A. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Richard Aries, Donald Antaya, Vicki Paliulis and William Vees
Members Absent: Robert Dickinson, Ed Havens, Jr., Carol Fletterick, and Vicki Paliulis
Alternates Present: Richard Siedman sitting in for Ed Havens, Jr.
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Others Present: Andy Kebalo, Applicant
Steve Palauskas, Applicant
Michael Burns, Professional Engineer
Councilor Stephen Wagner, WPCA Liaison
Vice-Chairman William Vees called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. The meeting was turned to Chairman Richard Aries upon his arrival at 7:25 p.m. The following actions were taken during the October 7, 2014 Regular Meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. September 2, 2014 – Regular Meeting
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the September 2, 2014 regular meeting as presented.
The motion was made by Mr. Donald Antaya
The motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
1. 736 Deming Street (Approval for Commercial Use)
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that this is a residence that is going to be converted to a business use and will no longer be a residence. Mr. Andy Kebalo presented the application for Re/Max. He explained that there is probably going to be an office manager in the office during regular office hours and no more than eight agents which are not expected to be in the office at the same time. He explained that the foot print of the zoning will stay the same; this project is subject to Planning and Zoning approval.
Mr. Fred Shaw explained that when the house was connected to sewer years ago, a residential connection charge was paid. From an assessment point of view because the connection was originally classified as a residence, at this point the commercial connection charge that is now due is $2,730; this is the difference between the current commercial rate ($3887) and the current residential rate ($1,157) reflecting the change in the use of the property from residential to commercial.
Chairman Richard arrived at 7:25 p.m. and the meeting was turned over to him.
The house is not currently connected to city water; therefore, Mr. Fred Shaw explained to Mr. Kebalo that a private meter is needed as the commercial billing is based upon meter readings. Mr. Shaw will meet with Mr. Kebalo to inspect the facility and look for a feasible location for locating the meter.
A motion was made to approve the change in the use of the property from residence to commercial for property located at 736 Deming Street, South Windsor, CT as more specifically shown on plans entitled “Re/Max Edge. 736 Deming Street, South Windsor, CT” Prepared by Design Professionals, South Windsor, CT; Project No. 3432, Dated 06/10/14”. This approval is subject to the following conditions: (1) payment of a commercial connection charge in the amount of $2730.00; (2) installation of a private meter meeting the Town’s program requirements for use of the private meter.
The motion was made by Antaya
The motion was seconded by Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
2. Connecticut Valley Brewing Co., 765 Sullivan Avenue (Discussion)
Mr. Michael Burns, Professional Engineer of Woorant and Courant and Mr. Steve Palauskas, applicant, were in attendance this evening to provide an overview of the proposed project in terms of treating brewery wastewater.
Mr. Steve Palauskas explained the beer making process (see Exhibit A); brewing it’s just water, malt, yeast and hops. The hops are delivered to the local farms as they can be used as feed for the animals. In this process, there will be beer in the wastewater; some real fine hop material and some real fine malted volume material. The wastewater is from washing tanks.
Mr. Michael Burns discussed the process on how to treat and dispose the wastewater (see Exhibit A). He explained that the wastewater coming out of the tanks has a higher strength than typical residential domestic wastewater. At this point, he estimated the brewery Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) waste to be between a 1000-1500 mg/L; the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) is probably going to be about 1,000-2000 mg/L based on other breweries. And the pH will be 6 to 9; however, the flow is going to be about
1000 gallons per day. A comparison was made based on the Town’s sewer regulations. He explained that the discharge would be greater than 212 mg/L for BOD; the TSS will be higher than what’s required as well; the pH will be within that range. They are estimating about .00085 mgd flow; it would be a very small flow rate that will be discharged to the sewer system.
Ms. Vicki Paliulis asked if a permit is required from the State for waste water discharge. Mr. Burns responded that anything under 10,000 gallons per day does not require a permit from DEEP. Mr. Shaw explained that the discharge is less than 1000 gallons per day, however, pre treatment will be required in the future.
Mr. Michael Burns explained the different ways of treating water and the discharge options (see Exhibit A). Option One is No treatment - this is discharge directly to the sewer which will inquire a surcharge to be paid. Option two is Flow equalization which is basically storing the waste water on site and then pumping it in a slower rate during periods when the treatment plant can handle it better. Option three is Settling tanks & flow equalization which is partial removal of the BOD and TSS and dispose of that sludge else where; and Option 4 is Pre-treatment which is an engineer treatment system meeting the requirements of the Town.
Mr. Richard Siedman asked the applicant how many barrels he is estimating if the business grows. Mr. Palauskas responded that he is calculating about 1500 barrels for the first year; if he gets a 50% growth it can get to 6-7000 barrels a year.
3. Secondary Clarifier Improvement (Bid Results)
Mr. Fred Shaw distributed a summary of the evaluation of bids for this project (see Exhibit B). He explained that two bids were received and reviewed. The apparent low bidder was CH Nickerson; however the proposal was over the estimated budget figure. The difference in cost may be attributable to the restrictions placed on the work being conducted during the disinfection off season and through the winter months. He recommended not awarding this contract as he believes that this project can be done
during the warmer times of the year and thereby significantly reducing the construction cost. Mr. Shaw would like to make some modifications to the specifications and rebid the project in the winter time and during this process, specify very clearly a construction sequence for completing specific components of the project.
Chairman Richard Aries asked if there is a cost saving to the Town for not doing this project during the cold season. Mr. Shaw responded that the delay of the project to the warmer weather will be an attempt to bring this project cost down to the engineer’s estimated cost (budget appropriation).
Mr. William Vees asked what is considered an acceptable pay back figure when the Town does a project. Mr. Shaw responded that an acceptable payback period is based on considering the useful life expectancy of the project; it is limiting to consider only the pay-back period, projects are evaluated over the useful life expectancy of the improvements taking into consideration the stream of costs and benefits during their period and then discounting these values to a “present worth” value. The projects having the largest present worth value are those most desirable.
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
1. Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study Phase II – CCTV and Manhole Inspections
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that this project is expected to be completed by the end of this week. A report concerning the results of the smoke testing and manhole inspections is expected for discussion next meeting.
Chairman Richard Aries asked for any comments or questions at this point. Councilor Stephen Wagner was in attendance this evening and reported on a different matter. He explained that the Town Council is receiving complaints with regards to the manholes on Ellington Road; the state repaved the road and left the manhole covers below the surface, they didn’t put the risers and the question is how can that be fixed.
Mr. Fred Shaw responded that this is a matter of trying to get the state to cooperate with the Town in coordinating their work. Recently when they did the north side of Ellington Road, Pollution Control Department staff and Street Division staff went out ahead of the state crew and were able to install the risers prior to paving of the road. There was good cooperation between the State and the Town on this project.
Mr. Richard Siedman suggested having the Town Council discuss this matter with State Representative Bill Aman and State Senator Gary LeBeau.
Chairman Richard Aries asked who’s responsible for proper installation and maintenance of these manholes. Mr. Shaw responded that it is the Town sewer pipe, however, is within the state right of way.
Councilor Wagner asked what the cost would be to raise the manholes properly. Mr. Shaw responded that the Town will need to seek approval from the state and spend thousands of dollars per manhole to raise the manhole cover by another inch or two depending upon the situation.
2. Sludge Storage Building Project
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the engineer is going out to solicit bids for the application of a corrosion resistant epoxy coating in three sludge storage tanks at the Town of South Windsor. The base bid will include the work in one tank with a bid alternate to include the work in the other two tanks. The opening bid date is October 28, 2014. The sludge storage tanks are important to the operation.
. Manhole Rehab at intersection of Pleasant Valley Road and Wheeler Road
As previously reported, this is regarding the manhole at the intersection of Wheeler Road and Pleasant Valley Road. It was part of a sewer line installed under the intertown sewer agreement with the Town of Manchester. Apparently there is a drop manhole at this point which has created sulfite gas in the wastewater; that particular manhole wasn’t vented, so over the years, that sulfites has deteriorated the inside of the wall to a point where the engineer said it’s very difficult to determine the life expectancy. It is a 22 feet deep manhole; other alternatives were reviewed but replacement of the manhole was the only feasible alternative. The consultant engineer is in the process of preparing the final documents to go out to bid and award the contract towards the end of the month.
There were no comments or questions on this matter. Mr. Shaw explained that there is one item that was brought to his attention after the agenda was prepared, therefore, he asked to add to the Agenda Item 4 – Nevers Road Sewer Extension for discussion.
Motion was made to add item D4 – Nevers Road Sewer Extension to the agenda for discussion.
The motion was made by Antaya
The motion was seconded by Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
4. Nevers Road Sewer Extension (Discussion)
Mr. Shaw explained that the Town is rebuilding a section of Nevers Road which is shown as not currently sewered in the Town sewer plan, but is designated as an area for future sewer extension. The Engineering Department is having a public meeting tomorrow evening to describe this project. The proposed sewer extension would pass in front of three residential properties. The concern is that if the Town repaves the road and then sometime in the future the Town wants to put in sewer, the road will need to be repaved again. Therefore, this is a proposal to extend sewer a short distance on Nevers Road. The WPCA sewer assessment policy involves that when the Town puts in the sewer and even thought residents don’t connect to it, they are still assessed. In this particular case, one of the
houses the State has allowed the owner to put in a septic tank that is connected to a cesspool with the understanding that he will in the future connect to the sewer. There is another house that has limited area as far as putting in a system; the owner is not having any trouble at the present time but if the system does fails, he would have to connect to the sewer or put in a designed engineering system which could be very expensive. And another property owner had installed a new leaching field in 2010.
Mr. Richard Siedman explained that a similar situation occurred on Lawrence Road. Mr. Shaw explained that on Lawrence Road there were residents that had older systems and bad soil conditions. In this case the Town staff is not aware of any bad soil conditions. He also explained that at a WPCA meeting, this project will be presented for WPCA approval at which time the residents will have an opportunity to ask questions concerning this matter.
Mr. Shaw will compile more information concerning the assessments for each property prior to the meeting when the application for this project is reviewed.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (Items not on the agenda)
Councilor Stephen Wagner reported that during the last Town Council meeting, Mr. Don Gonsalves was in attendance and talk in reference to the WPCA reserve fund balance of one million dollars. Councilor Wagner explained that he has provided Mr. Gonsalves with information on several occasions explaining the situation, however, he doesn’t accept it. During the previous Town Council meeting, the Town Manager suggested holding a joint meeting with Town auditors, Finance Department staff, Fred Shaw, Don Gonsalves and Councilor Wagner to briefly explain the information to Mr. Gonsalves.
Mr. Richard Siedman asked when the enterprise fund is coming on board. Mr. Shaw responded that he has requested assistance from the Director of Finance, Melanie Crucitti and the Town Manager, to change the financial reporting methods. He has put together illustrated examples of enterprise fund balance sheet which he reviewed with the Director of Public Works, Michael Gantick. This information will be reviewed with the Director of Finance, Melanie Crucitti and the Town Manager.
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS
None
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Proposed Sewer User Charge Abatement Program/Ordinance - (Discussion)
Chairman Richard Aries explained that Town Attorney, Keith Yagaloff has been asked to take a look at the legislative history of the regulations and will report back to the Authority.
2. NAGE Contract (Discussion)
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the Town Council authorized the Town Manager to sign the NAGE contract which period ends this fiscal year.
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS
None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m.
The motion was made by Mr. Siedman
The motion was seconded by Paliulis
The motion carried unanimously
Respectfully Submitted,
________________________
Ether A. Diaz
Recording Secretary
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