SC Minutes

Burrillville Sewer Commission

Regular Meeting of June 12, 2018

Board Room of the BWWTF

Members Present:  William Andrews – Chairman

                                       Richard Nolan – Vice Chairman

                                       Russell Fontaine – Secretary

                                       Wayne Barber – Commission Member

                                       Gary Rouleau – Commission Member

Also Present:  Timothy Kane – Attorney for the Commission

                            James J. Geremia – Consulting Engineer

                            John E. Martin III – Superintendent

                            Donald Shurtleff – Senior Operator

                            Stacey Richard – Office Manager

                            Ralph Shippee – Owner of 945 Douglas Pike

                            Joseph Viera – Representative for Ralph Shippee

Mr. Andrews opened the meeting at 6:33 PM.

Agenda Item – The question of accepting the Minutes of the Public Hearing of May 8, 2018, the Regular Meeting of May 8, 2018 and the Public Hearing of May 22, 2018 and the question of dispensing with the reading of said Minutes.

Voted – Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Minutes of the Public Hearing of May 8, 2018, the Regular Meeting of May 8, 2018 and the Public Hearing of May 22, 2018 and to dispense with the reading of said Minutes. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Public Comment – None

New Business:

Memo from Stacey Richard, Office Manager, regarding selecting charity/ies for $1,000.00 donation from SBA Tower Rental per terms of agreement.

Mr. Andrews stated that last year, the Commission split the donation evenly between the Burrillville Backpack Program and Between the Cracks. There was some discussion on this matter. Mr. Andrews made a motion to donate $500.00 to Between the Cracks and $500.00 to the Burrillville Backpack Program. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Recommendation by Superintendent, John E. Martin III, for Award of Bid, Wastewater Treatment Process Chemicals.

Mr. Martin stated that there were two (2) chemicals that were not bid on. Mr. Martin has obtained a sole provider letter for one (1) chemical, which will be added to next month’s agenda. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to approve the recommendation for Award of Bid, Wastewater Treatment Process Chemicals as presented by Mr. Martin. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Recommendation by Superintendent, John E. Martin III, for Award of Bid, Wastewater Treatment Laboratory/Analytical Services.

Mr. Martin stated that there were no bids for laboratory services. Mr. Martin recommended that the laboratory services bid be advertised again, with specific mailings sent to service providers.

Adoption and Implementation of the Operations and Maintenance Budget for FY19.

Mr. Fontaine expressed concern that the Commission should consider a reserve for potential legal fees. Mr. Martin stated that in order to add a legal fee reserve to the budget, the Commission would need to increase the user charge. There was some discussion on this matter. Mr. Fontaine recommended an increase in the amount of compensation given to the Commission members. Mr. Kane stated that he will look into the legalities of increasing the compensation. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the proposed Operations and Maintenance Budget for the Fiscal Year 2019 in the amount of $2,559,883.00. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nolan. All in favor, so voted.

Adoption of Exhibit A (fee schedule) of the Rules and Regulations.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Adoption of Exhibit A (fee schedule) of the Rules and Regulations of the Burrillville Sewer Commission, public sanitary sewer system for Fiscal Year 2019. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nolan. All in favor, so voted.

Memo from John E. Martin III, Superintendent, regarding the purchase of Nexom Filter System Air Lift Pumps in the amount of $4,405.19 from Fund 8300.

Quotation No. 2018-028-01 from Nexom.

Mr. Andrews stated that two (2) weeks ago, the plant encountered a problem with the number one (1) pump, as the number one (1) pump gets more use than the other pumps. Mr. Martin stated that Nexom was supposed to give the BSC a pump. The contract price for a new pump was $650.00. Mr. Geremia stated that he will send a letter to CJ Strain requesting the pump that was initially due to the BSC at the cost of $650.00. Mr. Andrews made a motion to send a letter to Nexom requesting a back-up Air Lift Pump at the cost of $650.00, per the contract. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fontaine. All in favor, so voted.

Old Business:

Memo from Stacey Richard, Office Manager, regarding the 2018 Tax Sale Update.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to receive and file the Memo from Stacey Richard regarding the 2018 Tax Sale Update. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nolan. All in favor, so voted.

Correspondence:

18-06-01 – Letter from Wayne Barber to William Andrews, Chairman, providing his resignation            from the Sewer Commission.

Mr. Barber stated that he will be moving out of the Town of Burrillville.

18-06-02 – Letter from Ralph Shippee, owner of 945 Douglas Pike, asking the Commission for permission to use the grinder pump that was allocated for the front building for the new building in the back.

Mr. Viera stated that Mr. Shippee is asking that the grinder pump that was allocated for the old building in the front, which will be abandoned, to be used for the newer house located at the back of the lot. Mr. Martin stated that there was only one grinder pump allocated for this parcel. Therefore, should the front building ever be connected to the sewer, there will be no grinder pump available. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to approve Mr. Shippee’s request to use the grinder pump allocated for 945 Douglas Pike to connect the building in the back of the lot to the sanitary sewer system, with the understanding that this property has a limitation of only one building and any other building on this lot may be used only for storage and not otherwise. The motion was seconded by Mr. Barber. All in favor, so voted.

Invoices:

James J. Geremia & Assoc., Inc. Invoice #28 in the amount of $7,130.20 for services rendered in connection with the Phosphorus/Copper Upgrades – Fund 8300.

Mr. Nolan made a motion to pay James J. Geremia & Assoc., Inc. Invoice #28 in the amount of $7,130.20 from Fund 8300. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Engineer’s Report:

Phosphorus/Copper Project Status Report of Construction

Mr. Geremia stated that he, along with Mr. Martin and Mr. Beaudet prepared a testing protocol for Nexom’s review and acceptance. They removed the five (5) day performance test and the low flow test. They came up with a three (3) day test to run peak flow through one (1) cell to obtain a loading rate of 4.07 gallons per minute per square foot. Mr. Martin suggested running the test in August, in order to maintain a consistent flow. Mr. Martin stated that for the period of one (1) hour, the system should still be expected to handle 5.07 gallons per minute per square foot. Mr. Nolan made a motion to accept the Engineer’s Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Attorney’s Report:

Mr. Kane stated that there is a minor issue with a property listed on the Tax Sale whose owner has filed bankruptcy. He is currently working on this issue with Ms. Richard and will file a claim to collect the fees owed to the BSC. Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Attorney’s Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nolan. All in favor, so voted.

Superintendent’s Report:

Report for the month of May, 2018

OPERATIONS:

Influent to Treatment Facility :                                           M.G.                                      Date Occurred

                           Average daily flow                                     0.9494                                               N/A

                        Maximum daily flow                                    1.1640                                           01-May

                        Minimum daily flow                                     0.7870                                          27-May

Biochemical Oxygen Demand :                              Percent Removal                                Average

                                                                                                                                                        Concentration

            E.P.A./D.E.M. requirement                                >85.0%                                         <10.0 mg/1

                              Facility achieved                                     99.6%                                                    1.3

Total Suspended Solids :

            E.P.A./D.E.M. requirement                                >85.0%                                         <15.0 mg/1     

                              Facility achieved                                     99.6%                                                     1.5

Total Phosphorus :

            E.P.A./D.E.M. requirement                                   N/A                                             <0.10 mg/1

                               Facility achieved                                    99.2%                                                 0.048

Total Ammonia :

            E.P.A./D.E.M. requirement                                   N/A                                              <8.9 mg/1

                               Facility achieved                                    75.8%                                                   5.5

Total Copper :

            E.P.A./D.E.M. requirement                                   N/A                                              <8.0 ug/1

Disposed Sludge :

                      Dry Tons disposed of                                     37.18

             Number of loads removed                                     27

                    Average dry tons/load                                     1.39

COLLECTION SYSTEM OPERATIONS:

There were 6 call-ins for the month. There were one each at Oakland, Rock Ave., Beach Rd., and two at Reservoir Rd. stations. There was one at the WWTF for the Phosphorus system. All the alarm conditions were corrected and stations returned to normal operation.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to accept the Superintendent’s Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Sewer Use/Sewer Assessment Write-Offs – None

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to adjourn the meeting to Executive Session. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nolan. All in favor, so voted.

Attorney requests Executive Session of the Commission, pursuant to Rhode Island Open Meeting Law (42-46-5 (a)(2)) to discuss potential litigation.

Chairman requests Executive Session of the Commission, pursuant to Rhode Island Open Meeting Law (42-46-5 (a)(1)) to discuss job performance of two (2) employees – positions and collective bargain agreement. Note: The two affected parties were duly notified in advance, in writing, of this request for Executive Session; they were notified and advised that they could require that the discussion be held at an open meeting.

Mr. Andrews announced that one (1) vote was taken in Executive Session. Mr. Andrews made a motion to seal the Minutes of the Executive Session. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fontaine. All in favor, so voted.

Consider/take action on the salary requests of the positions of Stacey Richard, Office Manager and Jacqueline Batalon, Financial Aide.

Mr. Fontaine made a motion to table the salary requests of the positions of Stacey Richard, Office Manager and Jacqueline Batalon, Financial Aide until Union Contract negotiations have been completed, at which time the request of Stacey Richard will be adjusted accordingly. The motion was seconded by Mr. Nolan. All in favor, so voted.

Adjournment – Mr. Fontaine made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Rouleau. All in favor, so voted.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jacqueline Batalon

Financial Aide