042418 UAB Minutes

Mountain Iron Utility Advisory Board

Minutes

April 24, 2018

Meeting was called to order 4:00 p.m. by Chairperson Renzaglia

Members present:  Reynold Renzaglia, Harvey Hellyer, Sue Tuomela, Bruce Peterson, and Mike Downs.  Others present:  Joe Prebeg, Council Liaison, Tim Satrang, Public Works Director, Lisa Stevens, Accounting Technician

Moved by Downs and supported by Tuomela to approve the Consent Agenda including the March 27, 2018 minutes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Public Forum:  None

Reports: 

            No outages, No breaks, No reports

Old Business:

• Nichols Lagoons: Satrang reported that he met with Allen Johnson with Benchmark Engineering and Viet representatives.  The project is behind schedule because of the wet conditions in the fall of 2017 and early snowfall.  The Primary pond was originally scheduled to have had a significant portion of the grading and seeded by last fall.  The NPDS permit is under the cities name, therefore the City will assist in pumping water, go through the process of sampling, and discharging the ponds.  With the current dry weather the City will start pumping from the primary pond to the secondary pond, sample the ponds for a pre-discharge requirement, and start discharging immediately when those results are available.  Viet will have at least one dozer on site next week and start grading and mixing biosolids with soils. 
• Water Treatment Facility:  Satrang reported that he, Johnson with Benchmark, Ryan Capelle Stantec Engineering, and Ty Hebl City of Mountain Iron met at the water plant to discuss a strategy moving forward with engineering and seeking funding for the water plant project.  Satrang also informed the Board that the City had a pump fail on well number two.  Peterson Well Drilling will be on site tomorrow to pull the old casing and pump.  Satrang said a new pump has been ordered and is currently being put together and delivered to Mountain Iron.  It is expected that the casing will look similar to well number one casing with pits and corrosion.  New casing will be installed.  Also, well number one had a Variable Frequency Drive added to it so the speed of the motor could be controlled.  It is expected that a new pump would be more efficient (pumping more water) and need to be slowed down to prevent cavitation. Also, a VFD would lessen the in-rush current on startups and be easier on the pump with less torque on the mechanical components.  The current pump being replaced is estimated to be around 17 years old.  Discussion took place on the new well being drilled.  Satrang said in order to find financing for the water tower rehab and the water plant rehab, the well may be put on hold to come up with a total finance plan for the entire water system needs.
• Electrical Voltage upgrades: Crews will continue this spring when time permits. 
• Transformer Storage Area/PCB project: This will continue this spring.
• Garbage Truck Replacement: Because of the uncertainty of the steel pricing, McQueen Equipment would not honor the past expired quote.  They wanted more time to requote a Rapid Rail Packer Body.  Also, Mike Skubic said International is making changes to its truck chassis and coming out with a new model.  For this reason, they are back-ordered and could not have a truck available for another six to eight months.  If the City would order a truck now, it might not take possession of it until next year.  It was recommended by Satrang to keep the chassis and packer body in the same year class and hold off until the new models come out next fall. 

New Business:

Large Trash Pick Up:  Discussion took place on providing the service.  Fees seemed to be ok.  Provides a good service to the citizens.  Has been successful in the past in helping clean up the City. 

Motion by Renzaglia and supported by Hellyer to recommend to the City Council to offer the Large Trash Pick Up and make no changes to the fees.  Motion Passed unanimously.  

Other Items of Concerns:

• Discussion took place on the attached charts of precipitation versus flow to the Wastewater Treatment Facility. Discussion on lift station rehab and cleaning.
• Discussion on the thawing of frost this spring.

Meeting Adjourned 4:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa Stevens

Accounting Technician