Facilities Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, February 19, 2020

For your consideration, please read the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.

Facilities Committee Minutes 2-19-20 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, February 19, 2020 at 1:00 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

 Janice Meridith, Exec. Commission Administrator

MEDIA PRESENT:               

Pamela Permar-Shierling, The Islander

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.

APPROVAL

1. Minutes from Facilities Committee Meeting January 15, 2020

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Chairman Turnipseed to approve the minutes from the Facilities Committee Meeting held on January 15, 2020.  Motion carried 2-0-1.  (Commissioner Copeland was not present for the vote.)

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

Mr. Kline noted this Unsolicited Proposal was brought before the Facilities Committee previously, and Mr. Burroughs stated that the committee requested to defer it, and for staff to come back to the committee with information regarding the current status of the pump station and the build-out schedule from the West Point Plantation Group.  Mr. Kline commented that this is proposing the upgrade of the existing pump station 2038 to accommodate the full build-out of the development.  Staff did review the existing condition of the pump station and evaluated its capacity related to the proposed upgrades.  Currently PS2038 is in the “green” with a surplus of capacity at this time, and is about a 200 gallons per minute pump station.  Staff estimated that the full West Point Development alone would require about 300 gallons per minute.  With the build-out of 20-25 lots per year, as laid out in the Unsolicited Proposal Application by West Point, Mr. Kline estimated that it would be about a 5 year timeframe before JWSC would be looking at an upgrade for PS2038, and would not be considering to upgrade it at this time.  There is currently enough capacity to build out the 28 lots for Phase II.  Oversizing the pump station by going from 200 GPM to 300 GPM could create operational issues, extra operational costs, and cause damage to the pumps.  Mr. Burroughs noted that the request from the West Point Group is to go ahead and get it locked in for all of the build-out, and it appears that their purpose here is to go ahead and secure flow and capacity for the full 295 lots.  He added that West Point does understand that as of today there is not a need for this, but for the full build-out they are trying to get their pre-planning done.  They brought forth this proposal so they could get moving with the intent of the entire subdivision being built.

Commissioner Duncan commented that West Point, LLC is in the development not the building business, and based on what they have done so far they are selling lots.  He added that while their sales forecast may suggest an absorption of 25 per year that does seem rather aggressive, and the actual construction may be far less than they are projecting; so the reality of this is that the pump station would be significantly oversized.  Commissioner Duncan asked the Chairman that this request be deferred and have a conference with the parties to help them understand the concerns the Commission has operationally about upgrading this station.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Chairman Turnipseed to move that the Brunswick Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission Facilities Committee defer the application described above until the next meeting after JWSC staff can meet with the developer.

The Chairman inquired if this application was only to grant an engineering study, and Mr. Burroughs confirmed that this request is the first step in the Unsolicited Proposal process and following the approval of this application, the proposer would submit an engineering report outlining the proposed upgrades and the costs.  That engineering report would be reviewed by JWSC staff.  Typically the credit for taps would be equivalent to the amount of dollars spent on the construction of the project.  This step will not in any way require JWSC do the project, it is only allowing the proposer to provide the report for review.

Commissioner Duncan brought forth a couple of concerns.  One is that the party proposing is going to spend money for the application to JWSC and also for the engineering consultant to do the report and estimation.  The second concern is that their estimate is based on today’s dollars, and they would project out as to when those upgrades would have to be made. Another concern is since the project is not needed for quite some time, is projecting out that cost, perhaps 5 years into the future as to what it would be, and it could limit JWSC in some way to make any kind of commitment that we would accept such a proposal that is forecasted 5 years out.  The Chairman added that this upgrade is basically upgrading pumps and supporting electrical parts, which would only take 6 months at the most.  Commissioner Duncan commented that he does not believe this is a good use of the customer’s resources to come up with the cost of the engineering study plus the $5,000 application and review fee, and nothing is going to be done for a long period of time.  The Chairman recommended that Mr. Burroughs advise the customer that the Facilities Committee will be glad to meet with them if they would like to attend the next meeting.

With a motion having been made and seconded, the vote was taken.  Motion carried 2-0-1.  (Commissioner Copeland was not present for the vote.)

3. 2020 Capital Projects Plan – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs presented a list of capital projects for the next fiscal year to the committee.  A memo was provided showing a breakdown of the necessary funding for water and sewer projects with the greatest need on the mainland and St. Simons Island.  Mr. Burroughs attached the 2020 Capital Projects Plan indicating projects staff has prioritized for consideration based upon condition-based needs and resource availability.  He provided and discussed details of each project, the total project cost, basic description of the scope, funding sources, required outside engineering and whether the labor will be contracted or done in-house.  The total requested funding for these projects to be done within this next year is an estimated $7.5M.

Commissioner Duncan made a motion seconded by Chairman Turnipseed to move that the Facilities Committee recommend approval of the attached 2020 Capital Projects Plan to the full Commission.

Before the vote, there was some additional discussion pertaining to the Magnolia Overruns, if that was going to happen, the consideration of bidding the water portion of the Project out, and expected timing of the Project as prioritized by the City.  Chairman Turnipseed inquired as to the funding being available for the 2020 Capital Projects List after the completion of projects already in progress.  He requested that a timeline be applied for the projects listed on the 2020 Capital Projects List which was currently listed in order of project cost.

Motion carried 2-0-1.  (Commissioner Copeland was not present for the vote.)

DISCUSSION

1. Asset Score Cards – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs provided a discussion to the Committee regarding the Asset Score Cards.  This exercise had been performed in the previous year and the Commission requested a current scoring of the system.  Various staff members scored assets in the areas of which they had the most knowledge of how the systems are currently operating.  With anticipated future projects, the scores should improve over time as projects are completed and making improvements to JWSC’s system.  Commissioner Elliott requested for the number of emergency calls received during a period of time be added beside each part of the system on the score cards.

2. Timing of Capital Fee Payments – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs reported that staff has spoken to some members of the local building community regarding the timing of Capital Fee payments.  Currently if a new subdivision is to be built, the payment of Capital Fees for the entire subdivision is due at time of construction plan approval.  This may not affect some of the larger developers as much as the smaller ones.  Their cash flow is affected in a manner causing some developers to build the subdivisions in phases which slows the process of developing subdivisions down.  The developers have requested to be able to pay the Capital Fees as they are needed rather than all at once.  After doing a capacity analysis and understanding the capacity situation much better, it was determined that JWSC now sufficient capacity and a sufficient tracking mechanism where the requirement of all Capital Fees being paid at one time could be released.  The fees would still be required to be paid before the actual building starts and building permits approved.  This would require an amendment to the current Rate Resolution.  Staff is also working with the County to have a plat note added that states capacity is not guaranteed until the payment of Capital Fees.  This is currently all under review, and the plat note would have to be applied prior to this change going into effect.

3. Academy Creek Rehab Alternatives – A. Burroughs

Mr. Burroughs stated that staff is currently in the process of finalizing the process for the $15M GEFA Loan for rehab at the Academy Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant as well as work in the sewer collection system.  Originally $10M was allocated for Academy Creek and $5M going to sewer rehab.  The chart provided contained three rehab budget options, with the data as provided by Goodwyn Mills Caywood Engineering.  Mr. Burroughs explained the details of the alternative options, and the committee further discussed the various options, considerations and questions.

Commissioner Copeland arrived to the meeting at 1:45 p.m.

4. 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 during the month of January 2020.  The numbers and percentages for various influent and effluent levels reported for the three plants were indicative that are all operating well within permit. 

5. 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 2:30 p.m.