A. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Richard Aries, Donald Antaya, Robert Dickinson, William Vees, and Vicky Paliulis -(arrived at 7:12 p.m.)
Members Absent: Carol Fletterick
Alternates Absent: Ed Havens, Jr., Richard Siedman
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Others Present: Victor Berman, Town Resident
Chairman Richard Aries called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following actions were taken during the February 4, 2014 Regular Meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. January 7, 2014, Regular Meeting
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the January 7, 2014 regular meeting as presented.
The motion was made by Mr. Donald Antaya
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
1. Phase II Sewer System Improvements – (Authorize Notice to Proceed)
Included with the Agenda was a copy of a proposal for engineering services amended to the current contract provided by Wright-Pierce (see Exhibit A). Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the WPCA previously approved the design work for their project to rehabilitate 33 manholes in an effort to minimize the extraneous flow in the sewer system. Wright Pierce is seeking approval to proceed with the bidding, construction administration and inspection phase services (Phase II). This project is not eligible for State grant;
therefore, the cost will come out of the Removal and Manhole Rehab fund. The amount is not to exceed $18,550 for the design and the estimated construction costs are $160,000. This amendment will not change the original budgeted fee but will only change the focus of attention pursuant to the findings resulting from Phase I.
Motion was made to authorize to proceed with the construction phase and approved the proposed scope of services and fee for preparation of the Phase II Sewer System Improvements as presented on Exhibit A.
The motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Donald Antaya
The motion carried unanimously
Motion was made to go to Item – G2 “Commercial and Residential Condominiums Sewer Billing Policy (Discussion)”.
Motion was made by Mr. William Vees
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
2. Commercial and Residential Condominiums Sewer Billing Policy (Discussion)
Mr. Victor Berman of 16 Lavender Lane, South Windsor, CT came before the Authority. He was seeking information on the residential condominiums sewer billing policy.
Ms. Vicki Paliulis arrived at 7:12 p.m.
Chairman Richard Aries explained that there have been many discussions with regards to the difference between billing the commercial condominiums and residential condominiums; he explained the billing procedures for commercial businesses. Mr. Berman explained that he lives at Teaberry Estates which has 25 units. He explained the impact on his MDC bill and the Town’s sewer user bill. Chairman Richard Aries explained that there has been several meetings with the advisory committee and its been determined that there are a lot of options and ways of approaching this problem which is a very complex issue. Mr. Dickinson expressed that one of the thoughts he has was adjusting the sewer bill based on the square footage; a base charge of $125 and then based on the square footage. A discussion
ensued and Chairman Richard Aries expressed that he doesn’t think anyone is contemplating a change in the sewer billing system; however, there will be further discussion to determine what’s the most fair and equitable system to distribute residential sewer user charges. One of the options that have been discussed is having a sewer bill discount which may be based on some level of income eligibility.
With no further comments or questions; the public participation ended at 7:27 PM.
C. NEW BUSINESS
2. Budget FY 2014/2015 – (Discussion)
A copy of a portion of the Pollution Control Budget for FY2014/2015 was included with the Agenda for review and discussion (see exhibit B.) This portion of the budget only includes the Operation and Maintenance; it does not include the Debt Service, Capital Project, or any contributions to the reserve funds which will be discussed at the next WPCA meeting. Mr. Shaw gave an explanation of the changes. He explained that the budget represents an increase of 2.98% compared to last year’s budget.
Mr. Shaw summarized the areas of major cost increases and distributed a list of unplanned expenditures for review (see Exhibit C). He explained some of the major cost unplanned expenses, for example, the replacement of the VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) at Clark Street pump station in the amount of $20,400.00. Another high unplanned expense was the replacement of a failed component of the UV system; the UV is the system that disinfects the wastewater ($13,483.61). The third major unplanned expense was for the recommendations of the NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit requirements in the amount of $12,821.00. Mr. Shaw
explained that during the design of the plant upgrade he asked the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) for clarification on what would be the new permit requirements for the Treatment Plant upgrades. There was no DEEP response at that time; however, some of the new equipment required specifically certified technicians to perform equipment maintenance. This is the case of the power center breaker and ATS service contract in the amount of $13,175.00.
Mr. Shaw also explained that the decrease in overtime is due to Treatment Plant improvements and the use of monitoring equipment which allows the on-call staff to determine whether or not the alarm requires that they need to go to the Plant or pumping station to resolve a problem.
3. Email/Communication Policy – (Discussion)
Chairman Richard Aries explained that this subject matter is in response to Mr. Robert Dickinson’s decision to express his personal opinion to Town Council with regards to a certain aspect of the sewer use billing. A discussion ensued; there was a consensus that if any member of the Authority is expressing their personal opinion in writing with Town Council or any public official in relation to the WPCA, the member should identify itself as a member of the Authority and should also forward all correspondence to WPCA members.
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
Mr. Shaw explained that he wanted to bring the members up to date on these projects which have been on the Agenda before but there hadn’t been a lot of new information to report at the time.
1. Phase I Sewer System Improvements
Mr. Shaw reported that this is the Chapel Road project which is essentially completed and can be closed out.
2. Dry Pit Pump Station Upgrade
This project has been completed; however, there are some punch list items for the contractor to complete.
3. Treatment Plant Upgrade
The final remaining work for the project involved the completion of a one year warranty period for the planting of 60 trees to create a screen for the Treatment Plant. However, he is unable to close out this project as he is waiting for the vendor to submit the final invoice for 16 trees that were replaced.
4. Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study Phase I – CCTV and Manholes Inspection
This is an on going project that has been funded by the State. Last year the consultant engineering firm, Wright Pierce reviewed the results for the I/I study. Based upon what they discover during Phase I, there may or may not be further testing required.
5. Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study Phase II – Smoke Testing and House to House Inspections
This is a project that may be done based upon the findings of Phase I of the project.
Mr. Shaw also reported on a couple of items that were not on the Agenda. He reported that Ms. Liz Pendleton and Mr. Steve Wagner are two new members in the Task Force Committee. Ms. Pendleton and Mr. Wagner have requested certain amount of information in preparation to the Task Force Committee meetings. Some of this information has been provided.
Also, Mr. Fred Shaw reported that Chairman Richard Aries sent an email to the Town Manager with regards to the Town Council’s Meeting Agenda (2/3/14) item 14.L. The Town Manager’s responded to the email which will be included with the minutes as an Exhibit; see Exhibit D.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (Items not on the agenda) - None
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS - None
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Proposed Sewer Rebate (Discussion)
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that he met with a staff member in the Human Services Department to review their program. Mr. Shaw outlined the different programs available; a copy of the programs outline was included with the Agenda (see Exhibit E). Mr. Shaw explained that the Human Services Department offers an Energy Assistance Program; and two separate Tax Relief Programs for Elderly and Totally Disabled Homeowners - there is a State Program and a Local Tax Relief Program for Elderly and Totally Disabled
Homeowners. Each assistance program has a sliding income scale for eligibility. All the applications are available in Human Services Department. It will be the WPCA decision to determine whether the applicants will be automatically eligible for the sewer bill rebate or if they must apply for the assistance program. The Town’s population is about 26,600 people; probably 21,000 are actually connected to sewer. Chairman Richard Aries would like to know what the economic impact will be and how much of a discount the Authority wants to grant. Mr. Shaw explained that once the Authority decides on the amount it will be easy to compute the impact on the user fees. This subject matter will be further discussed at the Task Force Subcommittee meeting.
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS - None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 8:18 p.m.
The motion was made by Mr. Don Antaya
The motion was seconded by William Vees
The motion carried unanimously
Respectfully Submitted,
______________________________
Ether A. Diaz
Recording Secretary
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