SCHUYLERVILLE/VICTORY BOARD OF WATER MANAGEMENT
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
The Schuylerville/Victory Board of Water Management held a meeting on July 18,
2006 at 7:00pm in Schuylerville.
Present: Chairman Travis Kline,
Commissioners Glenn Decker, Leslie Dennison, and Paul Shaver, along with
Recording Secretary Brenda Buchanan and Water Foreman Mark Dennison. Steve
Adams of LaBerge. Absent: Project
Coordinator Maureen Kemmet.
Announcements:
The meetings in Aug. will be Tuesday Aug. 8th, 6:30 p.m. in Victory.
The second meeting will be Tuesday Aug. 15th, 2006 at 7 p.m. in Schuylerville.
Minutes:
Commissioner Dennison
made a motion to approve the June 13th 2006 meeting minutes and the
June 20th meeting minutes with one correction. Under Executive Session: The motion that was made for the continuing
of the benefit package the same as was offered by the Village of Victory
for Foreman Dennison was seconded by
Commissioner Decker, in error it was printed as Commissioner Ditch. These
motions were seconded by Commissioner Shaver, all ayes, motions passed.
Treasurer’s Report:
After reviewing the treasurer’s report chairman Kline explained that the Attorney Phil Dixon will be present at each public comment night meeting, each month. Mr. Kline also reviewed the correspondence of the victory well vandalism. He explained that the claim will stay opened until the removal is complete in the case that it is not successful, we would be able to go further with this claim.
There was a resolution #2006-15 presented to transfer
$60,000.00 to apply to the outstanding voucher, payroll and for those
miscellaneous expenses this month and prior to the next meeting for the water
department. This is to authorize a
transfer from the water savings account to the water checking account. Commissioner
Dennison made a motion to approve and sign this resolution #2006-15 to transfer
$60,000 from Savings to Checking, and it was seconded by Chairman Kline, all
ayes, motion passed.
Foreman's Report:
Foreman Dennison explained he has gotten a lot of complaints for discoloration with the water. He is requesting that people fill out the complaint forms to pinpoint the problems. He explained that each office has forms and after they are filled out, they should be faxed to the water plant. They are trying to increase the PH to reduce the corrosive water. They are looking at alternatives. GE is looking into the pumps; they may not be large enough. The pumps are about $2,200. The PH should be around 8.0, but they are having trouble getting it to stay at 7.0. He recommends getting 2 pumps now.
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July 18, 2006
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Commissioner Shave asked who designed what we have. Foreman Dennison explained that GE designed what we have with there calculations to raise PH if needed, to run one pump at a time. Commissioner Shaver asked if we had any response from them why that was not getting the job done. Steve Adams explained that they want more information on numbers, because GE thinks the ratings are adequate but they need more info to be sure and to recalculate things. He went on to say the water is a little different from the pilot tests that were done. He recommended that the board purchase these two pumps that are being discussed to save time and they can look into the issue with GE. Mr. Adams explained he has been working with a Chemist and he hopes to get some information to be helpful. Mr. Adams explained that they are working on the PH levels and that Manganese could be causing deposits and some of the problems. He also explained that the yellow water and brown water could be in the iron category, corrosion in the old cast iron mains or galvanized lines that residents have. The black staining is 95% most likely the manganese. He explained that the water leaving the plant wants to dissolve things and carry it with it to the customers. The PH is 6.7 which is good. The system target is 8.0 PH and we are only able to get 6.7. They are working to get this higher. Chairman Kline asked if the problem would be resolved if they did get this PH up to 8.0. Mr. Adams explained they do not know as of yet. He stated this would not correct the Manganese problem and they are also investigating a possibility to feed corrosion control to form a calcium deposit. It was explained that you feed another chemical, injected into the plant system. This is another feed station.
Commissioner Decker stated that the safety of the water is a concern to the people. Steve Adams explained that the water is disinfected and treated. This is not a health related issue. These are natural minerals that are not harmful. Mr. Decker asked that this be put in writing. Mr. Adams explained he could see if the health Dept. would put this in writing for the board. It was stated that he could see of get something by weeks end.
Chairman Kline asked Foreman Dennison how many complaints have you received. Mr. Dennison stated about 50. Chairman Kline stated that the water is clear coming from the plant and this must be a distribution system problem. Mr. Dennison confirmed that theory. Foreman Dennison explained that they have been flushing hydrants and it has made some improvements. Liberty Street is a dead end and it will accumulate in that area if not frequently flushed out.
Commissioner Decker asked about the increased water pressure. Foreman Dennison stated that the check value is by passed, you are not getting more pressure you are getting consistent pressure. A pressure value as discussed but Foreman Dennison explained that this would not work because we need to get the water up to the tank. Mr. Dennison was explaining that the Health Dept. was doing a low pressure survey in the areas that are low. They put gages on outside hoes to record pressure for 24hrs and then move on. Hopefully we can get some money to improve this area. Commissioner Shaver asked about toilets and hot water heaters that can only handle 65-75 psi. Mr. Dennison stated he looked into this and the maximum is 150 psi, some could be under strain, but likely they would be fine. He suggested that people flush there hot water tanks. This could help in the discoloration of the water. There was a discussion on the chemical to be added at about $553.00 per 55 Gal. drum to coat the pipes. This is only an estimate and it was not decided if this would solve the problem.
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Mr. Adams explained that we need to purchase the pumps for the PH at about $1,000 each and we should have 2. It was discussed that this should be some responsibility to GE, but if we wait on this and go thru attorneys it will take much longer to try and resolve this issue. Chairman Kline asked after we get the pumps how long will it take to evaluate this situation and determine if this helped. Mr. Adams and Mr. Dennison both agreed it could take up to 4-6 weeks because we need to order the pumps and get them up and running. Mr. Dennison stated they would have to continue to flush hydrants and hope this helps.
Chairman Kline made a
motion to approve the purchase of the 2 pumps and 1 to spare that are needed
with a cap of $5,000.00 and it was seconded by Commissioner Decker, before
the vote there was a discussion of waiting to review the data before this
purchase and it was decided that this was a design flaw. Vote
was taken and it was all ayes, motion passed. Kline –ayes, Dennison –ayes,
Shave –ayes, Decker –ayes.
Public Comment: Chairman Kline
opened the floor for discussion on this issue.
Margaret Ditch, Trustee of the
Village of Schuylerville asked to be heard, she is representing the
businesses in town. She explained she
understands there is a process but some of the people don’t have clear
water. She was asking that the board
put something in the paper. She also
thanked everyone for all there hard work on this issue and whole project. Commissioner Shaver explained that in an
emergency we would put something in the paper, this is very costly. He suggested we post it on the website of
the town.
Wendy Lukas-Green Street, Schuylerville: stated that she has an odor to her water and rust stains. She stated she feels we are a water experiment. She stated she is not confident with Laberge and Mr. Adams and thinks the board should get a second opinion. She went on to say she feels the board should get some money back on this project, money back on pumps with the warranty. She feels this is the engineer’s responsibility. Chairman Kline asked Mr. Dennison if there were any other complaints with the odor and he stated he did not receive any on odor but some on taste. He explained that the chlorine is a lot lower now.
Tom Berrigan-Liberty Street, Schuylerville: Mr. Berrigan had several questions, What about the winter time and flushing hydrants, what about buying 1 pump not 2, What would the cost be to replace the whole main. He wanted to be sure we are doing something, there was no problem before. He asked why so many chemicals, why the pressure problem, we are paying a lot of money. Mr. Adams addressed the number of chemicals, it is not DOH required but we need this tuff to get drinkable water. It is NSF approved (National Sanitation Foundation). These are standards for these chemicals. This system is difference source, it is ground water.
Ken Washburn-East side residence- He had a blown line out in his house and he was away for 4 days. He has so much pressure and out of 30 days he has only had water for about 12, his water is brown. He paid $1,400.00 for the repairs and doesn’t feel this responsibility should be his.
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July 18, 2006
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He stated he was not notified that this water went on line. He stated we should have financial responsibility, this is not safe for his children and he wanted to know if he could send us a bill. Commissioner Dennison asked what he would have done differently if he was notified exactly when the water went on line. Mr. Washburn stated he would have shut his pumps off and turn them back on when he was there. It was stated that there was notification that this system would be going on line in the next few weeks. This notice went out in a mailing. Commissioner Decker stated that the board would consider the request. Chairman Kline stated he would be in contact with Mr. Washburn for some contact information.
Wendy Lukas- asked if we could reduce the rate of pressure from the plant. Foreman Dennison stated we could not because we would not get the water up to the water tank if we did.
Public Comment on this issue was ended.
Old Business: There was a discussion about
Doug Klein’s (100 Burgoyne Road) request for a reduction in his rates due to
pulling out a sink in his garage for a pottery business. After a discussion on this issue Chairman
Kline stated he would contact Mr. Klein and discuss this issue with him
directly.
New Business: Andy
Black from Black/Drake Consulting was here, who will be doing the Archeology
stuffy at the Victory Plant. He stated
he was looking for a 20% deposit and a monthly billing on actual cost. He stated he would modify the contract that
we used for the Fort Hardy Park work.
He was looking for approval so he could get started as soon as
possible. Chairman Kline stated that he
would review the contract once we got it and would sign and let him know as
soon as he could start work.
Commissioner Paul Shaver asked about a meeting to be set up for the public to attend to inquire about the water. This request came from the Village of Schuylerville. There was a discussion on having this meeting at the same time as our public comment meeting night. It was asked that we look into holding this meeting at the American Legion so we may accommodate more people.
Executive Session: Chairman Kline made a motion to go into executive session on a personnel issue and it was seconded by Commissioner Dennison, all ayes, motion passed.
Chairman Kline made a motion to
exit executive session with no action taken and it was seconded by Commissioner
Decker, all ayes, motion passed.
Commissioner Dennison made a motion to adjourn the meeting,
it was seconded by Commissioner Shaver, all ayes, motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted
Brenda S. Buchanan, Recording Secretary