Valley Forge Sewer Authority
Meeting Minutes
October 10, 2011
The Valley Forge Sewer Authority monthly meeting was held on Monday, October 10, 2011, at 7:00 pm. The following people attended the meeting: Board members: Daniel Reese, William Hochwind, Norman Vutz, Charles Melle, Michael Rodgers, and Marilyn Randolph; Staff: Len Pinchok and Martin Goldberg; Consultant: Lawrence Lutter. Steve Yuhas, Lloyd Knauer and Frank Rodden also attended the meeting.
Mr. Reese called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comment
Frank Rodden, a master mechanic employee of VFSA was introduced to the Board.
Meeting Minutes
The September meeting minutes were presented to the Board. Mr. Rodgers made a motion to approve the minutes. Ms. Randolph seconded the motion and the Board unanimously approved the minutes as presented.
Reports
Operations Report
Mr. Goldberg reported that the Authority was in compliance with all permit requirements for the month of September and that there were no odor complaints for the month. Mr. Goldberg also reviewed with the Board, the procedures that are followed during incidents that may result in untreated wastewater discharges.
Financial Report
Mr. Pinchok reviewed the combined statement of operations and the budget to actual summary with the Board. He reported that the month of September was a standard month and that some investments had been cashed in. Upon review of the Revenue fund and Treatment Plant fund, it was noted that both currently have a surplus and he anticipated that some of those monies would be utilized in the final quarter of 2011.
Mr. Pinchok then presented the following expenses to the Board: Imprest/Petty Cash in the amount of $1,504; A/P Invoices in the amount of $272,802; Requisitions in the amount of $5,800; and the Debit card purchases in the amount of $1,351.
Mr. Rodgers made a motion to approve all the expenses as presented. Mr. Vutz seconded the motion and the Board unanimously approved all payments.
New Business
VFSA Wireless Communications Presentation
Mr. Rodden presented a slideshow to the Board on the use of the wireless communications in use at the VFSA treatment plant electrical substation. Among the major points described, he explained that there is a dual electrical feed to the treatment plant, which is a regulatory requirement. In this way a power failure on one feed does not disable the wastewater treatment plant’s electrical system because the entire power needs of the treatment plant would be supplied by the other electrical feed.
He noted that once an outage is corrected and clearance is received by the staff from PECO, the controls have to be manually reset. One problem that existed is that there were no signal wires from the substation to the control room. Since the control room houses the auto dialer which alerts the staff during off hours, power outages would go undetected when the plant is not staffed. After reviewing several possible solutions with the Board, he detailed the option, wireless signals, that the staff opted to use to correct the problem. He also noted that the staff did the installation of the equipment. The wireless signal transmission utilizes spread spectrum technology that transmits the signals over the air. Through the use of spread spectrum technology, physical interferences are avoided, and there is high security capability. He reported that other similar applications may be applicable to use at VFSA facilities such as in certain small pump stations.
The staff is currently evaluating fiber optic networks vs. the wireless system with regards to the UV building. It was also noted that many applications of the plant expansion include excavation for power transmission so that the signal wires are not burdensome and would be preferable to wireless in these instances. The Board thanked Mr. Rodden for this informative presentation.
Old Business
Miller Road Sewer Extension
The Board provided a review and update on the history of discussions thus far and also reviewed a recent letter received from Kimberly Moretti, township manager of East Pikeland Township about the sewer extension. The Board instructed the staff to determine what rules and regulations pertain to homeowners, not developers, with regards to extending services to existing homes, not new home construction. The Board also instructed the staff to research other similar past projects and report their findings to them. The Board instructed the staff to proceed with the engineering studies for Miller Road. Mr. Rodgers made a motion to move forward with engineering to tighten costs per the township letter dated October 6, 2011. Ms. Randolph seconded the motion and the Board unanimously approved.
Major Pump Stations
Mr. Goldberg reported that there are still changes that need to be made on what’s built and that a notification letter of four items that need to be corrected was submitted. He reported that the staff is making upgrades in-house to controls for the stations to operate in a crisis as needed.
Act 537 Plant Expansion Project
Mr. Goldberg reported that a review of the Chapter 94 report has been received and the review letter states that the plant may be in hydraulic overload. Mr. Goldberg reported that he has scheduled a meeting with DEP to present the situation with regard to issues with flow measurement at the plant and pump stations in order to get their input as to how to proceed with regard to Plan implementation and their review of the Chapter 94 Report. He noted that there was record breaking wet weather in the early part of 2010, which, coupled with the flow measurement at the treatment plant influent, was the basis by which the DEP established that the plant may have been in a hydraulic overload in condition in the early part of 2010.
The Board indicated a desire to review all data. VFSA is currently budgeting for the full expansion as originally planned. The Board understands that scope and schedule could be affected based on input from the DEP at the upcoming meeting. A regularly scheduled Joint Board meeting will be held after the DEP meeting.
Ultra Violet Construction
Mr. Goldberg reported that the staff is still looking at improvements and has identified the causes of the current problems. He reported that a manual screen has been installed to protect the UV system and keep it clean. The gates have also been modified to accept the filters and the sources of where algae are growing have been identified. The Board instructed the staff to notify the UV manufacturer of the problems and address as how to correct.
Other
The DEP meeting is to be held on October 21 and the partners meeting on November 3rd. Mr. Goldberg is to summarize relevant data and review with the Board at the special Board meeting.
Mr. Pinchok notified the Board that he received an email from the solicitor on October 4th, 2011 which stated that the Ozorowski appeal has been dismissed.
Mr. Reese instructed the staff to draft an email from him to Blooming Glenn to acknowledge their exceptional job performance.
Mr. Reese also instructed the staff to plan the holiday dinner schedule.
Staff Assignments
Mr. Reese adjourned the regular monthly meeting at 9:49 pm and the Board immediately entered into Executive Session.
Executive Session
Upon adjournment from executive session, Mr. Reese noted that the Board discussed legal and personnel matters. The executive session ended at 11:15 pm.