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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.a.4) General Manager Written AnnouncementsBoard Meetinq of October 18, 2012 Written Announcements: Staff Update a) Upcoming Retirement �q.y) Bill Echols, Field Operations Superintendent in Collection System Operations, will retire on November 17, 2012, after nearly 24 years of service. Project Updates b) Public Bidding on District Rental Property Improvements, District Project 8224 This project consists of improvements to the Annex building across the street from the Headquarters Office Building (HOB). The improvements include building a temporary permit counter and making improvements to the parking lot and interior of the annex building to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The engineer's estimate for this work is $55,000 and it is scheduled for completion in time for the staff relocation associated with the HOB Seismic project. The project will be advertised on October 20 and 25, 2012. c) Update on Outfall Improvements (Phase 6), District Project 7290 As part of the Outfall Improvements (Phase 6), District Project 7290, fully treated final effluent flow was bypassed from the 72 -inch reinforced concrete pipe outfall pipeline to Lower Walnut Creek. Over 1,500 pipe joints were inspected with 368 of the pipe joints repaired using Weko seals. Nearly 600 Weko seals were installed under previous outfall projects, bringing the total number of Weko Seals installed to 955. Plant flow was returned to the outfall on October 11. The submarine portion of the outfall has been stabilized and protected from boat anchors with ballast rock, and the marine manhole access structures have been repaired. The new in -line magnetic final effluent flow meter has been installed, and is currently being calibrated. Treatment Plant d) Update on Co -Gen Incident of March 29, 2012 At the Board meeting on October 4, 2012, District staff reported that the Cogeneration System was operating and making full power, but that the steam system was not at full capacity. On October 5, the cogeneration steam system was restored to full operational Written Announcements October 18, 2012 Page 2 of 2 capacity. Staff is currently working on securing a short-term, one -year maintenance contract with Solar Turbine and will follow up with negotiating a longer term agreement. e) PG &E Refund for March 9, 2012 Natural Gas Outage On March 8, 2012, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG &E) notified the District that a leak had been detected on the high pressure gas transmission line that supplies the Treatment Plant, and that they would be shutting down the line and would not be able to provide natural gas to the Treatment Plant. As a result, Treatment Plant staff was required to shut down the Cogeneration System, a major source of steam to the Treatment Plant. During that time, Acme Fill experienced a failure of their landfill gas compressor and landfill gas was not available. With both fuel sources unavailable, Treatment Plant staff started the electric blower and fired the auxiliary boilers on diesel fuel in order to provide sufficient aeration air to the aeration tanks. Natural gas was unavailable for approximately 24 hours. As a result, the District incurred additional power costs for operations of the electric blower and additional fuel costs for the boilers. The District filed a claim against PG &E in the amount of $19,612.40 for the additional costs due to the outage. On September 28, 2012, PG &E issued a check for the full amount of the claim. Household Hazardous Waste Facility f) Fire Occurrence at Household Hazardous Waste Facility On Saturday, October 6th at approximately 9:45 p.m., a fire started in a trash can (a 55- gallon drum) located in the waste identification Lab Area at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility. The fire was contained to the trash can. The proximity of the trash can to a single fire sprinkler head caused that one sprinkler to discharge and extinguish the fire, so that only minor cosmetic, non - structural damage resulted. Emergency personnel responded, but the fire was fully extinguished when firefighters entered the building. HHW Staff were onsite within the hour and cleaned up the water from the sprinkler system. The facility was open and fully operational the following Monday morning. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The investigation will also review whether different equipment or facility procedures would prevent a similar fire from occurring in the future.