WAYNESBORO BOROUGH AUTHORITY
FEBRUARY 17, 2009
MINUTES
Authority Chairman Jon Fleagle called the regularly scheduled meeting of the Waynesboro Borough Authority to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following in attendance:
Borough Authority Members – S. Allen Stine, Jon Fleagle, Christopher Snively, William Pflager and Lee Layman
Borough Staff – S. Leiter Pryor, Director of Borough Utilities
D. Lloyd Reichard, II, Authority Solicitor
Others – Mark Malarich (Gannett Fleming, Inc.)
APPROVE MINUTES: Lee Layman made a motion to approve the minutes of the January 20, 2009 meeting, as written. William Pflager seconded; the motion passed unanimously.
ENGINEERING STUDY - SEWER TREATMENT PLANT: Chairman Fleagle introduced Mark Malarich from Gannett Fleming, who led the effort when the Sewer Treatment Plant was upgraded in 1989.
Mark Malarich noted that he has been keeping Leiter Pryor informed about the “comings and goings” of the Chesapeake Bay and the impact it will have on the wastewater treatment plant. He provided Authority members with a handout outlining pertinent information, and briefly explained its contents.
A timeline of actions that have occurred over the last 28-29 years with regard to the Chesapeake Bay are shown on page 1, and Mr. Malarich noted he will focus on those and the impact they may have on the treatment plant. Several agreements have been signed in an effort to clean-up the Chesapeake Bay, the most important being the one in June of 2000 which established a deadline with concrete limits by 2010 for each of the states that are tributaries to reduce their amount of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus that eventually flow into the Bay. There was a condition of that agreement that said that if you didn’t meet it by 2010, the federal government (under the U.S. EPA) would take certain action. The action that EPA was to take was to develop a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) which establishes the maximum amount that each of the states can discharge. Since 2000, PA and the other tributary states have been working to try to come up with a plan that would allow them to achieve compliance with the requirements of the 2000 agreement. PA’s plan, called the Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy, was prepared and submitted for public comment in mid-2005. It was finalized; and as a result, letters went out to all the contributing plants within the Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin in PA, telling them of their requirements. The WBA received a letter in December of 2005 saying that they would have a cap load for nitrogen and phosphorus that will need to be met by 2010. The state legislature then took some action to try to change the way the approach was taken, and that resulted in some positive impacts on the WBA from the standpoint of delaying the compliance date from 2010 to the current date of 2012. It also changed the WBA’s cap load from a certain level to a higher level. There have been some other actions that occurred since then (some lawsuits and pending lawsuits) that raise an uncertainty on this process and what the final requirements will be. Needless to say, there will be requirements placed on the Borough and the Borough Authority. Currently, EPA is under action to develop a TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin; and their schedule is that that TMDL will be published in December of 2010. It will then be the responsibility of each of the individual states to come up with new strategies to meet that; and it is expected that that limit may be more stringent than the current. However, the WBA currently has a requirement pending to receive the new NPDES permit with cap loads for nitrogen and phosphorus with some pending deadline.
Page 2 of the handout is the most recent published literature from the PA DEP, and talks about the phase-in of this approach for publicly-owned treatment works. Waynesboro is a “phase 2" facility, so those limits will take effect in October of 2012. Those limits are cap loads, which are an annual load limit ... so it is a cumulative value that starts October 1st until September of the following year.
Page 3 is a map of PA that shows the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay.
Page 4 has two (2) pie charts and shows what PA calculated in 2004-2005 as their estimate of where the nitrogen and phosphorus that is discharged from waters originating within PA and going into the Chesapeake Bay comes from. In looking at the pie chart, only 11% of the nitrogen comes from point sources, another 4% comes from septic; so roughly 15% of the nitrogen is coming from wastewater. Likewise, about 19% of the total phosphorus is coming from point sources for wastewater. Much is coming from agriculture; and there is another approach that PA is allowing point sources to take – as opposed to upgrading your facilities, you could pay others to take action to reduce their amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, and therefore meet the cap load through the purchase of nutrient credits.
Page 5 is a slide put together by the U.S. EPA showing the sources of nitrogen and phosphorus on a watershed-wide basis. PA is mostly rural, and there are a lot of agricultural areas. He noted that atmospheric is 22% of the sources of nitrogen.
On page 6, there is Chesapeake Bay Airshed information showing the area where, through various activities, nitrogen oxides are generated and discharged into the atmosphere. When it rains within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, nitrogen is transferred from the air to the water and on to the Bay.
Page 7 is a table listing current conditions at the Wastewater Treatment Plant for the last three (3) years. Total nitrogen in the discharge is approximately 22 and total phosphorus is 5.5. Pending permit limits are shown, as well as the difference. Based on this information, these limits are approximately 24,797 lbs./year over for nitrogen and 9,498 lbs./year over for phosphorus.
Page 8 shows the same information on the previous bar chart.
Page 9 contains graphs showing that you will have a cap load which will be in existence until it is changed again by DEP. As growth occurs within the service area of your treatment plant, the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus you will need to remove is going to get larger and larger.
Page 10 gives a very preliminary schedule for compliance. If the WBA decides to upgrade their facility to provide the necessary processes to remove total nitrogen and total phosphorus, they will need to start something in 2009. This would involve coming up with a plan for achieving compliance. If the WBA’s plans call for facility upgrades, they will need to start design work. Leiter Pryor has included this in the 2009 budget. Mr. Malarich put together a proposal that put down a conceptual “first step”. That first step would be taking a look at what is at the facility now, how well is it doing, what the characteristic of the wastewater flowing through the plant is, what some other needs at the facility are (for example, dealing with biosolids) and needs for additional equipment. This would also be an opportunity to work with another municipality on a combined approach to handle both municipalities’ needs.
In summary, it was noted that this program will be costly and will have an effect on the WBA’s rates.
Discussion followed regarding the processes used to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus. The most cost-effective way of dealing with nitrogen is biologically, and the WBA’s current facilities cannot handle this process. Mr. Malarich talked about various other methods of reduction, including purchasing a farm and doing things with that farm that would allow you to generate credits.
It was noted that the preliminary study will cost approximately $21,000, based on the scope of work listed. Mr. Malarich suggested doing the study in steps, and brainstorming with WBA members and staff to see what alternatives there may be. Chairman Fleagle noted that the WBA will discuss the proposal and present any additional questions to Leiter Pryor for discussion at their next meeting.
SOURCE DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: Leiter Pryor presented photos for the Authority’s review of progress being made. The nano skid arrived approximately two weeks ago, and it was placed in the building prior to placement of the roof planks. The building is now weather-tight and a permanent roof is on the building, the overhead garage door has been installed, and they are working on some other window and door openings as well as process piping and miscellaneous metal work around the door frames. A lot of auxiliary heat is running now to allow the painters to seal the block walls and paint before the process equipment is installed. At the end of this week, the equipment associated with the membrane unit will arrive and be installed. The wastewater lift station has been placed on-site in front of Allegheny Power; and a coordination meeting will need to be held with Allegheny Power regarding transition from the old to the new pump station. The project is anticipated to be completed in mid-June, and it appears to be on schedule.
Mr. Pryor noted that he and Gordon Cruickshanks met with the software supplier regarding the upgrade at the main plant to be able to talk to the auxiliary plant. He was under the impression that the plant could be shut-down for 3-4 days while he did the work, but they informed him that that can’t be done. A plan was developed that should work (some overtime may be involved for staff to manually operate the plant). Mr. Pryor noted that there may be some difficulty with the data conversion, but he feels that it should work well once everything has been switched over.
PENNVEST UPDATE: Mr. Pryor noted that he received the second draw, and there should be sufficient money in the Construction Fund to cover the requisitions.
B2M2 - SEWER CONVEYANCE: Leiter Pryor noted that the Authority discussed this at their last meeting. A letter has been forwarded to WTMA regarding their position on the matter, but no response has been received back.
In conjunction with that, he had a discussion with Mike Christopher several weeks ago with regard to the proposed development going in behind the WBA’s new well (the Dan Long property). Mr. Christopher wanted the WBA to allow Mr. Long to convey some sewer temporarily into the WBA’s system, because he is ready to develop it and there is no way of getting the sewage to WTMA at this time. Mr. Pryor informed him that the WBA can’t accommodate a lot more there, because the plant main and pump station upgrade were designed to handle our process wastewater and the three (3) commercial offices (pursuant to the agreement entered into with the McCleaf’s). A few units could be taken, but he is unsure how cost-effective that would be for the developer to pump it up the hill. Mr. Pryor also had a discussion with Mr. Long regarding the matter. Allen Stine noted his opinion that he is not in favor of taking on a lot of temporary customers. Also, this was presented to Mr. Pryor this evening – at this point in time, the WBA is unsure what they are capable of handling through the force main, they don’t know how many units will be required, and they didn’t present this to the WBA in a timely manner. In addition, Leiter Pryor suggested that the request should come from WTMA, not the developer or Washington Township. Chairman Fleagle recommended they be advised that the WBA cannot make a decision until their new plant is up and running. Leiter Pryor added that conveyance issues “up the road” need to be considered. The Authority concurred.
ANTIETAM WATERSHED ASSOCIATION PRESENTATION: Mr. Pryor noted that the Antietam Watershed Association will give a presentation to Council members and the public prior to Council’s meeting the following evening (February 18th) at 6:45 p.m. Authority members were invited to attend.
PROJECT STATUS REPORT: Updates were given on the following –
• I & I Study: Flow equipment has arrived, but Scott Crum has been “tied up” recently assisting with clerical work.
• Sewer Main at Cemetery Avenue: Gordon Cruickshanks and Leiter will obtain some proposals shortly and proceed.
• Billing Software Update: Billing and financial end are “on hold” at this time – waiting for 2008 books to be closed out. Payroll and accounts payable are in use.
• Recirculating Pump: Reviewing proposals.
• Painting Final Clarifiers: Work to be done this summer.
• Roof: Kelly Roofing has been contacted to look at the roof and give an opinion on roofing material that may be better than the membrane.
• Design Transmission Main from Well to Broad Street Reservoir: Jon Fleagle requested a preliminary drawing in order to pursue grant funding through Congressman Shuster. Discussion followed about where the flow would be going from the well. Chairman Fleagle noted he was under the impression that the water would all be pumped into the standpipe and then throughout the system from there. A clarification will be obtained from Gannett Fleming regarding this issue.
PAY BILLS: Christopher Snively made a motion to approve the payment of the following requisitions --
Sewer Requisition #896 - Smith Elliott Kearns & Company - $1,000.00 - Progress billing for services rendered in connection with audit of financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2008
Water Requisition #09-03 - PSI Pumping Solutions, Inc. - $9,673.00 - Repairs at Antietam Dam
Water Requisition #09-04 - Smith Elliott Kearns & Company - $1,500.00 - Progress billing for services rendered in connection with audit of financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2008
Water Construction Fund Requisition #WC-23 - Johnston Construction Company - $180,501.48 - Construction of Well No. 2 Membrane Treatment Facility (Contract Two - General Construction) - Estimate No. 5 for work performed up to and including January 30, 2009
Water Construction Fund Requisition #WC-24 - Gannett Fleming Companies - $7,994.63 - Construction management services related to membrane treatment at Well No. 2 for the period of January 3, 2009 through January 30, 2009
Allen Stine seconded; the motion passed unanimously.
Having no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 9:22 p.m. on a Stine/Layman motion which passed unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Melinda S. Knott
Administrative Assistant