SEWER SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
DATE & TIME: FEBRUARY 6, 2020 - 3:00 P.M.
LOCATION: WEST WARWICK REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
1 PONTIAC AVENUE
WEST WARWICK, RI 02893
MEMBERS PRESENT
Councilman Licciardi
Councilwoman Williamson
Town Manager Ernie Zmyslinski
Superintendent Harrison Songolo
Director of Administration Christine Suvajian
James Geremia, James Geremia and Associates
Jennifer Ludwig, Town of Coventry
A motion was made to approve the January 2, 2020 minutes by James Geremia and seconded by Councilwoman Williamson. All in favor none opposed.
The following is taken from the Plant Manager’s report data through January 28, 2020.
· Average daily flow was 6.4 mgd with a maximum of 10.4 mgd.
· CBOD removal was 98%. DEM requirement is 85%.
· TSS removal was 98%. DEM requirement is 85%.
· Total Nitrogen is out of season so we are monitor only.
· Total Phosphorus was 0.68 mg/l. DEM requirement is 1.0 mg/l.
· Sludge removal to Synagro was 525.7 wet tons which is 131.4 in dry tons.
· There were 4 private line blockups:
1. Robin Lane
2. Terra Mar Drive
3. Prospect Hill Avenue
4. Hoxie Court (Coventry)
· There were 2 public line blockups:
1. On Lockwood Street, a blockage was caused by grease in the line. This caused flooding in the resident’s basement because the lateral had no backflow preventer installed. An insurance claim was filed and DEM was notified of the overflow.
2. On West Street, KCWA reported a sewer cover with sewage flowing out of it. Our staff unblocked the line. A DEM report was not required because the leakage was less than 100 gallons.
· Councilwoman Williamson asked if there was 100 gallons of waste in the resident’s home on Lockwood Street. Mr. Songolo responded no, it was reported because sewer backups into a residence are required to be reported to DEM.
· A Slips, Trips and Falls training was conducted this month.
· There were no odor complaints or facility violations.
· Ms. Ludwig asked if crews were still proactively inspecting the sewer lines. Mr. Songolo responded yes, in good weather through the winter and continually throughout the summer. He said cleaning the collection system is an EPA requirement.
· Councilwoman Williamson asked if there is a cap on the maximum daily flow. Mr. Geremia responded that the average design is 11 million gallons per day and the peaking factor is 25 million gallons per day. He said if a plant exceeds the limit over 90 consecutive days they would have to begin the process to upgrade the facility.
· Councilwoman Williamson asked if it ever gets too low. Mr. Songolo responded that there are peak hours when it is low but never too low as there is always something trickling in.
· Councilman Licciardi asked if the plant information reported every month can be put into a chart that covers a couple of years so anyone can look at it to get a better understanding and a comparison of the trends from year to year. He said it would also be helpful for the Town Council acting as Sewer Commission to have it all together on one sheet. Mr. Geremia and Mr. Songolo said yes it can.
· There was discussion regarding what causes blockups in public and private lines and the difference in the number of blockups from month to month. Mr. Songolo and Mr. Geremia stated the blockups are monitored by area and frequency for indications of problems in a sewer line. There was also further discussion regarding all types of grease buildup in the sewer lines.
· Year-to-date operating and debt expenses as of January 31st totaled $5,295,995 which is 58% of the annual budget.
· Sewer Use and Sewer Assessment Revenue collected as of January 31st totaled $4,772,833.
· I will report the updated Cash and Investment balance as of January 31st at the next Sewer Commission meeting.
· Councilman Licciardi asked where the late fees from late sewer tax payments go. Ms. Suvajian responded that it comes to the WWTF. She said the principal and interest are broken down and applied by the Finance Department.
· Councilman Licciardi asked how the budget is done for late fees. Ms. Suvajian responded she does a 3-year average on what’s been collected over the years.
· Councilwoman Williamson asked how the money collected from late fees is spent. Ms. Suvajian responded the money goes into the WWTF revenue account (not the Capital account) to be used as needed.
Significant Industrial Users
· Amtrol, Immunex, Bradford Soap, Rhodes Technologies, Warwick Ice Cream, Rhodes Pharmaceutical, New England Testing Laboratories and Ethide Laboratories all submitted their self-monitoring reports and all were in compliance.
· Amtrol has resubmitted their Industrial Questionnaire to renew their discharge permit which is due to expire in February.
· Rhodes Technologies has informed us that they’ll be filing Chapter 11 so we need to make sure to get the revenue generated from them.
· Councilwoman Williamson asked if Rhodes Technologies has an outstanding balance. Ms. Suvajian stated they owe approximately $12,000. She said their Chapter 11 paperwork has been filed with the Tax Collector’s office.
· Immunex has notified us that they’ll be conducting a next-gen bioplasma trial. The program will be working with them to make sure everything is in compliance.
Private WWTF
· Marketplace Center at 1500 Bald Hill Road has completed their line cleaning.
· The Program had a conference call with the property managers of 1600 Division Street (the old Met Life building). The Program has not received an O&M Manual which should’ve been submitted in 2017. We are going to have a lot of problems at this site. The building is over half a million square feet with floor drains throughout. It used to be offices but they are now calling it a self-storage. There are currently more than a few different commercial users who are storing hazardous chemicals there. Without the proper licensing and inspections we have no idea what runoff may be going into the sewers.
Food Service
The following food service facilities were inspected this month for compliance with the grease removal standards.
· Pat’s Italian Restaurant at 1650 Nooseneck Hill Road in Coventry (formally Westcott House) had a grease interceptor that was overloaded and grease was being discharged to the sewer. We provided the owner an applications and the standard requirements. Their license is pending approval.
· Black Oak at 760 Tiogue Avenue in Coventry was in compliance.
· Walmart at 650 Centre of New England Boulevard in Coventry was in compliance.
· Councilman Licciardi asked what happens if a business opens without a license or proper approvals. Mr. Geremia gave an example of this problem. He stated one of renters at 1600 Division Street filled out the required application which also needed to be signed by the property owner. The owner of this property is refusing to sign the application(s) stating he doesn’t have to comply.
· Mr. Geremia proposed having our legal counsel send the owner a letter to arrange a meeting. He said as stated previously, there are currently more than a few businesses at that location storing hazardous chemicals there without a license.
· Councilman Licciardi stated this is why there is so much frustration and anger from business owners and citizens in Town, because they find out that other businesses have not complied or paid the fees, yet they are being allowed to open.
· Mr. Geremia said the Building Officials are issuing a C.O. (Certificate of Occupancy) so these businesses think they can open.
· Mr. Geremia stated there is also a new laundromat at 71 Tiogue Avenue. During our inspection we found there was no lint valve which is a requirement. He said this facility is currently operating without a permit.
· Councilman Licciardi asked how and why this is being allowed. Mr. Geremia said this is a constant problem because businesses are remodeling and opening without submitting plans to us. By the time we find out and go to do an inspection they have all their equipment in place and often need to remodel again to accommodate grease recovery systems. He said this is why you have frustrated business owners calling Council members and complaining.
· Councilwoman Williamson said it seems the Town isn’t doing a good job in explaining the process.
· Both Councilwoman Williamson and Councilman Licciardi said they do receive a lot of these complaints and the one constant criticism they receive is about the Inspector.
· Superintendent Songolo stated the problem is definitely with the coordination of the process. He said the first step for business owners begins with the Town Clerk’s office. However, they are not getting all of the necessary information they need at that time. So, once a business passes one or two inspections from other departments they think they can open.
· Superintendent Songolo said he is trying to set up a meeting with all of the departments for next Wednesday to discuss how to improve the flow of the process for business applicants.
· Councilwoman Williamson said the Clerk’s office should be providing a complete packet of instructions to business owners when they come in to apply for a license.
· Superintendent Songolo said he believes there is software that all of the departments have access to which would allow us to enter and view data regarding the status of inspections. This would directly benefit the Clerk’s office.
· Ms. Suvajian stated that she and Bob Rose attended meetings regarding this in the past but the Clerk’s office never followed through with setting up the database.
· Councilwoman Williamson said when the departments do meet we should make it clear to them that the results of the meeting and this new licensing process will be reported back to the Subcommittee.
· Superintendent Songolo said it will probably take more than one meeting to set all of this up.
· Councilman Licciardi suggested compiling a list of all the businesses in Town and appointing a person to go out and verify the list.
· Mr. Geremia said problems often arise when there is a change in ownership or a change of use in a facility. He said for example, if a person buys an existing restaurant and is keeping it as a restaurant they think they don’t have to notify the Town.
· Mr. Songolo stated he also thinks that all the inspections should be scheduled within a certain time frame so as not to hold up a license.
*This discussion was continued under New Business: Coordination of Commercial Sewer Applications and Plans for New and Existing Facilities.
· Dunkin Donuts has submitted revised plans.
New Connections
The following new connections are ongoing.
1. Mid- Town Square
2. Coventry Plaza
3. 1200 Quaker Lane
Maintenance and Repair (M&R)
· Walmart has submitted their maintenance reports.
· Virginia Transportation completed a video of their building’s sewers and the engineer will be submitting plans.
Miscellaneous
· Green Development at 1600 Division Street is now a self-storage.
· Peach Budz, LLC d/b/a Lil Rhody Storage at 100 Pulaski Street has been open as a self-storage for approximately 5 months. The Program found out about it when they applied for a business license therefore there were no inspections done and no plans submitted prior to opening. Upon inspection we found antique cars were being worked on at the facility. Due to it being an old mill there are floor drains present but there are no inspection manholes so there is no way to know where any run off is going. The Program informed them if they wanted to operate as a Maintenance Facility they will need to put in a grease interceptor, an oil and water separator and an inspection manhole outside the facility. If they want to keep it strictly a storage facility they will have to submit plans and cap the drains.
· Ms. Suvajian stated she has started working on the budget. She said she’s received the data from KCWA and has submitted it to Vision. Once Vision incorporates it into the software she will be able to work on the revenue budget.
· Ms. Suvajian said that Mr. Songolo is also working on the Capital budget.
· Ms. Suvajian stated the only increase she sees so for is a 7.6% increase for administrative fees.
· Councilman Licciardi and Councilwoman Williamson asked why the increase. Ms. Suvajian responded that’s a question for Finance.
· Mr. Zmyslinski asked what is included in the fees. Ms. Suvajian said she believes this may be to cover an increase in salaries.
·
· Councilman Licciardi stated all it says in the budget is Reimbursement for Town Services. He said $300,000 is a lot of money.
· Councilwoman Williamson concurred but said it should be clear exactly what the money is being allocated for.
· Councilman Licciardi said this and the Civic Center are both Enterprise funds yet the Civic Center doesn’t give anything.
· Mr. Zmyslinski responded that he and the Finance Director can go over the breakdown with him. He said there are expenses.
· Councilwoman Williamson said they understand there are expenses however they question the 7% increase.
· It was agreed that this should be discussed with Finance Director Benoit.
· Ms. Suvajian asked if Mr. Geremia or anyone would like to update any of the fees. Mr. Geremia said he doesn’t think any of the surcharges (BOD, TSS, etc…) have ever gone up and suggested we take a look at that.
· Ms. Ludwig stated the Coventry Town Engineer has also been working with the Town Clerk’s office to create a checklist for new businesses.
· Ms. Ludwig stated in Coventry the Clerk’s office is directly across from the Sewer office so they tend to work together closely anyway. She said they are also posting information on the Sewer Authority’s website.
· Ms. Suvajian stated that she and Bob Rose had a meeting with Coventry last year in an effort to better coordinate working with commercial users. She said she thinks that Stephanie In may already have a checklist in place.
· Ms. Ludwig said she has spoken to Stephanie and there is an unofficial checklist in place. She said Stephanie and the Clerk’s office are working together to add to it.
· Councilwoman Williamson suggested making this a universal list for both Towns.
· Councilman Licciardi asked what the outcome was from the meeting with Coventry about a year ago.
· Mr. Geremia stated he drew up a follow-up letter to that meeting and gave it to Mr. Songolo who then sent it to the Coventry Town Manager. To date there has been no response to said letter.
· Mr. Geremia explained this was about the problems with the meter readings and the flows and the discrepancies due to inaccurate readings as well as Inflow and Infiltration. He said the meter at Pulaski Street has not worked properly since the day it was installed,
· Councilman Licciardi asked who is in charge of that meter. Mr. Geremia responded Coventry is.
· There was some additional discussion regarding the meters and following up on the letter.
*Agenda item was also discussed under Industrial Pretreatment Program Report due to related topic.
· Mr. Geremia stated in December, 2019 a commercial application with plans were submitted to the Planning department for 294 Cowesett Avenue. Planner Carruolo instructed the applicant that DEM approval and Commercial Sewer applications were needed prior to submitting the plans to the Building department. Mr. Geremia said no DEM approval or Commercial Sewer applications have been received yet these plans are already on file with the Building department.
· Mr. Geremia stated the plans are for five units yet there is currently only one lateral at this site and no drainage sketch had been provided. He said he contacted the Engineer for the project regarding this and told him he needed to submit new plans as well as Sewer applications.
· Mr. Geremia stated in the meanwhile, the Building department is waiting for a sign-off from Sewer. He said those plans and initial application never should’ve gotten to the Building department in the first place.
· Mr. Geremia said when you go to the Building department to get a Commercial/Business checklist, Sewers are not on it.
· Councilwoman Williamson suggested someone get the Commercial/Business checklist from Building in a Word format and add the Sewer department to it.
· Mr. Geremia said it’s the same thing with Peach Budz, LLC d/b/a Lil Rhody Storage (discussed under IPT Report). Inspections were done after the fact. The Program was able to offer them two options for dealing with the sewers depending on whether they wanted to operate as a Maintenance facility or as a self-storage facility.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Councilman Licciardi and seconded by Councilwoman Williamson. All in favor none opposed.
Please refer to audio recording for detailed information.