Members Present: The following Directors were present and acting:
- Ron Krall, President
- Gary Osteen, Vice President
- Brock Knez
- Ash Lesniak
- Dusty Atkinson (absent due to work)
Assistant District Manager:
- Kasey O’Halloran
District Manager:
- Jodi Lightfoot
Guest:
- Mary Andre, CDC Engineering
Call to Order: The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of Timbers Water & Sanitation District was called to order by President Ron Krall on February 13, 2017 at 5:42 pm, noting a quorum was present.
Minutes: The Board reviewed the regular meeting minutes of the January, 2017 meeting. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously approved, it was
RESOLVED to approve the meeting minutes.
Financials: The January 2017 financial statements were reviewed. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimous, it was
RESOLVED to approve the financials.
Invoices: Invoices for January 2017 were reviewed. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously approved, it was
RESOLVED to approve payment of the open invoices.
Enterprise Transfer: Approved a transfer of $5,000.
Old Business
Water Tank Project: Jodi talked to Hugh from Pittsburgh Tank about how weather will affect the opportunity for construction; however, there is nothing new to report.
Income Survey: Survey has been completed and submitted with positive results. The results came in under the median level meaning TWSD will now qualify for the $250,000 grant.
Wastewater Treatment Plant:
Discharge Permit: TWSD received the groundwater discharge permit with a compliance schedule for the existing plant. This would require TWSD to do extensive work on the current plant – testing, upgrading, etc. The current plant is incapable of meeting the requirements specified by the new discharge permit and would require extensive modifications to meet the new permit schedule. TWSD was able to respond to this compliance schedule with a permit modification because the State does know TWSD wants to replace the current wastewater treatment plant. CDC has put the permit modification together saying TWSD doesn’t want to comply with the compliance schedule because of future plans to build. It then proposes a new compliance schedule that TWSD would like to follow. CDC has completed the discharge permit modification request and Ron signed on February 13.
Appraisal – Site drawings required for the Appraisal have been delayed to allow CDC time to focus on the Grant Application and Discharge Permit Modification request.
Negotiations with Krall – Jodi can’t start discussions without the Appraisal.
Update on current situation – As of last meeting, TWSD was prepared and ready to move forward with the plans agreed upon for the WWTP. However, that has changed. In 2013, TWSD submitted a PER (preliminary engineering report) to the State to explain the plan for the upcoming Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Following this submission, research on flows was done and the results changed the plans for the WWTP. With the new plan in mind, TWSD submitted the PEL (Preliminary Effluent Limit) to the State again in June 2016. The State was supposed to review and comment within 45-60 days. Ideally, the next step would have been submitting the PNA, which would have been based on the approved PEL. However, TWSD didn’t receive the State’s response to the PEL until January19, 2017. Due to the urgency required for grant applications, TWSD requested CDC submit the PNA prior to receiving the State’s response to the PEL as CDC felt confident the State would approve the design for the new waste water treatment plant outlined in the PEL. When the State finally responded, the limits for Inorganic Nitrogen came back lower than expected, 5.3mg/l averaged over a 2-year period and a daily limit of 36.mg/l. Mary from CDC feels the SBR plant TWSD planned to build will not meet these limits. TWSD will be required to re-assess the wastewater treatment plant design.
Mary spoke with the State and they suggested one option would be for TWSD to contest the limit on the discharge permit due to economic hardship. TWSD may be able to get a waiver on the limit. However, TWSD is unsure how long this waiver would be in place and how beneficial that will be in the long term. The board needs to understand surface and ground options and cost for each option. CDC said it could take between 1-2 months to get the options fully researched.
Timing is crucial as the income survey results deeming TWSD as a disadvantaged community, will allow TWSD access to a 30-year loan with a 1% interest rate and a $250,000 grant for design and engineering. However TWSD is required to secure financing within 18 of the disadvantaged designation (June 2018) or TWSD will no longer be able to acquire the low interest rate loan and will be required to pay the grant money back. Mary suggested bringing on a second engineering firm with more experience to assure TWSD can meet the restricted timing and rigid requirements.
Timing – Complete the site application in June, complete the design report in October and have final plans, specs and loan application by February 2018.
Options – Mary, Tammy, Ron and Jodi met to discuss the technical options available to us. There are 5 options to pick from relatively immediately. The issue to resolve is that the TIN results must be 5.3 or lower with a surface water permit.
- Add a denitrifying filter and other modest changes to the sequence batch reactor
- Replace a sequence batch reactor (SBR) with a membrane batch reactor;
- SBR at the top site and keep ground water discharge permit
- SBR at the bottom site with ground water discharge
- Redo lagoons
Additional Engineer – Any of these options will require a lot of work to find the best solution for requirements and price. With a short timescale, CDC has asked that TWSD add an engineer from another firm with significant experience in this field to meet our timeline. TWSD would like to bring someone onboard immediately to help make the decision of which option to choose. Mary has suggested a few names and strongly suggests CH2M Hill. It is a large firm with a lot of resources. This will increase our engineering fees and affect our ability to bring in the project within budget. Ron has suggested bringing someone in who has experience in both SBR and Membrane Batch reactors.
The Board will need to decide which firm to go with and if we can rework the CDC contract. (ACTION) Ron will call Mary to set up a meeting with Jodi and Mary.
New Business:
- Resolution honoring Ellen Dalton’s service – Kasey and Jodi to work on creating a nicely framed resolution to present to Ellen and get a $150 gift certificate to Harwigs. (ACTION)
- Zirkel Wireless would like to add a concrete pad and enclosures to the water tank area so they can upgrade equipment to provide better service. Ron will meet with Zirkel to start discussions.
- Past Due Accounts – Woolverton has a large outstanding balance. Jodi is to call him to tell him he has 30 days (by end of Feb) or the Board will start foreclosure proceedings. (ACTION)
With business concluded and upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously approved, it was
RESOLVED to adjourn the regular meeting the Timbers Water & Sanitation District Board of Directors at 8:41 pm, this 13th day of February 2017.
Respectfully submitted,
Kasey O’Halloran
Assistant District Manager
Timbers Water and Sanitation District