WEST WARWICK SEWER COMMISSION

SEWER SUBCOMMITTEE

 

AMENDED MEETING MINUTES

 

DATE:  JANUARY 7, 2021                   TIME:  3:00 P.M.

 

 

A.     MEETING CALLED TO ORDER AT 3:02 P.M. BY COUNCILMAN LICCIARDI

 

B.     ROLL CALL

 

MEMBERS PRESENT

Councilman Licciardi

Councilwoman Williamson 

Acting Town Manager Colonel Mark Knott

Superintendent Harrison Songolo

Director of Administration Christine Suvajian

James Geremia, James Geremia and Associates

 

C.     QUORUM ON RECORD DECLARED

    

D.     MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

 

A motion was made to approve the December 3, 2020 minutes by James Geremia and seconded by   Councilwoman Williamson.  All in favor none opposed.

 

E.      REPORTS

 

1.     Plant Manager’s Report

The following is taken from the Plant Manager’s report data through December 22, 2020.

 

·        Average daily flow was 8.6 mgd with a maximum of 17.5 mgd.  There was a lot of rain in December.

·        CBOD removal was 98%.  DEM requirement is 85%.

·        TSS removal was 97%.  DEM requirement is 85%.

·        Total Nitrogen is out of season so we are monitor only.

·        Total Phosphorus was 0.44 mg/l.  DEM requirement is 1.0 mg/l. 

·        Sludge removal to Synagro was 609 wet tons which is 152 dry tons.  No sludge was sent to the Landfill.

 

·        There were 4 public line blockups:

1.     Phenix Avenue

2.     Winthrop Avenue

3.     Maple Avenue

4.     Shortway Drive

 

·        There were 7 private line blockups:

1.     Beauchaine Street

2.     Crossbow Lane

3.     Earl Street

4.     High View Drive

5.     Main Street

6.     Prospect Street

7.     Quill Drive

 

·        There was 1 odor complaint at the WWTF, 1 Pontiac Avenue.  *Originally reported as no odor complaints.  See June 3, 2021 Subcommittee Minutes.

·        There were no odor complaints or facility violations.

·        There is attached documentation showing where we are with the budget and sludge budget.

·        Councilwoman Williamson stated she thought there was an odor complaint in Natick in December.  Mr. Songolo replied he has no record of it but he will look into it.

 

2.     Director of Administration Report

 

·        FY21 Year-to-date operating and debt expenses as of December 31st totaled $5,380,899 which is 58% of the annual budget.

·        FY21 Sewer Use and Sewer Assessment Revenue collected as of December 31st totaled $4,814,887 of which $73,087 represents interest. 

·        Cash and Investment balance as of December 31, 2020 will be reported at the next Sewer Commission meeting.             

·        Ms. Suvajian stated as for a budget update, she’s going to begin working with the Finance Director on the Admin Fees.  The tentative budget workshop dates are March 4, 2021 and April 1, 2021.  The tentative public hearing dates are April 20, 2021 and May 11, 2021.  We’d like to go before the Sewer Commission on May 25, 2021 for the budget approval.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if there are any concerns in this year’s budget or is any line item overbudget at this point.  Ms. Suvajian said she is concerned about the overtime budget.

·        Mr. Songolo stated there have also been some chemical price increases.

·        Ms. Suvajian stated the chemical prices haven’t changed because the prices are locked in by bid.  She said we have been ordering more chemicals than usual this fiscal year.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked why.  Mr. Songolo stated it’s due to weather conditions and the amount of wet weather we’ve been having this year.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked how overtime can be up if employees have been working on a part-time basis for most of the year.  Ms. Suvajian replied aside from the open positions we have that need to be filled we also have employees, mainly Operators who are out of work due to injuries or surgeries, etc… 

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if the Operators are essential, 40 hour per week employees.  Mr. Songolo replied yes.

 

3.     Industrial Pretreatment Program for the month of December 2020

 

Significant Industrial Users

    

·        Rhodes Technologies submitted their self-monitoring reports and all were in compliance.

·        Annual inspections were conducted at Amtrol, Immunex and Bradford Soap Works.

·        Amtrol is doing a new product line.  We are working with them to revise their operations and pretreatment program.

·        Immunex continues to build their new facilities for their new product line which will be shipping us more industrial waste.

·        Bradford Soap Works continues to be pretty steady with their production.

·        Warwick Ice Cream exceeded for oil and grease last month.  They have re-tested and their limits are now in compliance.

·        New permits were issued for Noramco Coventry, LLC (formerly Rhodes Technologies) at 498 and 500 Washington Street

·        Rhodes Pharmaceuticals remains unchanged and a new permit was issued to them.

 

Food Service Inspections

Five inspections were conducted this month.

 

·        Boomerangs Roadhouse (formally the Sports Page) located at 293 Providence Street is a new facility and it did not have any of the pretreatment requirements.  We met with the property owner and worked out a Consent Agreement to get them into compliance.

·        Zeng's Kitchen, Inc. was found to be operating without a permit. We gave them the necessary information and we are awaiting their documentation.

·        The other three restaurants were in compliance.

 

Food Service Permits

New permits were issued for:

 

·        Tacos El Santo located at Centre of New England in Coventry

·        TBonz Grill on Tiogue Avenue in Coventry

 

E-Permitting Systems

 

·        There is a new safety and purification testing laboratory for plant materials going into 153 James P Murphy Hwy. in West Warwick.  The company has submitted a floorplan and they will be submitting civil plans and an industrial questionnaire.  A permit for construction has been issued.

 

New Connections

 

·        499 & 501 Washington Street in Coventry has completed construction.

·        JP Morgan Chase (formally Ruby Tuesdays) has completed construction.

·        Coventry Fire District - Anthony Fire Station continues their construction.

·        294 Cowesett Avenue continues construction.

 

Other

 

·        Tropical Smoothie Cafe submitted their information however, it was incomplete and the Program is awaiting additional information.

·        Wise Guys Deli in West Warwick is now Wise Guys Deli House, LLC.  The Program was not notified of this change of ownership therefore we’ve asked them to resubmit a permit application.

  

F.      CAPITAL PROJECTS SUMMARY             

               

1.     Centrifuge

 

·        Mr. Geremia stated the Centrifuge is expected to be delivered this month.  He said the Centrifuge is now in the U.S. and has cleared customs.  The manufacturer will bring it to their facility to do some bench testing prior to delivering it to the wastewater facility.

·        Mr. Geremia stated in preparation for the Centrifuge the contractor will begin demolition of the bell filter press next week which will continue for a several weeks.  He said a completion date is unavailable at this time.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked for an approximate completion date.  Mr. Geremia replied the contract allows them to mid-November to complete this project but he anticipates less than six months.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked how this will impact operations while they’re making the switch.  Mr. Geremia replied the bell filter press is not in operation right now and the dewatering operation will not be interrupted.

·        Mr. Songolo stated operations will not change because these two pieces of equipment work independently of each another.  The only thing they share is the transfer pump which transfers the sludge but that will not affect operations.

·        Mr. Songolo stated we do have a backup plan if there were an emergency.  He said we have the rotating drum thickener which would work if something were to happen to the Centrifuge.  This would thicken the sludge to remove as much water as possible then we would send the sludge out for processing in liquid form.

 

2.     BAF Inflow Pumps 1 & 2

 

·        Mr. Songolo stated the BAF pump that was out of service was returned and the startup happened last Thursday and Friday.  During startup it was discovered that a lower shaft wasn’t turning.  This was caused by a bushing that was out of position.  The shaft was brought back to the shop and the bushing was resized.  They will be returning to the plant with the shaft tomorrow to resume startup.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked how long it will take.  Mr. Songolo replied a lot of adjustments need to be made during startup so it can be anywhere between one day and three days but he feels it will be up and running by the end of next week.

 

·        Mr. Songolo stated once we’re 100% sure the pump is working properly the backup pump will be removed and sent out for repair.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked if we incurred any additional cost due to the shaft and bushing failure during startup either from the vendor or for extra staffing.  Mr. Songolo replied the vendor takes care of the startup but our staff has to be on hand as well so there is a small cost for staffing.

·        Councilman Licciardi said our staff has a lot of other work they can be doing rather than do this job again for the second time.  Mr. Songolo replied the problem has to be corrected.  The vendor is not going to charge us any extra for these repairs.  He said this is a regular occurrence with these big pieces of equipment, new or used because they are assembled elsewhere and all adjustments are done once the equipment is in place.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if there is a warranty on the pump.  Mr. Songolo replied yes, there is a one-year warranty which is why the vendor is required to do the startup.

 

3.     Headworks Grit Screw Project

 

·        Mr. Songolo stated the Grit Screw is back online and is working well which we saw over the Christmas holiday when we experienced a lot or rain.

·        Mr. Songolo stated initially there was a slight delay in starting up the equipment because we went beyond the Grit Screw and worked on the Grit Classifier as well which had some issues we had to attend to.  Some of the repairs required a curing period which attributed to the delay.

 

4.     Drain in Sludge Collection Area

 

·        Mr. Songolo suggested we do this project later because it is not an emergency and we will most likely have to redesign the drain once we see where the second Centrifuge will be discharging grit from out to the compost building. 

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if this means it won’t get done until after November.  Mr. Songolo replied he’d like to get it done in this fiscal year if possible.

 

5.     Phenix Avenue Sewer Repair

 

·        Mr. Songolo stated this project will have to wait until we have to better weather to work with.

·        Councilwoman Williamson stated Charlie Lombardi disagrees. 

·        Mr. Geremia stated the asphalt plants are shut down for the winter so how would we be able to patch the road.

·        Mr. Songolo stated if we did it now the maintenance would be very expensive.

·        Mr. Geremia stated we can have the bids ready to go when the asphalt plants reopen in mid-April.

 

G.     OLD BUSINESS

                

1.     Consent Agreement RIA 432

 

·        Mr. Geremia referred to the attached memo regarding this Consent Agreement and said he needs the Subcommittee’s approval so he can follow up with DEM.

·        This Agreement was developed when a new permit was developed for the Town because the parameters cannot be met by the treatment plant.  Therefore, this Agreement will require us to do assessments of the Pawtuxet River and our operations regarding the addition of Aluminum Sulfate (Alum).

·        The Agreement was executed on November 30th and we have 60 days from said date to submit a plan to DEM.

·        There are two elements of this Agreement.  The first is the Pollution Minimization Plan.  We have already reduced the amount of Alum for the November season but we need to continually monitor the Alum addition on a daily basis and do additional sampling of the Phosphorous and Alum in our process to determine our efficiency.

·        The second element is a Sampling Plan which requires us to sample upstream and downstream of the treatment plant to determine the Aluminum toxicity in the river.  We plan to work with Warwick who will also be sampling once a month.

·        The cost for the additional sampling of the river will be approximately $300-$400 per month over an eighteen-month period.  The cost for the additional sampling at the treatment plant will be about $325 per month.  This will likely begin sometime in March.

·        Mr. Geremia asked for permission to forward our proposal to DEM.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if it’s realistic that we will be able to meet the limits.  Mr. Geremia replied we will never meet these limits.

·        Councilwoman Williamson and Councilman Licciardi both agree this plan should be submitted.

 

H.     NEW BUSINESS

               

1.     Fusion Odor Control

 

·        Mr. Songolo stated since 2016 we’ve been working with several different vendors trying to reduce the amount of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) in the sludge.  The H2S causes a lot of smells during the dewatering process which in turn causes a lot of odor complaints.  The vendors would come in and run tests then try different ways to reduce the smell but none were successful.  Fusion was one of those vendors.

·        Last year Fusion came up with a new solution.  After looking at the results from the gas meters we saw a significant reduction in H2S production.

·        Fusion setup two stations at no cost to the treatment facility.  One station is located at the Headworks building and one station is at the Dewatering Building.  Since running these two stations the H2S has gone from 69 ppm to 5 ppm.

·        This reduction in H2S is vital to the plant.  When we received odor complaints we were forced to shut off the blowers that mix the sludge in the dewatering building because when the blowers are running they emit odor from the tanks.  However, shutting off the blowers creates deficiencies in the running of the Centrifuge because the sludge isn’t being mixed properly.  Fusions solution to the H2S has been crucial to the efficient running of the Centrifuge.

·        Mr. Songolo referred to the attached proposal and said he would like to commit to Fusion for monthly maintenance and service of the two stations and purchasing of their solution.  The cost would be $3949 per month which would be $47,388 per year.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked if we need this service every month or if we can use it only when we need it.  Mr. Songolo replied initially we thought we would only use it in the warmer months when people leave their windows open but after reviewing the test results we found there wasn’t much difference in the winter months and then we added the second station at the Headworks building.

·        Mr. Songolo recommends using Fusion throughout the year because the production of H2S occurs daily.

·        Councilman Licciardi said according to the proposal, the Fusion system was installed in October so the 30-day free trial ended in November.  He asked if we have stopped using Fusion in the meantime.  Mr. Songolo replied he told Fusion he had to stop using them until he could get authorization from the Sewer Commission and Fusion said they would continue servicing and supplying the facility until the authorization was received.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked if we now owe them for November and December.  Mr. Songolo replied the only thing they’ve asked us to pay for was an outdoor explosion-proof cable, the solution has been at no cost.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked where the money to pay for this would come from.  Mr. Songolo replied he plans to sit with Ms. Suvajian to see where they can take the money from to add to the Odor Control budget.

·        Mr. Geremia asked if the money can come the current operating budget for Odor Control.  Mr. Songolo replied no, there’s not enough money in it.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if this new odor control system will in addition to what we use now or will it reduce some of our current Odor Control costs.  Mr. Songolo replied yes, we can start cutting down on some things like the use of the sprayers.  He said one 55-gallon drum of Vaporscent is around $3700.

·        Mr. Geremia stated there is some benefit to using the Fusion system because the performance of the Centrifuge will improve.

·        There was discussion regarding incurring this annual expense.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked Mr. Songolo if he has the money in the budget to incur this cost until the end June and will he be able to find the money in next year’s budget.  Mr. Songolo replied the budget for the rest of the fiscal year is tight.  He can ask Fusion if we put a hold on this until the spring and revisit it during budget planning.

·        Councilman Licciardi asked if there is anywhere else in this year’s budget that we can take this money from.  Mr. Songolo replied we’ve saved quite a bit with all the open positions we’ve had for almost a year.

·        Councilman Licciardi suggested Mr. Songolo present a plan at next month’s meeting as to where the money will come from to pay Fusion for the next six months and where it will come from in next year’s budget.

·        Mr. Geremia asked if Fusion will just supply the chemicals and we just buy a chemical pump.

·        Councilman Licciardi stated his concern is the money.  He asked if using this system will save us money elsewhere.  Mr. Songolo replied it’s possible it can offset our costs for vaporizer sprayers which would be about $50,000.  Councilman Licciardi said he needs to present a plan.

·        Councilwoman Williamson stated she has concerns regarding the Town’s purchasing policy and if this should go out to bid.  Mr. Songolo stated this is a proprietary product they are using, they won’t even give us the chemical composition. 

·        Mr. Songolo stated we have been running trials since 2016 and this is the only one that has worked.  Councilwoman Williamson said we need to have some sort of documentation or report on file stating this. 

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if the year term with Fusion will begin in November.  Mr. Songolo replied we are still in the trial period. 

·        Councilman Licciardi asked if Fusion will continue to provide their product to us for free in February since we’re still discussing committing to them.  Mr. Songolo replied their product comes in 55-gallon drums and according to Fusion it will go bad if we take it offline so we will continue to use what is in the drums.  The first test was at no cost, the only thing we were required to pay for was some materials which cost $1900.

·        Elijah Hannon of Fusion Environmental Solutions stated he will help Mr. Songolo to get the report together.  He said their product will help save costs with the dewatering as well as the sprayers and it will help to eliminate corrosion from the H2S.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if we were to use their product for a year then stop using it will there be any aftermath.  Mr. Hannon just that the H2S levels would return and the costs for the residual effects would increase.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked that this information be part of the report that Mr. Songolo and Mr. Hannon present to the Subcommittee.

 

I.       PUBLIC COMMENT

 

·        Councilwoman Williamson stated this subject came up at the last Town Council meeting.  We use Kent County Water Authority (KCWA) meter readings to do our billing and since new pumps have been installed the water consumption readings have been spiking very high.

·        Mr. Geremia said we can use last year’s meter readings. 

·        Ms. Suvajian stated we already give 20% off for outside water consumption which gives us a buffer.

·        Councilwoman Williamson said this has been all over the news.  The water bills for the people effected are almost double what they were which will affect their sewer bill.  He said people are going to want to appeal their bills.

·        Mr. Geremia stated they will have to prove that their water consumption readings were incorrect so they will have to appeal to KCWA.

·        Councilwoman Williamson asked if we will need to adjust our rates accordingly.  Councilman Licciardi said we should at least be prepared for it because a lot of people are getting these bills.

·        Ms. Suvajian stated we should wait for the KCWA readings to come in then compare them and go case by case.

·        There was additional discussion about the increase in flows at the plant and Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) studies.

 

J.      ADJOURN

 

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Councilwoman Williamson and seconded by James Geremia.  All in favor, none opposed.

 

 

To view this meeting go to:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjneuvKTpZA