A. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Richard Aries, Ed Havens, Jr., and William Vees
Members Absent: Donald Antaya, Robert Dickinson, Carol Fletterick, and Vicki Paliulis
Alternates Present: Richard Siedman sitting in for Vicki Paliulis
Alternates Absent: M. Atif Quraishi
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Others Present: Councilor Stephen Wagner, WPCA Liaison
Chairman Richard Aries called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following actions were taken during the November 5, 2014 Regular Meeting of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA).
Chairman Richard Aries appointed Mr. Richard Siedman to sit in for Ms. Vicki Paliulis
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. October 7, 2014 – Regular Meeting
The following correction was made to the minutes: On page 5, Item D4, 1st paragraph, the word cesspool is missing. The sentence reads as follows: “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.
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the October 7, 2014, regular meeting as amended.
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. Sludge Storage Building Improvements (Approval to fund)
Mr. Shaw reported that the Consultant Engineer, Wright-Pierce, reviewed the bids that were received for the Sludge Storage Tanks Improvements Project (see Exhibit A). The bid opening was on October 28, 2014. The base bid includes the work in one tank with a bid alternate to include the work in the other two tanks. Wright-Pierce estimated a cost of $300,000 for this project. Six bids were received and reviewed and PIM Corporation
of Piscataway, New Jersey submitted the lowest base bid of $54,810.00 and the lowest total bid of $154,780.00; the base bid is approximately $45,000 lower than Wright-Pierce’s construction cost estimate of $300,000. Wright-Pierce reviewed the background of the lowest bidder and confirmed that they are a qualified bidder. Mr. Fred Shaw recommended doing all three tanks at the same time. All three tanks need to be treated, and to divide up this work into two separate projects would only increase the cost to complete the work. The engineer gave a previous proposal to do the work (see Exhibit B); in this proposal he estimated his engineering fees to be $16,600.
Mr. William Vees asked what the scope of the work is. Mr. Shaw responded that this involves the application of a corrosion resistant epoxy coating in three sludge storage tanks to protect them from sulfite gases. Mr. Shaw explained that when the tanks were originally designed in the construction phase for the upgrade of the Treatment Plant, this work was not provided for in the plans; this was an over sight on the part of the engineer. The Town certainly could go back to the engineer if the Town had pay for that and it wasn’t done; if it was noticed during the construction the Town would have done it at that time through a change order, however, this was not the case.
Chairman Richard Aries asked Mr. Shaw how this project would be funded; Mr. Shaw responded that this project will be funded with the undesignated reserve funds. Chairman Aries requested adding to the next meeting agenda an item to review the reserve fund balances.
Mr. William Vees asked if there is any way to learn from this so possibly other issues can be identified, he recommended perhaps doing a design review of the project. Mr. Fred Shaw responded that it’s only from using the equipment and over time seen these things become apparent that there is a problem. These tanks are supposed to be protected like other tanks in the project were protected. It was afterward that it was discovered when they looked in the tanks to see deterioration. Mr. Shaw also explained that rather than reviewing the actual design phase plans and documents, now that the plant is constructed and staff is working the new equipment and they can see up close any problems. Chairman Richard Aries agreed and explained that going back to look at the entire design of the facility to
try to find another defect is the wrong decision to go. However, he feels that by the time this matter was brought to the attention of the WPCA, the decision has been made by Town Attorney that there was no legal remedy. Chairman Aries recommended having the Town Attorney’s come forward to discuss how the decision was made. If there are any kind of defects that are encountered in the future, he asked that the WPCA be notified ahead of time so that they may be involved with regards to decision making about the problem. No further questions were made and Mr. Shaw was seeking approval from the Authority to award the contract to the lowest bidder in the amount $154,780 plus 10% contingency, to authorize notice to proceed with this project, and approve the proposed scope of services and engineering cost as presented on the May 12, 2014 Memorandum from Wright-Pierce (see Exhibit B): Construction Phase Services/Inspections $7,000 and Testing Services $3,000
totaling $180, 258.00.
Motion was made to award the contract to PIM Corporation of Piscataway, New Jersey for the Sludge Storage Building Improvements; to authorize the expenditure of funds not to exceed $180,258 for this project and to authorize the notice to proceed with this project.
Motion was made by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion was seconded by Mr. William Vees
The motion carried unanimously
2. 259 Lawrence Road (Approval to bill)
Mr. Fred Shaw distributed a Memorandum dated November 5, 2014 where he explains that it has come to his attention by the property owner of 259 Lawrence Road that they have not been billed for sewer service although connected to the system since 2009 (see Exhibit C). A permit for the connection was on file in the Engineering Department, but an error in data entry appears to be the reason why this address was not added to the billing list. The IT Department is looking back to see if there is any more instances
like this, where permits may have been issued but not entered into the system in a timely manner; they are in the process of doing a background check. The Engineering Department staff also reported four other cases that aren’t on the billing list. A change in administrative procedure has been considered to avoid a reoccurrence of this error. The total of the unbilled user charges for 259 Lawrence Road is $1,716; the property owner has been informed of the outstanding changes.
Motion was made to add to the residential sewer billing list 259 Lawrence Road and to bill in the amount of $1,716 the current property owner of 259 Lawrence Road, South Windsor, CT for unbilled sewer user charges.
Motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
3. WPCA FY 2013/2014 Annual Report (Review and Approve)
A copy of the WPCA Annual Report FY 2013/2014 was included with the Agenda for review and consideration of the Authority (Exhibit D). Members of the Authority recommended including language on the Sewer User Charge Abatement Program and the reduced sewer user charges.
Motion was made to approve the WPCA Annual Report for FY 2013/2014 as presented and including the recommendations made by members of the Authority.
The motion was made by Chairman Richard Aries
The motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
4. WPCA Calendar for 2015 (Review and Approve)
With the Agenda, a copy of the WPCA 2015 Meeting Calendar was included for review and approval (see Exhibit E). The meeting date for July will get scheduled in the June regular meeting. The November regular meeting will also be affected this year due to the elections, therefore, the meeting will be held on the first Wednesday of the month.
Motion was made to approve the WPCA meetings Calendar for 2015 as presented in the Memorandum dated October 30, 2014 attached hereto as Exhibit E.
The motion was made by Mr. William Vees
The motion was seconded by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion carried unanimously
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
1. Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study Phase II – CCTV and Manhole Inspections
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that Wright-Pierce, consultant engineer, is still evaluating all the data obtained. A report concerning the results of the smoke testing and manhole inspections is expected for discussion once available.
2. Secondary Clarifier Improvements
Mr. Fred Shaw did not have anything new to report; however, he explained that a meeting will be scheduled later this month to revise the specifications and go out to solicit bids in December or January.
3. Manhole Rehab at intersection of Pleasant Valley Road and Wheeler Road
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the engineer solicited bids for this project and the opening bid date is Thursday, November 6, 2014. Mr. Shaw will advise the Authority of the bid results.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (Items not on the agenda)
Councilor Stephen Wagner, WPCA Liaison was in attendance. He reported that currently members of the Water Pollution Control Authority are appointed by the Town Council for a term of six years. The Town Council is proposing to reduce the membership terms from six years to four years.
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS - None
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1. Proposed Sewer User Charge Abatement Program/Ordinance - (Discussion)
Chairman Richard Aries reported that he met with Town Attorney, Keith Yagaloff and Fred Shaw to discuss the proposed sewer user charge abatement program. Attorney Yagaloff seems to agree with the program as envisioned by the Chairman which involves the idea of creating a different rate structure such as a residential fee, a commercial/industrial fee, and an income based fee for different types of users of the sewer system. Chairman Aries is in the process of revising the proposed sewer user charge abatement program which will be further reviewed with Attorney Keith Yagaloff.
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS - None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m.
The motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
The motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
Respectfully Submitted,
___________________________
Ether Diaz, Recording Secretary
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