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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2021-11-102021.11.10 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 1 SJC MEETING November 10, 2021 SJC Members Staff Cynthia Brock, Chair Steve Thayer Bill Goodman Scott Gibson Donna Fleming Matt Sledjeski Tee-Ann Hunter CJ Kilgore Scott Reynolds Supervisor; Jason Leifer Guest Ray Burger; Town of Dryden (alternate) Absent David Warden Rich DePaolo Cynthia called the Zoom meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. There were no changes to the agenda. The October 13th minutes were not available for the November meeting. They will be approved at the December meeting. Financial Report – Steve Thayer – The auditors are busy auditing – their report should be available by the end of the year. October 2021 Financial Activity: Revenues: We have received almost $459,000.00 in septage payments and are on budget. We have received all four quarterly owner’s payments. Steve will be sending out the debt service invoices this week. Revenues collected through October are just under $3,721,000.00. We should be above budget at year end. Expenses: We have spent $3,859,000.00. There are no big surprises. Hourly Part Time 5120 is $6,500.00 over budget – an adjustment will be made at the end of the year. Clothing 5415 is a little over budget. Insurance 5445 is over budget. Health Insurance employee contributions will be posted at the end of the year and will bring this account closer to budget. Equipment Parts and Supplies 5477 is running above budget - although funds were increased for 2021. The blower repairs are continuing to add up. Utilities are a bit over but are pretty much in line. Our annual NYS Retirement Invoice will be paid early to receive a discount. This account should come in approximately $16,000.00 under budget. All of 2021 Debt Service has been paid. Most other accounts are in line with the budget. Our deficit as of October 31, 2021 is $138,000.00 and is in line as expected. Keep in mind that not all expenses follow the calendar. 2021.11.10 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 2 Cynthia asked about the Utilities account being over budget. CJ stated that wet weather events contribute to increases in costs. He hopes that the behind the meter battery will help. CJ mentioned that we received a $5,000.00 credit from NYSEG but it was reversed on the following bill – we will follow up with NYSEG. Steve said that the increases appear to be a combination of factors but added that we are not too far from our budgeted figure. Capital Project: CAP422J - Had approximately $20,000.00 activity attributed to Engineering Services CAP414J - Flow Metering had $525.00 in activity related to Engineering Services Steve included the Final Approved Budget in his packet. Operations and Engineering Report – CJ Kilgore 1. Plant Maintenance & Operations – a. Secondary Digester – Moving forward on the cleaning and rehabilitation – CJ hopes it will be completed by year end. b. Aeration System – Turblex Blower Replacement Authorization – The blowers are estimated to be returned in January 2022. 2. Facilities Maintenance & Operations a. Flow Monitoring I/I – is continuing. MRB Group – Tim Carpenter should have a draft report available in December. b. NYSEG Sheet Piling - installation is beginning c. Notice of Violation/Compliance Order to Ithaca Beer - we will be issuing a notice of Violation to Ithaca Beer for low pH discharges – it appears that their equipment needed to be calibrated. The Town of Ithaca (Joe Slater) noticed the problem. CJ thought that the new brewer was not aware of the need to recalibrate the equipment. There does not appear to be any damage. CJ thinks it may have gone on for a few months – there were 32 instances tracked to Ithaca Beer. 3. Staff Management – The Chief Operator position was posted for months. There was only one unqualified applicant that applied for the position. Human Resources will continue to post the Chief Operator open position. There is a shortage of plant operators both state and nation-wide. CJ hopes that some of the current staff will be able to obtain their licenses within the year. He believes that the situation will improve in 2022. Camden Group has been contacted to provide contract operations and options. We will need to have an operator of record to sign off on things. Tee-Ann asked about the costs - CJ hopes to have the costs available for the December meeting. Staff will be meeting with Ken of the Camden Group sometime next week to find out what they can offer us. He is hopeful that this will have a good outcome. Tee-Ann questioned if an RFP should/has to be put out. 2021.11.10 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 3 Scott Gibson thought that due to the cost we should put an RFP out and Steve Thayer agreed. CJ chose to meet with the Camden Group because this is an ongoing project that should be addressed expeditiously. He added that the Executive Unit agreement expires in December 2021 and that a compensation study is in the works. Scott Reynolds wondered if the 2022 budget will have to be amended due to the cost of this professional service contract. Steve said that we have options to look at when the costs come in. Donna asked about the qualifications of the Plant Operators. CJ said to become a Chief Operator requires a civil service test, 5 years of supervisory experience and a 4A license. Bill asked if any serious consideration is being given to any current employees. CJ replied that the four Senior Operator Positions were established to avoid this problem and that neither of the two current 4A Senior Operators have applied for the position. The two other Senior Operators were not able to pass the exam to obtain their license and were demoted. Bill asked about the company that manages Cayuga Heights. Bill asked if the salary had been looked at - he wondered if the Town of Ithaca and the Town of Dryden could provide an additional stipend. CJ was concerned a stipend this might create problems – he thought it best to let the process work out. Scott Gibson interjected that the Camden Group offers many different options – from part-time to full-time. Tee-Ann asked if the point system that is used for the Chief Operator could be made available to the members. Scott Gibson said that the job responsibilities and duties are applied to the point system. The point system is usually made available when the study is complete. Cynthia requested the opportunity to look at the job description and said that she would like to have HR speak to the members at the December meeting about the classification and the point system of the position. Scott Gibson offered to make the request to Human Resources. The executive contract is on the City of Ithaca website. Scott Gibson feels that the chief operator should be in the Managerial Unit – the question Scott feels should be asked of HR – how do we elevate this position to Managerial. Cynthia dropped into the chat links to the executive unit contract, the Senior Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator position and the Chief Operator position. She reiterated that Donna had asked about license requirements. Scott Gibson responded that by law this plant requires a 4A license to operate the facility. CJ added that the 4A license is required for the Assistant Chief as well as the Chief Operator. Cynthia would like to look into the option of the Chief Operator being employed by the Town. CJ offered that in the short term we may not have the choice to explore the Town option. CJ said from his initial discussions with the Camden Group - this can have a positive outcome. The RFP does not commit us to go either way. Cynthia would like to build into the option that this may be temporary or long term. CJ said there are no set terms - he will know more when they meet again next week. Bill thought that we should do what we can without waiting for the executive contract to be finalized. CJ thinks we should focus on getting someone in here sooner rather than later. Ultimately Mike Thorne is the person responsible for this plant. 2021.11.10 APPROVED SJC Minutes.doc 4 CJ hopes that this next compensation study will be on track. Steve will speak with HR about alternative ways to come up with a solution. Jose Lozano will be retiring December 31, 2021. The job vacancy will be posted. Our current lab technician is qualified to become lab director. 4. Reporting – 5. Business, Long Term development – MRB is performing a feasibility study - we need to look at future planning. At the request of Scott Reynolds - CJ briefed the members on the open projects – Chemical bulk storage is complete. The digester cleaning and repair was added as an amendment to the plant improvement project. The blower is to be returned in January. The I/I study is ongoing. 6. Energy Production Statistics – provided by CJ. Voting Items – there were no voting items Discussion Items – the next meeting of the group of six will be November 18th, 2021. Bill spoke of the October demonstration at the Kline Road bypass of a weir (a metal plate that blocks the flow coming from the Old Village section of Cayuga Heights). The weir blocks off part of the manhole redirecting the flow to the Cayuga Heights Plant - the overage will come down the Kline Road bypass to the IAWWTF plant. Chris Kianka from Lectre was present and had computers set up to show that the meters reflected the flow. A little bit of flow is coming from three houses – Brent Cross will work on reassigning the piping to eliminate this flow. Cynthia spoke of the flow meters and offered that she had been informed that they are not intended to be used for billing purposes. There is a high error rate – especially with low flows. Cynthia mentioned that the Plant to Plant Agreement needs to be finalized and put in place. Cayuga Heights will be required to update their pretreatment laws so they are the same as the laws of the three municipal owners. We are waiting for Susan Brock to get the agreements in place. The system is in place and is functioning – the Town of Ithaca is not receiving revenue from the sewage from the “Old Village”. A billing system will have to be set up for the flow events. Cayuga Heights will have to be invoiced for future usage of the Kline Road bypass. Bill suggested that Cayuga Height should provide data monthly. The “plant fee” will be charged annually at the beginning of the year. The “per usage fee” will be invoiced at the end of the year. How the data will be verified or crossed-checked needs to be determined. Announcements / Other Business – Tee-Ann MOVED to Adjourn. Seconded by Scott. Approved 6:0. The meeting was adjourned at 2:19 p.m. The Next Meeting will be December 8th, 2021, 1:00 pm.