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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2019-02-202019.02.20 APPROVED SJC minutes_cb.doc 1 SJC MEETING February 20, 2019 SJC Members Staff Cynthia Brock, Chair Steve Thayer Rich DePaolo CJ Kilgore Brian Davis Erik Whitney Ray Burger (Dryden Alternative) Scott Gibson Laura Lewis Jose Lozano Ed Gottlieb Absent Amber Mase Dan Lamb (Dryden Alternative) Roxanne Roberts-Battey Dave Warden Gabrielle Hollfelder Tee-Ann Hunter Supervisor Bill Goodman Guest Supervisor Jason Liefer Bill Abrams; Collins Aerospace James Abrams: EthosGen Joe Schmid; EthosGen John Wiley; Collins Aerospace Susan Allen-Gil; Ithaca College Johannes Lehmann; Cornell University Cynthia called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Quorum was established from 1:03 p.m. to 1:44 p.m. Ray MOVED to accept the January 16th minutes. Seconded by Rich. Approved 5-0. Financial Report – Steve Thayer - Activity through December 31, 2018 is preliminary – we still have a few receivables and payables coming - the deficit to date is $52,000.00. Steve should be finishing up the payables in February – for a final number late March. The employee health insurance contribution posting will bring that expense closer to budget. Revenues – 2019 we have collected all three owners first quarter payments – Steve has yet to post the Town of Dryden. Septage service will catch up after a time. Expenses – 2019 the insurance line is over – we increased our insurance coverage from the figure we used to put the budget together in July. Keep in mind that all revenues and expenses do not necessarily follow the calendar year. Capital Project 414J – Flow Meters – no expenses. Capital Project 422J – Plant Improvements – no expenses. Steve will provide the Fund Balance figures as soon as they are ready. 2019.02.20 APPROVED SJC minutes_cb.doc 2 Operations and Engineering Report – CJ Kilgore 1. Plant Maintenance & Operations a. Wet Weather Event – December 21st and 22nd. We received a Notice of Violation for not notifying the DEC of a potential problem within the two hour requirement. In the response CJ addressed how to prevent things like this from happening in the future. Although we lost much of our microbiology – we did not violate our permit. b. Sludge Hauling Contract – is finalized and should be in place shortly. c. Cornell Research Project – through Augaclara (a Cornell staff/student group) to be funded by a one year EPA grant – we will be a sub-grantee. We will be receiving $5,000.00 for providing sampling, testing and monitoring services. Ed Gottlieb is working with Cornell as to the details. The Cornell students are designing a primary treatment system for use in small villages in third world countries. Laura MOVED to give approval to proceed with being a sub-contractor and to enter into an agreement with Cornell for the purposes of creating a primary treatment system for use in third world countries. Second by Brian. Approved 5 – 0. 2. Facilities Maintenance & Operations a. Ithaca Beer – final drawings have been approved – the equipment has been ordered and the system is being fabricated. CJ will share the updated timeline upon receipt. 3. Staff Management - Noah Cook will be leaving at the end of the month. CJ has posted a vacancy request review and will be interviewing a replacement. 4. Reporting - 5. Business, Long Term development – a. GHD Grit Removal and Misc. Improvements – The first amendment from the project includes valuation and engineering of an upgraded effluent system - an increased amount of water from our effluent system will be required than was initially anticipated. All but $19,400.00 was budgeted in the original contract. Rich MOVED to approve an increase of $19,400.00 for GHD’s professional design fees services contract. Seconded by Laura. All were in favor. Approved 5-0. b. Monitoring Stations – parts procurement in process – prioritization/installation to begin this spring. CJ informed the members of the procedures in the case of extreme weather/high flow events. There are different strategies depending on the type of storm. The standard operating procedure (SOP) has been re-written. Identifying and repairing I/I should help. Erik expects extreme events will become lesser as the collection system is sealed. 2019.02.20 APPROVED SJC minutes_cb.doc 3 6. Energy Production Statistics – provided by CJ. Voting Items – Rich MOVED to change the Special Joint Agreement to Eliminate the sentence “No chairperson shall serve for more than two consecutive one-year terms but may be re- elected after a minimum of a one-term period has elapsed since that person last served as chairperson”. Seconded by Laura. Approved 5–0. Passes Unanimously. SJC RESOLUTION -- REQUESTING JOINT SEWER AGREEMENT AMENDMENT TO ELIMINATE CHAIRPERSON TERM LIMIT WHEREAS, the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility (“IAWWTF”) is owned and operated by the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, and Town of Dryden (“Municipal Owners”), with oversight provided through this Special Joint Committee (“SJC”) composed of representatives from the three Municipal Owners, WHEREAS, the Municipal Owners entered into a December 31, 2003 Joint Sewer Agreement that governs IAWWTF administration and operations, WHEREAS, Section 13.3 of the Joint Sewer Agreement provides as follows: “13.3 The SJC will elect its own chairperson annually and shall establish scheduled monthly meeting dates to provide for timely referrals to the Parties’ respective boards or governing bodies. No chairperson shall serve for more than two consecutive one- year terms but may be re-elected after a minimum of a one-term period has elapsed since that person last served as chairperson.” WHEREAS, the SJC recommends elimination of the limit on a chairperson serving more than two consecutive terms, because it often takes an SJC chairperson more than a year to develop enough understanding of the IAWWTF and the chairperson role to function efficiently and effectively with the other SJC members and staff, WHEREAS, Section 17.1 of the Joint Sewer Agreement provides that it may be amended as follows: “17.1 This Agreement may be modified or amended by an instrument in writing, duly executed and acknowledged by the duly authorized representatives of each Party, upon approval by majority vote of the voting strength of the respective governing bodies of said Party.” RESOLVED, the SJC requests that the Municipal Owners approve and execute an amendment to the Joint Sewer Agreement that eliminates the chairperson term limit by deleting the second sentence in Section 13.3, so that Section 13.3 reads as follows: “13.3 The SJC will elect its own chairperson annually and shall establish scheduled monthly meeting dates to provide for timely referrals to the Parties’ respective boards or governing bodies.” 2019.02.20 APPROVED SJC minutes_cb.doc 4 Presentation/Discussion Items - a. Collins Aerospace Presentation - Introductions were made. Thermal Energy Harvesting and Conversion are combined in an on-site system that converts waste and the waste heat to beneficial energy. There are a host of applications and many different configurations - they find the waste and then find the best solution for the waste. Adjustments to speed, temperature and oxygen allow for many types of waste fuel stocks. Wastewater plant solid waste (sludge) is fed into the system (producing energy (syn-gas)) and put through heat-exchangers - resulting in an end product of an inert ash with a high phosphorous content that can be land-applied. Running the equipment at higher speeds results in an end product called bio-char. The residual particles from the abatement system emissions are currently land-filled but may be able to be re-fed into the system. This unit runs continuously (24/7) and the auger can be programmed to feed the sludge into it. We currently press 8 hours 5 days per week. Cynthia questioned how the contaminants (metals, glass, plastics) in the food waste would be handled. The plastics are beneficial - they have a lot of energy. Anything organic will be completely destroyed. Jose asked about handling emerging contaminants. They hope to work cooperatively with us to develop the technology and to prove that carbon based materials (pharmaceuticals) are destroyed (as predicted). The end product may be classified as Class A and land applied as long as the percentage of contaminants remains below the established NYSDEC thresholds. They are working on an agriculture technology grant with NYSERDA – their application deadline is February 28th. Cynthia offered to provide a commitment letter of intent prior to their deadline. Our benefit for participation in this pilot program will be the electricity generated and the savings of the sludge disposal transportation and tipping fees, as well as producing a product that supports local agricultural facilities which are currently importing fertilizer from outside the region. b. Joint Sewer/Plant to Plant/Intermunicipal Agreement – Bill said the next quarterly meeting of six will be after the draft report of the Town of Ithaca engineering study is received - late February or early March. At the October meeting they spoke of the implications of future growth and development on both the agreement and the coordinated system between the two plants and the six municipalities. Announcement / Other Business - The meeting ended at 2:58 p.m. The Next Meeting will be March 20th, 2019, 1:00 pm.