Loading...
City Council Minutes 2015 10-29-15 special meeting MINUTES OF THE JOINT CITY OF YORKVILLE AND YORKVILLE-BRISTOL SANITARY DISTRICT SPECIAL BOARD MEETING HELD AT 304 RIVER STREET,YORKVILLE, ILLINOIS COMMENCING AT FIVE PM OCTOBER 29,2015 Trustee Schoeny called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM. Present were Trustees Eric Schoeny& Mark Luettich as well as Kevin Collman, Executive Director,Adam Feltes, n Office,Amy Underwood &John Frerich,Walter E. Deuchler Associates, Lynn Dubajic,YEDC, Bart Olson,Chris Funkhouser,Joel Frieders, Ken Koch, Krysti Noble, Diane Teeling, Eric Dhuse,Jackie Milschewski, Larry Kot,& Seaver Tarulis,City of Yorkville,and Brad Sanderson&Jeff Freeman, EEI. Kevin lead a tour of the YBSD facilities. The group had returned to the administration building conference room by 6:15 and the meeting continued. Trustee Eric Schoeny thanked everyone for coming and their interest in YBSD. He explained that YBSD is very well maintained thanks to the employees. Kevin and Eric explained that the COY and YBSD have a shared interest in the maintenance of the City's sewers.They went on to explain that YBSD has many visitors from around the globe because it is known in its industry for its accomplishments. Kevin explained that YBSD keeps an open mind with new technology in order to find ways to save money and operate well. He went on to describe a new membrane aeration technology that could save money and offset the need for a plant expansion if it works. Eric further told everyone that YBSD was considering expanding back around 2006 but thankfully did not because of the economic crash. He explained that if YBSD had expanded it would have been a large waste of money because it would be oversized for what was needed and that back then it was roughly estimated to be a$25M project. Kevin said that plant improvements and ideas beyond regular plant expansions have offset the need for mere capacity. A member from COY asked what was the main purpose for expansion and is it purely cost driven? Kevin explained that expanding would be to remain within the requirements of the NPDES permit it operates under from the IEPA. It was also asked if the plant is truly at 80%capacity and when will YBSD make the decision that it is loaded enough to make the decision to expand? Eric explained there are two types of loading to consider, hydraulic and organic, and that YBSD is about 65%hydraulically loaded and about 80%organically loaded. He went on to explain that YBD has been at the 80%mark since 2008 and it has fluctuated too. He finished by saying that YBSD's main responsibility is to meet the needs of the rate payers while staying within the parameters of the NPDES permit. Mark asked to have it clarified that I&I is groundwater seeping into sewers that have cracks or damage and that extra flow coming from this causes the hydraulic loading on the plant to go up unnecessarily. Another member from COY asked about YBSD's higher level of aeration control and if it sets a new benchmark for the industries standard rating? Kevin said yes and explained that YBSD's DO control,along with the latest blower added, help it control the ammonia in the plant which is another type of organic loading YBSD has been keeping an eye on. A member from COY asked about the safety of using water from the Fox River for drinking water and how it would be affected by effluent from YBSD being present? Kevin explained that there are specific things that the river is tested for but there is certainly other things that are not tested for that could present a problem. Eric further explained that Elgin and Aurora currently draw from the River for drinking water and that algae is an issue but the industry is under new regulations from the EPA for phosphorus control which hopefully will help control the algae and therefore make treating the River's water easier as well. Kevin and Eric added that wastewater treatment plants are not completely to blame for the phosphorus and that runoff from residents and farms add to it. They explained that wastewater treatment plants have been estimated to contribute to 55%of this in our watershed. Another member from COY asked what a wastewater treatment plant does that is not located by a River? Eric explained that typically they are either by some body of water such as a creek or stream that carries the treated water to a river. There was some discussion about the idea of replenishing the local aquifers rather than letting all the treated water leave in the rivers. Eric explained that the drinking water taken from deep wells such as in the City of Yorkville starts off from up in Wisconsin. By travelling the long distance from there it is filtered thoroughly and is therefore safer for drinking. He finished by explaining that forcing a replenishment of aquifers would not be a good thing. MINUTES OF THE JOINT CITY OF YORKVILLE AND YORKVILLE-BRISTOL SANITARY DISTRICT SPECIAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 29,2015—Page 2 of 2 Another member from the COY asked about pharmaceuticals and their presence in wastewater. Kevin explained that this is a concern but is not currently a focus in terms of requirement for treatment. The member from the City added that he is concerned about taking water from the River because of this and would rather stay with drinking water from deep wells as long as possible. He finished by thanking Kevin and the board for the meeting and taking the time to answer his questions and concerns. Eric said that YBSD could put on a presentation for the City of Yorkville if there were interested about where YBSD stands as far as loading. The members of the City of Yorkville collectively agreed that they would like that. Eric went on to explain that grease traps are another major concern for YBSD as grease can cause serious issues for sewers. He also explained that he believes Yorkville needs more development in industry and commercial business for growth. Another member from the City of Yorkville asked about the status of YBSD's consideration to consolidate with Fox Metro? Eric explained that Kevin is looking at retirement in the next year and it was a good time to discuss this possibility as a way to potentially reduce the user rates in town. He went on to explain that Fox Metro is open to considering this. He said that the first step was to look at how this change would affect the rate payers which YBSD is currently doing. He said secondly they need to look at how YBSD can work out a deal with Fox Metro that would be in everyone's best interest. He further explaining that Fox Metro has consolidated in other plants in Oswego and Sugar Grove in the past. He said that YBSD is governed under the Sanitary District Act of 1917 and there are specific regulations and steps that would still need to be taken if the decision is made to consolidate. A member from the COY explained that they are concerned how it will affect the City's vested interest in how their local wastewater treatment plant is ran and their say in it. Another member from the COY asked how with Kevin retiring so soon how will there be time to hire a new executive director if they have so much more time ahead that will be spent investigating merging and offsetting hiring Kevin's replacement. Eric explained that they will have enough time and there will be some overlap so Kevin has time to train the replacement. Another member from COY asked if Fox Metro would just completely take over YBSD if the decision to merge n is made? Eric explained that there will be a signed agreement made prior to merging guaranteeing specific things such as employees remaining in place and the money saved for expansion remaining in place only for the expansion. Another member from COY asked if Fox Metro would take over the billing for YBSD rather than the City of Yorkville continuing to do it? Eric explained that would likely be the more appropriate way for them to handle the billing. Another member from COY asked if YBSD would be open to considering merging with the City of Yorkville? Mark and Eric explained that they had not discussed that as an option. Mark asked if the members of COY had a general consensus as to their feelings on what they would like YBSD to do? A member from COY answered saying it has not been discussed as a meeting topic but generally they would prefer to merge with YBSD. Another member from COY explained that they would like to have YBSD remain autonomous or merge with the City rather than Fox Metro. Eric explained that YBSD is not looking into merging just to merge, rather that it is a way to potentially save rate payers money and for YBSD to remain under control of a wastewater treatment organization that could continue to operate it as well as it has been. Mark added that as the Treasurer he sees the rate payers money YBSD has saved for expansion and that he would have to ensure that money is only used for expanding YBSD when the time comes. Kevin passed out a handout that Trustee Brent Ekwinski had typed up with his own comments for the members of the City of Yorkville as he was unable to attend the meeting. It was moved by Trustee Schoeny and seconded by Trustee Luettich to adjourn the meeting at 7:18 PM. All n voted aye and the meeting adjourned. It was moved by Trustee Ekwinski and seconded by Trustee Luettich to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:30 PM. All voted aye and the motion carried.