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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2018-02-14MN-SJC-2018-02-14.doc 1 SJC MEETING February 14, 2018 SJC Members Staff Cynthia Brock, Chair Steve Thayer Supervisor Bill Goodman CJ Kilgore Laura Lewis Erik Whitney Tee-Ann Hunter Scott Gibson Rich DePaolo Jose Lozano Michal Lieberman Absent Dave Warden Guest MaryAnn Sumner (Dryden Alternative) Gerry Aloi; Johnson Controls Supervisor Jason Liefer Nick Goldsmith; City and Town of Ithaca Brian Davis Tee-Ann MOVED to accept the January 10th minutes with corrections. Seconded by Laura. Approved 5-0. Quorum was established at 12:38. Financial Report – Steve Thayer – 2017 Activity through December - there will be more payable and receivable activity to post over the next couple weeks. Revenues – we have received $51,000.00 in excess of our budgeted amount to date. Expenses – we planned for a deficit of $150,000.00. Steve projects that we will to do better than expected because we had many unfilled positions. We have four accounts that are over budget – the reasons were discussed last month – Fees 5430, Contracts 5435, Equipment Parts 5477 and Treatment Supplies 5495. We have a positive balance of approximately $55,000.00 and should be able to add to our 2017 year end fund balance. 2018 Activity through January – Revenues- we have received the City of Ithaca first quarter payment. The Town of Ithaca payment has been received but has not yet been posted. Septage service is slow as expected at the beginning of the year. Cynthia inquired if there had been any feedback regarding the fee increase? CJ said that he has not heard anything negative about the new rates. Expenses- our insurance payment came in a bit over budget. The value of the plant increased as a result of the plant improvements over the past few years. As per Cynthia’s request Steve will send a copy of the statement of values of the plant to the members. MN-SJC-2018-02-14.doc 2 Capital Projects – Capital Project 414J – Flow Meters – there was one engineering expense of $710.00. Operations and Engineering Report – CJ Kilgore 1. Plant Maintenance & Operations a. Chemical Bulk Storage Tank replacement – CJ and Scott will put together a bid proposal RFP. b. GHD – Capital Project – Grit Removal and Misc. Improvements – Has been signed by the City and the Town of Ithaca. It should be approved/signed by the Town of Dryden tomorrow. 2. Facilities Maintenance & Operations a. DEC Meeting 2/1/18 – Mike Thorne, Erik, Scott and CJ met with the DEC to discuss necessary permitting requirements to install a permanent structure to facilitate the pumping of effluent water from the plant to help alleviate ice jams in Cascadilla Creek and Fall Creek. Laura commented that she observed a great cooperative effort between the fire department and the water and sewer crews. CJ stated that this project may require us to modify our current SPDES permit as a new outfall might need to be established - there may be additional regulatory requirements. Erik added that the City will pay the costs incurred to modify the existing permit and will be the sole funding source of the costs involved if this Capital project is approved. Rich questioned the impact this may/may not have with using the effluent as a heat source. Erik clarified that 1.5 million gallons per day will probably be required. He said that they plan to use the abandoned outfall pipes from the old plant. b. Monitoring Stations – CJ met with Tim Carpenter February 9th to discuss some equipment - on Monday he plans to visit each of the monitoring stations with both Tim and Chris. 3. Staff Management – a. Three interviews were held on the 2/8/18. Five more interviews are scheduled for 3/8/18. b. CJ anticipates the approvals of the Senior Operator positions and the Maintenance Worker soon. 4. Energy Production Statistics – provided by CJ. 5. Business, Long Term Development – Discussion Items – a. JCI Energy Analysis - Gerry Aloi refined the Year Two Energy Performance Contract Report and distributed it to the members. The project cost was $8,000,000.00. Guarantee term 20 years – Projected cost avoidance $9,800,000.00. Johnson Controls monitors the plant and gathers data on a continuous basis – and as part of the contract - they report performance for a predetermined period of time. MN-SJC-2018-02-14.doc 3 When the contract was put together – cost savings were based on the expectation of increasing energy rates. The cost avoidance is based on the initial projection – not on actual because the cost of electricity and natural gas did not increase as expected. The Natural Gas savings have not been as great as the Electric savings. CJ offered that the new expanded septage facility uses more heat and we added heat to the influent building. We use natural gas in our boilers during the colder months. We use biogas to power other equipment. CJ had a timer installed on the heat exchanger and hopes to see some savings there. The Energy Performance Contract report attempts to look at a particular piece of equipment. Gerry reviewed the microturbines and the aeration system and presented cost savings and cost avoidance. Johnson Controls has been working closely with CJ they have made adjustments to the programing of the sequence of operations and of the automatic controls to work towards extracting more heat from the system which should improve the overall efficiency of the cogens. The regulator on the flare saves biogas from being burned off - more goes to the cogeneration units. If the anticipated (projected) energy rates are used – we are above track for the payback that was initially established - using actual billed utility we are less. Neither Johnson Controls nor anyone in the plant has control over energy rates. We are saving energy and we are producing energy. Cynthia commented that high flow events result in increased energy use – we are treating water rather than wastewater – and our energy use spikes. She added that presumably as we get a handle on our infiltration and inflow – our energy demand should be reduced (if our loadings remain the same). b. Billing – minimum units vs. actual use – Steve will verify that the water consumption figures used to calculate ownership breakdown and percentage are actual gallons/units used. c. Proposed open-loop water-based heat pump – Jose sent out the requests for qualifications to thirteen companies - half have replied and two have visited the plant for a site assessment. Jose projects the yearly maximum production potential from the heat pumps to be 10,000 Megawatts per hour - the plant uses 4,000 Megawatts per hour – this will allow us to be able to further dry our biosolids using 2,000 Megawatts per hour. The remaining 6,000 Megawatts will be our excess. Cynthia reached out to Nick to be sure that we keep our primary objective to treat wastewater. Bill wondered how many megawatts might be available for an outside project. Jose responded that the available megawatts will depend on the path we choose for our use. Cornell’s Johnson School of Business class is going to put together a business plan. Cynthia said district heat is far out – but to supply water for a heat pump system might not be. Jose will set up a meeting with the waterfront developers. Beneficial reuse is regulated by the DEC and the Health Department – Bill offered that he would spend time working with them. CJ does not foresee any SPEDES permit modifications for thermal use. Bill MOVED to adjourn. Seconded by Tee-Ann. All were in favor. Approved 5-0. Meeting was adjourned @ 2:16 p.m. The Next Meeting is March 21st, 2018, 1:00 pm.