A Regular Public Meeting of the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority was held on May 21, 2009, at 7:31 P.M. at the Authority office located at 3001 Meadowbrook Road, Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
Those Present: David R. Perry James C. Brucker
James S. Hamilton Steve Polen
William S. Kagarise, Jr. Donald Snyder
Robert Klingensmith Kevin Kaplan
Allan J. Sarver
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Mr. Klingensmith arrived at 7:46 P.M..
MINUTES - A motion was made by Mr. Sarver to approve the minutes from the Regular Public Meeting of April 16, 2009. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hamilton and passed unanimously.
AUDIENCE - The following people were in the audience to inquire about the Shag Bark Development project:
Coby and Han Van Snik, 5139 Mamont Road
Rose Barbuto, 5129 Mamont Road
Albert J. Abels, 5185 Mamont Road
Mr. Brucker said that at 11:00 A.M. today, he thinks that he successfully acquired this last outstanding right-of-way. The man agreed to the final terms, and Mr. Brucker tried to get in touch with the developer, but Mr. Tobin was out of town. Basically, Mr. Brucker told the gentleman in question that there may be an audience tonight of some of his neighbors, so he should make the final offer because anything can happen at the Board meeting. At this point, Mr. Brucker needs Mr. Tobin to say "yes" to the conditions, and he doesn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t. Mr. Brucker is holding money, but he is not at liberty to explain any of that.
Mr. Van Snik made some comments that were inaudible. He did say that one person has been holding this line up, and the contractor is ready to start the job. Mr. Brucker totally understands that. If this person agrees, the line will go in as designed and everyone will tie in. He is hoping that he gets a call back from Mr. Tobin tomorrow, and if he agrees, he will be at this person’s house this weekend to get everything signed. It is just a matter of Mr. Brucker getting approval from the developer because it is his money. He then would give the right-of-way to our solicitor for recording and then construction will start.
Someone asked what would happen if doesn’t agree. Mr. Brucker said that there are two other options which would be to construct the sewer line around the property, putting a bend in the line and going out into the road, and the third option would be Mr. Brucker asking the Board to condemn the property, but as of yet, he has not approached the Board on that so he can’t say what they would do. Someone made more comments, but they were totally inaudible. Mr. Brucker said he has done many studies on this trying to get grant money to run the sewers. That is why he has been so active
on this project. Without the developer, someday the state would have ordered us to get this sewer built anyway, except these people would have been paying for construction. That’s the difference.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS -
A. Plant Security - No report.
B. Gas Wells - Mr. Perry said that he has one other oil and gas company interested. He could not get the petroleum geologist that they had been dealing with to try and get us some information. He had one of his geologist look at this, even through they do not do oil and gas work, and it is very likely that we do have reasonably deep gas reserves underneath us. When you look at all the available data, where we are the government considers it to be very productive for marcellus shale, but the problem with marcellus is that we are probably 3, 4, 5, 10 years out before they could look at putting a well within this area because of the technical issues associated with drilling and the treatment issues. The next comments were inaudible. Mr. Perry continued that one of his guys actually ended up on the state Marcellus Committee, so he dumped it off on him. If we at some point next month elect to do oil and gas rights, it looks like we have shallow reserves also, and it looks like we have a reasonable amount of gas reserves also that would make it worthwhile for us to probably go ahead and look at doing a lease, but whenever we do the lease, he thinks we need to be clear on what’s associated with shallow gas and what’s marcellus shale gas. We may end up with two different rigs. Mr. Brucker said that where we are at is we are looking at shallow, and the question is do we let the guy enter an agreement that we would get "X" amount, or do we do it all and take the gamble? Mr. Perry said we do have one other gas company coming back with a proposal. He thinks we should wait one more month. The next comments were inaudible.
C. Cost Savings - No report.
D. Class "A" Biosolids - Mr. Brucker said it has been running. We had one or two mechanical problems which basically he wrote off. The big thing that he has noticed on this startup since we put the air in, every time we started before in the last couple of years, at 4-6 weeks we would steadily have pressure and electrically problems. No matter what we did, it would go down and we had to start from scratch. We would stop and clean it, and we would still have this unknown pressure which caused the extra electrical load on the pump. Since we started now, and he thinks it has been six weeks, the pressure and the electrical voltage on the pump have stayed the same since day one. Those problems were the number one problems on every startup, so he thinks we are there. Mr. Polen said that ultimately, and this is the illusion, there should be a more permanent fix than this. Mr. Brucker’s concern going in is that this cannot work full-time, especially in the winter because the air is not hot enough. It is cooling down the tanks somewhat. Mr. Polen added that you have to burn more energy heating up more often. Mr. Brucker continued that Phase II would be to heat that air or replace it with mechanical mixing rather than blowing air. He has to get that air above 170 degrees. Mr. Sarver said you do that with a heat exchanger with a blower. Once we start getting good fecal tests, Mr. Brucker will continue on, get the permit, even with temporary equipment. Once he gets the permit, he can shut it down and do what we need to do. Then we will have a permanent fix. Mr. Hamilton asked if we use our own gas to be able to heat the air? Mr. Polen said we use it to heat the water, but right now there is nothing to heat the air. Mr. Hamilton added that when we talk about heating the air, how do you get it there? Mr. Brucker said that in the pasteurization on these tanks, the problem we found, we think, there is 2,000-3,000 gallons of sludge. They are preheated up to 170 degrees. The rule is ½ hour at no less than 158 degrees. When we put the sludge in the tank, it has to sit there for ½ hour, and we think the problem we are having is that during that ½ hour, the sludge is settling in the cone, forcing too much back pressure on the pumps and electrical equipment because that sludge varies from 2% to 7%, and by adding the bubbler system, we are keeping the solids from settling in the cone. He explained more technical data to the board. We are using our own methane gas, but with the extra reheats, he envisions that during the winter having to add natural gas to offset all these reheats. We have to fix that colder air which might not be a big deal.
Mr. Hamilton asked Mr. Polen if it could be their design, whatever system we need to make it work full time? Mr. Polen said yes, the blower system or the spiral heater. The thing they were doing with this is just to prove that this is a solution. The mixing is what was missing from the equation. Mr. Hamilton said that we do want that permit.
E. Septage Receiving - Mr. Perry said that Mr. Sarver wanted to look at the septage receiving as to why we had $.37 versus $.22 so this is obviously not a dead issue at this point even though the Board voted on it last month. Mr. Sarver very much agrees with Mr. Brucker’s approach. That was his main thing, and he thinks that we should not be at $.37 but at $.22 and this makes it palatable for everyone. Mr. Polen commented that the $.37 was established as a maximum. He read the report, and he sees where Mr. Polen is coming from, and he also read Mr. Brucker’s report.
RESOLUTION NO. 09-02
A motion was made by Mr. Sarver to amend the previous resolution to set the rate at $.22 per gallon rather than the $.37 per gallon that was adopted in the first resolution. Motion was seconded by Mr. Kagarise and passed unanimously.
F. Export CSO - This item will be discussed in Executive Session.
G. Camera Inspections of Lines - Mr. Snyder does not have anything further on this but he will get something at a later date.
LAPTOP COMPUTER - Mr. Brucker sent information to the Board regarding a laptop computer for the Field Supervisor which will be heavy duty. Mr. Perry recommended the $2,500 model in case it dies within a couple of years, which he would be surprised if it does unless someone abuses it, because he tortures his laptop, and it works. Mr. Brucker said this computer is only to load all the maps so the Field Supervisor can look at the records in the field.
A motion was made by Mr. Hamilton to authorize spending up to $3,000 for the purchase of a laptop computer for the Field Supervisor. Motion was seconded by Mr. Perry and passed unanimously.
TREASURER'S REPORT - Mr. Kaplan pointed out the expense for maintenance of mains at this time of the year when street paving/resurfacing takes place on the roadways. We have to purchase risers for the raising of the manholes during paving at a cost of approximately $7,400.
A motion was made by Mr. Hamilton to approve the Treasurer's Report as submitted. Motion was seconded by Mr. Sarver and passed unanimously.
LIST OF INVOICES - A motion was made by Mr. Sarver to approve the list of invoices in the amount of $156,845.56 for payment. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hamilton and passed unanimously.
ENGINEER'S REPORT -
Item No. 1. Plant Performance Report - Mr. Polen reviewed the Plant Performance Report with the Board for the month of April 2009. The plant was operating within its permit limits.
Item No. 2. TTSS System - Mr. Polen attached a TTSS report in the Engineer’s packet. The next step is to figure out ways to keep the air warmer in cooler temperatures. We need a more permanent fix.
Item No. 3. Trickling Filter Design - They contacted three manufacturers and got back two responses.
Item No. 4. PA H2O Grant Application - They did get questions back on this, and he went over them with Mr. Brucker, and they are relatively minor. Someone has to attest to the fact that the Authority owns the lines and pump stations, etc. on Authority letterhead. They were looking for administrative things.
Item No. 4. CIRCUITS LLC - Circuits LLC submitted a comment to a request for pretreatment approval. HMM does not have enough information to make a determination. Mr. Brucker said that they make circuit boards, and they are going to require some small pretreatment. He didn’t put it on the agenda because he needed Mr. Polen to authorize the standard pretreatment agreement. He will put it on the agenda for next month. Mr. Polen commented that they have a building and a process, but they haven’t run it, so we can’t tell what is coming out of the end of the line to see if it meets the permit, so they are putting together a document similar to what they did for Dominion and AMI DODUCO. You can’t discharge until you show that you are in compliance.
Mr. Brucker wants Mr. Polen to give him parameters, and he will give them to Circuits. Mr. Brucker said he can’t have them run a batch because of where the sewage would go. It’s an identical process as AMI DODUCO who is doing the same work. Mr. Polen said that the problem is that they fall into the category which is regulated by the US EPA. So the EPA is the one who will be administering this, and they will send all the reports to the Authority. The next comments were inaudible.
Mr. Brucker said that by them getting into our program, it basically saves that company from going through DEP. They go right to EPA, EPA checks our records and our program, and DEP is out of the picture. It saves them the whole bureaucracy. Mr. Polen said that the more you do this with companies, sometimes they will say why don’t you have a pretreatment program.
Mr. Polen said that if the Board’s okay with that, they will set up parameters and pretreatment requirements and forward to Mr. Brucker. Mr. Brucker will have Mr. Snyder review the final agreement, and will bring this back to the Board.
Mr. Klingensmith apologized for coming in late, and said that some of these issues were probably addressed already, but he wanted to know about the Class A Biosolids and where we are about the permit. The comments by Mr. Polen were inaudible.
Mr. Brucker is working with DEP on getting the permit. Mr. Hamilton wanted to know if we will have enough information to apply in August? The next comments were inaudible. Mr. Hamilton said it’s a situation where you can’t get done quickly enough. Mr. Polen said this is a biological process and you can’t force it. Mr. Perry said that he has stayed out of this, but he said that you guys said this would be done by this month. Mr. Klingensmith said it would be done by Memorial Day.
Mr. Polen wanted to talk about the schedules that keep being thrown out here. He said you mandate or dictate arbitrary statements. Mr. Klingensmith said he hasn’t named any, and he disagrees with that characterization. Mr. Polen said that no one in his arena has agreed to our dates. The Board said they need it done by a certain date, and they are attempting to get it done as quickly as possible. Mr. Klingensmith said that he has heard that. He has been on the Board working on this for six years now, and for the last five years, he has been asking if it would be done by July. He believes that it was no earlier than November of last year that he asked if it would be ready for the summer, and Mr. Polen said that he thought it could be. He asked if that was a reasonable deadline, and Mr. Polen said that it was a reasonable deadline. Mr. Polen said yes, assuming that they could get the equipment to work. Mr. Hamilton said that we are only six weeks into forcing the air into it, and having some reasonable results. Mr. Brucker said yes. Mr. Sarver said that was done in May, and in less than a week, they had the recommendations, and they had the equipment in the next couple of days, and the only holdup they had was the machine. Mr. Polen said one pump went bad. Mr. Sarver thinks that when the recommendation was made, they jumped on it right away. Mr. Polen said that they are heading in the right direction. Mr. Hamilton said that we need to have much better test results. Mr. Polen said that you really can’t apply for a permit until you start getting a consist stream of zero fecal, and right now, we are not there yet because you have a tank of material that hasn’t gone through the TTSS System, and you have to keep putting that through the TTSS System until it comes out, and eventually it has all gone through.
Mr. Hamilton asked Mr. Polen if things go well by the first part of October, would we have a chance that we could reach our goal? He also asked if the winter made any difference on this situation on the testing? Mr. Polen said that the procedure for obtaining a permit, once you get a steady stream of fecal down, there’s a pre-permit report, and we need to have a series of sample results. Mr. Brucker said they told him that if we get a couple of weeks of zeros, they will come out and we’ll write the report. Mr. Polen said that if you follow the report, it will take longer than a couple of weeks. He said that Mr. Brucker thinks it could be expeditated, and it would be great, but if you follow what they actually tell you to do, it is going to be longer than a couple of weeks. Mr. Brucker told the Board that this guy told him that EPA got a push from Governor Rendell, and regarding any of this type of stuff, they are supposed to shove it through. Their regulations are 3-6 months, but the guy running the program told him personally that he would have it done within 1-2 months.
Mr. Hamilton asked if we have the capability of getting this whole thing done and getting our permit by October? Is there a reasonable chance that we could get the permit by October or are we thinking about December? Mr. Polen said you have to turn over twice and that would be another 45 days, and then start testing. Hopefully when the testing is approved then we would get the okay. If they make you do all the hoops, that procedure from front to finish is a nine-month process, and we are already six weeks into it. Mr. Hamilton said that Mr. Polen said there is no way to speed it up. Mr. Klingensmith understands that, but his point is that this process should have happened a half of a decade ago. We should have had this conversation five years ago.
Mr. Sarver said there’s something missing with this situation. Whenever we put this system in, it was German technology, and we were not aware, and he doesn’t know how we would be aware, that they pre-separate their residue coming in before it gets to the TTSS System. In there lies the major difference between ours and theirs. Mr. Brucker said what we found out roughly six months ago, he thinks this might be addressed by the air, the mistake by the German company is that all their equipment is on activated sludge and not in trickling filter plants like ours, the sludge is entirely different than activated sludge. He went through all the records with the owner of the company, Mr. Roediger, and now they are guessing that the problem is why we need the air. Mr. Sarver said that he was absolutely correct. Roediger said you do not need that mixing, and now he is saying that maybe it’s the difference in the sludge.
SURPLUS FUND REQUISITION NO. 371 - A motion was made by Mr. Hamilton to approve Surplus Fund Requisition No. 371 in the amount of $9,624.51 for payment. Motion was seconded by Mr. Sarver and passed unanimously.
SOLICITOR'S REPORT -
FTMSA v. GRANDVIEW VILLAGE - They have given everything to the Spagnol representative and have received nothing back.
COX STORM WATER CLAIM - Nothing new.
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ISSUES - This will be discussed during Executive Session.
SHAG BARK SUBDIVISION - This will be discussed during Executive Session.
EXPORT BOROUGH - This will be discussed during Executive Session.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS - Mr. Perry said that last month we talked about whether we can move up the trickling filter project. Mr. Brucker said we have to get a price on the Main Pump Station before we can commit to that because we may not have enough money for that. He doesn’t want to run us down to zero on our reserves. Mr. Hamilton said that we would not run to zero on the reserves, we would borrow money. Mr. Brucker did not want to do that with the grant. Mr. Polen said on the grant, what you are committing to is the form of financing or funding of that project. They want you to specify in writing how you will fund the project through bonds, or borrowing, or whatever. Right now it says through bonds, because at the time, it was being financed through the wraparound. Mr. Hamilton thought the project was only $350,000. Mr. Brucker said he doesn’t know the cost of the Main Pump Station yet until it’s bid. When we applied for the grant, on the wraparound we will be getting another two hundred and some thousand dollars plus by the end of the year. His concern is putting the bid out and the money not being here yet, and he doesn’t know what the other project will be yet. He doesn’t want to cut us short in Surplus. We have Guardian Construction to pay for, and we have other projects, and he doesn’t want to run out. Mr. Hamilton wanted to know if we would know about the grant situation in the next nine months? Mr. Polen commented that they were overwhelmed and delayed the meeting to June or July. They are not even going to meet on any of the grant applications until July, August, or September. That would be a very difficult one to call.
Mr. Snyder said that it was a good thing that they asked us questions because it means that they have gone through some part of it. It is not sitting in a box. All we can do is wait.
Mr. Kagarise made inaudible comments. Mr. Snyder asked him what is the chance of picking a horse at the Kentucky Derby?
Mr. Perry asked if we are not moving forward on the main pump station upgrade, or the trickling filter arm replacement until we find out whether we get a grant? Mr. Brucker said the Main Pump Station is going to go. He has money for that. Mr. Perry wanted to know when the meeting was with Guardian? He likes them a lot. Mr. Polen said they need to schedule a meeting.
Mr. Kagarise asked what pumps are involved? Mr. Polen’s comments were inaudible.
AUDIENCE (COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM REPORTERS) - None.
EXECUTIVE SESSION - At 8:18 P.M., the Board went into Executive Session to discuss litigation matters and personnel issues. At 9:47 P.M., the meeting was called back to order.
ADJOURNMENT - A motion was made by Mr. Klingensmith that the meeting be adjourned. Motion was seconded by Mr. Hamilton and passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 9:47 P.M.
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William S. Kagarise, Jr., Secretary
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Board went into Executive Session to discuss various litigation matters and personnel matters.
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William S. Kagarise, Jr., Secretary
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