Joint Facilities Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
November 17, 2009
A Regular Meeting of the Joint Facilities Committee was held at 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The members in attendance included:
Mark Barmasse, Chairman Robert Jones
David Kelsey Richard LeMay
Dag Lindland and Thomas Tripodi were not in attendance. Also attending were Vincent F. Susco Jr., Public Utilities Administrator, Scott Clayton, Superintendent, Mark Decker, Public Works Director of Colchester and Pamela McCann recording secretary.
Call to Order
Chairman Barmasse called the meeting to order at 5:02 P.M. Chairman Barmasse introduced Mr. Richard LeMay of the Colchester WPCA. Mr. LeMay will be replacing former member Rob Tarlov on the Joint Facilties. Mr. Tarlov had successfully run for a position on the Colchester Finance Board and all members agreed his expertise and financial incite would be missed. Management was requested to acknowledge his service.
Chairman Barmasse called for a moment of silence in recognition of former Chairman Fred Pereau who had recently passed away. Management was requested to provide a memorial contribution in accordance with the wishes of the family.
Approval of Minutes
Chairman Barmasse called for the approval of minutes. Mr. Susco pointed out a spelling error on page 3, Old Business line 1 “meting” should have read meeting. Upon motion by Mr. Kelsey, seconded by Mr. Barmasse, the amended minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 20, 2009 were unanimously approved.
Report of Operations
Chairman Barmasse called upon Superintendent Scott Clayton, to present the October Report of Operations which is made part of these minutes.
Mr. Clayton reported the plant ran within parameters and normal routine maintenance was conducted at the various facilities.
The painting contractor has completed the work on the Administration Building roof. The final product is a marked improvement over the original roof. Mr. Susco indicated the damage to the lawn along the north side of the building will be repaired by the contractor.
Mr. Clayton reported continued problems with the heating system of the Administration Building. Boiler fuel lines required replacement.
An unannounced inspection by the underground storage tank unit of DEP has determined that we have two violations at the Administration Building. The 3,000 gallon diesel storage tank has been “RED TAGGED” requiring that we immediately remove it from service and noted the 4,000 gallon heating oil fuel tank must be removed from service by 2012. Mr. Clayton explained the remaining diesel product was transferred to the heating oil tank and arrangements have been made to have the tank removed per DEP guidelines. Diesel fuel for the vehicles will be provided by using the East Hampton fueling facility located at the Town’s Public Work garage at the top of the hill. A transfer will be made at the end of the year to pay for the fuel used. Management continues to pursue a resolution
for the heating oil storage tank and additional information will be provided at future meetings.
Mr. Clayton concluded with a report on the recent increase in the nitrogen numbers. He believes a lack of nutrients is the cause and has made arrangements to mitigate the situation.
Budget Status
Mr. Susco presented the budget status. All line items remain within parameters and he pointed out the costs for repainting the Administration Building roof have been captured in account #5430 Bldg & Equip Maint and Repair which received a transfer from the Joint Facilties Capital Budget.
Old Business
Mr. Susco reported there has been no progress over the working contract. Due to several conflicts getting the parties together all meetings have rescheduled until January 6, 13 and 20, 2010. Mr. Susco explained this will hinder the preparation of the Joint Facilties 2010/11 operations budget. Mr. Susco indicated the labor portion of the budget will be presented with the best information available.
Management indicated there has been no progress on the HVAC improvements for the Administration Building. To expedite the project, management has contacted Mr. Paul Kuraitis, Energy Consultation, with Connecticut Light Power to obtain the additional information requested by the members.
Bids for the new channel monster were mailed out to six providers on November 3, 2009. A mandatory pre-bid meeting was held at the offices of the Joint Facilities on November 10, 2009, with five contractors attending. Bids are to be opened at 10:00A.M on December 10, 2009.
Mr. Susco explained there was no meeting scheduled for December and to accommodate the long lead time in delivery of the channel monster (9-13 weeks) Mr. Susco indicated he would provide a summary of the bids to the members after CDM completed it’s review of all qualified bids. He explained no further work would be authorized until all members have reviewed the information and all agreed to award the contract.
New Business
Mr. Susco presented the meeting schedule for 2010. Upon motion by Mr. Kelsey, seconded by Mr. Jones the meeting schedule for 2010 was accepted as presented.
Mr. Susco indicated one additional item of new business had come up.
Management presented the Demand Response agreement with CPower which is up for renewal on May 31, 2010. He reported the Joint Facilties has been participating in ISO New England 30 Minute Demand Response program since 2006 and that several changes are being made to the program for the future. As a result of the success of the program and the determination that there are more “Megawatts” of capacity than requirements the Demand Response market is moving forward on an auction basis. He explained this most assuredly will drive the cost down. In addition the methodology for determining performance has also been changed. Previously our monetary benefits were determined based upon a “Best 5-minute Performance” (553kW). In the future it will be based upon an
“Estimated Hourly Average Performance” (226 kW). In addition the method of payment has also been changed to incentivize us maintaining a high performance level throughout the year. At the present time management was unable to estimate the value of the contract but indicated copies of our latest utility bills have been forwarded to CPower for a determination. Action on the contract was tabled until the January meeting.
Adjournment
Mr. Kelsey motioned, seconded by Mr. Jones, to adjourn the meeting. All voting in favor the meeting was adjourned at 5:25 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Pamela McCann
Recording Secretary
Approved by unanimous vote of the Joint Facilities Committee on January 19, 2010
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