7-19-12 ww committeeJuly 19, 2012
A meeting of the Scandia Wastewater Advisory Committee was held on the above date. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Chris Ness at 7:00 p.m. In attendance were: Daniel Cartier,
Holly Kaufhold, Doug Salmela, Brad Bergo, Council members Chris Ness and Jim Schneider, Staff Anne Hurlburt, Tim Keiffer, Colleen Firkus, Engineer Brian Malm. Members absent were James
Malmquist, Wayne Schmidt, Mike Peterson, and Planning Commissioner Steven Philippi.
Council member Ness reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting.
Anderson-Erickson
An Operations Agreement with Natural Systems Utilities, MN, or EcoCheck, was reviewed. This agreement will fulfill the city’s requirement for a licensed operator for both the Anderson-Erickson
and the Uptown Sewer systems. The cost to the A-E system is $240 per month and $334 for Uptown. Additional expenses with be for any additional service calls beyond the basic service
of twice per month, as well as time and materials to coordinate repairs, and monitoring well sampling.
Public Works Superintendent Kieffer reported there has been a second round of sampling of monitoring wells for chloride and nitrates. Also, new run-time meters have been installed and
readings are being taken daily. Further repairs may be done after the city has received Stantec’s report and recommendations.
Bliss
Superintendent Kieffer reported staff are continuing to read meters and identified a faulty pump which was replaced.
Administrator Hurlburt said she hopes to bring budget information with rate information for the 201 System to the next meeting. With all the engineering work and repairs happening, reserves
are expected to decrease this year.
Uptown
A proposed Ordinance governing the Uptown system was reviewed. The new ordinance defines private versus public parts of the system and a monthly billing system with rates to be set separately.
It also addresses Connection issues, Maintenance and Operation requirements, Prohibited Waste Discharges, and Cost of Repairs.
Holly asked for clarification on the wording for Item H in Section 8 regarding the allotted volume of wastewater for each user. Users are charged for volume of water used from meter
readings and assigned volume is based on design. It was agreed that the language is not for the city to police water flow, but to identify and resolve
problems when spikes in flow happen. Hurlburt said they will look at rewording that item.
In regards to Section 8, Item B, regarding maintenance, Brian said it is best for tank owners to have tanks monitored to determine the frequency of pumping. While pumpers are required
to measure sludge levels and report to the owner, Brian said pumpers should not be the ones determining the frequency of pumping. Council member Schneider suggested the Elim church/parsonage
and Gammelgarden be required to have a pumping contract to make sure they are pumping their tanks. The language of this item needs to spell out the city’s expectations for tank inspections,
pumping and maintenance.
Section 9, Item E was also discussed regarding prohibited waste discharges. This can only be measured at the drainfield. Any problems occurring would have to be tracked backwards.
The item gives the city a tool to address continual problems, not isolated incidents.
Brian reviewed the Flow Comparison Chart which compared flow data from Original Design Flow, 2010 Flow, 2012 Flow (April – June), and Peak Day Flow.
Designs and specifications for the recommended improvements have been approved by the city council and are going out to bid. Bids are to be opened August 15 with the city council expected
to award a bid at their August 21 meeting. The pump tank in the church’s driveway will be replaced and moved to a more accessible location. The system is now being dosed as demand
requires. Brian indicated the improvements will regulate dosing which will be better for the system. The new tank will also help filter wastes before pumping to the drainfield. The
improvements being made at the Community Center will be handled mostly by city workers.
There are no monitoring wells by the Uptown drainfield as they are not required for such a small flow system. However, that may change in the future as regulations change or when the
time comes to replace the drainfield.
Next meeting is scheduled for September 20, at 7:00 p.m.
Meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Colleen Firkus
Treasurer