Treasurer’s Report

             Disbursements: The Trustees reviewed weekly reports on disbursements for the preceding month, querying staff regarding the purpose of a number of those listed. The General Manager reported that payroll and payables disbursements have been issued on consecutively numbered instruments, and all vendors receiving payment were identified. Weekly warrants for general disbursements have been reviewed and signed by the General Manager. Disbursements unusual in amount or purpose were discussed.

 Changes to Schedule of Rates: Second Vote to Adopt   

            The General Manager reported that following the special meeting of May 10, 2010 to conduct the public hearing on proposed changes to the Schedule of Rates, staff has not received any comments either for or against the proposed changes to the schedule of rates. As such, it is the General Manager’s opinion that no changes are required to the proposed schedule of rates as a result of any public comments; and it was recommended that the Board proceed with taking the second and final vote to adopt the proposed Schedule of Rates. The new rates would become effective for all service provided after July 01, 2010.

            Following a brief discussion,

            IT WAS MOVED BY TRUSTEE GREEN, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE BARBOUR, AND UNANIMOUSLY VOTED BY THE TRUSTEES, AS THE SECOND OF TWO VOTES REQUIRED, TO ADOPT THE SCHEDULE OF RATES DESIGNATED “BRUNSWICK SEWER DISTRICT PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF RATES,” TO TAKE EFFECT AND APPLY TO ALL SERVICE PROVIDED COMMENCING ON 01 JULY 2010, WHICH SCHEDULE OF RATES SHALL BE ATTACHED TO THE MINUTES OF THIS MEETING AND MADE A PART THEREOF.

Identity Theft Prevention Program: Second Vote to Adopt

            The General Manager reminded the Board that this is the second and final vote required to implement the Identity Theft Prevention Program. No changes were made to the document since the first vote of adoption.  Trustee Boochever noted some non-substantial clerical corrections that should be incorporated into the adopted document.

Following the discussion,

            IT WAS MOVED BY TRUSTEE BARBOUR, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE BOOCHEVER, AND UNANIMOUSLY VOTED BY THE TRUSTEES, AS THE SECOND OF TWO VOTES REQUIRED, TO ADOPT AS PROPOSED PENDING CLERICAL CORRECTIONS, THE BRUNSWICK SEWER DISTRICT IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION PROGRAM.

Water Street Property

            Chair Priest excused himself at 6:55 p.m. from this portion of the meeting due to a possible conflict of interest by association. He relinquished control of the meeting to Vice Chair Schwindt and departed from the meeting room.

The General Manager recapped for the Board that at last month’s meeting Mr. Douglas Richmond of the Merrymeeting Rowing Club informed the Board of Town of Brunswick property adjacent to the pump station that is considered unsuitable for development and discussion with Town officials indicated that the Town may be willing to convey to the District the additional land of approximately 0.8 acre required for use in developing the boathouse.

The General Manager reported that since the last Board meeting Town Manager, Public Works Director, Codes Enforcement Officer, Director of Parks and Recreation, Mr. Richmond, and District representatives toured the site which led to confirmation of no potential value to the Town.  The Town Manger requested the District submit a letter to Town Council requesting the transfer of land to the District.  A draft letter requesting the transfer of town owned land prepared by the General Manager was provided in the meeting package. As this issue involved the possible acquisition of real estate, the General Manager suggested that the Board may want to take a vote to submit the letter request for the land transfer. Following a brief discussion,

IT WAS MOVED BY TRUSTEE BARBOUR, SECONDED BY TRUSTEE GREEN, AND UNANIMOUSLY VOTED BY THE TRUSTEES, TO HAVE THE GENERAL MANAGER PREPARE AND SUBMIT TO TOWN COUNCIL THE REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF TOWN OWNED LAND.

Chair Priest rejoined the meeting at 7:07 p.m. and accepted control of the meeting from Vice Chair Schwindt.

Monthly Report of Operations

            Total flow to the Treatment Plant for May 2010 was 76.835 mg, down approximately 39% from the previous month and down 22% from the prior year. Flows of 9.5 and 5.6 mg for the month originated with Topsham and the Navy Base, respectively. Average daily flow for the period was 2.48 mgd, or 64% of that allowed by permit. Maximum daily flow processed was 2.89 mg, on May 01, 2010. Rainfall for the month totaled 1.8 inches, with a daily maximum of 0.94 inches on May 19, 2010.
            Septage receiving for the period totaled 131,000 gallons, up approximately 26% from the previous month. Removal rates for BOD and TSS for the period were 93.6% and 90.4%, respectively, in compliance with the minimum 85% required for each parameter by permit. A total of 246 CY of sludge was produced. There were no bypasses or spills, and all flow to the plant received full treatment.

Board Meeting Location

            The General Manager reported that he has been in discussion with the Town to determine the possibility of the Board conducting its meetings at the town’s Municipal Meeting Room at 16 Station Avenue. The move would allow for meeting recordings to be accomplished by Brunswick TV3. Town Manager has approved the District using the space on its regular meeting schedule of the second Monday evening of the month.  The approval is conditioned on the possibility that that the District could get pre-empted by Town Council and possibly other town committees, though the General Manager was informed that the District would have priority use after Town Council. If pre-emption were to occur, we would be notified as soon as the pre-emption is scheduled. The 2010 July and October Board meetings are each scheduled for a Wednesday evening and the Municipal Meeting Room would not be available.  It is also possible the room would not be available for the annual budget meeting scheduled for the last Monday in November. Fee for the use of Brunswick TV3 staff is $11 per hour, with a minimum two-hour charge which includes a quarter hour before and after each meeting. Following a discussion of the benefits to using the Town’s meeting room the General Manager was instructed to continue with the process to determine if it can be made to work. 

General Manager's Report

§  AGM Search. Twenty (20) applications have been received thus far for the Assistant General Manager position. The application period will close on June 24^th.

§  Senior Operator Search. Search process to fill the Senior Operator position for the Collection and Pumping Division has been completed. Mr. Michael Jouver has been appointed effective Monday, June 14, 2010.  The search process to fill the senior operator position for the Treatment Division is ongoing. Both vacancies are planned to be filled by an in-house search and selection process only. Any Operator vacancies created by Senior Operator appointments will not be filled. 

§  Meeting with MRRA re: NAS WW System O&M. The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority has met with the District and submitted a draft memorandum of understanding of a proposal for the District to provide operations and maintenance services for the wastewater pumping and collection systems at Naval Air Station Brunswick and McKeen Street Housing, and treatment services for the flow from both areas.  MRRA is to create a sanitary district and will own the sanitary sewer systems. The General Manager was instructed to have legal counsel review the draft document.

§  Procurement and Purchasing Policy.  The Finance Manager has completed a preliminary update of the Procurement and Purchasing Policy to include the credit card component. A first draft of the policy will be provided for Board review next month.

§  MDEP Inspection: TP and Mere Point. MDEP has conducted its annual inspection of the Treatment Plant and the Mere Point Subsurface treatment system. Have not yet received the written reports, but a verbal report by MDEP noted no concerns or issues.

§  Operations: Four-day Work Week. Following a meeting the previous week with the two operation divisions, it appears that the Collection and Pumping Division may go to a four-day work week, and the Treatment Division staying with the current five-day work week. Will know more once the supervisors have completed their survey.

§  Tobacco Free Workplace. The General Manager reported that it is his desire to create a Tobacco Free Workplace here at the District. The District has a no smoking policy that prevents smoking in all buildings, vehicles, and any location where a flammable or explosive atmosphere exists. Otherwise employees may smoke elsewhere while on the job. A tobacco free policy would eliminate all forms of tobacco while on the job. No timetable has been determined, but would like to accomplish this year. It would involve a new policy which requires two votes by the Board to adopt. There was some discussion concerning whether the District has the right to limit tobacco use while employee on payroll. Will look into the issue.

§  HVAC Project Status. The General Manager recapped the project for the Board. It is a $320k capital budget item for 2010 that involves replacing the oil-fired boilers with natural gas fired boilers at the Treatment Plant. It also involves conversion of the steam heat to hot water heat and the installation of two water-to-water heat exchangers using wastewater as the heat source. It is possible to remove the heat exchangers off the project if need be to reduce the cost. The plan is to submit the request for proposals within the next month, with the goal of completing the project this year.

§  Deerfield/BIW Easements. Frank McVey has completed his portion of the work and submitted to the General Manager for review. Plan is to move ahead and finalize the easements as soon as possible.

§  Electrical Standard Offer. The General Manager has signed a 24-month contract with Constellation Energy, effective July 01, 2010, to provide Standard Offer service of $0.0816 per kWh for the 16 small general service accounts we have. The current CMP standard offer is $0.09 per kWh. This is an annual savings of approximately $1500.