Facilities Committee Minutes – Wednesday, September 15, 2021

For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.

Facilities Mins 9-15-21 with Attachments

To read the minutes, please open or download the pdf from the link above, or you may see more below.

Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission

1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520

Commission Meeting Room

Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 1:00 PM 

FACILITIES COMMITTEE MINUTES

PRESENT:                             

Ben Turnipseed, Chairman

Bob Duncan, Commissioner

Charles Cook, Commissioner

Andrew Burroughs, Executive Director

ALSO PRESENT:                  

Cornell Harvey, Commissioner

Charles Dorminy, Legal Counsel

Todd Kline, Director of Engineering

LaDonnah Roberts, Deputy Executive Director

Janice Meridith, Executive Commission Admin.

MEDIA:                                 

None Present                                                                          

Chairman Turnipseed called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM.

Chairman Turnipseed provided the invocation.

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

Chairman Turnipseed opened the Public Comment Period.

There being no citizens that wished to address the Committee, Chairman Turnipseed closed the Public Comment Period.

APPROVAL

1. Minutes from Facilities Committee Meeting August 18, 2021

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Cook to approve the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on August 18, 2021.  Motion carried 3-0-0. 

2. Contract Award – Sea Palms West CIPP – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs advised the Committee that the Sea Palms West CIPP Rehabilitation project calls for repair of sanitary sewer conveyance line segments in the Sea Palms West neighborhood of the St. Simons Island service district via Cured-In-Place-Pipe (CIPP) rehabilitation.  The overall scope of the project includes 6,733 linear feet of 8 inch, 10 inch, and 12 inch ductile iron and truss piping.  He further noted that one segment of the ductile iron piping collapsed in 2018 near Pump Station 2032.  Due to this line’s proximity to existing structures in Sea Palms West, repairs on this line were very difficult and took almost 8 months to complete.  The Invitation for Bids was released on August 6, 2021; the pre-bid teleconference was held on August 24, 2021; and 6 bids were received on September 9, 2021.  Mr. Burroughs provided an official bid tabulation indicating that the apparent low bidder was Advanced Plumbing Technology in the amount of $223,745.34.  Due to Advanced Plumbing Technology’s bid being substantially lower than the other bids received and JWSC staff not being familiar with their workmanship, staff requested additional reference projects determine qualifications to complete this CIPP project as expected.  Based on the submitted projects, the largest municipal sanitary sewer CIPP project completed consisted of 2,900 linear feet of 8 inch and 12 inch gravity sewer CIPP.  Mr. Burroughs added that the company has completed larger storm sewer CIPP projects and appears to have extensive history with residential plumbing CIPP repairs.  After careful consideration of the previous work experience, JWSC staff was concerned about this apparent low bidder successfully completing a job of this size and expected complexity.  As a result, staff recommended award of a contract to the second low bidder Insituform Technologies, LLC in the amount of $309,698.20 with a contract time for this project being 150 calendar days.

Commissioner Cook made a motion seconded by Commissioner Duncan to move that the Facilities Committee recommend the full Commission award a contract for Sea Palms West CIPP Rehabilitation to Insituform Technologies, LLC in the amount of $309,698.20.

After a thorough discussion and vetting of the information provided, the Committee was ready to vote on what was determined to be the lowest responsive and responsible bid.

Motion carried 3-0-0.

3. Infrastructure Dedication – Magnolia Manor – T. Kline

Mr. Kline presented the Committee with a dedication of private infrastructure with easement located at the Magnolia Manor Retirement Community address of 2255 Frederica Road on St. Simons Island.  He provided that JWSC archives show Original Record Drawings dated June of 1974 and alterations made in December of 1986, yet the infrastructure was never dedicated at the time of construction, nor was an easement conveyed.  The developer, ETS Family Limited Partnership, desires to finalize the dedication and conveyance to JWSC and has submitted legal documents to define and execute the transfer of ownership and also provided a dedicated easement for access and maintenance.  Mr. Kline further noted that the infrastructure is understood to have complied with applicable standards at the time of construction.  JWSC Operations inspection records indicated that the infrastructure is functioning and in acceptable condition.  With all requirements having been met, JWSC staff recommended the acceptance of the described water and sewer infrastructure and easement for JWSC ownership, operation and maintenance.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Cook to move that the Facilities Committee forward the above described dedications to the full Commission for approval and acceptance.

After further discussion pertaining to the ownership of Pump Station 2017, Mr. Dorminy agreed to confirm if JWSC currently holds the title.  Another point discussed was that other JWSC customers are upstream of Pump Station 2017 which is another reason to confirm the ownership, and also acceptance of the infrastructure and easement.

3. Infrastructure Dedication – Magnolia Manor cont.

Motion carried 3-0-0. 

DISCUSSION

1. Academy Creek WPCF Trial Proposal – ABS, Inc. – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs gave a presentation titled “Achieving Nitrification at Academy Creek without Significant Capital Expenditure” to the Committee.  A reason for this presentation and consideration of services and products available from ABS, Inc. is that the Academy Creek WPCF must in the future meet a new permit for nitrogen with 2-3 years of <1.1 mg/L ammonia.  ABS, Inc. is a company with purposes in providing strategic wastewater solutions for optimizing operations and existing assets of wastewater treatment plants.  The presentation included technical data for JWSC to gain understanding for consideration of a possible future agreement with ABS services for supply of customized probiotics using ABS hyperbiotic cultures.  The proposed services and product provided would: improve settleability and stabilize nitrification; option advanced digestion with reduced biosolids of 90%+; monitor biological health with microscopic and viable counts; and throughout the proposed trial period JWSC would be provided with a monthly report and recommendations for optimization of the operation.  Long term savings would be generated through reduced sludge hauling, reduced oxygen usage, reduced electricity usage, and less use of chlorine.  Mr. Burroughs noted that he has confidence this system would work.  Commissioners’ comments included: this appears to be a viable solution; rehabilitation work at Academy Creek needs to be completed before introducing a new system; and, it is an interesting approach. 

2. Areas in Glynn County with Septic Tanks – A. Burroughs/T. Kline

Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Kline provided the Committee with maps of Glynn County areas with septic tanks as requested at the previous Facilities Meeting.  The focus of discussion was to review various subdivisions and neighborhoods which may be in need of public sewer and/or water systems, as well as identifying which of those areas may have a higher priority than others. 

3. Wastewater Flow Reports – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs reviewed the Wastewater Flow Reports with the Committee.  This report contains data regarding the influent and effluent flows, concentration of elements and chemicals, plant capacity, etc.   The influent flow at Academy Creek was at 8.1 MGD and the effluent flow was 8.0 MGD, with the plant operating at 59% of its capacity for the month of August. The influent concentrations of BOD and TSS were lower in August than they were in July. The influent flow at Dunbar Creek was at 3.2 MGD and the effluent flow was 3.7 MGD, with the plant operating at 93% capacity during the month of August.  The influent flow at South Port was at 0.408 MGD and the effluent flow was at 0.450 MGD, with the plant operating at 29% capacity which was the same in July.  JWSC’s wastewater treatment plants are operating very well and are within permit limits. 

4. Project Report – T. Kline / A. Burroughs

Mr. Kline gave an update on the Project Report for projects currently in process.  The Committee Members were provided with a packet containing: the Capital Project Photographs for each project, the Capital Project Report Spreadsheet, the Capital Project Gantt Chart indicating project timelines, and also the Earned Value Analysis Report.  Mr. Kline and Mr. Burroughs thoroughly presented the update by discussing each project along with excellent photographs and descriptive details of the current status. The photographs taken at Pump Station 4035 included visuals of the demolition activities almost completed in the wet well with the top flight of the corroded stairs remaining to be demolished as well.    The photographs taken of Pump Station 4003 provided excellent views of the upgrades which were 95% complete.

Chairman Turnipseed asked if there was any further business for discussion.

There being no further Committee business, Chairman Turnipseed adjourned the meeting at 2:57 p.m.