Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Written by Janice Meridith on February 24, 2020. Posted in Facilities Committee Minutes.

For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting that was held on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.

Facilities Committee Minutes with Attachments 1-15-20

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, January 15, 2020 at 3:00 PM

FACILITIES COMMITTEE MINUTES

PRESENT:

Ben Turnipseed, Chairman

Steve Copeland, Commissioner

Bob Duncan, Commissioner

Andrew Burroughs, Executive Director

ALSO PRESENT:

Donald Elliott, Commissioner

Todd Kline, Director of Engineering

Ellis Zettler, Asset Management Manager

Janice Meridith, Exec. Commission Administrator

MEDIA PRESENT:

Matthew Permar, The Islander

Taylor Cooper, The Brunswick News

Chairman Turnipseed called the meeting to order at 3:08 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.

APPROVAL

Minutes from Facilities Committee Meeting December 18, 2019

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Copeland to approve the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on December 18, 2019. Motion carried 3-0-0.

Unsolicited Proposal Application to Upgrade PS4044-Ambling Glynn One, LLC – T. Kline

Mr. Kline presented the Unsolicited Proposal Application submitted by Ambling Glynn One, LLC to upgrade PS4044. Ambling Glynn One, LLC is a developer looking to build an apartment complex on the north side of Glynn Place Mall, which is within the Basin PS4044 and is currently designated as not having sufficient design capacity to support the development. The engineering team has met with Ambling Glynn One, and Ambling proposes to apply to their Capital Fees to upgrade PS4044. Mr. Kline commented that this pump station has been on the list for improvement condition wise and for capacity as well. This pump station does serve a large area, and this is a good opportunity to work with that developer to fund and facilitate this. The pump station does sit on an easement at this time in between the roadway and the right of way; the easement is on the previous Payless property. JWSC has been approached several times to consider relocating PS4044, which is generally a tough thing to do, however this one is configured in a way that it is very possible to relocate this pump station to the corner, a common shared parcel which can be dedicated to JWSC and is in between the Payless store and the former bank building to the east. The existing wet well would be turned into a manhole and the station would be relocated to the east. Mr. Burroughs recalled the Unsolicited Proposal process for the Commissioners, and noted that this request is for the application of the Unsolicited Proposal where if approved the Proposer would then pay JWSC the required $5,000 Unsolicited Proposal Fee and notice would be given that they need to start preparing the engineering report of which the $5,000 fee goes toward JWSC’s staff time and efforts to review the engineering report and proposal.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Copeland to move that the Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission Facilities Committee forward the application described above to the full Commission with a recommendation for approval. Motion carried 3-0-0.

Unsolicited Proposal Application to Upgrade PS2038-West Point Plantation, LLC – T. Kline

Mr. Kline presented the Unsolicited Proposal Application submitted by West Point Plantation, LLC to upgrade PS2038. The first phase is essentially built out, and the developer is currently looking at platting the second phase of about 28 lots, with the full build out of all phases being 295 lots. Currently the pump station that serves that site is in the green with sufficient capacity to serve the second phase of the development, but the full build out would certainly require an upgrade of PS2038 and possibly the force main, but this would be determined in the preliminary engineering phase while determining what the scope of the upgrades would be. The Chairman stated that information regarding current REU capacity and the existing REUs is needed before moving any further with this upgrade, because we do not want to put in large pumps that are not needed for 15 to 20 years. Mr. Kline provided that there is enough capacity in the “green” right now to serve and support the 28 or so lots for the second phase of the development, but certainly not for the full development of 295. Mr. Burroughs suggested that if this is approved, and we move forward with an agreement at a later date, those could be phased in and would not have to be done right now; the agreement could be set so that it is phased in. Commissioner Duncan then commented that would make it a bit different, and at this point he would be in support of approving this unsolicited proposal, in order for the proposer to provide an engineering study; but to the Chairman’s point we have sufficient capacity we are not utilizing fully that represents challenges for operations of the equipment, and he added that he would not support it if the proposer wants to build out the full capacity because that would represent even more operational challenges that we would bear at potentially higher costs.

It was noted that the developer would pay for the full engineering study of which JWSC staff would review. Mr. Burroughs provided that the developer would have an engineering study done for what upgrades it would take for the full build out from the water and sewer perspective. Chairman Turnipseed commented that to upgrade the pump station for full build out will probably affect some downstream pump stations which may have to be upgraded; and suggested that JWSC staff do a study and provide the Commission with some information before having the developer begin anything. Mr. Kline provided that PS2038 feeds to the recently upgraded PS2032; and PS2032 goes straight to the plant, however he agreed that the staff should evaluate the full chain all the way up to the treatment works in every case. Commissioner Duncan provided that the point he was making earlier was that JWSC needs to provide some direct guidance to the developer that if they came back with a full build out, it might not get supported. He stated that he did not support a full build out at this stage because its operation is not beneficial for the utility to have such. He suggested guiding the developer to look at it as a staged process for which the developer would pay for a full build out, but in a staged manner so that it is beneficial operationally. Again it was noted that the pump station at this time could support phase one.

Motion failed 1-2-0. (Commissioner Duncan voted “for.” Chairman Turnipseed and Commissioner Copeland voted “against.”)

Chairman Turnipseed requested that the staff provide more information and present it at the next Facilities Committee meeting. Commissioner Elliott commented that within the agreement the capital fees cannot be called impact fees.

Sewer Easement Dedication-Wynnever Fitness – T. Kline

Mr. Kline advised that this was a simple easement dedication for a rather small easement, but is necessary to facilitate. He provided the Committee with a copy of the record drawing that showed the area of the business and the access easement location. This is needed to access the meter box. Chairman Turnipseed asked if this was a private pump station and Mr. Kline advised it is and Wynnever Fitness is the owner. The pump station is not within the easement, only the meter and the meter box are within the easement. The sewer lines in the ROW belong to JWSC and those on the property are private.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Copeland to move that the Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission Facilities Committee forward the dedication described above to the full Commission for acceptance. Motion carried 3-0-0.

Change Order Request #1 – North Mainland SPLOST CIPP Project – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs advised that the North Mainland SPLOST Project along B & W Grade Road still has bypass pumping occurring. The original completion date for this Project was January 9, 2020, however due to issues the contractor has had with one of their subcontractors as well as having some difficulties getting a bypass plan approved by GDOT for bypassing Community Road, the contractor (IPR) needs to request a time extension. This change order is requesting to extend the contract time by 50 days for final completion by February 28. Substantial completion would be 30 days prior on January 29. This request does not involve any modification of contract prices, but only the time for completion. After continued discussion a motion was made.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Copeland to move that the Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission Facilities Committee forward the above described Change Order #1 for time extension to the full Commission with a recommendation for approval. Motion carried 3-0-0.

MOU with County for East Beach/Demere Roundabout – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs requested that this item be deferred until the next meeting.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Commissioner Copeland to defer this item until the next meeting. Motion carried 3-0-0.

DISCUSSION

Asset Management Update – E. Zettler

Mr. Zettler provided a discussion/presentation to the Committee regarding the Asset Management, and noted plans are to give a quarterly report on the status of the management of JWSC’s assets. Mr. Zettler reported that the CCTV Program for the sanitary sewer lines is well underway and over the past year 14 basins were televised as well as over 128,000 ft. of lines; and the manhole rehab project has gone well with 26 of the planned 48 completed. Mr. Burroughs noted that the majority of the problems found are leaking manholes; a few lines that are cracked were prioritized as an emergency repair; and the clay lines, some of which are over 60 years old, were found to be in relatively good shape; and on the Altama Avenue and Sea Palms lining projects, the entire basins were not lined, but the specific assets that were televised and identified as in need of repair were. Mr. Zettler additionally reported on other projects such as working with the asset management and the work ordering systems for them to work conjointly; a project with Wayne Morgan of TRI-SSI developing a reliability basis authorization, logging all assets and entering them into the system, and coming up with a ranking system to identify and manage the PM’s, OM’s, etc. in order to transition into a more proactive stance versus a reactive one on all JWSC facilities; and asset identification at all treatment plants, lift stations, water distribution and water production. The goal is to decrease down-time, increase productivity, and increase preventive maintenance rather than reactive maintenance in all field operations and treatment plant operations through the identification of assets and educating of personnel using the system of work order programming.

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Go-Forth Letter – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs reported that previously a Go-Forth letter had been received approving the purchase of 22 transfer switches for installation at pump stations, and another letter has been received approving 67 more transfer switches and 5 portable generators, for a total of 89 transfer switches and 5 generators pre-approved so far. JWSC will purchase the items with money upfront and will be reimbursed 85% by FEMA and GEMA. More transfer switches and generators were requested, but they are being provided in partial batches.

WPCF Plant Flows Report – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs provided the discussion on plant flows report for all three wastewater treatment plants, Academy Creek, Dunbar and Southport. There was a good amount of rain in the month of December which caused the flows to increase. An average of 10MGD per day reported flows for Academy Creek Plant. Dunbar Creek had higher flows as well, with Southport showing the greatest increase percentagewise out of the three plants. Percentages of BOD and TSS removals were reviewed. All the numbers and percentages reported for the three plants were indicative that they are all operating well within permit.

Project Report – A. Burroughs / T. Kline

Mr. Burroughs and Mr. Kline presented the project report to the Committee.

There being no further committee business, Chairman Turnipseed adjourned the meeting at 4:18 p.m.