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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2024-04-10SJC MEETING April 10, 2024 SJC Board members P Rob Cantelmo, City of Ithaca P Dave Warden, City of Ithaca P Clyde Lederman, City of Ithaca P Rob Rosen, Town of Ithaca P Scott Reynolds, City of Ithaca Jason Leifer, Town of Dryden P Rich DePaolo, Town of Ithaca PZ Ray Burger, Town of Dryden P = Present, PZ = Present via zoom, A = Absent, E = Excused Staff E Steve Thayer, City of Ithaca P Peter Wernsdorfer, Camden Group P Scott Gibson, City of Ithaca E Joe Slater, Town of Ithaca P Rod Howe, Town of Ithaca P Dan Thaete, Town of Ithaca PZ Chanelle Corder, City of Ithaca E Susan Brock, Attorney to IAWWTF PZ Ken Scherrieble, Camden Group P = Present, PZ = Present via zoom, PP = Present via phone Guests Jimmy Jordan-Ithaca Voice Meeting called to order at 1:00pm. Agenda review, no changes. Approval of February 14, 2024 minutes, Scott Reynolds moved. Dave Warden 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 Steve gave a rundown of the activity for 2023. It is right about where expected. Revenue: Budgeted was $5,852,844.00 and actual is $5,925,097.00. There will be more receivables to post. Expenses: Expenditures total $5,789,346 and there will be final postings. So far in 2024, • Debt payments from Town of Ithaca, City of Ithaca and Town of Dryden have been paid for this year and will be posted for next month’s meeting. Expense so far was $1,995,457.00 • 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 –There were no credible responses to the position advertisement. Camden is supplementing staff. • Maintenance • Blowers –Operational. Howden is going to have a remote engineer onsite to do some software updates to fix the communication issue between the local panel and main panel so the blowers will be in optimal operation. • Micro Turbines – Running well and provided the heat needed for digestion. Haven’t pulled any natural gas off the system. Flared 2000 cu. Ft. off of the methane. Very little building use as of this time. • Asset Management – We will begin training a few individuals in the use of this system this week. Hoping to be fully operational by the end of July. • Clarifiers – We are re-confirming costs of PST-1 repair. The capital plan will address this long term. • Boiler Replacement – The dual fuel boiler on the third unit is here and is being installed. • Facility Improvements – The VRF heat pump installation continues. Lab and shop installs are underway. • ActiFlo – status quo. Will look at that when the capital plan comes and will determine whether to continue as it is or change the system with a different method of phosphorous removal or a different chemical. Going to bench trial and do some jar testing to see if we can match the results. • Staff Management • Using the morning huddle as the method of communication. • Regular check-ins continue with function leads. 4. Reporting • Regulatory reports were sent as scheduled. 5. Business, Long-Term Development • Capital Planning –Barton Loguidice were the successful proposers. o Should consider a 3-year strategic plan and yearly operational plan to prioritize and address long-term issues. o Consider forming a sub-committee for discussions outside of a regular monthly meeting. • Energy Management – The Strategic Energy Management program kicked off April 2nd. o How much of the energy management is going to be a part of the capital project that B&L is putting together? 1. They will touch on it a little bit but the idea of the strategic energy management process is to find savings without having to buy new turbines. SEM is more operational to be efficient as possible. B&L’s part is doing the flex tech audit to see if we need to change out equipment for more efficiency. 6. Discussion regarding septage billing practices-Memorandum attached Question: Is there a technical problem metering what comes off the truck? Answer: Yeah, 1. There’s an engineering issue with the way the honey monsters were installed. The discharge is below the elevation of the inlet of the machine so everybody has to discharge under pressure so the system is not being pressurized at gravity flow. 2. Also, the maintenance that needed to be done on the machines hasn’t been done due to a shortage of personnel and/or parts so that needs to be done. 3. There is also a lot of debris ending up in the sand traps and rock traps that we don’t catch if we let them use the bar screen instead the machines. • Further discussion regarding septage practices and rates. • Resolution proposed to be at the next meeting regarding how to bill the haulers. 7. Discussion of grease management-Memorandum attached • In the IPP in the city, there are no specified maintenance requirements of grease traps. We worked with code enforcement and made some progress regarding that but would like to make grease management part of the industrial pretreatment process. • There is an increase in debris from a combination of things such as more rain, people putting “flushable” wipes and other things in the system and grit disposal has nearly doubled drastically increasing the cost of the disposal because it is not regulated. • Grease is good for the digesters, but it needs to be properly delivered to increase efficiency and lower costs. • Suggesting an ordinance that property owners need to abide by and enforce. Agenda fulfilled, No other business to discuss. Rich Depaolo adjourned the meeting at 2:19pm. The next SJC meeting is May 8, 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.