by Neil Richard
The King George County Service Authority Board of Directors started their meeting just a couple minutes late on September 18, 2018.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
Public Comment began with a statement from Yvonne Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the spouse of Yvonne Richard.]. She wanted to publicly thank Dan Hingley for his hard work and that of the Service Authority employees and to thank him for bringing all of the issues to light. She said she wasn't happy that there were issues but was glad to see that her complaints and that of other customers were valid. She then reminded everyone that one of the individuals that hid these issues from the rest of the Directors and the customers still sits on the Board and that their attempts to take credit for Hingley's hard work and success was "an affront to the hard work put in by the Service Authority staff." She closed by expressing her concern over the Chairman's negative comments at the last Service Authority meeting about the applicants for the General Manager position. She hoped that future discussions about applicants and employees were held in Closed Session as normally required by a public body. She also felt it wasn't acceptable to have "someone who helped to cover up the issues plaguing the Service Authority" partake in the interview process.
Next to speak was Eric Kessler of Potomac Landing. He brought some show-and-tell items for the Board to see, including photos of water at his house along with the filter from his whole-house filter system and some water from that system. The filter looked dark brown and black, and the water clearly had visible discoloration and large solids. Kessler said he had only lived in his home for three years and thanked the Service Authority for their improvements but that there were still issues with water quality. He said on the 13th, he took a shower in gross water and brushed his teeth in nasty water in the morning, only to come home to a Free Lance-Star article noting the "amazing" progress on the water system. He and his wife were upset by the article because they felt the progress was less than amazing. He said the shirt he was wearing today was damaged by the water, Kessler said he had to replace the whole-house filter once a month and that several neighbors in Potomac Landing have similar issues with water quality. He said his neighbors also had complaints about the noise coming from the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and had numerous testimonials from neighbors about the poor water. He closed by saying that their concerns had been blown off for years but he appreciated the work that has been done.
Mike Bennett began his Board report by stating that on the 6th, he got an update from Chris Werle about the Service Authority need for an electronic database to track customer issues. Bennett said the good news was that there was already a database. The bad news was it had only been used up until 2014 then neglected for some unknown reason. Bennett said that there was data for all the issues from 2017 and 2018 and that they have been entered into the database.
Bennett then addressed Kessler's comments by saying that he lives in Fairview Beach and knows what brown water looks like. He said the Service Authority has been getting their house in order on the WWTP side and it's taken a large effort to do so. He did say that water quality is still an issue though. Bennett said he's taken a cursory look at the data, specifically looking to see if issues with his neighbors in Fairview Beach are matched with similar issues in Potomac Landing. He said at first glance, there's a correlation.
Bennett continued his report by saying that Werle had asked him to take the lead on researching the potential for the Service Authority to participate in the Virginia Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (VA WARN). Bennett said this program is a mutual aid program where different agencies help each other with their water and wastewater needs during emergencies and disasters. He said it was still in the early stages of being researched but he felt that Chief Lynd of the Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services Department should be involved as well as Eric Gregory, County Attorney, Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and the Service Authority's General Manager.
The final part of Bennett's Board report was regarding the future meeting with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Water Control Board. He said numerous actions have been taken on the WWTP side and there has been great improvement. He felt they've done everything they humanly can to this point to rectify the issues and felt it was obvious that the Service Authority was in a better place. He also hoped that Water Control Board would see the fine as sufficient punishment.
Richard Granger's Board report was brief as he thanked those that spoke during Public Comment. He appreciated the concerns of Mr. Kessler and said he was sorry he had to deal with that.
Ruby Brabo began her report by briefly going back to Bennett's VA WARN topic. She said there may not be an answer right now but wanted to know if there was a way to limit or choose who the mutual aid agreement is with. Werle answered and said yes, it's all voluntary. Brabo then stated she wanted to make sure the Service Authority could handle any request for mutual aid before signing up. She said if they were unable to reciprocate, it may foster sour feelings with other agencies and localities. Werle said that's why they would look at it carefully before committing.
Brabo continued her report saying that she would tour the Oakland Park and Purkins Corner WWTPs. Addressing Mrs. Richard and Mr. Kessler, Brabo said she's been just as frustrated as them, especially when citizens have been told in the past that everything was fine when in fact it wasn't. She was really happy to have Dan Hingley as General Manager now, listening to customers and delving into issues along with a staff that was addressing problems.
Cathy Binder thanked Kessler and Richard for their comments and said she had recently toured two WWTPs and would tour more in the future. She said she knows it doesn't help them now but they are working on the issues.
Chris Werle said he's been working with staff and Hingley over the last two weeks to continue working on the Waterworks Business Operations Plan form the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). He felt confident that they would be able to complete the first three sections as promised and will provide an update to the Board at the next meeting.
Werle thanked Kessler for coming out and speaking. He said what Kessler presented was quite disturbing and was a powerful message. He was optimistic that Hingley would be able to finally assess and determine the cause of the issues in Fairview Beach and elsewhere.
Bennett added to Mr. Kessler that he wanted to mention there were issues with the water and that the Service Authority needed as many people to call about them. He said he's guilty himself of assuming his neighbors will call but for the database of customer complaints to work, they need to have customers call with their issues. Bennett said the newer pipes in Potomac Landing negated the old argument about old pipes being the cause of poor water.
Kessler responded from the audience that the Potomac Landing Home Owner's Association (HOA) gave out magnets with phone numbers for the Service Authority but when they tried calling, nobody answered. He said the great thing about Chris Thomas was he would always answer his cell phone and fix the issue right away, almost like a hotline.
Bennett responded that ideally, customers shouldn't have to call the General Manager but they did need to call. Brabo added that the county website did have the correct phone number.
Dr. Young interrupted with a point of order, advising the Board that they couldn't have a back and forth conversation.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Werle then introduced the need to form a committee to hire a new General Manager. He said up to this point, Brabo and Bennett have taken the lead in this effort and would like to suggest they continue to do so. He also suggested that Dr. Young and Amanda Sumiel, Director of Human Resources, also be on the committee. Granger nominated those four individuals. Dr. Young suggested Werle be on the committee due to his higher level of expertise. Brabo said there can't be three Directors on the committee and Werle said he can reserve his input for the next phase. The nominations were approved. Bennett added that he was disappointed Hingley didn't submit an application.
Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, then gave his report. Though slightly shorter than previous reports, it still had an attention to detail and level of professionalism that was welcomed by those in the audience. Hingley began his report by saying he wanted to echo the sentiments of the Board and thank those that spoke during Public Comment. He thanked Mrs. Richard for her kind words and told Mr. Kessler that his concerns are taken seriously. Hingley said there are issues that were more pressing that had to be addressed first but the issues in Fairview Beach and Potomac Landing are certainly on the radar.
Getting into his presentation, Hingley said the Service Authority has sent letters to DEQ regarding their recent corrective actions. On the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) side of operations, he said the Dahlgren WWTP continues to show improved Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) levels but there won't be enough time left to meet the yearly limits. The Hopyard WWTP may be able to reach the yearly limit for TP but it would be difficult. The Fairview Beach WWTP shows improving TP but also won't be able to meet yearly limits. Hingley also said the installation of Dissolved Oxygen sensors is making progress. The Purkins Corner WWTP may not be able to meet yearly limits for TP and TN but they are within ten percent of goal. Hingley said Oakland Park WWTP had no issues thanks largely to the hard work of Tim Maciejewski.
Bennett added that the letters to DEQ regarding progress at WWTPs were extremely detailed and probably the most chemistry he's ever read. He said it was a great explanation of why things were not operating within permit levels and also gave a great roadmap for the future.
Hingley continued his presentation with the water side of operations. He said by better managing chlorine batches, they've been able to reduce the number of visits by staff from daily to every two weeks, thus freeing them up to complete other tasks. Hingley said they're also looking into the newly populated database of customer complaints to identify trends.
Werle added that the original database had 1,700 records.
Hingley continued that VDH will conduct well inspections in October for the Courthouse, Canterbury, Fairview Beach, and Hopyard systems. The Canterbury system now had both wells operational. The Circle system had a second booster pump installed. The Fairview Beach system had a second well brought online but the filter system still needed to be assessed. The third well was also being worked on to bring it online but the filter backwash controls were not working.
Werle asked if he had an idea how much that repair would cost and Hingley said it would likely be a capital intensive project and that's why they didn't bring the third well online to start with. Bennett asked if the third well was needed and Hingley said yes. He said that the permit states what needs to be used so if a certain number of booster pumps is listed on the permit, then that number needs to be available for use. Same with storage, wells, etc. Hingley said the biggest issue is having the backup available. Essentially, they would get a Notice Of Violation (NOV) for not having a backup well but may not get an NOV for not having the third well available.
Bennett asked if the third well could be removed in the future. Hingley said that VDH wouldn't begin that process, it would be up to the Service Authority to pursue it but that he would not recommend doing that. He felt that would limit the system to just two wells going forward.
Hingley continued his report by saying the Hopyard water system had the second well placed back into service leaving the system with just one well out of service. He said the current capacity was 300,000 gallons per day but demand was only 50,000 gallons per day so there was plenty of capacity available. On the St. Paul/Owens water system, the interconnect was made previously and repairs were made to the air controls. Hingley said he would be meeting with the Walnut Hill developer regarding the future connection to the Dahlgren water system. Hingley said the Courthouse water system, currently split into east and west sections, had two out of three wells working on the west side and two out of two wells working on the east side. The goal to connect both sides was making progress with the underground utilities having been marked but they were currently waiting on proposals.
Brabo then asked about the water leak on Dahlgren Road. She said she's received several complaints from citizens who see it as a waste and the road is beginning to sink. Hingley said it is a waste to produce water and not give it to customers. He said it was one of several leaks that they were not able to handle in-house due to the complexity of the issue and lack of heavy equipment. Hingley also said that the rain has been a challenge in finding some of the more critical leaks but that this leak on Dahlgren road and the one in front of Potomac Elementary School would be fixed in the next week or two.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:20pm with Dr. Young, County Administrator, and Eric Gregory, County Attorney being invited along with Kyle Laux and Griffin Moore from Davenport and Associates.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:47pm and adjourned one minute later.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Dan Hingley (Interim General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on October 2, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
The King George County Service Authority Board of Directors started their meeting just a couple minutes late on September 18, 2018.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
Public Comment began with a statement from Yvonne Richard [EDITOR'S NOTE - Neil Richard, a co-founder of Project94, is the spouse of Yvonne Richard.]. She wanted to publicly thank Dan Hingley for his hard work and that of the Service Authority employees and to thank him for bringing all of the issues to light. She said she wasn't happy that there were issues but was glad to see that her complaints and that of other customers were valid. She then reminded everyone that one of the individuals that hid these issues from the rest of the Directors and the customers still sits on the Board and that their attempts to take credit for Hingley's hard work and success was "an affront to the hard work put in by the Service Authority staff." She closed by expressing her concern over the Chairman's negative comments at the last Service Authority meeting about the applicants for the General Manager position. She hoped that future discussions about applicants and employees were held in Closed Session as normally required by a public body. She also felt it wasn't acceptable to have "someone who helped to cover up the issues plaguing the Service Authority" partake in the interview process.
Next to speak was Eric Kessler of Potomac Landing. He brought some show-and-tell items for the Board to see, including photos of water at his house along with the filter from his whole-house filter system and some water from that system. The filter looked dark brown and black, and the water clearly had visible discoloration and large solids. Kessler said he had only lived in his home for three years and thanked the Service Authority for their improvements but that there were still issues with water quality. He said on the 13th, he took a shower in gross water and brushed his teeth in nasty water in the morning, only to come home to a Free Lance-Star article noting the "amazing" progress on the water system. He and his wife were upset by the article because they felt the progress was less than amazing. He said the shirt he was wearing today was damaged by the water, Kessler said he had to replace the whole-house filter once a month and that several neighbors in Potomac Landing have similar issues with water quality. He said his neighbors also had complaints about the noise coming from the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and had numerous testimonials from neighbors about the poor water. He closed by saying that their concerns had been blown off for years but he appreciated the work that has been done.
Mike Bennett began his Board report by stating that on the 6th, he got an update from Chris Werle about the Service Authority need for an electronic database to track customer issues. Bennett said the good news was that there was already a database. The bad news was it had only been used up until 2014 then neglected for some unknown reason. Bennett said that there was data for all the issues from 2017 and 2018 and that they have been entered into the database.
Bennett then addressed Kessler's comments by saying that he lives in Fairview Beach and knows what brown water looks like. He said the Service Authority has been getting their house in order on the WWTP side and it's taken a large effort to do so. He did say that water quality is still an issue though. Bennett said he's taken a cursory look at the data, specifically looking to see if issues with his neighbors in Fairview Beach are matched with similar issues in Potomac Landing. He said at first glance, there's a correlation.
Bennett continued his report by saying that Werle had asked him to take the lead on researching the potential for the Service Authority to participate in the Virginia Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (VA WARN). Bennett said this program is a mutual aid program where different agencies help each other with their water and wastewater needs during emergencies and disasters. He said it was still in the early stages of being researched but he felt that Chief Lynd of the Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services Department should be involved as well as Eric Gregory, County Attorney, Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator, and the Service Authority's General Manager.
The final part of Bennett's Board report was regarding the future meeting with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Water Control Board. He said numerous actions have been taken on the WWTP side and there has been great improvement. He felt they've done everything they humanly can to this point to rectify the issues and felt it was obvious that the Service Authority was in a better place. He also hoped that Water Control Board would see the fine as sufficient punishment.
Richard Granger's Board report was brief as he thanked those that spoke during Public Comment. He appreciated the concerns of Mr. Kessler and said he was sorry he had to deal with that.
Ruby Brabo began her report by briefly going back to Bennett's VA WARN topic. She said there may not be an answer right now but wanted to know if there was a way to limit or choose who the mutual aid agreement is with. Werle answered and said yes, it's all voluntary. Brabo then stated she wanted to make sure the Service Authority could handle any request for mutual aid before signing up. She said if they were unable to reciprocate, it may foster sour feelings with other agencies and localities. Werle said that's why they would look at it carefully before committing.
Brabo continued her report saying that she would tour the Oakland Park and Purkins Corner WWTPs. Addressing Mrs. Richard and Mr. Kessler, Brabo said she's been just as frustrated as them, especially when citizens have been told in the past that everything was fine when in fact it wasn't. She was really happy to have Dan Hingley as General Manager now, listening to customers and delving into issues along with a staff that was addressing problems.
Cathy Binder thanked Kessler and Richard for their comments and said she had recently toured two WWTPs and would tour more in the future. She said she knows it doesn't help them now but they are working on the issues.
Chris Werle said he's been working with staff and Hingley over the last two weeks to continue working on the Waterworks Business Operations Plan form the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). He felt confident that they would be able to complete the first three sections as promised and will provide an update to the Board at the next meeting.
Werle thanked Kessler for coming out and speaking. He said what Kessler presented was quite disturbing and was a powerful message. He was optimistic that Hingley would be able to finally assess and determine the cause of the issues in Fairview Beach and elsewhere.
Bennett added to Mr. Kessler that he wanted to mention there were issues with the water and that the Service Authority needed as many people to call about them. He said he's guilty himself of assuming his neighbors will call but for the database of customer complaints to work, they need to have customers call with their issues. Bennett said the newer pipes in Potomac Landing negated the old argument about old pipes being the cause of poor water.
Kessler responded from the audience that the Potomac Landing Home Owner's Association (HOA) gave out magnets with phone numbers for the Service Authority but when they tried calling, nobody answered. He said the great thing about Chris Thomas was he would always answer his cell phone and fix the issue right away, almost like a hotline.
Bennett responded that ideally, customers shouldn't have to call the General Manager but they did need to call. Brabo added that the county website did have the correct phone number.
Dr. Young interrupted with a point of order, advising the Board that they couldn't have a back and forth conversation.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
Werle then introduced the need to form a committee to hire a new General Manager. He said up to this point, Brabo and Bennett have taken the lead in this effort and would like to suggest they continue to do so. He also suggested that Dr. Young and Amanda Sumiel, Director of Human Resources, also be on the committee. Granger nominated those four individuals. Dr. Young suggested Werle be on the committee due to his higher level of expertise. Brabo said there can't be three Directors on the committee and Werle said he can reserve his input for the next phase. The nominations were approved. Bennett added that he was disappointed Hingley didn't submit an application.
Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, then gave his report. Though slightly shorter than previous reports, it still had an attention to detail and level of professionalism that was welcomed by those in the audience. Hingley began his report by saying he wanted to echo the sentiments of the Board and thank those that spoke during Public Comment. He thanked Mrs. Richard for her kind words and told Mr. Kessler that his concerns are taken seriously. Hingley said there are issues that were more pressing that had to be addressed first but the issues in Fairview Beach and Potomac Landing are certainly on the radar.
Getting into his presentation, Hingley said the Service Authority has sent letters to DEQ regarding their recent corrective actions. On the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) side of operations, he said the Dahlgren WWTP continues to show improved Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) levels but there won't be enough time left to meet the yearly limits. The Hopyard WWTP may be able to reach the yearly limit for TP but it would be difficult. The Fairview Beach WWTP shows improving TP but also won't be able to meet yearly limits. Hingley also said the installation of Dissolved Oxygen sensors is making progress. The Purkins Corner WWTP may not be able to meet yearly limits for TP and TN but they are within ten percent of goal. Hingley said Oakland Park WWTP had no issues thanks largely to the hard work of Tim Maciejewski.
Bennett added that the letters to DEQ regarding progress at WWTPs were extremely detailed and probably the most chemistry he's ever read. He said it was a great explanation of why things were not operating within permit levels and also gave a great roadmap for the future.
Hingley continued his presentation with the water side of operations. He said by better managing chlorine batches, they've been able to reduce the number of visits by staff from daily to every two weeks, thus freeing them up to complete other tasks. Hingley said they're also looking into the newly populated database of customer complaints to identify trends.
Werle added that the original database had 1,700 records.
Hingley continued that VDH will conduct well inspections in October for the Courthouse, Canterbury, Fairview Beach, and Hopyard systems. The Canterbury system now had both wells operational. The Circle system had a second booster pump installed. The Fairview Beach system had a second well brought online but the filter system still needed to be assessed. The third well was also being worked on to bring it online but the filter backwash controls were not working.
Werle asked if he had an idea how much that repair would cost and Hingley said it would likely be a capital intensive project and that's why they didn't bring the third well online to start with. Bennett asked if the third well was needed and Hingley said yes. He said that the permit states what needs to be used so if a certain number of booster pumps is listed on the permit, then that number needs to be available for use. Same with storage, wells, etc. Hingley said the biggest issue is having the backup available. Essentially, they would get a Notice Of Violation (NOV) for not having a backup well but may not get an NOV for not having the third well available.
Bennett asked if the third well could be removed in the future. Hingley said that VDH wouldn't begin that process, it would be up to the Service Authority to pursue it but that he would not recommend doing that. He felt that would limit the system to just two wells going forward.
Hingley continued his report by saying the Hopyard water system had the second well placed back into service leaving the system with just one well out of service. He said the current capacity was 300,000 gallons per day but demand was only 50,000 gallons per day so there was plenty of capacity available. On the St. Paul/Owens water system, the interconnect was made previously and repairs were made to the air controls. Hingley said he would be meeting with the Walnut Hill developer regarding the future connection to the Dahlgren water system. Hingley said the Courthouse water system, currently split into east and west sections, had two out of three wells working on the west side and two out of two wells working on the east side. The goal to connect both sides was making progress with the underground utilities having been marked but they were currently waiting on proposals.
Brabo then asked about the water leak on Dahlgren Road. She said she's received several complaints from citizens who see it as a waste and the road is beginning to sink. Hingley said it is a waste to produce water and not give it to customers. He said it was one of several leaks that they were not able to handle in-house due to the complexity of the issue and lack of heavy equipment. Hingley also said that the rain has been a challenge in finding some of the more critical leaks but that this leak on Dahlgren road and the one in front of Potomac Elementary School would be fixed in the next week or two.
The Board then went into Closed Session at 7:20pm with Dr. Young, County Administrator, and Eric Gregory, County Attorney being invited along with Kyle Laux and Griffin Moore from Davenport and Associates.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:47pm and adjourned one minute later.
Meeting Attendees:
Christopher Werle (Chairman, Board of Directors)
Dan Hingley (Interim General Manager of Service Authority)
Richard Granger (Board of Supervisors)
Michael Bennett (Citizen)
Ruby Brabo (Board of Supervisors)
Cathy Binder (Board of Supervisors)
Neiman Young (County Administrator)
Eric Gregory (County Attorney)
Meeting Agenda
Next Meeting:
The Service Authority will next meet on October 2, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
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