april 27, 2015 public works department city council …
TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 27, 2015 PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT CITY COUNCIL UPDATE BART STEPP, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
PROJECTS COMPLETED LAST MONTH 1. Horseshoe Lake Park Shelter Renovations – Rollup doors at the entrance ways and concession window and
covers on the wall openings have been completed.
2. Annual Traffic Impact Fee Analysis – Attached is the annual analysis of traffic impact fees. Based on the analysis
the Traffic Impact Fee base rate of $838 should remain the same.
PROJECTS IN PROGRESS
3. Waste Control Contract – The City’s existing contract with Waste Control for solid waste services expires on
12/31/15. City Council has in the past asked about providing 35 gallon container service in addition to the 60
gallon and 90 gallon containers currently provided. This would require additional costs by Waste Control for new
carts and to retrofit equipment. Attached is a proposal by Waste Control. In exchange for extending the contract
another 10 years they would provide 35 gallon carts at no extra charge. Costs for a 35 gallon and 60 gallon
customer would be the same. Joe Willis with Waste Control will be at workshop to discuss the proposal with you.
4. Scott Reconnection Study Project – Received letter from WSDOT on 4/20 stating they will not review project or
reimburse expenses after 4/29 (letter attached). BergerABAM was notified and will shut down the project. Jilma
Jimenez of BergerABAM will be at workshop to discuss options with Council.
5. Large Water Meter Repair – Staff in process of replacing all old water meters 1” or larger in town. All meters
larger than 1-1/2” have been replaced. Staff goal is to complete replacement of 1-1/2” meters by June 2015.
6. South Woodland Safe Walking Route Project (SRTS) – WSDOT approved design deviation to allow for keeping a
utility pole in place by narrowing sidewalk for a short section. Final plans submitted to WSDOT for review on
March 27th. Hope to go out to bid in May with construction occurring this summer. Work will also include some
adjusting of the right-of-way in front of the Gardens. The right-of-way adjustments will need to be approved by
City Council prior to construction.
7. General Sewer Plan –Gray & Osborne has submitted draft plan to Ecology for comments.
8. 2015 Comprehensive Park Plan –A draft plan was reviewed by the Park Board on 4/15/15. Park Board will make
final recommendation at May meeting. The Park Plan will then be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the
City will have an open house on the Park Plan to receive feedback. Current schedule is to get a plan to the City
Council for review and approval this summer or early fall.
9. WWTP Maintenance Building Roof – Contractor has been given notice to proceed, system submittal was
approved, and building permit application for new roof was submitted to building official.
10. 2014 CDBG Project (Old Town Connections) – Notice to proceed was given to River Country Construction on
April 17. Work will occur in May and June.
11. 300 E. Scott Fire Station Project – Cowlitz PUD removed electrical services, area lights, and some poles. Frontier
removed phone services. Building official issued demolition permit. Columbia Pacific Construction has cleaned
out some material and has had an asbestos inspection completed which identified two different areas with
asbestos. Demolition can’t begin until asbestos demolition permit is received from the Southwest Clean Air
Agency.
12. SR 503/E Scott Intersection Project – City Council awarded construction contract to Tapani, Inc. and construction
management services contract to SCJ Alliance on April 20th. City signed the last right-of-way purchase needed on
April 22nd. Actual construction is expected to start in Mid-May.
13. Ranney Well Pump #3 – The third Ranney Well Pump will be rehabilitated in May. In 2013 and 2014 we
rehabilitated pumps 1 and 2, this year it is 3. This is part of the water system maintenance budget.
14. Wastewater Plant Facility Audit and Operator Review – Veolia has completed two monthly reports (attached)
from their operator who is reviewing operations at the plant. The items raised in the monthly reports that do not
require large capital investments have been corrected or addressed. Items like the computer asset management
software and upgrades to the control (SCADA) system are significant cost items that are not budgeted for this
year. One of the identified projects in the 20 year Operations Plan approved last year by City Council was to
implement an asset management system by 2019 for all of Public Works which would include the Wastewater
Treatment Plant. The schedule in that plan was starting in 2015 staff would research asset management systems
for possible purchase of a system in 2016 or 2017. The intention is to start that work this fall. Once the software
is purchased it will take some time to insert data into the system and train staff in the use of the software. The
upgrade to the SCADA system is identified as a high priority capital improvement project in The General Sewer
Plan that is currently under review by the Department of Ecology. Once the General Sewer Plan is approved the
projects in the Capital Improvement Plan can be completed using Sewer Reserve Funds.
The Department of Ecology came and inspected the plant on March 27th at the request of WWTP Superintendent
Mark Morgan but the City has not yet received a report from that inspection. All of the site visits for the facility
audit have been completed but Veolia has not submitted the audit to the City.
PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR AGENDA IN MAY
15. South Woodland Safe Walking Route Project (SRTS) – At May 4th meeting City Council will vote on resolution to
approve an ordinance to vacate some existing right-of-way in front of a portion of the Lilac Gardens in exchange
for dedication of some other right-of-way in front of the Gardens. This has been negotiated with the Gardens
and will allow for a more uniform right-of-way in the area. Council would vote on the ordinance to approve the
vacation at the June 4th City Council meeting. Attached are maps and legal descriptions of the areas vacated and
the area to be dedicated.
Use Type Trip Rate Units of Measure Bypass Trip % Developed Units Developed Trips Undeveloped Units Undeveloped TripsIndustrial 3.8 Acres (Total) 379.0 1440.2 596.8 2267.8Commercial 55 Acres (Total) 20 128.6 5658.4 118.5 5213.1SF Residential 1.00 Homes 1410.0 1410.0 631.0 631.0Mobile Home 0.59 Units 320.0 188.8 0.0 0.0Multi‐Family 0.62 Units 564.0 349.7 581.0 360.2Park 0.19 Acres (Total) 7.5 1.4 45.2 8.6Schools 1.20 Building Sq. Feet 242.3 290.8 149.8 179.8Trips = Trip Rate x Units x (1 ‐ Bypass Trip %) Total Dev. Trips: 9339.3 Total Undev. Trips: 8660.5
TIF Eligbile Ratio = Undeveloped Trips/ Total Trips 0.48TIF Eligible Costs = $15,100,000‐TIF Revenue Received $15,066,372TIF Eligible Funding = TIF Eligible Ratio * TIF Eligible Costs $7,249,127
PM Peak Hour TIF = TIF Eligible Funding / Undeveloped Trips $837.03
Numbers in bold are changes from the 2014 analysis. The 2014 analysis calculated a TIF of $837.69. The difference between 2014 and2014 is not significant enough to warrant changing the existing TIF Fee of $838 per PM Peak Hour Trip.
Changes include 18 new single family homes, 1 duplex, 36 apartment units, and the O'Reilly's store.
2015 City of Woodland Traffic Impact Fee Analysis
G:\Public works\Transportation\TrafficImpactFees(TIF)\2015 TIF Analysis.xlsx 4/22/2015
March 17, 2015
To: Bart Stepp, Woodland PWD
Veolia Overview of Woodland WWTP Operations through March 10th
Veolia staff has visited the Woodland wastewater treatment plant weekly to make
observations, audit operations and maintenance practices, review record keeping and
regulatory compliance and to consider what program areas may be in need of
development. Communications and collaboration with Woodland staff have been very
positive.
The City of Woodland has a 2.0 MGD SBR WWTP plant designed by Gibbs and Olson
from Longview, WA. Current average daily flow is around 0.5 MGD and the plant is
about 13 years old. Solids are wasted into one of two aerobic digesters and about every
4-6 weeks a local hauling company transfers the sludge to area agricultural properties.
Veolia was unable find proper documentation on the hauled material volumes/pounds.
Operationally the plant performs very well; effluent quality is excellent and odors are
minimal. There is an O&M manual but it does not appear to be referenced or used.
Process control decisions are based upon MLSS concentration with summer and winter
set points. The UV disinfection system has historically not performed well and has
limited automatic controls. The system initially appears to be undersized but further
investigation is needed. Some non-functioning capacitors have randomly been
replaced. There are concerns with the low bulb intensity.
Maintenance for the Plant is provided by the Public Works Department (PWD) on an “as
needed” basis. According to staff, there are 14 pump stations and keeping up with their
ongoing maintenance is challenging. Overall implementation of the maintenance
program is simply reactionary; when equipment breaks down, the PWD staff is called
upon to fix it. Maintenance tracking and documentation need further development and
implementation. Currently, the only form of maintenance documentation is notation in
the “Operator’s Log Book”. It does not appear that the maintenance program has ever
been audited. A simple Asset Management tracking and monitoring system is needed
to better protect City assets and to extend useful life of the equipment. It appears a
form was created a while ago for City staff to document Daily, Weekly and Monthly
Preventative Maintenance (PM) but Veolia was unable to find such documentation for
Corrective Maintenance or Predictive Maintenance. These forms are completed by
hand and placed in a binder; however, they were not up-to-date. There were months
where work was done but not documented. City staff is now tracking this PM
information once again. The City needs a more formal maintenance tracking program.
Documented asset management for each individual piece of equipment is the industry
standard, ensuring the appropriate tracking of work history instead of relying on staff
memory. Even at a minimum, a notebook log tracking each piece of major equipment
with its work history would be helpful to have from a historical perspective.
It did not appear equipment was labeled with an organized equipment identification
system. Inventory control, organization, monitoring and documentation is not properly
being performed or documented. Equipment and supply ordering is also not done in an
organized and reliable manner. Having a master inventory list of equipment is a critical
component of Asset Management, knowing first what you have, the specifications of
what you have, how old it is, when routine maintenance is required, and tracking what
repairs/replacements were and are being done.
City operations staff is in need of general computer skills training. Veolia recommends
staff take basic courses in Microsoft Excel and Word to help track activities and to better
manage process control. All computer-related activities appear to be performed by
Public Works office staff five miles away. Each time something office-related is needed,
staff would drive over to the Public Works office (sometimes four times a day) to have it
done. It is common industry practice to enter lab data, work, maintenance and results
into a computer system for better effective data management. Quality control of such
entries is also a minimum standard; but, neither are taking place in Woodland, which
was also a concern raised by the Department of Ecology.
The SCADA system is in dire need of an upgrade. When an after-hour alarm condition
is present, the alarm system calls out the alarm but it doesn’t distinguish what the
source of alarm condition is. So each time an alarm goes off the on-call or on-duty
Operator has to come onsite to find out what it is. This is extremely ineffective and
expensive. Simple programming upgrades can help identify what the alarms are and
reduce the number of required alarm responses. An upgraded SCADA system with
remote laptop access would dramatically improve Woodland’s Operations especially
considering the current staffing level.
Veolia prides itself as the industry-leader in Safety. Woodland is sincerely in need of a
formal Safety Program. Current and past safety practices are too risky for the City. We
don’t necessarily believe that it is because staff has become complacent, we believe it
is because they have not received the proper safety training. Staff does not even use
the bare minimum personal protective equipment such as hard-hats, safety glasses,
gloves, hearing protection or vests anywhere at the plant. There were several places
within the plant that would be identified by OSHA as “confined space” and access
should immediately be limited. Unfortunately, it appears that no gas monitoring, fall
protection or retrieval equipment is used for confined space entries. In fact, entries are
often made with only one person. If the Public Works Sewer Collections team has the
applicable safety gear, Veolia suggests at a bare minimum that it be shared with the
WWTP staff as practicable. City risk and liability is high under current practices and
conditions; but Veolia can assist the City with such compliance with OSHA and
DOE/EPA rules.
Over the past few weeks, Veolia has seen the City address some of the Safety items as
noted in the DOE inspection report.
Hard Hats, Safety Glasses, Goggles, Gloves and other associated safety
Equipment was ordered and a “Safety Wall” was created in the Maintenance
shop. This is a noted improvement; everything is on display and easily
accessible by all staff.
A sign-in log book is provided for all non-public works visitors and is kept in
the Lab; safety glasses are required for visitor use and are also kept in the
Lab.
Staff was observed performing a blower oil change. We went through the
lock-out/tag-out (LOTO) procedure and the theory behind how it should work
and the protections it provides. The equipment was properly locked, tagged
out, documented and paperwork retained in a binder in the maintenance shop
for future reference. This meets the requirement for the LOTO program,
ready information access and records retention.
An energy management program does not exist but should be developed to reduce
energy consumption. By working through Cowlitz PUD's Industrial Energy Efficiency
Program it is possible to participate in the Northwest Regional Industrial Training Project
for energy efficiency, perform an energy efficiency audit and possibly receive financial
incentives to install more efficient lighting, HVAC equipment, green motor rewinding and
implement industrial custom energy projects which could substantially save the City
much needed funds.
Staffing considerations: with one seasoned operator and an inexperienced newly
transferred City staff member there needs to be better organization, prioritization,
distribution, implementation and documentation of tasks for O&M to be effective.
SCADA and automation improvements would certainly increase effectiveness and
reliability and longevity. Veolia has assisted the new operator in acquiring State DOE
certification documents to become an Operator-in-Training designation. We have also
shared training resources for the operators. Until this new operator is trained up and
becomes experienced enough to operate the facilities alone, the seasoned operator or
other qualified designee needs to make all the process decision-making responsibilities,
key O&M duties and emergency responses. The seasoned operator needs to develop
a close collaborative working relationship with the new operator and translate as much
knowledge and experience as quickly as practicable. Operators need to better
document, record, track, monitor and trend O&M activities.
Note that during the week of February 23rd Flyer Automation Inc. was called in
(Industrial Controls & Automation Solutions) to make some alarm changes to reduce
and eliminate the late night callouts that have plagued the plant over the years. Most of
these were unnecessary alarms and resulted in the compensation for simply coming in
after hours and acknowledging nuisance alarms. Upgrades will be needed in the future
to make the plant more automated and the SCADA system more functional, helping to
reduce wasted staff call-outs.
April 3, 2015
To: Bart Stepp, Woodland PWD
Veolia Overview of Woodland WWTP Operations between March 10th and 24th
March 17th
Veolia operations staff visited the Woodland WWTP and was updated on a process
performance issue with the UV disinfection system which was operating at maximum
output. The UV systems unsatisfactory performance is causing ineffective disinfection
which can lead to poor, high or even false effluent Fecal Coliform (FC) test results. City
staff was concerned with having a high FC permit violation. The WWTP superintendent
did a good job researching and troubleshooting the UV performance issue and
identifying possible solutions. Research suggested that the bulbs purchased from UV
Doctor were bad, possibly due to mercury contamination or poor manufacturer quality
control. City staff requested that UV Doctor send the City new lamps from a different
batch (not from the last batch or lot). WWTP staff will install them as one unit then will
compare any differences. Staff also contacted Aquionics, the original equipment
manufacturer of the UV system to supply some bulbs and quartz sleeves. They of
course stated that the City would see improved performance and better longevity if City
used their products rather than aftermarket. When staff was in the process of making
this change to the other unit, Aquionics notified him they sent the wrong model sleeves
and would expedite the correct ones the next day. Superintendent’s plan was to operate
each unit independently and perform tests on each to compare performance. Lab
results indicate that the two units with the new bulbs from different suppliers operate
similarly and the FC results are within permit limits. Problem was successfully corrected.
Veolia was informed by superintendent that over the weekend a small blower failed.
Two City employees spent much of the day working on the UV system and changing out
the failed blower with a new one. Using this repair as an example, Veolia operations
staff raised concern again regarding the methodology or lack thereof of maintenance
documentation. City staff needs to better record operational changes, corrective
maintenance and preventative maintenance activities that take place at the WWTP. This
still does not appear to be taking place. If not recorded properly and soon, such
historical institutional repair/replacement task information is quickly lost. More
importantly, performing the manufacturers’ recommended maintenance on equipment
does not appear to be taking place. It may be taking place, but if it is, it’s not being
recorded as Veolia would do so.
Safety issues are still a concern; all of the requisite PPE equipment is now available for
staff but they do not appear to be using it. No steel toed shoes, safety glasses or hard
hats have been worn during our onsite presence. A City employee was observed today
by the Veolia operator going up to the SBR to add a bag of HTH (powdered 65%
Chlorine) to control a filamentous organism problem he felt he had and the employee
wore no safety equipment at all. The wind was blowing as is common and HTH could
easily have contacted the skin, entered the eyes or inhaled. The Veolia employee
maintained a safe distance from this activity while it took place. Veolia would strongly
recommend the City have applicable WWTP and any other City staff (i.e. Public Works
staff) that performs work at the WWTP to complete a certified safety training program.
This program should be implemented with the understanding that compliance with all
standard safety practices is mandatory at all times. The City should also develop or
have developed an updated general safety plan with clearly defined Standard Operating
Procedures.
March 24th
This visit focused on plant maintenance management. Currently routine Planned
Maintenance (PM) activities (greasing, oil changes etc.) are performed by staff and are
logged in a hardcopy notebook by organized by month. The more technical and larger
maintenance activities (motor, blower, pump replacements etc.) are not documented.
There is no Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to properly
manage and document assets and maintenance activities. CMMS is critical not only to
maintaining and protecting the City’s assets, but also to help extend the useful life of the
equipment.
Veolia staff created a maintenance tracking form in Microsoft Excel for each major
equipment category (SBR Blower, PAD Blower and UV system). A City employee went
back a few months and entered all repairs that could be documented and recalled. If
properly utilized, this will be a good start for the City WWTP staff to document all
maintenance activities going forward. It should also meet the minimum requirement
from the DOE on record keeping as well.
Veolia EHS&S Manager visited the facilities this week along with a Veolia Operator to
do a walk through and safety review and visit. A comprehensive inspection was
conducted. Safety issues were documented and a task list created for City staff. This
included the Safety Manual and MSDS notebook. The MSDS notebook was not
inclusive of all chemicals on site and was made current that day with Veolia’s
assistance. An EHS&S report was drafted.
David Knight, WA DOE, made a visit to the WWTP on Friday March 27th to do a follow
up audit. Post audit communication with City staff that day was to the effect that Dave
Knight was satisfied with what he saw and that he found no issues and did not
recommend any further changes. Mr. Knight was satisfied with the Lab area, QA/QC
and the Lockout/Tagout and Maintenance Tracking programs that were implemented.
The City staff member said he would forward the DOE audit report to Veolia as soon as
it is received.
March 31st
Site visit focused on addressing Veolia EHS&S Manager safety inspection findings from
last week’s visit. The fuel safety cabinet was moved to the UV building and grounded.
All safety chains were adjusted to the legal heights and barricades were put in place.
An outside receptacle cover was put back onto the outdoor plug-in; it had fallen off. Low
lying trip hazards were painted yellow or yellow safety tape was placed over them. All
hoses were coiled up. It was again noted that the safety manual is outdated and needs
to be updated.