DOWNRIVER UTILITY WASTEWATER AUTHORITY

MARCH 14, 2019 MEETING MINUTES

Taylor City Hall City Council Chambers

 

1. Roll Call and Introductions

DUWA Vice Chair Bill Matakas (Allen Park) called the meeting to order at 9:01 AM and asked for roll call to be taken. At the time of the Roll Call, voting representatives were in attendance from 9 communities: Allen Park, Belleville, Brownstown Township, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Riverview, Romulus, Taylor, and Wyandotte. A quorum (at least 7 members) was present.

2. Approval of Agenda

Copies of the Agenda were made available prior to the meeting (Attachment 1). An amended agenda was provided in hard copy to the Board immediately prior to the start of the Board meeting. The amendment included an additional Agenda Item 5e – Request to Authorize Payment for Influent Pumping Station HVAC Efforts.  Motion by Rick Rutherford (Belleville) and seconded by Dave Flatten (Ecorse) to approve the amended Agenda. Motion passed unanimously.

3. Approval of Minutes from February 14, 2019 Board Meeting

Copies of the meeting minutes from the February 14, 2019 Board Meeting were distributed by email prior to the meeting (Attachment 2). Motion by Roberto Scappaticci (Romulus) and seconded by Rick Rutherford (Belleville) to approve of the minutes. Motion passed unanimously.

4. Legal Update

Attorney Jim Fausone, of Fausone Bohn, provided the Legal Update.

Attorney Fausone advised the Board that the $500K Post-Closing Escrow is still with Wayne County. Wayne County is in the process of closing out their accounting and will remit remaining funds to DUWA by end of month.

Attorney Fausone noted the Davis v Southgate litigation case, where Bodman was re-assigned to DUWA, remains open. The financial settlement matter was agreed upon several months ago, but court procedures are delaying the final closing of the case.

Jim Taylor (Van Buren Township) arrived at the end of Legal Update.

5. System Manager Update

a. System Manager Report

System Manager Vyto Kaunelis, of OHM Advisors, provided a verbal summary of activities since the last meeting. A written summary was in the pre-meeting Board packet (Attachment 3). Highlights from the summary and other updates included the following:

• • A meeting was held with the MDEQ last week regarding the Blending Work Plan. The MDEQ is receptive to the control measures, but asked the schedule to be reviewed and compressed, if applicable. HRC is reviewing the matter and will submit a revised schedule.
  • A ‘Certificate of Compliance’ with the previous DWTF water quality exceedance from early November 2018 was submitted by Veolia to MDEQ. This item will be discussed more by Veolia under Agenda Item 6 – Contract Operator Update. The issue has been resolved, and the MDEQ is believed to be satisfied with the work.
  • Closeout of construction work is underway. The final, balancing change orders associated with the work will be brought back to the Board in April.
  • To satisfy MissDig requirements, a pilot program is proposed. The approach is to assign one of Veolia’s Collection System personnel to implement the program and then reassess after a pilot period. The Technical Committee is aware of the approach and agrees with proceeding. There will be an additional expense associated with the pilot program for direct expenses. That cost will be presented to the Board in the future.
  • The location of the Year 1 CCTV events was provided in map form in the pre-meeting packet (Attachment 4). For Year 1, 10% of the system will be inspected. A portion of the Year 1 areas to be inspected is the Riverdrive Interceptor, along the route just downstream of Ecorse to downstream of Lincoln Park. The remaining areas are throughout the system. This approach was selected to provide an overview of pipe conditions. The other interceptors were installed in the 1960s and their condition is expected to be fair. The start of CCTV work is expected for late April; work will start at the Riverdrive Interceptor.
  • Disposal costs for biosolids continues to be a major issue for the DWTF. One of the landfills has cut back on receiving loads. Veolia and other teammates are working on assessing if lower cost landfills are available and are looking at other options for solids disposal.
  • Veolia’s Asset Manager has developed a comprehensive scope for condition assessment of electrical systems. The budgetary cost for the work is $500k; repair work is anticipated to be required based on inspection results. A request to proceed with this work will be brought to the Board at a future meeting.

b. SCADA Update

Associated with the pending SCADA split, the Board approved the System Manager to secure an As-Needed SCADA Integrator at the February 2019 meeting. Eramosa was secured for this work and will be at the DWTF next week to complete their site review alongside Veolia. The team expects to receive Eramosa’s initial reaction to cost and split alternatives in April. Eramosa’s executed proposal was provided in the pre-meeting packet (Attachment 5).

c. Findings re: Constraints on Use of IU Fee Revenue

Dick Hinshon, of Hinshon Environmental Consulting, prepared a memorandum of findings related to assessing Federal or State requirements that may exist that require Industrial Pretreatment Program funds be kept separate from other Enterprise funds. The memo was provided in the pre-meeting packet (Attachment 6). Based on Hinshon’s review, there are no regulatory requirements to separate IPP from other funds. There is a requirement to periodically review and consistently apply the charges, so ongoing reviews of the IPP fees and expenses is appropriate. DUWA has previously authorized TetraTech to complete this type of ‘periodic review’ task. TetraTech is in the process of reviewing data and developing their analysis.

The Board was asked for question or comment. It was also reported that Dick Hinshon can be present at a future Board meeting if there is a desire to go into more detail.

Vice Chair Matakas (Allen Park) asked if the current IPP reserve would be kept separate until after the TetraTech rate study was complete. System Manager Kaunelis and Attorney Fausone responded that it would.

d. Informational: MWEA June 6th Effective Utility Management Workshop

System Manager Lambrina Tercala, of OHM Advisors, informed the Board of a future MWEA Effective Utility Management Workshop. The event is held in Bath, MI. The intent of the workshop is to provide a framework to assess the current state of a utility and create a plan for improvement. An informational brochure was included in the pre-meeting packet (Attachment 7).

Jim Taylor (Van Buren Township) encouraged the Board to attend, as it seemed it would be a valuable workshop. Vice Chair Matakas (Allen Park) requested OHM Advisors secure 5 seats to the event. Board members that are interested in attending should contact System Manager Tercala directly.

e. Request to Authorize Payment for IPS HVAC Efforts

System Manager Tercala informed the Board of a carryover purchase order that had not been paid by Wayne County. A memorandum that details a request for payment, along with the vendor’s invoice, was provided to the Board immediately ahead of the start of the Board meeting (Attachment 8).

The vendor is H.G. Mechanical. The invoice was for $89,165 for services associated with HVAC work at the Influent Pump Station. The work was not associated with current or previous construction efforts. Wayne County released the work requisition in May 2017, so this has been an outstanding item. The expense relates to the Downriver system, and thus should be paid by Downriver funds. Wayne County returned the Accounts Payable escrow to DUWA at the beginning of the year, and thus does not have funds available to pay H.G. Mechanical for the outstanding invoice.

To expedite payment to the vendor, Veolia has offered to pay H.G. Mechanical directly for their costs. Veolia will seek payment at no markup. Motion by Roberto Scappaticci (Romulus) and seconded by Jim Taylor (Van Buren Township) to approve payment to Veolia for the $89,165 outstanding order associated with H.G. Mechanical’s IPS HVAC work.  Veolia will pay H.G. Mechanical directly at the invoiced cost.

6. Contract Operator Update

Kelly Irving, DWTF Veolia Program Manager, provided the Contract Operator update. Prior to proceeding with the update, she introduced the new Assistant Project Manager, Jason Tapp, to the Board. Mr. Tapp has been with Veolia for three weeks and was a previous employee at DWTF. The team is grateful for his return to DWTF.

a. January 2019 MOR

A January 2019 Monthly Operating Report (MOR) was provided in the Board’s pre-meeting package (Attachment 9).

Ms. Irving noted a major item of attention has been biosolids disposal. With the increased landfill costs, Veolia is exploring available short- and long-term options. They are working with their Republic and Waste Management account managers to identify alternate landfills that may receive the biosolids. Veolia is also considering volume reduction opportunities with their subject matter experts. As additional details become available, Veolia will share them with the Technical Committee for feedback.

b. Solids Disposal Update, including Certificate of Compliance

The current solids volume is 30-40% due to WCAA’s glycol discharge. The solids volume is under control, and no bypasses have occurred.

A Certificate of Compliance was issued by Veolia to MDEQ on March 1, 2019 (Attachment 10). The MDEQ has accepted the letter via MiWaters.

c. Alliance of Downriver Watersheds

Veolia is offering community outreach to the Alliance of Downriver Watersheds (ADW) by providing voluntary laboratory services associated with ADW’s wet weather monitoring events. The wet weather monitoring supports the tracking of water quality within the Downriver watersheds. ADW volunteers will collect the samples and submit them to Veolia for analysis.

7. Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Jason Couture (Taylor) presented the Treasurer’s Report that was included in the pre-meeting packet. The Treasurer’s Report included a status of Community payments (Attachment 11) and an invoice register (Attachment 12).

a. Update on Community Payments of Monthly Assessment

Treasurer Couture noted the community payments are now up-to-date (September 2018), and tracking of the monthly assessment is no longer required. This standing agenda item will be removed from future Board meetings.

b. Pending Invoices

The invoice register included request for payment for 28 invoices for a total of $1,104,370.31. Motion by Roberto Scappaticci (Romulus) and seconded by Dave Flatten (Ecorse) to pay the invoices. Motion passed unanimously.

8. Public Comment

There was no public comment.

9. Other Business

Vice Chair Matakus (Allen Park) noted his term as Mayor expires the second week of November, and thus that will impact his engagement with DUWA.

Jim Taylor (Van Buren Township) expressed the need to begin detailed conversations regarding the biosolids disposal options at the Technical Committee level. System Manager Kaunelis agreed and noted detailed discussions will commence at the April meeting. System Manger Kaunelis also noted the desire to prepare and release a Request for Proposal associated with preparation of a DSDS Capital Improvement Program this year. Biosolids disposal options will be a main item for plan development.

There were no items brought forth for consideration as “Other Business” items.

10. Next Meeting Date: April 11, 2019 (9:00 AM; Taylor City Hall)

Vice Chairman Matakas (Allen Park) reminded the Board that the next meeting would be the Board Meeting on Thursday, April 11, 2019 (9:00 a.m. Taylor City Hall).

11. Adjournment

There being no other business, Vice Chairman Matakas (Allen Park) announced that a motion to adjourn would be in order. Motion by Doug Drysdale (Riverview) and supported by Rick Rutherford (Belleville) to adjourn the meeting.  Motion passed unanimously at 9:56 AM.

Meeting Minutes Prepared by:

Lambrina Tercala, DUWA System Manager

 

Attachments

1. Meeting Agenda
2. February 14, 2019 DUWA Board Meeting Minutes
3. System Manager Report for March 2019 Board Meeting (by OHM Advisors)
4. Year 1 CCTV Recommendations (by Veolia)
5. Executed SCADA As-Needed Services Contract with Eramosa (by OHM Advisors)
6. Memo re: Constraints on Use of Industrial User Fee Revenue (by Hinshon Environmental Consulting)
7. MWEA Effective Utility Management Workshop Flyer (by MWEA)
8. Request to Authorize Payment for Influent Pumping Station HVAC Efforts (by OHM Advisors)
9. Monthly Operating Report for January 2019 (by Veolia)
10. Certificate of Compliance re: Excess Sludge Status (by Veolia)
11. Update on Community Payments of Monthly Assessment, dated February 28, 2019
12. Invoice Register, dated March 7, 2019 (by DNS Financial Services)