A. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Richard Aries, Donald Antaya, Robert Dickinson, Carol Fletterick, Ed Havens, Jr., Vicki Paliulis, and William Vees
Alternates Present: Richard Siedman sitting in for Ms. Vicki Paliulis until her arrival at 7:15 p.m.
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Others Present: Councilor Stephen Wagner (Liaison to WPCA)
Chairman Richard Aries called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The following actions were taken during the June 10, 2014 Special Meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).
Mr. Richard Siedman was appointed to sit in for Ms. Vicki Paliulis
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. May 6, 2014 – Regular Meeting
Mr. William Vees made a grammatical correction to the minutes.
2. May 20, 2014, Special Meeting
Chairman Richard Aries made a grammatical correction to the minutes.
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the May 6, 2014 WPCA regular meeting and the minutes of May 20, 2014 special meeting as amended.
Motion was made by Carol Fletterick
The motion was seconded by Mr. Don Antaya
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
Motion was made to change the order of the Agenda; to discuss Item C4 as Item C1 and Change Item C1 to Item C4.
Motion was made by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion was seconded by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion carried unanimously
1. Water Pollution Control Budget and Sewer User Charges, Surcharges, Sewer Assessment Schedules and Septic Disposal Fees for Fiscal Year 2014/2015 (Set Rates)
Chairman Richard Aries reported that the sewer user charges and the budget have been reviewed very thoroughly; he asked if anyone had any questions or comments. Mr. Robert Dickinson expressed that he really thinks that the Authority should reduce the user charges for condominiums/small apartments.
Ms. Vicky Paliulis arrived at 7:15 pm
Chairman Richard Aries responded that there were arguments in this regard made during the Public Hearing held earlier this evening, concerning fairness and equity billing for sewer use. He explained that the use of water consumption is a complex way upon which to base the sewer user fees.
Mr. Richard Siedman responded to Mr. Dickinson that he understood his suggestion, however, he explained that Berry Patch, for example, is financed by CHFA; and if is has financed by CHFA there are income limits. So charging the apartments the flat sewer user charge means increasing their rent.
Chairman Richard asked for approval of the proposed sewer user charges as presented in the legal notice for sewer user rates.
Motion was made to adopt the Sewer User Charges, Surcharges, Sewer Assessment Schedules and Septic Disposal Fees for FY 2014/2015, as presented this evening during the WPCA Public Hearing (Exhibit A)
Motion was made by Mr. Donald Antaya
The motion was seconded by Mr. William Vees
Councilor Stephen Wagner expressed that the Mayor and himself asked the Authority to reconsider the proposal from the advisory committee which used as a baseline 79,000 gallons and user charge of $351. He expressed that he would have appreciated hearing the Authority at least discussing the recommendation prior to approving the proposed sewer user fees. Chairman Richard Aries apologized to Councilor Wagner; however, he expressed that the WPCA appreciates all of the advice given and took these recommendations into consideration. Mr. William Vees asked Councilor Wagner if the 10% increase he had estimated for the businesses is an average. Councilor Wagner explained how he determined his calculations and reported that only the larger business users are going to be impacted by the 10% increase; the
people who are below 74,000 will see a decrease in their sewer bill; the people above 93,000 gallons will see a 10% increase. Mr. Donald Antaya asked Mr. Fred Shaw if he agreed with that; and Mr. Shaw responded that he calculated the rates differently, he put the rates for each of the users and re ran the billing list with those factors. He showed what the total number of revenue will be under each case and how the revenue will differ between each option.
Mr. Donald Antaya asked Mr. Havens, Jr. how would he feel as a business man if he suddenly sees a 10% increase on his sewer bill. Mr. Havens, Jr. responded that based on previous discussions, he prefer a more incremental slower approach; there was among those present to increase the sewer user fees gradually. Mr. Shaw explained that during the last advisory meeting he passed out a study that was done that demonstrated that the treatment plants are seeing a higher concentration of BODs and suspended solids; the residential sector, being largest sector, is probably responsible for this change because of the reduction of water use over the last 25 years. He explained that 95% of the treatment costs are for solids removal.
Mr. Robert Dickinson abstained; the motion passed
Motion was made to approve the proposed Water Pollution Control Budget as presented (see Exhibit B).
Motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Ms. Paliulis
The motion carried unanimously
2. South Windsor SCADA Server Issues (Discussion)
Included with the agenda, was a copy of recommendations made by Woodard & Curran with regards to the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) server issues. This is a computerized system that allows staff at the Treatment Plant to be able to remotely monitor and control all of the equipment. The Town currently has a contract with Woodard & Curran to monitor the SCADA system and they have been asked by the Town to assist with the service, and repair of the SCADA server computers. Mr. Fred Shaw explained that the SCADA system in place is very complex in its design and functionality; the system was installed back in 2009 as part of the treatment plant upgrade but it was not used until near the end of the project completion which was 2012 when it was finally turned over to the Town. The
alarm system at the treatment plant and the pump stations operates through the SCADA system; and there is a problem with this system. Also the system currently has no means of backup or disaster recovery; the system operates very slowly to respond and the programmable logic controllers (PLC’s) are also causing a delayed response from the system. Woodard & Curran made some recommendations (see Exhibit C) which involve replacing three servers and installation of a backup and recovery plan.
Mr. Shaw explained that the IT Department is also involved with this project; they’ve solicited bid proposals for the equipment. About eight or nine different companies submitted proposals on a variety of equipment. The bidding allows for Town staff to pick and choose between vendors. Mr. Shaw also explained that it is the staff recommendations including the IT Department staff to proceed with the purchase of this equipment and proceed further with Woodard & Curran for the connection of the data base.
Mr. Richard Siedman asked as to why are they purchasing only three servers when the system in place has five servers. Mr. Shaw responded that they are going to make the system less complex with two servers and one backup server.
Mr. Shaw explained that he did not provided members of the Authority with the bid results for all of the necessary equipment and the project specifications. Mr. William Vees expressed that he’ll like to see a spreadsheet listing the total cost of the project for better understanding. Mr. Shaw explained that the proposed cost of the upgrades totaling 42,000 provided by Woodard & Curran in their Memorandum (see Exhibit C) has been changed based upon discussions; the total cost was reduced. In
trying to understand why this new system is necessary, Mr. William Vees asked what would happen if the SCADA system is not upgraded and what the cost would be to resolve the issue. Mr. Shaw responded that the total cost will be much less than the cost if the system fails; the Town would be in violation of its permit; and not fixing the problem can lead to bypasses in the sewer system. Mr. Shaw explained that they are trying to correct the problems that are summarized and to move forward with recommendations to provide a simpler system.
Motion was made to proceed with the recommendations provided by Woodard & Curran and to purchase the recommended computers and servers of the SCADA server computers (see Exhibit C).
Motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
Mr. William Vees abstained; the motion passed.
3. 745 Nevers Road – Unbilled User Charges (Discussion)
Mr. Shaw reported that the property owner of 745 Nevers Road is in the process of selling his house and the real estate agent asked the question as to whether if there were any outstanding sewer bills and it was in this way that it was determined that there had not been any sewer bills assessed against this property although the house was believed to be connected to the sewer. To confirm whether or not the house was connected to the sanitary sewer, dye was put in to the system by Town staff and thereby confirmed that the house at 745 Nevers Road was connected to the sewer. However, in the Town’s Engineering Department, there was no drain layers permit. The house was built in 1983 and the current owner purchased the house in June 27, 2005. The current owner did not know about sewer user fees, as he
came from another municipality or city where sewer bills were part of the property taxes. Mr. Shaw calculated the unbilled sewer user charges that the current owner would’ve been billed had the Town known that they were connected to the sewer (see Exhibit D.) These calculations were made based upon the Authority’s previous recent decision on a similar situation in which the Authority decided not to charge the current owner for services he never received. Mr. Shaw explained that the current property owner, the expected buyer, attorneys and the real estate agents have been advised that there is a total of $2,747.78 in unbilled collected sewer user fees
since the current owner purchased the house in June 27, 2005.
Members of the Authority agreed to charge the current owner only for services that he received.
Motion was made to bill in the amount of $2,747.78 the current property owner of 745 Nevers Road, South Windsor, CT for unbilled sewer user charges from June 27, 2005 up to current fiscal year.
Motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Don Antaya
The motion carried unanimously
4. WPCF Sludge Storage Tank Rehabilitation (Approval)
Included with the Agenda, was a copy of the proposed scope of services submitted by Wright-Pierce for preparation of bid package for the sludge storage tank rehabilitation project (see Exhibit E.)
As previously reported, Mr. Shaw explained that the sludge tanks were constructed as part of the treatment plant; however, the sludge storage tank is already exhibiting signs of concrete failure. Right now it doesn’t appear to be any significant lost of concrete; but it should not go unattended for much longer. The scope of the design work is estimated to cost $16,600.
Chairman Richard Aries asked Mr. Fred Shaw to explain why there is a problem with the storage tanks after all the improvements that have been made. Mr. Shaw responded that the contractor did not put a corrosion resistant epoxy coating on the concrete to protect against sulfite. Mr. Shaw explained that should have this been noticed during the construction phase a change order would have been made. In this case it wasn’t noticed until after the construction phase; if it was noticed during the construction phase the Town we would have paid for it. This had been discussed with the Town Attorney and it needs to be pursued.
There was a consensus to approve the design/bidding phase services in the amount of $6,600.
Motion was made to authorize the work to design and bid the proposed scope of services and fee for preparation of the WPCF Sludge Storage Tank Rehabilitation project as presented on Exhibit E.
Motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Don Antaya
The motion carried unanimously
5. Set Time and Date for July 2014 Regular Meeting
Motion was made to schedule the July regular meeting for Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sprenkel Room of the Town Hall.
The motion was made by Mr. Robert Dickinson
The motion was seconded by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion carried unanimously
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
1. Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study Phase I – CCTV and Manhole Inspections
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that Wright-Pierce, Consultant Engineer is still evaluating the data; however, they expect that they will be doing smoke tests which won’t happen until the summer months. They are not going to have a completed study report until September.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (Items not on the agenda) - None
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS - None
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Proposed Sewer Charge Discount Program (Discussion)
As previously mentioned, the Town Council will be required to pass an ordinance to enact this program. The Authority has already begun to work with the Town Attorney to expedite this process.
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS - None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m.
The 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
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