Tuesday - July 20: Wellsville Village Council held a Special meeting this past Tuesday afternoon at Village Hall. The purposes of the meeting was to award a contract for the aerobic digester conversion construction project and the work being done on the bear trap in McQueen's Run. Present at the meeting was Council Pro-Tem Rosie Goss, Council Members Susan Haugh, John McMahon, Joe Soldano, Randy Allmon and Tony Cataldo. Also attending was Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Administrator Jim Saracco, Zoning Administrator Rick Williams, WFD Chief Bill Smith and WPD Acting Chief Lt.Ed Wilson.
Project Engineer Bill Boyle of GG&J announced that three bids were received by the Village for converting the digesters at Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) from anaerobic to aerobic ones. Mike Pusateri Excavating submitted the low bid at $451,862. The other two bids were submitted by W. Downing of Poland, OH, and Cattrell of Toronto, OH. Cattrell had the high bid of $498,800. The engineer's estimate for the job was $485,000. Boyle remarked all three firms were reputable and all had done work at the STP in the past.
Boyle also explained that in a 1980 expansion project at the STP there was an emergency generator installed that included a 550 gallon underground fuel tank which would not comply with State Fire Marshall Codes today. It was brought out in a recent plant evaluation done yearly by STP operator United Water. It would be very expensive to bring that tank up to code to satisfy EPA requirements that are part of the conversion project. Boyle suggested that the tank be replaced with an above ground 250/275 gallon tank that could be put in the garage at the plant. He estimated that the price would be in the range of $25,000/$30,000 and could be added as a Change Order to the construction contract. An actual estimate for buying and installing a new tank would have to be gotten from Pusateri.
The project will be paid for with an ARC OMEGA grant and 50/50 loan/grant from Ohio Public Works Issue 1 money. The loan will be at 0% interest with a 20 year pay back. With a motion by Cataldo and a second from Allmon, Council voted to award the contract to Pusateri. With another motion by Cataldo and second by Allmon, Council approved the Change Order to replace the fuel tank. Boyle advised Pusateri wants to mobilize by August 1 to get started on the conversion project.
Next on the agenda was the bear traps located on McQueen's Run. Bear traps are slotted fence type structures across the creek that allow the water to flow through but traps larger debris from getting past that could clog up the storm sewer system. There are two of them on that creek. McQueen's Run goes underground at the Route 7 on-ramp off Route 39 (Aten Ave.) and flows into the Village storm sewer system. Following two or three rain falls in early June those traps were found to be clogged up. The rain that fell in the late afternoon/early evening of June 2 dumped over three inches of rain in a short time flooding many areas in the Village. The damage from the wind and rain and flooding at the ball park forced the closing of the Fireman's Homecoming opening that evening. The traps needed cleaned out.
At a Finance Committee meeting last week the Fiscal Officer advised the committee that, in his estimate, from what he's been told, the cost of cleaning the traps is going to be much more that what was anticipated. He'd been told that the contractor had heavy equipment and cement trucks in use. He further stated he had no purchase order, estimate, nothing on what's being done. The Village Administrator was to asked to find out what is going on with the traps, get an estimate on cost and report back.
In a letter dated July 19, LSW Industrial Services stated the estimated cost is $39,200. In addition to cleaning out the bear trap they were in the process of building a whole new one. This included installing a new access road, access points and landings for future cleaning. Once completed they would restore landscaping. The access road is believed to be an old alley that is no longer used but was never abandoned. The old alley goes from Henry Avenue down to the creek. It use to cross the creek and come out on Route 39 before that side was made a trailer park.
At the Special Council Meeting, to make a long story short, no one present knew that the additional work was going on. No one knew of the cost. The Fiscal Officer stated the Mayor had come to him to ask if the money was there to pay for it. He asked "how much?" believing the Mayor was talking about cleaning only. The Mayor never got back to him. Council Member Sue Haugh stated that "five years ago Jarvis cleaned it out for $3,100". Everyone thought it was going to be around $5,000 to clean them out this time. Everybody was aware they were going to be cleaned out.
No one knew who declared it an emergency and authorized the work be done. Saracco said he didn't and he's never seen a purchase order. All the Council members denied any knowledge of it. Chief Smith advised that after inspecting the storm damage in June he recommended they be cleaned. He said he does not have the authority to declare it an emergency. It is not a part of the flood system and didn't present any fire hazard. Smith did say he thought it should be done as soon as possible in case of another heavy rain. With the present condition of the traps, if it should rain more, the debris could possibly get around the traps into the storm sewer system. Soldano remarked there is some bad communication prompting Saracco to say there's been no communication.
Sue Haugh asked where do we go from here? How are we going to pay for this. Do we have the money to pay for this? McMahon stated the only one who can answer the questions is not present. He remarked they need to talk to the Mayor. It was decided to see how far along LSW is and to get a more definite cost figure before doing anything further. The meeting was adjourned at 2:46 P.M.
Following the meeting we went to see what was going on. The first picture above is what the trap looked like after the June rain. The second is the same trap as it looked Tuesday. The third is the new trap being built and the fourth is the access road. A resident that has lived next to this for over 30 years told us about the old alley saying he has never heard of it being abandoned. Although no longer used and being over grown it is still believed to be a Village alley.
Returning to Village Hall Saracco advised that LSW should have the work completed by Friday. He was advised the cost shouldn't be any more than the $39,200 shown in the July 19 letter.
In her article on the meeting in Wednesday's newspapers, Jo Ann Bobby-Gilbert reported she got a call from the Mayor later Tuesday. Surace said he was at fault for the failure to communicate with Council. He said he decided to go ahead with the project for the safety of the Village and with the Fire Chief telling him the condition of the traps could endanger Village residents and the sewage system.
Surace said he declared it an emergency and contacted LSW since they were in town and could get to it quickly. He added that the water didn't go down for three weeks which delayed starting. Seeing no sense having to spend $5,000 every year to have them cleaned he decided "to move forward with replacing the old traps".
Gilbert wrapped up her article reporting "Surace said he expects money for the project to be taken from the sewage fund which he said carries a healthy balance of between $300,00 and $400,000". He must be referring to the Sewage Update Fund which had a balance of $368,848 as of June 30.
Can Sewage Update money be used for storm sewers?
ole nib
11 comments:
Wouldn't the bigger question be "Is this really storm sewage?". We are not talking about water that only occurs during rain fall. This is a steady flow of water, a creek, that is fed by one natural spring that we know of, and I'm sure plenty of others. This water comes out into the pondage area and to the river. Wouldn't this really be considered part of the flood system?
jobob questioned village officials before when they wanted to use sewage money for other things...nothing was done, at least nothing written about it.
The Mayor ordered the work. Make the Mayor pay for it!
Just Asking - From the tone of things at the meeting storm sewers have nothing to do with the flood system. For the ville the flood system means specifically the floodwalls & earthen dikes. Granted water from McQeens Run can cause flooding, especially after a heavy rain but in normal weather it isn't a problem. In this situation the WVFD only gets involved pumping out cellars & such and clearing roadways blocked by fallen limbs to keep the streets open for emergency vehicles.
nib
Why Bother - It's our opinion that the storm sewer system has nothing to do with the sewage system. The EPA doesn't allow storm sewers to be tied in with the sewage system and Village officials have been working for years to make sure Wellsville is in compliance. Remember the smoke testing done over the years to find residents who have down spouts piped into the sewage lines? The last time it was done was in Russell Hts. That was common practice at one time but it is no longer allowed. It causes the waste water treatment plant to be flooded after heavy rains, posing a potential for contamination of our rivers & streams with untreated waste. There are still some problem areas in town.
The Sewage Update fund the Mayor is obviously referring to with a "healthy balance" is being held to eventually be used on the Highland Avenue project. If the STAG funds are ever released that "healthy balance" will go down in a hurry. Plans are to use the Update money & STAG money to pay for that $1 million plus project.
We have to agree that if the Update money is used to pay for the new bear trap it will have to be as a loan, such as the loans they made from various funds to pay for the new roof at Village Hall. They are still trying to figure out how to repay those funds that was used for the roof. How are they going to ever repay a loan from another fund? That question is what has more than one Council member very concerned. What they thought was going to be a $5,000 job has multiplied almost eight times in cost. Money is very tight to just maintain the Village for day-to-day operations and there is little hope it's going to get much better in the foreseeable future.
nib
nib
"Money is very tight to just maintain the Village for day-to-day operations and there is little hope it's going to get much better in the foreseeable future". Along with your statement, the outlook for the fire levie to pass is very slim and the future of the fire department staying open looks more and more in doubt. Wellsville needs to become aware of what is going on with the money we have and the money we don't have. The fire department does much more than answer emergencies.
You're talking apples & oranges comparing the fire levies to what is going on paying for the bear trap. Passing the levies will be the decision of the voters in the Village. Getting that passed will largely depend on how all of Wellsville's fire fighters plus the Village officials campaign for its approval. Our fire fighters are an invaluable assest to our community. The dedication, performance and devotion of our volunteers would put many full time fire companies to shame.
Years ago, back in LaScola's adminisration, it was suggested to eliminate the full time firefighters & go with an all volunteer department. That proved to be immensely unpopular & the volunteers threatened to move out of town. Consequently the idea was discarded. Is that sentiment lying dormant on both sides of that issue? We haven't heard any mention of eliminating the full time department lately but one does have to wonder all the same. Like the bear trap issue it all boils down to money. Although I don't relish the thought of having to pay more taxes any more than the next person, we do support passing both fire levies in the fall.
Yes, Wellsville does need to become aware of the money we have to operate with. It's our tax dollars at work and with declining property evaluations it's less than what it was three years ago. With today's economic conditions it is extremely important for understanding what is going on. It's one of our goals and it's been awhile since the news was very encouraging. It certainly makes you wonder about the thought process behind the decision to get a new bear trap constructed at this point in time.
nib
nib people do not relize that there are 2 fire departments 1 is the wellsville volunteer department and the other is the wellsville fire department they are actually 2 separate departments that try to work hand in hand to supply protection to the village and surrounding area residence in the time of need we need to support these men they do a great job for such a small department
Agreed...
nib
My concern for the fire levie is if it doesn't pass. What will happen with the fire department? You said it is apple and oranges compared to the bear trap situation. My thinking goes much farther than the levie money. What about the village as a whole, it could cost much more in terms of lives, property and the many services the fire department provides. The bear trap finances is a drop in the bucket compared to the levie. Another question that should be f major concern. Does the village have a back up plan if the levie doesn't pass?
Your concern is well placed. From our point of observation the present sentiment of some Council members is to wait & see what the voters want. The current levies do not expire until the end of 2011. The levies will first appear on the ballot this coming November General Election. If they do not get passed then there will be three or four more chances on future ballots.
Today the regular Fire Dept. consists of two men - the Chief & one fire fighter. There are two more positions open that go unfilled due to financial conditions.
Wellsville's saving grace is the Volunteer Fire Fighters. As one commenter noted the Volunteers work hand to hand to supply protection to the village & surrounding area. He said they do a great job for such a small department. We think the Volunteers do a fantastic job and absolutely agree they deserve our support. If it wasn't for the Volunteers our fire departments would be tremendously understaffed and woefully short on equipment.
Although nothing has been mentioned we're sure back up contingencies are on the minds of many. Right now it's wait & see. In the meantime the two levies need to be seriously promoted.
nib
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