Work Session Minutes of
the Town of
Subject:
Web Site: http://www.townofcary.org
Mayor
McAlister called the work session to order at
Present:
Mayor Ernie McAlister, Council Members Marla Dorrel, and Julie Robison
Absent:
Mayor Pro Tem Jack Smith, Council Members Michael Joyce and Jennifer Robinson
Council
Member Nels Roseland arrived at
Copies of
the
Public
Works and Utilities Department
Director
Kim Fisher provided an overview of the overall operations of the Public Works
and Utilities Department.
Utilities
Director Robert Bonné provided an overview of the Utilities Division;
Ms. Dorrel
asked about the required standards for water treatment facilities. Mr. Bonné
said that some treatment facilities barely meet the regulation standards,
however, the Town of
Ms. Dorrel
asked about restaurant compliance, enforcement of the grease ordinance and
responsibility for monitoring bulk disposal. Mr. Bonné responded that the
low bidder gets a lot of the work in the county, but that several of the low
bidders are not properly disposing of the grease. He stated that several
restaurants have become aware of the improper disposals and have begun choosing
more reputable grease disposable firms. He said that the Town contacts the
Division of Waste Management regarding disposals, checks hauling records, and
other things necessary to ensure the proper disposal of grease. Town Manager
Bill Coleman added that once private companies clean out grease traps it is no
longer the Town’s responsibility. He said that the private company has to be
permitted by the state and it is the company’s responsibility to meet the
conditions of that permit, properly disposing of grease by state rules; it is
the state’s responsibility to enforce grease disposal compliance. Mr. Coleman
said that if the Town catches someone illegally discharging material it gets
reported to the state.
Ms. Dorrel
asked about the record of compliance among food service establishments within
the Town. Mr. Bonné responded that the Town has about an 80 percent compliance
rate. He said that the Town has the most flexible program within the state in
terms of Town staff responding to unique situations and building solutions to
allow restaurants to stay in business. Mr. Bonné stated that a successful
program has approximately 90 percent compliance; however, the programs are new
nationwide and staff is working to educate people on the requirements.
Mr.
Roseland asked about the Town meeting the expectations for water conservation
compliance. Mr. Bonné answered that the Town is on track with an overall
percentage of about 83 percent. He said that the Town is down from 101 gallons
per capita per day to 83 gallons per capita per day and the goal is a 20 percent
reduction. Staff will provide Council with more details regarding the compliance
status.
Mrs.
Robison asked about marketing pellets for the biosolids dryer. Mr. Bonné
responded that the market is currently depressed and the Town estimates revenue
of $30,000-$50,000 a year, starting approximately 3-6 months after the facility
is up and operating. He said that the biggest costs savings on the biosolids
dryer is the cost avoidance associated with not paying trucking costs, saving a
half a million dollars per year, which is a much bigger savings than from the
sale of the pellets.
Mrs.
Robison asked about the difference between processes in the biosolids dryer and
the dewatering process in the current system, and about the associated odor
control and reductions. Mr. Bonné replied that the subject is still being
studied. He stated that the biosolids management plan will incorporate
recommendations from the odor control study and include recommendations to
reduce costs. The actual operation of the dyer will not dramatically reduce
odor, but not having to digest the sludge is the big odor control aspect.
Mrs.
Robison asked about allowable pollutants for sludge. Mr. Bonné responded that
it is the biological oxygen demand, which is the very material the plant is
designed to treat, ground up food on an industrial level, and total suspended
solids and ammonia. The Town has the ability to surcharge for some of the
nutrients effectively treated at the plant. He said that toxic substances and
any thing that could damage the plant are not allowed.
Mr.
Roseland asked about the production and sale of pellets for the biosolids dryer.
Mr. Bonné said the Town expects to sell all of the pellets. Staff will provide
Council with more data regarding the pellets.
Public
Works Director Michael Bajorek provided an overview of the Public Works
Division.
Mr.
Coleman stated that state recently began permitting wastewater and water
maintenance systems creating standards for maintenance of water distribution and
sewer collection systems. He said that permit requirements are drivers for
benchmarking and levels of standards for service maintained by the Town and
geared toward environmental protection. Mr. Bajorek added that the Town is
meeting permit levels and that sewer system standards are outlined in the
permits. He said that staff works as a team to ensure that their efforts are
concentrated to keep overflow levels down.
Mrs.
Robison asked about trends prior to beginning the leak detection program. Mr.
Bajorek responded that unaccounted water loss has been stable over the past few
years; over the last 8 years staff has emphasized accounting for and fixing the
leaks.
Mr.
Bajorek read the following letter received from a
“Let me start off by saying that I have always known our
trash collectors to be polite and to take a distinct pride in their jobs. It is
not easy to do what they do, but yesterday they reaffirmed my faith in my fellow
man. We all have days where our car cuts off, where someone says a curse word or
where we are just unhappy with community in general. Lately, I’ve had a run of
bad luck with community and was wondering, as we all do at times, if God was
using me as entertainment and see just how far he could push my blood pressure.
You see, my mother had come from out of state to visit for a few days, and as
the old adage says you can’t go home again. As luck would have it she was
ready to go back home and her battery was dead in her car. Not just dead, it was
time for tax. As I was getting more and more frustrated with trying to jump the
car our garbage collection people came along to do their duty, but also took a
few minutes out to help as much as they could and give some support. No one
asked them to. It was obvious they had been working very hard jobs. It was also
obvious that they were simply nice people looking out for their fellow man. I am
proud to live in an area that hires people of this nature and would like to pass
along my thanks. I thanked them as much as I could, but I don’t think they
understood just how important seeing them and hearing them offer to help really
impacted me. Thank you for hiring them and if good feedback counts, I hope this
e-mail helps them in at least some small way. Grady
Mr.
Roseland asked about the opportunities for efficiencies and about the Town’s
costs being higher than neighboring municipalities. Mr. Bajorek responded that
staff continually meets the goals initially established for the program (citizen
friendly collection, large variety of material, highest dollar value for the
material collected, and limiting contamination going into land refill), which is
driving up costs. The Town gets a good value for material, however, costs have
risen to the point where the recycling process needs to be reevaluated.
Mr.
Roseland asked about recycling products having the poorest market. Mr. Bajorek
replied that the plastics have the poorest market, because plastics don’t
generate a lot of funds.
Ms. Dorrel
asked about the assignment of public works crews. Mr. Bajorek responded that
crews are separated by east and west district to eliminate unnecessary driving
back and forth to the operations center. He said that they are hoping to create
a district facility to house staff in the western part of Town to help reduce
travel time.
Mrs.
Robison asked about the maintenance and clean up of garbage along sidewalks next
to undeveloped land. Mr. Bajorek responded that in addition to the 45 miles of
streets mowed and maintained by the Town, which are mostly thoroughfares, part
of the weekly mowing is litter collection and picked up on a weekly basis. He
said that staff contacts owners of vacant property to notify them of any
complaints and they have been very successful in having those lots cleaned.
Mrs.
Robison asked about televised sewer inspections. Mr. Bajorek said that a
motorized camera with a tilt head is put into the sewer to view the area. The
information from the camera is used in planning for sewer rehabilitation by
putting a value on that segment of sewer. He said that technology is used to fix
and repair and to make improvements. The town has had a video camera for about
12 years; however, the current camera is digital, costs about $20,000, and sends
information to a personal computer to download into the Town’s system.
Mrs.
Robison asked about the graffiti, where it is and how often it happens. Mr.
Bajorek responded that over the past 4-5 months there has been a rash of
graffiti in the streets and staff has taken a broken window approach by painting
over the graffiti as it happens. He said that facilities having graffiti are
power washed and painted.
Mayor
McAlister thanked the staff who made presentations.
Action:
At
The work
session ended at