by Neil Richard
The King George County Service Authority Board of Directors began their meeting promptly at 6:30pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
The only Public Comment came via a written letter from James Holley that was read by Chris Werle, Chairman. In his letter, Holley recounted his experience during the recent repairs made near 4th Street in Fairview Beach. He said the crews worked for seven hours, long into the night, to get the leak under control. He said watching them was exhausting but they remained professional and friendly and were willing to answer questions from residents. Holley thanked them for their timeliness in making the repairs and felt their professionalism should be commended. He was encouraged by the poor management issues from the past being addressed. Holley said that when revenues allow for it, cut-off valves should be placed in Fairview Beach as leaks have been increasing and will no doubt continue to do so as time goes on.
Werle closed by thanking Dean Hougland, Senior Maintenance Manager, and his staff for their hard work.
Mike Bennett began his report by saying he participated in the first round of interviews for the new General Manager on October 3rd. On the 4th, he met with engineers in Fairview Beach regarding the upcoming stabilization project. He said the project was complicated in how best to access the construction area. Bennett said the recent cost estimate included $30,000 to clean the beach of debris but he felt confident he and fellow neighbors could work on that themselves to help reduce costs. On the 5th he attended a meeting on the water contamination issue in Fairview Beach and on the 9th participated in another round of interviews. On the 12th he attended a round table meeting regarding the Potomac River watershed and on the 16th he had another meeting on the contamination issue. Bennett said the issue will begin with a scientific study of the contamination to test for genetic markers from human waste in an effort to locate the source.
Richard Granger's report was limited to participating in interviews for the General Manager.
Ruby Brabo also participated in the interview sessions as well as an information meeting with AQUA and a conference call with the National Association of Counties (NACo).
Cathy Binder's report was limited to participating in interviews for the General Manager.
Chris Werle reported that he participated in a conference call on the 3rd regarding the stabilization project in Fairview Beach. He said there were two potential issues with the project. The first was if the construction disturbed more than an acre of land, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would require a storm water management permit. The second was the annual phosphorus removal process that was required. However, Werle felt confident that the phosphorus issue could be addressed by a one-time purchase of credits that would cost about $2,000. Werle also said the updated cost estimate was about ten percent more than the original estimate due to the expected removal of coffer dams and sea walls.
Ruby Brabo asked if these could be used elsewhere along the shore. Bennett said the Fairview Beach Resident's Association paid for 200 feet of wall several years ago and that it was holding up well. However, the engineers were reluctant to use that section since they were unsure how it was constructed. It was unclear if the walls could be used elsewhere.
Werle believed the design was impressive and should result in a permanent fix to the erosion problem. He also felt confident that the plan wold be approved by all regulating bodies and continue into Phase 2.
Werle continued his report by stating he met with Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, to discuss Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) requirements on the 9th. On the 10th, Werle sent the water usage evaluation to Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and thanked Hingley for preparing the report. On the 11th, Werle and others met to discuss the installation of gate valves in Fairview Beach but would discuss it in detail later in the evening.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next on the Agenda was a discussion on the addition of shut-off valves in the Fairview Beach water system. Werle said simply, we need valves. Bennett said he needed to clarify his comments from a previous meeting where he said there were no valves in Fairview Beach. He said in fact there were shut-off valves. However, he said some work, some don't, and some they don't know where they are. He added that some are even located under roads. Bennett said the bottom line was that they don't have enough valves to make repairs easier for workers and reduce the impact for customers. He also said it was a complicated issue that could be expensive. He said the estimated cost was $2,500 per valve.
Werle corrected him and said the estimated cost was $1,500 per valve. Brabo asked if that included installation and Werle said it did. Dr. Young, County Administrator, added that the estimate does not include those blocked by roads. Werle said if Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) made them mill each side of the road for repairs, it could raise the cost into the tens of thousands.
In answering Brabo's questions from the previous meeting, Werle added that the last major upgrade was in 2011 when a new eight inch main was installed. He said design drawings were done and presumably most of the existing shut-off valves were installed at that time. Werle said it was hard to say if any were installed originally and echoed Bennett's earlier comments that there aren't enough in the right locations to reduce customer impact. Werle said the problem was compounded by the fact that the water supply system was a loop so even if one valve was used, water may still make it's way around the loop to the other side. He said with the recent repair, there was still water pressure after the valve was used and they eventually had to turn off the supply plant. Despite this, there was still enough pressure in the lines that it was flowing like a fire hose at the repair site. Werle said he has tasked Dean Hougland with a two step project. Step one is to determine where valves could be installed on the looped area and step two would be to identify all of the other areas where valves could be installed. Werle said that depending on how many valves would need to be installed, it may become a larger capital project.
Bennett added that the related problem is that the recent repair was due to a leak that has been repaired twice since July. He said these same problems are probably throughout the entire cast iron system and that it won't last forever. He said that repairs will continue to be necessary in Fairview Beach and other systems like Dahlgren. Bennett said it was a pay for it now or pay for it later scenario.
Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, then began his report. He said on the waste water treatment side, progress was continuing to be made on the corrective actions from DEQ as well as improving system operations. The Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), Hopyard WWTP, Fairview Beach WWTP, and Purkins Corner WWTP all showed signs of reduced Total Phosphorus (TP) that were under the DEQ permit limits. Additionally, Dahlgren WWTP and Purkins Corner WWTP had reduced Total Nitrogen (TN) levels.
Bennett interrupted and said that he wanted to point out that all five of the WWTPs had problems and that four were fixed fairly quickly. He said his point was that the problems were complicated and that was why the Purkins Corner WWTP was taking so long to resolve because of the time needed to troubleshoot and experiment. He said the good news is that all five plants are now operating within their permit limits.
Hingley said that the Purkins Corner WWTP did have an unauthorized discharge around 2am the night the hurricane came through. He said the storm likely wasn't the cause of the issue but that it was cleaned and repaired within a few hours and the spill was reported to DEQ as required.
Hingley then provided a summary chart of the inflow and infiltration into the WWTP systems. This is simply ground water that gets into the WWTP process and unnecessarily gets treated with the waste water. While Hingley couldn't quite put a recommended amount on it for Bennett, he said the percentages were high enough to be noticeable as four of the five WWTPs had over 30%. Bennett did jokingly ask if there was any report where Fairview Beach wasn't number one.
Bennett then asked if one of the sources was an underground stream of some sort at Fairview Beach and Hingley said yes, and it was blocked off. However, he noted that because it was blocked below ground, the water from the underground stream is now coming to the surface and creating mud and sink holes.
Continuing his report and moving to the water system side of the Service Authority, Hingley said they are continuing to identify maintenance and CIP needs as well as painting water tanks. Brabo took a moment to remind everyone that other counties solicit major corporations to pay for painting water tanks in exchange for having their logo painted on the tank. Hingley continued by adding that surface storage tanks are easier to find painting vendors for while the elevated tanks are harder.
Hingley said VDH conducted an inspection earlier in the day and they were happy to see progress being made in the right direction. He said the third well in Fairview Beach is still being worked on and the interconnect project for the Courthouse water system is scheduled to begin the week of the 22nd. Hingley also said that November 5th would be his last day, making this his last report for the Board, but he would continue to work on making improvements until then. He thanked the Board for indulging him and his complex reports.
Werle said he loved his reports and the public does too and thanked him for his hard work. Brabo also thanked Hingley adding "it has truly been a pleasure." Bennett said we weren't sure the Service Authority could meet the requirements set by DEQ but now knows it can and hopes to keep the momentum going. Bennett said Hingley had set a very high standard. There was a call from the audience to give Hingley a round of applause and the crowd in the Board room obliged.
The meeting adjourned at 7:19pm with no Closed Session.
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 November 13, 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 began their meeting promptly at 6:30pm.
There were no amendments to the Agenda.
The only Public Comment came via a written letter from James Holley that was read by Chris Werle, Chairman. In his letter, Holley recounted his experience during the recent repairs made near 4th Street in Fairview Beach. He said the crews worked for seven hours, long into the night, to get the leak under control. He said watching them was exhausting but they remained professional and friendly and were willing to answer questions from residents. Holley thanked them for their timeliness in making the repairs and felt their professionalism should be commended. He was encouraged by the poor management issues from the past being addressed. Holley said that when revenues allow for it, cut-off valves should be placed in Fairview Beach as leaks have been increasing and will no doubt continue to do so as time goes on.
Werle closed by thanking Dean Hougland, Senior Maintenance Manager, and his staff for their hard work.
Mike Bennett began his report by saying he participated in the first round of interviews for the new General Manager on October 3rd. On the 4th, he met with engineers in Fairview Beach regarding the upcoming stabilization project. He said the project was complicated in how best to access the construction area. Bennett said the recent cost estimate included $30,000 to clean the beach of debris but he felt confident he and fellow neighbors could work on that themselves to help reduce costs. On the 5th he attended a meeting on the water contamination issue in Fairview Beach and on the 9th participated in another round of interviews. On the 12th he attended a round table meeting regarding the Potomac River watershed and on the 16th he had another meeting on the contamination issue. Bennett said the issue will begin with a scientific study of the contamination to test for genetic markers from human waste in an effort to locate the source.
Richard Granger's report was limited to participating in interviews for the General Manager.
Ruby Brabo also participated in the interview sessions as well as an information meeting with AQUA and a conference call with the National Association of Counties (NACo).
Cathy Binder's report was limited to participating in interviews for the General Manager.
Chris Werle reported that he participated in a conference call on the 3rd regarding the stabilization project in Fairview Beach. He said there were two potential issues with the project. The first was if the construction disturbed more than an acre of land, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would require a storm water management permit. The second was the annual phosphorus removal process that was required. However, Werle felt confident that the phosphorus issue could be addressed by a one-time purchase of credits that would cost about $2,000. Werle also said the updated cost estimate was about ten percent more than the original estimate due to the expected removal of coffer dams and sea walls.
Ruby Brabo asked if these could be used elsewhere along the shore. Bennett said the Fairview Beach Resident's Association paid for 200 feet of wall several years ago and that it was holding up well. However, the engineers were reluctant to use that section since they were unsure how it was constructed. It was unclear if the walls could be used elsewhere.
Werle believed the design was impressive and should result in a permanent fix to the erosion problem. He also felt confident that the plan wold be approved by all regulating bodies and continue into Phase 2.
Werle continued his report by stating he met with Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, to discuss Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) requirements on the 9th. On the 10th, Werle sent the water usage evaluation to Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and thanked Hingley for preparing the report. On the 11th, Werle and others met to discuss the installation of gate valves in Fairview Beach but would discuss it in detail later in the evening.
The Consent Agenda was approved.
The County Attorney, Eric Gregory, had no report.
Next on the Agenda was a discussion on the addition of shut-off valves in the Fairview Beach water system. Werle said simply, we need valves. Bennett said he needed to clarify his comments from a previous meeting where he said there were no valves in Fairview Beach. He said in fact there were shut-off valves. However, he said some work, some don't, and some they don't know where they are. He added that some are even located under roads. Bennett said the bottom line was that they don't have enough valves to make repairs easier for workers and reduce the impact for customers. He also said it was a complicated issue that could be expensive. He said the estimated cost was $2,500 per valve.
Werle corrected him and said the estimated cost was $1,500 per valve. Brabo asked if that included installation and Werle said it did. Dr. Young, County Administrator, added that the estimate does not include those blocked by roads. Werle said if Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) made them mill each side of the road for repairs, it could raise the cost into the tens of thousands.
In answering Brabo's questions from the previous meeting, Werle added that the last major upgrade was in 2011 when a new eight inch main was installed. He said design drawings were done and presumably most of the existing shut-off valves were installed at that time. Werle said it was hard to say if any were installed originally and echoed Bennett's earlier comments that there aren't enough in the right locations to reduce customer impact. Werle said the problem was compounded by the fact that the water supply system was a loop so even if one valve was used, water may still make it's way around the loop to the other side. He said with the recent repair, there was still water pressure after the valve was used and they eventually had to turn off the supply plant. Despite this, there was still enough pressure in the lines that it was flowing like a fire hose at the repair site. Werle said he has tasked Dean Hougland with a two step project. Step one is to determine where valves could be installed on the looped area and step two would be to identify all of the other areas where valves could be installed. Werle said that depending on how many valves would need to be installed, it may become a larger capital project.
Bennett added that the related problem is that the recent repair was due to a leak that has been repaired twice since July. He said these same problems are probably throughout the entire cast iron system and that it won't last forever. He said that repairs will continue to be necessary in Fairview Beach and other systems like Dahlgren. Bennett said it was a pay for it now or pay for it later scenario.
Dan Hingley, Interim General Manager, then began his report. He said on the waste water treatment side, progress was continuing to be made on the corrective actions from DEQ as well as improving system operations. The Dahlgren Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), Hopyard WWTP, Fairview Beach WWTP, and Purkins Corner WWTP all showed signs of reduced Total Phosphorus (TP) that were under the DEQ permit limits. Additionally, Dahlgren WWTP and Purkins Corner WWTP had reduced Total Nitrogen (TN) levels.
Bennett interrupted and said that he wanted to point out that all five of the WWTPs had problems and that four were fixed fairly quickly. He said his point was that the problems were complicated and that was why the Purkins Corner WWTP was taking so long to resolve because of the time needed to troubleshoot and experiment. He said the good news is that all five plants are now operating within their permit limits.
Hingley said that the Purkins Corner WWTP did have an unauthorized discharge around 2am the night the hurricane came through. He said the storm likely wasn't the cause of the issue but that it was cleaned and repaired within a few hours and the spill was reported to DEQ as required.
Hingley then provided a summary chart of the inflow and infiltration into the WWTP systems. This is simply ground water that gets into the WWTP process and unnecessarily gets treated with the waste water. While Hingley couldn't quite put a recommended amount on it for Bennett, he said the percentages were high enough to be noticeable as four of the five WWTPs had over 30%. Bennett did jokingly ask if there was any report where Fairview Beach wasn't number one.
Bennett then asked if one of the sources was an underground stream of some sort at Fairview Beach and Hingley said yes, and it was blocked off. However, he noted that because it was blocked below ground, the water from the underground stream is now coming to the surface and creating mud and sink holes.
Continuing his report and moving to the water system side of the Service Authority, Hingley said they are continuing to identify maintenance and CIP needs as well as painting water tanks. Brabo took a moment to remind everyone that other counties solicit major corporations to pay for painting water tanks in exchange for having their logo painted on the tank. Hingley continued by adding that surface storage tanks are easier to find painting vendors for while the elevated tanks are harder.
Hingley said VDH conducted an inspection earlier in the day and they were happy to see progress being made in the right direction. He said the third well in Fairview Beach is still being worked on and the interconnect project for the Courthouse water system is scheduled to begin the week of the 22nd. Hingley also said that November 5th would be his last day, making this his last report for the Board, but he would continue to work on making improvements until then. He thanked the Board for indulging him and his complex reports.
Werle said he loved his reports and the public does too and thanked him for his hard work. Brabo also thanked Hingley adding "it has truly been a pleasure." Bennett said we weren't sure the Service Authority could meet the requirements set by DEQ but now knows it can and hopes to keep the momentum going. Bennett said Hingley had set a very high standard. There was a call from the audience to give Hingley a round of applause and the crowd in the Board room obliged.
The meeting adjourned at 7:19pm with no Closed Session.
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 November 13, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the Revercomb Building.
Previous Meeting:
Read about the previous Service Authority Meeting.
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