A. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Richard Aries, Robert Dickinson, Carol Fletterick, and William Vees
Members Absent: Donald Antaya and Vicki Paliulis
Alternates Present: Ed Havens, Jr.
Alternates Absent: Richard Siedman
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Others: Dennis Dievert, Jr., P.E.; Wright-Pierce
Chairman Richard Aries called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following actions were taken during the December 4, 2012 Regular Meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
October 2, 2012 – Regular Meeting
Motion was made to approve the minutes of the October 2, 2012 Regular Meeting as presented.
The motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Mr. William Vees
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
1. Inflow/Infiltration - Sewer System Evaluation Project– (Report from Wright-Pierce)
A copy of the Inflow/Infiltration Sewer System Evaluation Project report was included with the meeting Agenda for review (see Exhibit A). Mr. Dennis Dievert, Jr., P.E. from Wright-Pierce Engineers was in attendance to present some of the findings of the first phase of the Inflow and Infiltration (I/I) evaluation. He explained that most of the report is based on review of historical data in Town and some flow meters that were installed in the spring of this past year. Mr. Dievert explained that the
purpose of this evaluation was to reevaluate the sewer system as a whole to identify areas experiencing excessive I/I. There are 130 miles of sewers which were all looked at as part of this effort and in Phase II additional testing involving TV inspection, house inspection, and manhole inspection will be conducted; the purpose of this first evaluation was to try to narrow down the 130 miles to a manageable level.
In explaining what is Inflow and Infiltration (I/I), Mr. Dievert referred to the diagram of Page 2 of Exhibit A. He explained that Infiltration represents a crack in the mainline pipe. Tree roots intrusion, broken laterals or things of that nature also cause infiltration. Inflow is present only during a rain event or shortly thereafter; Inflow includes direct sources such as leaky manhole and manhole covers; catch basins, uncapped cleanouts, roof drains and foundation drain.
The first part of the Phase I evaluation was to conduct a system wide evaluation of flows using Treatment Plant flow data and also pump station run time meters. Using the Treatment Plant flow data, Wright-Pierce looked at dry and wet weather flows in order to determine overall system-wide inflow and infiltration rates. They also used the pump station run time meters; use of the pump stations run time meters is a quick and easy way to isolate and identify drainage sub-areas for further evaluation for each of the eleven (11) pump stations.
As part of the Phase I evaluation, Wright-Pierce reviewed the 2002 I/I evaluation that was done by CDM as part of the Facility Plan and compared their results to this evaluation. Mr. Dievert, Jr. explained that in 2002 CDM installed twenty (20) flow meters system-wide and they identified one drainage area to have excessive inflow and infiltration; they determined a system wide infiltration rate of .59 mgd (590,000 million gallons a day). CDM also determined a system wide inflow rate of .08 mgd (80,000 million gallons a day) during an average rain storm. Mr. Deivert explained that CDM recommended a flow monitoring program and that the Town implements an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) program to inspect sewer manholes and televise the sewer pipe mainlines.
Mr. Dievert reported that the Treatment Plant data from 2009 towards the end of 2011 was reviewed and it was found that the average daily flows are similar to those reported in the 2002 evaluation; there was a slight increase in peak flows found and some additional flow during heavy rain events. A seasonal I/I of 1.0 mgd (1 million gallons a day) was calculated which cannot directly be compared to .6 mgd that was calculated by CDM as it was based on infiltration only. This 1.0 mgd is sort of a seasonal overall extraneous flow into the system. There was also a peak flow of 8.8 mgd following a 4-inch rain event in March 2011. Mr. Dievert referred to page 4 where a chart showing the Treatment Plant flows from January of 2009 to July of 2011. He explained that the dark blue line represents the
average daily total flow which is fairly consistent with the exception that there are jumps in flow in the spring time. In reviewing this, it was determined that the ground water and snow melt run off are the biggest contributions to the Town system. He further explained that the red vertical lines represented rainfall (August, September, October, November and December of 2010); there was a lot of rain and there was no corresponding increase in the daily flows. They did not react; they only reacted to heavy rainfall in the spring time when the ground water is high.
After looking at the actual data reported at the Treatment Plant, Wright-Pierce tried to calculate a baseline sanitary flow, which is a flow without any inflow or any infiltration. This evaluation was done in two ways; by looking at very dry times of the year and by using text book values for population data in sewer account information. The result was 1.4 mgd, which computed to an average infiltration rate of .5 mgd. In comparing this .50 mgd versus the .59 that was calculated in 2002 by CDM, Wright-Pierce concluded that the Town system flows do not react to excessive rainfall in low ground water conditions; indicating infiltration rather than direct inflow is the most prevalent type of extraneous flow into the system.
Another evaluation that was performed to look at pump station run times to try and isolate or reduce the 130 miles of sewer line down to a more manageable level. A peaking factor of 11 for the Town’s pump stations was calculated (see Exhibit A, page 5-Table). The difference between the average dry period flow (July, August) and a max day flow (March or April) is used as the peaking factor. Wright-Pierce selected 3 as a benchmark; so, anything greater than 3 would be looked at a second time. The Table shows four pump stations that have a peaking factor greater than 3 and two of them (Benedict Drive Pump Station and Clark Street Pump Station) are within that priority area. The other two are Scantic Meadow 1 Pump Station and Scantic Meadow 2 Pump Station; Scantic Meadow 1 Pump Station had a
peaking factor of 4.
Mr. Dievert also reported that infiltration rates by pump stations drainage areas were also calculated. He explained that the EPA defines an infiltration rate of 4,000 gallons per day per inch diameter mile (gpd/idm) to be cause for concern or is a reason to evaluate that area further for cost effective evaluation and removal. However, he selected 3,000 gpd/idm benchmark for cost effective evaluation and removal because he felt that these areas should be evaluated further based on the share of miles of pipe that are within that. He explained that Quarry Brook Pump Station and Scantic Meadow 2 Pump Station have the highest gpd/idm. He explained that although Clark Street has a low gpd/idm benchmark, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem there.
Mr. Dievert reported on the Evaluation of the Clark Street Drainage Area. He reported that the flows generated upstream of Clark Street represents about 65% of the total waste water received at the Treatment Plant; however, during wet weather and their excessive infiltration that contribution dropped to 50%. This indicates presence of excessive I/I elsewhere in the system; in the area to be studied in Phase II.
In Exhibit A, Page 7 the graphs illustrates in dark blue the Treatment Plant reported flows and in green the flow meter data from the Clark Street Pump Station; this shows that the Clark Street Pump Station while contributing to the additional flows did not contribute as much as originally expected; there were inflow and infiltration flows coming from other areas of Town, not upstream of the Clark Street Pump Station.
Mr. Dievert explained that fourteen (14) flow meters were installed and maintained by ADS Environmental for eight weeks in Spring 2012. Some of the conclusions that were drawn from this monitoring were that the groundwater levels were not very high; they varied slightly during the monitoring period. In the case of the 5-year storm recorded on April 22, 2012 and April 23, 2012 where over 3.95 inches of rain, the majority of the 14 metered basins did not react significantly. Excessive infiltration worthy of further evaluation was identified upstream in basin number 2 which is located on Deming Street; and inflow was noted upstream in basins 18 and 19.
In terms of recommendations to the Town, Mr. Dievert reported that there is I/I contribution that is worthy of further investigations. The system-wide on average is not concentrated in Clark Street area. Therefore, he recommended modifying the original scope that was approved but maintaining the original fee. Mr. Dievert recommended further system evaluation survey tasks be conducted in Phase I area now, which will be located upstream of Clark Street, which originally the Authority planned to pursue during the Phase II work. This work will entail installing 6 flow meters in Phase II area, instead of 20 meters. He requested that the Treatment Plant staff record run times at least every other day rather than once a week during the installation of the 6 meters, so as to obtain daily flows rather
than weekly. A sewer system evaluation scope for Phase II area will be prepared which will include 10 days of detailed manhole inspections; 6 nights of visually monitoring flow and develop a CCTV program should it be determined that there is a problem in a sewer main pipe.
Mr. William Vees asked if I/I study will help to identify sections prone to catastrophe failures. Mr. Dievert responded there is a component in the scope of work to evaluate other concrete pipes in Town to make sure that is not in danger of collapsing; however, Wright-Pierce has not been authorized to proceed with that study. Mr. Shaw explained that 5.1 miles of concrete pipes from Chapel Road to Route 5 were previously evaluated. There are other areas of concrete pipes in Town which should not be ignored but they were not high on the list of priorities. Mr. Vees requested to see in the next report on areas of concern for possible catastrophes.
Mr. Dievert will prepare and provide to Mr. Shaw the amendment as a draft. This will also be presented to DEEP for approval. This will be an Item on the next meeting Agenda so as to vote to move forward and allocate these resources approving the proposed Phase II activities.
2. 763 Griffin Road (Adjustment of Sewer Bill)
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that 763 Griffin Road is a new house that hasn’t been sold yet and none of the plumbing is in place. He inspected the house and took pictures. The property owners are seeking some relief from the user fees for this year; to defer until such time where those facilities could be used. Chairman Aries asked if there is a way of keeping track when they reconnect again. Mr. Shaw responded that he is provided with a report listing the Building Department permits and C.O.’s (Certificates of Occupancy) that have been issued. Mr. Shaw will be informed as to when the plumbing is in place and at that time this property will be added back onto the sewer billing list.
Motion was made to temporarily remove 763 Griffin Road from the residential billing list with the condition that the property owner is required to notify the Authority when a plumbing permit is taken out from the Building Department. This property will be added to the residential sewer billing list upon issuance of the Building Department permit for connection of the plumbing to the sewer system; the Authority reserves the right to retroactively bill the property owner.
Motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
3. Discussion of Email Consensus Voting
Mr. Fred Shaw explained that at the end of September, WPCA had to give the authority to the Chairman to sign paper work (Permanent Loan Obligation) required by September 28, 2012 for closing out the Treatment Plant project. Since there was no meeting until after September 28th, the Authority was polled via email requesting a consensus vote; then the formal vote was put on the agenda for the October meeting. When unexpected things come up, a consensus vote is solicited among members of the WPCA via email or by telephone calls, instead of having a special meeting. The Authority expressed concern as to the legality of soliciting a consensus vote via email or by telephone calls. Mr. Fred Shaw talked to the Attorney about this verbally. His response was that it needs to be reflected in the by laws.
Chairman Aries explained that he attended the seminar for the FOIA that was recently held at the Town Hall in which it was explained that anything done outside the context of a regular meeting, such as a phone conference meeting as opposed to a regular meeting, a room needs to be established where the public would have the right to be present. Mr. Robert Dickinson expressed that when having a special meeting, another possibility is to put the notice on the Town’s notification board. Mr. Shaw responded that the notices are on the website and on the Town Clerk’s Office Bulletin Board. Mr. Ed Havens, Jr. expressed that he is comfortable with email voting. Chairman Aries will write a letter to the Town Attorney for legal opinion on this subject. This item will be added on the next
meeting Agenda for further discussion.
4. Fed Ex Ground, South Windsor, CT – Sewer Connection Charge (Discussion)
Mr. Shaw explained that Town staff usually provides something in the approval letter on connection charges for businesses. However, sometimes in the past, approval letters went out without notification as to the connection charge. He explained that a connection charge is like the tax rates; they change every year. In this particular case, there was a figure listed on the Fed Ex Ground WPCA approval letter however, it did not specified that the charge was subject to change in the future (see Exhibit B). Mr. Shaw explained that the applicant was allowed at the request of the owner, to build their sewer line inside prior to connection to the main line. They weren’t charged for their connection fee until they actually connect to the Town sewer. The issue of whether or not the connection fee will change during that period of time was never raised.
Chairman Aries recommended with regards to all further approvals, all sewer connections, to have a standard language explaining that these fees are subject to change. Mr. William Vees asked if the applicant received any notification regarding the increase of sewer fees. Mr. Shaw responded that there is a legal ad in the paper and a Public Hearing. There was a consensus to refer this matter in writing to the Town Attorney for legal opinion.
5. WPCA FY 20011/2012 Annual Report (Review and Approve)
A copy of the WPCA Annual Report FY 2011/2012 was included with the Agenda for review and consideration of the Authority (Exhibit C). Mr. William Vees asked that the passing this year of Thomas Deming be mentioned and to make reference the sewer user rates increase. Ms. Carol Fletterick recommended making a note that it is the Authority’s responsibility to set the user fees.
Motion was made to approve the WPCA Annual Report for FY 2011/2012 as presented and including the following recommendations: make mention that it is the responsibility of the Authority to establish the sewer user rates; make note that the user rates were increased from the previous year in restore the user rate in effect prior to the Town Council request to lower the rate; and note the passing of W.P.C.A. member Thomas Deming.
Motion was made by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
6. WPCA Calendar for 2013 (Review and Approve)
With the Agenda, a copy of the WPCA 2013 Meeting Calendar was included for review and approval (see Exhibit D). Due to the New Year’s Day Holiday, the January meeting will be affected and therefore will be held on the first Wednesday of the month. The meeting date for July will get scheduled in the June regular meeting. The November regular meetings will also be affected this year; due to the elections, therefore, the meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of the month.
Motion was made to approve the WPCA Calendar for 2013 as presented in the Memorandum from Mr. Fred Shaw dated November 30, 2012 attached hereto as Exhibit D.
Motion was made by Mr. William Vees
The motion was seconded by Ms. Carol Fletterick
The motion carried unanimously
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
1. Sewer System Evaluation Project (Update)
Mr. Shaw reported that 1100 feet of concrete pipe on Chapel Road has been replaced; this was done earlier this past late September. The contractor has about 5 manholes to rehabilitate which they are going to do later this month. The contractor is also in the process of doing the slip lining at the corner of Chapel Road and Route 5. This project is expected to be finished before the end of this month.
2. Dry Pit Pump Station Upgrade (Progress Report)
Mr. Shaw reported that the new pump stations are substantially complete; there is a punch list on each one of the three pump stations to be reviewed. There is also a change order to put a retaining wall on the Barrington Estates Pump Station required because of site grading problems.
Mr. Shaw reported that there have been problems with the pumps at the Ellington Road pump station which have been clogging up; the clogging is frequent. A new design impeller was installed recently in the hope that it will resolve the clogging problem. Mr. Shaw reported that a notice went out with the sewer bills advising residents to be careful as to what they put down in the drains.
3. Task Force Committee (Discussion)
There was no report on this Item.
Chairman Richard Aries asked to add to the Agenda a new Item regarding Joseph Carino’s resignation.
Motion was made to add to the Agenda Item C-4 Resignation of Joseph Carino.
The motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
Motion was seconded by Mr. William Vees
The motion carried unanimously
4. Resignation of Joseph Carino
Chairman Richard Aries reported that Mr. Joseph Carino has resigned from public service after 50 plus years of dedicated service to the Town, in many capacities including Chairman of the Water Pollution Control Authority. Chairman Aries sent Mr. Carino a thank you note on behalf of all the members in appreciation to his dedicated work to the Town.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - None
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS - None
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS - None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made to adjourn at 8:55 p.m.
The motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Mr. William Vees
The motion carried unanimously
Respectfully Submitted,
______________________________
Ether A. Diaz
Recording Secretary
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