run the plant. • Have become a privately ran plant. • There is a national shortfall of licensed operators. • The city is not paying enough for operators to apply. • There are on-going issues with operators being in the CSEA contract, salaries, budgeted positions. Water meter replacement update • The city contracted Northeast National Water to replace the meters in a 3-year replacement project. • To date, 730 have been swapped, out of 5,500. • Public response has been slow though it is a mandated program. Agenda fulfilled, No other business to discuss. Rich Depaolo adjourned the meeting at 2:07pm. The next SJC meeting is June 12, 1:00 pm. MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Members of the SJC From: Peter Wernsdorfer, Operations Manager Date: 5 April 2024 Subject:; IAWWTF – Trucked Waste Management Issues We have a situation related to Trucked Waste to be addressed by the SJC. In previous action, the Committee approved an increase in rates effective in January. We believe this is the right action to have taken, but with four months of practice with the new system, we have identified additional steps to be taken to preserve the revenue stream from this resource. Judging from the most recent observations, we are not realizing up to a quarter of our potential revenue because we do not accurately record disposal volumes. This is an operational and an administrative issue. Operationally, it is difficult to strategize without accurate input; administratively, we do not have real numbers from which we can derive accurate treatment costs which are the rate’s basis. A new billing protocol is required. We have tracked the volume of incoming waste as reported by the haulers. We use these numbers for billing. We have monitored unloading times, tank levels and pumping rates and compared them to the volumes as reported. We cannot establish a correlation. There are operational remedies to this situation that we are implementing. To be very clear, we wish to preserve and enhance this revenue stream as we continue to provide an essential service to the community. Operationally, the system is not conducive to accurate accounting. Beginning 8 April 2024, we will take the following steps to begin introducing accountability: • Assign an operator specifically to the Trucked Waste/Influent/Grit stations. The operator will o Inspect each load and attempt to determine the actual volume being disposed o Ensure the driver obtains a representative sample o Create an internal chain of custody, preserve and log all samples o Ensure the load is disposed in the correct location o Deliver samples to the laboratory for analysis (perform as required) o Monitor and manage housekeeping, equipment maintenance, and security • Perform maintenance of incoming waste of receiving equipment to ensure consistent use • Complete and implement operational and housekeeping SOP’s and checklists: o Include in OpWorks (AMS/CMMS) for electronic record keeping o Establish the historic record for activities in the facility o Provide supervisory oversight of the process • Install additional video surveillance of disposal area to prevent further evasion of responsibility by haulers. These steps should ensure the accurate recording of activity in the plant. The other issue is implementing a billing protocol that establishes appropriate responsibility for the trucked waste volume as the hauler’s, not the City’s. This will allow us to bill based on the DOT volume, not the drivers guesstimate of what was in the tank. The effect of this is that the hauler will receive one bill for a specific number of loads at the DOT specified volume leaving the business decision to the hauler as to what makes economic sense in terms of number of visits. This is the more common method as we discovered in our enquiries at several facilities including NY (OC Metro) and adjoining states (NJ and PA) to find a working protocol. The common denominator between them was billing based on the DOT approved volume of the truck. This allows the facility to perform the necessary tasks of monitoring, recordkeeping, and housekeeping (above) without having to verify volumes (which seem to be uncorrelatable to other data we may have). We believe and recommend that we should implement the same system. This will assure us of consistent revenue, provide for better security at the facility, and establish better customer relationships without the rancor or acrimony of billing errors, accusatory language, complacency, and gaming of the system. It will help us and support our mission of customer service. We would like to begin billing based on NYSDOT approved volumes and NOT the self-monitoring figures received from the drivers and owners to whom we provide a fee-for-service disposal site. With our corresponding steps taken to manage the on-site conditions from proximity, we would like approval from the SJC to implement this change immediately. MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Members of the SJC From: Peter Wernsdorfer, Operations Manager Date: 5 April 2024 Subject: SJC Meeting Discussion Topic The issue of grease, or more appropriately Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) in the parlance of wastewater, is a problematic player in the wastewater treatment system. With its potential to create blockages in collection systems and interfere with treatment in the plant, it escalates costs, stresses the operation, damages equipment, and creates odor and pest problems. In the plant, we have time-tested methods, and we use them daily. In the collection system, the potential to combine with other material can be destructive. In the collection system, problems are often magnified downstream to the plant. In the past several years, grease levels have increased, which when combined with overflows (also becoming more commonplace) create an effect seen at the plant as compromised treatment, increased odors, operator difficulties, and increased costs. Eliminating grease is impossible so it must be managed. There are options under the Sewer use Ordinance and the Industrial Pretreatment Program that we can implement to establish a formal grease management program. This will require the approval of the owners so today, we would like to begin the discussion today to move toward establishing a structured grease management program.