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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-SJC-2018-03-21MN-SJC-2018-03-21.doc 1 SJC MEETING March 21, 2018 SJC Members Staff Cynthia Brock, Chair Steve Thayer Supervisor Bill Goodman Erik Whitney Laura Lewis Scott Gibson Tee-Ann Hunter Ed Gottlieb Rich DePaolo Jose Lozano Michal Lieberman Absent Dave Warden Guest MaryAnn Sumner (Dryden Alternative) Joe Slater; Town of Ithaca Supervisor Jason Liefer Jim Weber; Town of Ithaca Brian Davis Cynthia called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. and began with introductions. Cynthia stated that the NYSEG presentation was rescheduled for the April meeting due to the storm in NYC. Tee-Ann MOVED to accept the February 14th minutes with corrections. Seconded by Laura. Approved 5-0. Financial Report – Steve Thayer 2017 Activity through December – activity should be finalized by April 15h. Revenues – we have received $91,000.00 in excess of our budgeted amount to date. Expenses – a few accounts were adjusted. Overall we have done better than anticipated – we have a positive balance of approximately $129,000.00 and should be able to add to our 2017 year end fund balance. He will encumber $45,000.00 to purchase two strainers in 2018. Cynthia questioned the three lines that were significantly over budget. Contracts (435) was due to increased JCI activity, Parts (477) had some larger purchases that usual and Treatment Supplies (495) was due to increased chemical consumption. The salary lines were under budget - many open positions remained unfilled throughout the year. 2018 Activity through February – Revenues- we have received all owners first quarterly payment. Septage receiving is beginning to come in for 2018. Expenses- we budgeted for a deficit - overall everything looks good. Keep in mind that all revenues and expenses do not necessarily follow the calendar year. MN-SJC-2018-03-21.doc 2 Capital Project 414J – Flow Meters – there was one engineering services expense of $1,700.00 Operations and Engineering Report – Scott Gibson for CJ Kilgore 1. Plant Maintenance & Operations a. GHD – Capital Improvement Project – Concrete repair, generator improvements, new transfer facility. There was a kickoff meeting on 2/28/18. The goal is to have full approval of the revised scope by the August meeting, to bid through GHD in October and to award the contract by year end to begin early 2019. b. NYSEG – The Behind the Meter Battery Storage 2 year pilot program presentation has been rescheduled for the next meeting. NYSEG is required to come up with an energy savings project – they have approached 8 regional utilities that meet energy usage and position on the grid requirements. They plan to bring two (Prius size) batteries next to our generator building and use them to peak shave. Each battery is 300kW to be used during peak hours and to charge during off-peak hours. This is a no cost pilot study partnership. Upon successful completion of the study – the batteries will be available to us for a small subscription fee. Erik clarified that we will see an immediate cost savings resulting from the leveling of our demand charge during the pilot. Cynthia asked if any of the members had concerns and followed up with a request for a vote. Laura requested a brief summary of the project. Rich MOVED to give staff authorization to pursue an arrangement with NYSEG. Seconded by Laura. Approved 5-0. c. OVIVO Gas Dome Storage – we have been having problems with the efficiency of the dome – it has been not been pressurizing properly and has been wasting more gas through the stack than should be wasted. The Ovivo representatives will make adjustments to some of the controls and the control programming (at no cost) because it should have been operating in better capacity all along. Tee-Ann asked if Scott/CJ would check on the possibility of recouping some of the monies lost. d. Capstone/Micro Turbine Maintenance Agreement – with GEM Energy - a progress maintenance program (every 40,000 hours or every 5 years). The original Capital Project included the initial five year agreement. The cost will be in the $15,000.00 per year range. Scott added that CJ will be requesting funds to cover this maintenance in the near future. 2. Facilities Maintenance & Operations a. DEC plant permit discharge modification – use of effluent water for ice jam mitigation. Scott explained that they would sleeve existing piping and thought that 5 or 6 excavation pits, additional piping, two (purple) hydrants and some site excavation along the fence line will be installed/involved. This will be a more permanent piping alternative and will be put in service when necessary. b. Monitoring Stations – Tim Carpenter and staff visited each of the monitoring stations. Tim is putting together his recommendations for equipment. MN-SJC-2018-03-21.doc 3 Tim has been working with TG Miller on installing a flow meter on the Varna Pump Station. c. Permit Requirements – CJ, Scott, Ed, Joe Slater, Dan Phate and Susan Brock met March 20th to discuss Ithaca Beer. Ithaca Beer - one of our largest commercial entities in the area – has not been diligent in providing requested data. The most recent chemical data that has been received is ridiculously extreme – it can cause severe health issues and is a safety concerns – it is a hazard. The pH is fluctuating from less than 1 (.02) to 14 - the temperature of the discharge is greater than 180 degrees. It is eroding pipes and pump stations – Scott feels that it is time to take action. Both Scott and Ed are in agreement that the cleaning agents need to be neutralized. Cynthia reiterated the impacts and added that a black slimy material is present as well. In the beginning this was viewed as an organic load concern. Ithaca Beer hired a consulting firm to come up with a mitigation plan in September 2016. Since then there has been a lot of back and forth correspondence working towards a surcharge fee. We are considering sending a compliance order and monetary penalties are being discussed. Ed said that he is encouraging Jim and Joe to invoice Ithaca Beer for the repairs that are being documented by the Town. Bill offered that the Town may need to revise their sewer law in order to impose penalties. Ed will require them to pretreat to be within the pH limits as established in the sewer use law. 3. Staff Management – a. Operator/Trainee Interviews of 9 candidates are compete – waiting on checks and reviews to make an offer. CJ is making final determinations. b. Senior Operator positions and the Maintenance Worker position have been approved. 4. Energy Production Statistics – provided by CJ. Presentation/Discussion Items – a. Battery Meter Storage - NYSEG – postponed until next meeting. b. Pretreatment Requirements and Protocols – Ed Gottlieb The 1972 Clean Water Act was created to prevent interference and pass through. We are overseen by the EPA and are required to have a pretreatment program because our flow exceeds 5 million gallons per day. As a result of our 2017 EPA Audit – we are required to change our sewer use law. Ed will verify that all of our municipalities served have equivalent sewer use law. We are assigned treatment capacities - these “local limits” must be reviewed and updated (if needed) - a headworks loading study must be done every 5 years – we are well over due. Laura asked if there were any concerns regarding the level of development with regards to limits or capacity. Ed replied that we had struggled to meet our copper limit in the past but our limit was raised. Jose added - regarding reserve capacity – we are over designed. Ed stated that he is redoing our existing permits so they will comply with all EPA regulations. He will be issuing a permit to Ithaca Beer. MN-SJC-2018-03-21.doc 4 Ed added that he will be working more closely with the City and Town building inspectors/plumbing inspectors in order to better identify industrial users – as they must be inspected. Any industrial discharge must be reviewed and approved by the pre-treatment coordinator prior to granting a permit. It was suggested that this might be possible at site plan review as pretreatment program approval is necessary for all new construction. Bill offered to put this topic on the agenda for the next group of six meeting. Ed requested assistance in changing our Sewer Use Ordinance focusing on Sewer Use Law as there are many decisions to be made including the possible creation of a FOG program. Erik added our Environmental Engineer and our Environmental Attorney are great resources. Ed clarified that we are presently interested in industry and home businesses. Bill will speak with the inspectors at the Town of Ithaca. Our sewer use ordinance requires us to issue a permit for any high strength discharge. Cynthia asked Ed to provide a proposal for further discussion at a future meeting. c. Projects and Research Update - Jose Lozano Efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and greenhouse gases by energy recovery continue. Jose proposes to use the energy captured from the effluent water to dry our biosolids to Class A. He offered two options: #1 - A small machine (30’ long) to operate 24 hours per day $407,000.00 (requires extra staffing) - three year ROI. #2 - A large machine (60’ long) to operate 8 hours per day $789,000.00 installed (requires construction - it will not fit into our existing structure) – six year ROI. Jose will present a more formal cost analysis next meeting. Cynthia added that she and some members of the Water Resources Council group are very excited at the possibility of having a local source of Class A biosolids. Jose would like to participate in the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) Connect – an initiative to advance clean heating and cooling. Michal is working with the Cornell Engineers for a Sustainable World Bio-Field Team Business and PR sub-team putting together an educational demonstration resource. Students from the Johnson School of Business are working on an economic analysis of the project. Members of Cornell faculty are the lead of the Atkinson Center Grant focusing on large scale plant process improvements and resource recovery. Jose added – if successful it will lead to a National Science Foundation Grant. Tee-Ann MOVED TO authorize Jose to send a letter of intent with REV connect for the initiative to advance clean heating and cooling. Seconded by Rich. Approved 5-0. Jose would like to review/redesign the food waste pit for presorted food waste. Erik stated that to retro-fit the bottom of the tank would not be difficult and he offered to look at the design drawings/prints. MN-SJC-2018-03-21.doc 5 Cynthia recommended that we talk with Barbara Eckstrom of Tompkins County if we are able to take in food scraps. Jose is making progress with Cornell dining. Ed clarified that we are presently able to take in food waste if it is in the form of slurry. Jose added that Emerging Contaminants sampling should take place mid-June. d. City Harbor Update - they are going to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate having effluent supplied to piping that runs to their property. e. Joint Sewer Agreement, Plant to Plant, Inter-municipal – Bill is looking to set up a meeting with the six municipalities. Lansing has publicly announced that they will be extending their sewer line to Rogue Harbor. The Remington Interceptor/Bypass will be necessary to divert flows if the Cayuga Heights Wastewater Treatment Plant does not expand their facility. Currently the ownership of the facility (capacity) is City 57%, Town 41% Dryden 2%. The monitoring stations will give us data to indicate sewer usage when they are operational. Bill MOVED to adjourn. Seconded by Tee-Ann. All were in favor. Approved 5-0. Meeting was adjourned @ 2:51 p.m. The Next Meeting is April 18th, 2018, 1:00 pm.