Members Present: Richard Aries, Joseph Carino, Robert Dickinson, Frank Ferreo, Carol Fletterick, and Edward Havens, Jr.
Members Absent: William Vees
Alternates Absent: Nancy Mulroy and Richard Siedman
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Chairman Richard Aries called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following actions were taken during the July 12, 2011 Regular Meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. June 7, 2011 - Public Hearing
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the June 7, 2011 Public Hearing as presented.
The motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion carried unanimously
2. June 7, 2011 - Regular Meeting
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the June 7, 2011 Regular Meeting as presented.
The motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
1. Approval to use private meter for lawn sprinkler system for user charge adjustments
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the owners of the properties listed below have requested approval to use private meter for lawn sprinkler system. Mr. Fred Shaw has inspected both facilities and looked for feasible locations for locating a meter on a dedicated line for the lawn sprinkler system. A location was found at each property and the applicants are eligible to install private meters.
a. 658 Ellington Road
Motion allowing the applicant to put in one private meter for the purposes of measuring lawn sprinkler water that doesn’t goes into the sewer system; and subject to meeting all Town regulations and appropriate technical specifications relating to sanitary sewer construction, and with the conditions that they are to read these meters not less that once a month, have the meters maintained, make sure that they are accurately recording flow, and they shall allow the Town staff the opportunity to come in and check that the meter is in good operating order. Annual reports of meter readings are to be submitted to the Town each year in January.
Motion was made by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
b. 828 Sullivan Avenue
Motion allowing the applicant to put in one private meter for the purposes of measuring lawn sprinkler water that doesn’t goes into the sewer system; and subject to meeting all Town regulations and appropriate technical specifications relating to sanitary sewer construction, and with the conditions that they are to read these meters not less that once a month, have the meters maintained, make sure that they are accurately recording flow, and they shall allow the Town staff the opportunity to come in and check that the meter is in good operating order. Annual reports of meter readings are to be submitted to the Town each year in January.
Motion was made by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the dry pump station project and the Treatment Plant upgrade are on schedule and on budget. There is a mediation case coming up the 2nd of August 2011 over the issue of the Contractor purchasing equipment proper to the approval of the Town.
Mr. Shaw also reported that there have been problems of surcharging and sewer backups on a section of 8 inch sewer line on Buckland Road. The contract for this project was recently signed and the engineer will begin to make an evaluation of the sanitary sewer collection system on Buckland Road. This evaluation will determine the cause of blockages of the main on Buckland Road on several occasions. Chairman Richard Aries asked Mr. Fred Shaw what will be the possible solutions to resolve this problem. Mr. Fred Shaw responded that there are three alternatives. One will be to install new piping and manholes further down stream on the cross country sewer line. The second alternative that is feasible, but probably not cost effective is to install a pump station on Buckland Road. The third
alternative, and possibly the most cost effective alternative would be to regularly inspect and clean the Buckland Road sewer main on a monthly basis. Mr. Fred Shaw explained that this is not a pipe failure, this is an issue of conflicting flows and the engineer is in the process of recommending a final solution.
In preparation of soliciting proposals from qualified firms for the Sanitary Sewer System Evaluation Consultant Engineering Services Project, the Town provided a request for proposal identifying the purpose and intent for the project (see Exhibit A). Mr. Fred Shaw reported that six firms were invited to present their qualifications for selection as a consultant for the Sewer System Evaluation Consultant Project; and the Town as a result of this process, has selected the firm of Wright-Pierce as the most qualified
engineering firm to perform the study to evaluate the 5.1 miles of concrete gravity sewer mains within Town on Chapel Road, John Fitch Boulevard, Pleasant Valley Road and Governor’s Highway; and to evaluate the condition of the Clark Street pump station force main, and extraneous flows that may cause early pipe failure. The study can be funded by a State grant through the Clean Water Fund. A draft of the scope of study provided by Wright-Pierce was distributed for review (see Exhibit B). Mr. Shaw gave an overview to the Authority of what each phase involves. Any comments or revisions will be provided to the engineering firm so as to incorporate
those changes in the scope of services and then provide DEP with a copy as part of the application process for the grant.
Mr. Fred Shaw stated that the engineering firm is not only going to evaluate which pipes need to be rehabilitated, but they are also going to attempt to find out the cause of corrosion. The evaluation of this particular sewer is broken into phases; and one phase leads to the next. Section 1 – Scope Services, Task 1 is to prepare the Scope of Services and review it with WPCA.
Task 2 consist of the TV inspection of the concrete gravity sewer mains along Chapel Road, John Fitch Boulevard, Pleasant Valley Road and Governor’s Highway and another section down Nutmeg Road North. Wright-Pierce will have an outside contractor involved to conduct a more detailed assessment of the condition and failure of the pipe by field and laboratory testing. Also, they will conduct a meeting with WPCA to review their findings through their inspections and evaluate findings to determine which areas beyond the 5.1 miles needs to be further investigated.
Task 3 involves identifying the sources of the corrosion within the collection system based on the results of Task 2. Mr. Fred Shaw explained that the inspection will be done in the 5.1 mile of sewer, once the engineering firm has found the corrosion they will focus on the cause of the corrosion. If there is no corrosion, then they don’t have to look any further.
Task 4 will involve an evaluation of the Clark Street Pump Station force main (5,600 – foot long). This pump station was upgraded back in 2002 and valves and a by-pass system was provided to allow wastewater to be pumped into tanker trucks if there should be a problem. However, Mr. Shaw explained that the amount of flow through the Clark Street pump station is greater than that which can be handled by the tanker trucks.
Wright-Pierce engineering firm will perform a condition assessment of the force main to determine areas of possible gas accumulation causing corrosion on the inside of the pipe. They will also be taking samples of the pipes in several locations, they will also be measuring the conductivity of the soil along the force main to determine if there is any probability of corrosion on the outside of the pipe.
Chairman Richard Aries referred to Task 4 - #2 which reads as follows “Request quote and coordinate the installation of the “Smart Ball” by Pure Technologies into the force main for this evaluation”. He asked how the cost for this study will be controlled if they don’t know how much is going to cost. Mr. Fred Shaw responded that Wright-Pierce Engineering firm had previously obtained proposals from these subcontractors, so that they know what the cost will be. Mr. Fred Shaw also explained that Task 4 also involves additional study to determine what would be the alternatives to effectively bypass the force main.
Chairman Richard Aries referenced to Task 4 - #9 which refers to the costs for traffic control which is not included in the proposed fee. He explained that this requires the involvement of other Town agencies, perhaps even Town Council, so he asked how is WPCA is going to deal with that situation. Mr. Fred Shaw answered that the traffic control is provided as necessary for all Town projects. However, this is not built into the contract price but it is expected to be funded totally through the WPCA budget.
Mr. Shaw continued to provide an overview of the scope of services and explained that the engineering firm will also develop a technical memorandum at the end of each task summarizing the results of inspections and presenting recommendations, cost estimates and an implementation schedule. Mr. Fred Shaw expressed that this study is basically to identify what needs to be done; this does not involve construction or corrective work.
Mr. Fred Shaw also reported that the Clark Street pump station service area is very large; it includes a number of wastesheds that include pump stations on Benedict Drive and Avery Street. Under Phase 1 – Task 5 the engineering firm will perform an evaluation and assessment to determine the magnitude of infiltration and inflow (I/I) within the entire sanitary sewer system. This will be done by using existing data flow information from a variety of sources including pump station flow records to narrow down the problem areas. Field investigations will be developed based upon the tasks and findings to identify where flow monitoring and flow isolation testing should occur. This task will be conducted during the spring.
Chairman Richard Aries explained that this task refers to evaluating the entire sanitary sewer system. He asked Mr. Fred Shaw if that goes beyond the initial scope of services of just focusing on the evaluation of the concrete pipes. Mr. Fred Shaw responded that this study does not involve just the concrete pipes evaluation; this study includes other elements such as the force main in Clark Street, the strenuous flows and the I/I problem. He explained that the original scope that was presented to the Town Council and to the WPCA referred to the need to evaluate the sewer system. He made it very clear that is not just going to have a TV study, it was also looking at other situations such as the I/I problem that is on Clark Street wasteshed area. The purpose of the study was to identify the need
to rehabilitate sewer pipe and those conditions which contribute to the premature failure of the sewer system to convey sanitary wastewater.
Mr. Fred Shaw further explained that the idea is to prioritize those areas requiring further investigation of excessive extraneous flows (I/I). There may be a need to look at other areas based upon preliminary information generated in Phase 1 – Task 5 (I/I evaluation); if so, then Phase 2 will be completed.
Mr. Ed Havens, Jr. asked Mr. Fred Shaw if this type of work has ever been done before in the sewer system. Mr. Fred Shaw responded that the last time an I/I study was done for the whole Town was back in 2001 as part of the Facility Plan. This evaluation study provided recommendations about upgrading the pump stations and upgrades to the Treatment Plant; recommendations that the Town has been in the process of implementing over the past nine years.
Mr. Fred Shaw explained that time tables for implementation will be prepared following the completion of each task. This language needs to be included in the agreement. Also, each task will provide cost information for budgetary purposes. Again, Phase 2 will be done only if is needed.
Chairman Aries expressed concern in terms of costs for example with regards to I/I study. He felt uncomfortable as to why an I/I comprehensive testing of the sewer system entirety needs to be done at this point and time when maybe there isn’t a major I/I problem. Mr. Fred Shaw responded that there is a major problem of I/I with Clark Street; there are flow meters that records tremendous amount of flows through that station. However, he explained that the first step is to do Phase 1 which is gathering information to know what must be done; then there are different tasks in the phase and each task leads to and justifies the need to complete the next task. Based on the findings of Phase I I/I study, the Town will determine whether it is necessary to proceed to Phase 2. Mr. Fred Shaw also
explained that the Town can stop the project at any point and time, however, Chairman Aries expressed that such language is not included in the agreement. He would like some language implemented in the agreement stating that the WPCA will have control as to whether or not to move forward with Phase 2.
In further reviewing the agreement, Mr. Shaw requested approval of the WPCA to move forward with the agreement; this approval will involve authorizing the Town Manger, on behalf of the WPCA, to sign the grant application as well as signing the Engineering Services Agreement. The following information needs to be included in the Agreement:
1. Specify Schedules for the completion of each task;
2. Construct an implementation schedule for the rehabilitation work; Implement the recommendations of the technical memorandum;
3. There will be a presentation made to the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) upon completion of each task to discuss the technical memorandums and to answer questions; and that
4. Moving forward with Phase 2 will be subject to the WPCA approval.
The Authority will be provided with an edited copy of the agreement, which will be sent to Wright-Pierce. The Department of Environmental Protection will also get a copy for their review. The Authority agreed to move forward and to add this item to the Agenda.
Motion was made to add to the Agenda Item C2 – Approval of the Agreement for the Sanitary Sewer System Evaluation.
The motion was made by Mr. Frank Ferrero
The motion was seconded by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
2. Approval of the Agreement for the Sanitary Sewer System Evaluation
Motion was made for conditional approval of the Agreement between the Town of South Windsor and Wright-Pierce for Sanitary Sewer System Evaluation (see Exhibit B); subject to including in the agreement the following information: Specify Schedules for the completion of each task; Construct an implementation schedule for the rehabilitation work; Implement the recommendations of the technical memorandum; and that there will be a presentation made to the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) on completion
of each task; proceeding to Phase 2 of this project will be subject to the Water Pollution Control Authority approval. Also, this approval authorizes the Town Manager to sign on behalf of the WPCA for the grant application as well as signing the Engineering Services Agreement.
The motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion carried unanimously
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
None
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS
1. Godwin Pumps Invoice $962.50 (Approval to pay)
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that it was brought to his attention that there was still an outstanding bill that was not paid for the repair of the sewer pipes that collapse on Chapel Road. Therefore, he requested approval from the Authority to make the payment.
Motion was made to approve payment for invoice # 400141457 to Godwin Pumps in the amount $962.50 as specify in Exhibit C.
Motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Ferrero
The motion carried unanimously
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Reserve Fund Policy (Review and Approval)
Chairman Aries distributed a revised draft copy of the Reserve Fund Policy (see Exhibit D). He explained that his first initial reason for revising the policy was because for example WPCA was typed in different ways and he wanted to make it uniform. He also explained that he did not change the actual policy as it relates to the percentages. However, he added the definition to Restricted Funds and Unrestricted Funds; he also added the following language in paragraph 2 of the Policy: “It is
understood, however, that these goals may require modification depending on the actual use of such Reserve Funds, and will be subject to regular review pursuant to Paragraph 5, infra”.
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that he recently added the language on paragraph 2 Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). He explained that when he was looking through GASB definition it kind of encourage people to not use the word reserve, but to replace it with the word “restricted”. So instead of Reserved Fund it should be referred to as a restricted fund. Mr. Shaw also explained that the term “O&M” refers to the year to year expenditures within a specific fiscal year. The Replacement Fund relates to that current and future anticipated expenditures and therefore, involves a number of fiscal years. With this said, the Authority agreed to change the word “Reserved Funds” to “Restricted Funds” and “Unreserved Funds” to
“Unrestricted Funds”.
The preceding changes will be incorporated in the Draft policy for final approval of the Reserve Fund Policy.
Motion was made to postpone any action on this Item until further review.
Motion to postpone was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Frank Ferrero
The motion carried unanimously
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS
None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 p.m.
Motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
Respectfully Submitted,
______________________________
Ether A. Diaz
Recording Secretary
Approved Date: September 6, 2011
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