Record of Proceedings Kremmling Sanitation District Regular Board Meeting
February 13, 2023
The Board of Directors for the Kremmling Sanitation District met in the boardroom located at 200 Eagle Avenue. The meeting was called to order by President Noble Underbrink at 6:05 p.m. Directors present: Noble Underbrink, Eric Bradley, Alan Hassler, Dave Sammons and Stuart Heller.
Directors absent: None. Staff present: District Manager Rich Rosene, ORC Thom Yoder, Superintendent Scott Weber and Caitlin Parks. Audience present: None.
- Approval of Minutes: Sammons moved to approve the regular meeting minutes of January 9, 2023, as presented. Heller Seconded. Motion Carried
- Approval of Expenditures: Sammons moved to approve the expenditures presented for the period of January 10, 2023, through February 13, 2023, in the amount of $22,845.58. Bradley Seconds. Motion Carried.
Public Comment:
None.
Engineers Report:
- Weber said that he talked to Nick Marcotte of Element Engineering about having the annual reports to CDPHE done in-house. Thom Yoder, Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC), told the board he will do the reports. Underbrink asked when the reports will be done. Yoder said the biosolids report will be a zero report and is due February 19. The other reports are due in the middle of April.
- Weber said he talked to Marcotte about the bio-dome diffuser project for ice reduction. Some electrical work will be needed to provide adequate power to any new diffusers. Marcotte recommended that we wait to have it completed until next fall. He also recommended that we pull at least one of the bio-domes to check the air tubing to see if that has failed.
- Weber met with Mike Hagar of Element Engineering and Rosene to discuss the Grand Cliffs subdivision comments. Hassler asked if the proposal still had alleys and Weber said that they do. He said that Hagar had addressed some concerns about the location of the manholes by the edge of the pavement in the alleys and potential damage by our jet truck and other equipment. Hassler also asked if the flow direction on the middle road went from west to east. Weber and Rosene said they don’t believe there is any west to east flow there and that there is going to be some grade changes in the subdivision to provide cover on the sewer mains. Hassler said that 131 comments had been submitted and that he had heard that a new proposal may have eliminated the alleys. Rosene said that the version of plans they reviewed had the alleys and that they were critical to the developer’s plans for access and parking to the homes.
Operators Report:
- Weber said that he had a proposal from Mike Mann of Wastewater Compliance Systems, the bio-dome company, for pulling some bio-domes out and checking out the air tubing. Mann would like Wade Stinson to come out for the inspection. Mann is concerned that the bottom membranes may be failing and may need to be replaced on all of the biodomes.
- Weber had a conversation with Brandon Cole of Water Technology Group and he said the first couple of years the air was just fine. The bubbles in pond C don’t look like they did and there is some concern as to why.
- Weber said he is starting to schedule for the lift station maintenance is coming up and we are having problems with one pump that is getting too many rags and wipes. We may need to send a letter to the users that flow into the lift station to ask them to not flush those items. Weber asked where we were with the CDOT lift station. Rosene said the will get with Jason Simpson at CDOT about the transfer of the lift station to the district.
- Weber said that we need to decide soon on what our plans will be for the septage receiving station this summer so the haulers can be contacted. Weber said that the annual agreement with Porta Logic for the septage station software is also coming up. He said that if we accept septage for even one month, the agreement should be completed.
- Sammons asked where we are with ammonia removal meeting our permit limits. Weber said we have met the limits through this month but may have a problem in March with our rolling average. Yoder said that the ammonia seen in the process control labs is showing a slight increase, but not as much as last year in April. Yoder said that Weber is doing a good job of managing the air to the bio-domes.
- Yoder said that pond A ice is largely melted off and the 1st cell of pond B is melted. Ponds C
and D are completely iced over. Yoder said that there are times when we are gaining ammonia as the effluent goes through the ponds. - Weber said that the hearing with the Colorado Underground Damage Prevention Safety Commission for the locate violation by Duff Nicola behind the West End Liquors building is coming up.
- Weber said he got a call from a commission member today and they want an answer tonight on our plans to continue on to a hearing or to cancel. Weber said he told the member that he would send him an email after tonight’s meeting with the decision. The hearing is set for February 28 at 1:00 PM. Weber said that anyone can attend the meeting by Zoom. Duff Nicola would like to settle, and the commission does encourage a settlement without a hearing. Weber said that currently he, Mason Zamora and Mike Oros have 2 hours of overtime for the day of the incident. Weber has another 3 hours of administrative time and he and Zamora have 2 hours of camera work time. The line was videoed by Simon Pipeline services for $700.
- Sammons recommended that we send a bill to Nicola for the total costs incurred with a due date. He also felt we should keep the hearing date in case Nicola doesn’t want to pay. Weber said that we can back out of the hearing at any time. He also said there is a camp trailer that appears to be occupied behind the building and he wants to know if it is hooked up to a drop into the service line. If it is hooked up to a clean out, it would be an illegal tap. Underbrink recommended that an invoice be prepared with our costs with a due date of February 24. If it is paid by the date, the hearing can be cancelled; if not paid, the hearing will continue.
- Weber said he has been talking to Marcotte about the reuse water for irrigating the ballfields at the elementary/middle school and the high school. Marcotte said a modification of our reuse permit with CDPHE will be needed. Yoder said that he has been working with Weber about the agronomic rates for application of the reuse water and they will need to work closely with the school district staff about irrigation timing and amounts to keep from pooling any water. There would be a time of use requirement to avoid public contact with the area during irrigation and monitoring the quantities to avoid pooling. Weber said that as the treater, we are required to do the training of the school staff as the user. The school district would then sign off that they have received the training, and they would then be responsible for proper water management.
- Weber said that we do not currently have a cost reimbursement with the Grand Cliffs developer. Rosene said that Hager had sent him an agreement they use and Rosene will prepare one for the district. Hassler asked if the developer intends to do any additional development on the Grand Cliffs property. Rosene said he doesn’t think they can as they are planning for their entire ownership. The school district owns the property to the east and if they decide to do any development for employee housing, they could use the north interceptor.
- Weber said that the lab results have been alright. He said they can’t do some sampling due to the ice on the ponds. He may wait until late March to do that month’s sampling to see if the ammonia levels have dropped. He is not sending the process control labs to ACZ Laboratories and is doing them in-house to save money and to get the results faster. The compliance labs for BOD and TSS are being sent to ACZ.
- Weber said he will be on vacation February 21st through 28th, with no ell service from the 21st through the 27th. He is comfortable with Zamora watching over the operations and Heather Halbritter will do the process labs. He has several other operators available for backup if anything happens.
Business Items:
2023 Election Update. Rosene said one self-nomination form for a 4-year term has been submitted by Hassler. The self-nomination forms for the other 4-year term and the 2-year term must be submitted by February 24th. He will get the forms for the other current board members Sammons and Bradley following the meeting. He has not had any outside interest in the positions. Underbrink said that Heller had brought up filing a lien on overdue accounts to be sure we are in position in case a property sells. Rosene said the other option we have is to do a tax lien with the county treasurer. Yoder said he thought that only 6 months in arrears could be done through the county treasurer. Rosene will get follow up with the town and see about getting liens filed jointly to protect both entities and what the limit is on a tax lien.
Adjournment:
Sammons Moved to adjourn at 7:08 PM. Hassler Seconded. Meeting Adjourned.
Signed:
/s/ Richard A. Rosene
Secretary