Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes – Wednesday, August 19, 2020
For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.
Facilities Committee Minutes 8-19-20 with Attachments
To read the minutes, please open or download the pdf from the link above, or you may see more below.
Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission
1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520
Commission Meeting Room
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 1:00 PM
FACILITIES COMMITTEE MINUTES
PRESENT:
Ben Turnipseed, Chairman
Bob Duncan, Commissioner
Charles Cook, Commissioner
Andrew Burroughs, Executive Director
ALSO PRESENT:
Donald Elliott, Commissioner
Cornell Harvey, Commissioner
Todd Kline, Director of Engineering
Janice Meridith, Exec. Commission Administrator
Jennifer Oetgen, Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung (via conference call)
MEDIA PRESENT:
None Present
Chairman Turnipseed called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM.
Chairman Turnipseed provided the invocation.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
There being no citizens that wished to address the Committee, Chairman Turnipseed closed the Public Comment Period.
Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Cook to move Approval Item #3 up to Approval Item #1. Motion carried 3-0-0.
APPROVAL
- Contract Award – Engineering Services for Community Road Area Water & Sewer Extension – A. Burroughs
Mr. Burroughs provided that JWSC released a Request for Proposal for the Engineering Services for Community Road Area Water & Sewer Extension. A map was included showing the areas and streets where the water and sewer services will be extended to. Mr. Burroughs noted that 12 firms provided proposals, and that the highest scoring proposal was that from Hussey, Gay, Bell, & DeYoung for a total cost of $280,916.00 of which $71,475.00 is for services during construction and record drawings. The existing budget is only for the engineering services. The services during construction and record drawings will be a part of the cost of construction. The budget for the engineering services was approved in the amount of $250,000.00. Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung’s proposed design and bid phase services total $209,441.00, leaving $40,559.00 in the engineering budget. A preliminary engineering report will be turned in with consideration for both gravity and low-pressure sewer options to determine which is most cost effective. Mr. Burroughs stated that in Hussey, Gay, Bell, & DeYoung’s proposal they did submit preliminary cost estimates on the two options, and they came very close together on the upfront costs. JWSC will have the opportunity to review these prior to any detail design work in the beginning. Mr. Burroughs advised that Jennifer Oetgen from Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung was present on the conference call line to answer any questions or discuss their proposal further. He added that they have worked with JWSC on several projects in the past with successful outcomes. Chairman Turnipseed commented that they are also working on PS 4003 upgrade at this time. He then asked Mr. Burroughs what was the maximum number of customers that would be added. Mr. Burroughs provided that it was between 200 and 250 with most being commercial in that area, and that some of the CBDG money would be applicable here because of the commercial side of it.
Commissioner Duncan then asked Mr. Burroughs what we expect the average age of the customer owned septic systems to be. Mr. Burroughs said he expects it to be at least 20 years. He added that a couple of them have already tie-ins with long 2-inch force mains to get the wastewater to JWSC’s system, and this project would shorten those lengths of customer owned force main at that point.
Commissioner Elliott asked what caused this to brought to the table again; the last time this was looked at was in the early years of his tenure with JWSC and at that time his impression was that many of those owners were not interested in giving up their septic systems. Mr. Burroughs stated that there have been several of those customers who have come to JWSC and asked to be able to tie onto the system, but when trying to run a long low-pressure force main from the site it is not economically feasible for them. He added that staff is trying to prioritize in-field expansion areas, and this is a huge gap in the system which is why this was selected.
Commissioner Cook made a motion seconded by Commissioner Duncan to move that the Facilities Committee recommend approval to the full Commission of the contract award for Engineering Services for Community Road Area Water & Sewer Extension to Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung, Inc. in the amount of $280,916.00.
Chairman Turnipseed asked Jennifer Oetgen if they are going to be looking at both a pressure system and a gravity system. She responded yes they would. The Chairman then asked if they were going to provide an estimated cost for both systems. Mr. Burroughs stated that they had already provided a preliminary cost estimate on the construction of both systems, and both systems came within $200K of the final budget proposal.
Motion carried 3-0-0.
- Minutes from Facilities Committee Meeting July 15, 2020
Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Cook to approve the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on July 15, 2020. Motion carried 3-0-0.
- Easement and Infrastructure Dedication – Auto Tech Dedication Application – T. Kline
Mr. Kline commented that this dedication was a routine process. Auto Tech, a commercial business located near Rose Drive is within reach of the public JWSC sewer system and needed to connect on for an improvement they were doing on site. About 300 linear feet of low pressure force main was installed to make the final connection. Mr. Kline noted that if private infrastructure is placed in the public right-of-way then it is typically dedicated to JWSC for ownership, operation and maintenance. The value of this section of force main is worth about $15K or $50 per linear foot. This will also give the opportunity for other customers to connect along the route as needed.
Commissioner Cook made a motion seconded by Commissioner Duncan to move that the Facilities Committee recommend that the full Commission review and approve the documents supporting the acceptance of infrastructure for Auto Tech Auto Repair Shop as public for ownership, operation, and maintenance. Motion carried 3-0-0.
- GEMA Fixed Generator RSA – A. Burroughs
Mr. Burroughs advised that JWSC had applied for Hazard Mitigation funding for 8 fixed generators at 6 locations. 5 will be located at water production wells to replace aged generators at those locations. The remaining 3 generators will be located at Academy Creek where there are currently 2 generators on-site. Staff cannot operate the solids building with the current generator set-up. With a third generator the plant will be able to fully operate during a power outage. Mr. Burroughs provided that as part of the mitigation JWSC has to front the cost and be reimbursed. The federal share paid by FEMA will be 75%, and the state GEMA will pay for another 10%, leaving JWSC with a 15% local share. The total cost of this project will be $1.36M, of which JWSC’s portion of 15% comes to $203,660 which has been budgeted in Project 801. Staff is requesting to move forward and enter into this Agreement in order to get this project started.
Chairman Turnipseed asked if JWSC accepts the Agreement, does the installation still have to be bid out, and Mr. Burroughs advised that is correct. The Chairman asked who the engineer is on this project. Mr. Burroughs replied that it is Charles Cobb with Chatham Engineering. The Chairman asked if he assisted JWSC with the application, and Mr. Burroughs responded that he did. Chairman Turnipseed inquired if this was included in the grant. Mr. Burroughs advised that it was not included, and added that JWSC has requested administrative payback for this portion and is working through that application process now.
Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Cook to move that the Facilities Committee recommend that the full Commission enter into a Recipient-Subrecipient Agreement with GEMA for HMGP 4338-0035 for the purchase and installation of 8 fixed generators.
Commissioner Duncan asked if the 2 generators at Academy Creek can be redeployed. Mr. Burroughs advised that one of them may be re-deployable for a small pump station site, but the other one is original to the plant from about the 1950’s; the second one likely needs to go to a scrapyard.
Motion carried 3-0-0.
Chairman Turnipseed commented that he would like to commend the staff, particularly Mrs. Crosby for spending all the time to do this application process for the grant; the application process is pretty involved. He added this is a very good grant that JWSC has received.
DISCUSSION
- Wastewater Flow Reports – A. Burroughs
Mr. Burroughs reviewed the Wastewater Flow Reports with the Commissioners. Starting with Academy Creek, he provided that the effluent flow for the month was 5.7 which is the lowest effluent flow seen in the past 2 years. Staff has been constantly working on the system, the smoke testing done in Brunswick allowed for some of the openings closed that would be easy for I&I to get in. This along with all of the manhole rehabbing is starting to pay some dividends. Mr. Burroughs noted that the concentrations coming in remained relatively consistent. He noted that the ammonia coming in seems a little high, but that can fluctuate a little bit; staff has been working to get the ammonia down even though it went back up a small amount this month. The sludge leaving the facility was down by about half of what is normal. Overall this plant is well within compliance and operations are going quite well there. Mr. Burroughs then reviewed the report for Dunbar Creek which was a little lower than normal at 2.9. The levels on the report indicated that there may have been more rain on St. Simons Island than on the mainland for the last month. Dunbar plant is being operated very well with low numbers across the board. BOD is 98% and TSS removal is 99%. Mr. Burroughs added a reminder that Dunbar does have tertiary filtration which is one of the items staff is looking to add for the Academy Creek project, and noted the increased removal percentages seen by having those filters. He also noted the reduction of sludge to landfill due to changes in operating philosophy. The final flow report was for Southport, which was running at about 28 to 30% of capacity. This plant is operating very well with low flows, and only 1 truck of sludge was taken from the Southport plant to the landfill for the month. Mr. Burroughs provided thorough explanations in response to the Commissioners’ questions.
- Project Report – A. Burroughs / T. Kline
Mr. Burroughs updated the Commission on the following projects: Project 704 – Canal Road to Glynco 12-inch Water Main Loop; Project 801 FEMA Hazard Mitigation – Academy Creek; Project 904 – PS4021 Rehabilitation & Upgrade; Project 2009 – Sea Palms East Water Line Rehab; Project 2016 Arco Area Water and Sewer Extensions; Project 2018 – Meter Replacements; Project 2021 Galvanized Replacements; Project 2022 – PS4118/4119 Upgrades; Project 2024 Master Plan Update; and Project 2026 – Tillman Water line Replacement. Mr. Kline then gave an update on the following projects: Project 417 – Ridgewood Water Production Facility; Project 702 – North Mainland Sewer Improvements; Project 703 – Lift Station 4003 Upgrades; Project 804 – Magnolia Water Improvements; Project 805 – L Street Water Improvements; Project 2001 – PS4105 Basin Expansion/Force Main Reroute & CIPP; Project 2002 Altama Avenue CIPP; Project 2003 – Sea Palms CIPP; Project 2005 Coastal Club Apts. Offsite PS & FM Improvements; Project 2007 – Bergen Woods Offsite Force Main Improvements; Project 2008 – Demere East Beach Roundabout W & S Improvements; Project 2010 Oak Grove Force Main and PS4132 Improvements. Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Kline had also prepared a Gantt Chart indicating the project timelines, as well as an Earned Value Analysis for the Capital Projects.
As a final discussion for this meeting Mr. Burroughs gave a presentation to the Commissioners on Project 906 – Water Pollution Plant(s) Rehab – Academy Creek and Dunbar Creek WPCF. The highly detailed presentation was very informative with visuals displayed on the monitors for enhanced explanations of the various upgrades anticipated for both WPCF’s. This project has an expected completion date of April 2022 at a total cost of $15M for both WPCFs combined. Mr. Burroughs gave a very thorough presentation and discussed his responses with the Commissioners to their questions and comments.
There being no further Committee business, Chairman Turnipseed adjourned the meeting at 2:30 p.m.