Technical Advisory Council

for

Onsite Wastewater Treatment

 

Minutes August 31, 2005

 

1.       Call to order 9:50 a.m.

 

2.       Present Del Mokma, Bryant Wilke, Chuck Cousino, Ron Lindsay, Gary White, Regina Young, Ric Falardeau, Tony Drautz, Corky Overmyer, William Danly and Ted Loudon

 

3.       Review of Member list. Not all members received the recent emails. Regina will send again, confirm receipt requested.

 

4.       Welcome of new members representing MWEA: Corky & William

 

5.       Review and approval of agenda

 

6.       Review of meeting minutes for 6-21-05: Regina will email minutes again and members are to review and respond to Chuck with yea or nay.  Minutes approved 9-26-05 and November 4, 2005

 

7.       Old Business:

 

·         Filter Fabric Specifications: Ted presented revised filter fabric document. Ted discussed the weight specification and suggested a change to reflect a weight not to exceed 2.0 oz. per square yard and tear strength to 8 pounds.  Ted motioned to revise the weight and puncture strength. Del second. All ayes. Discussion: The sources of the properties shown on the guidance document were a compilation of available materials, including ADS documentation, Wisconsin’s listing/approval, an Orenco sheet and a SRW Product (Distributed by SimTech). Discussions with State of Washington and Wisconsin were also considered in the selection of the properties. The purpose of document and methodology of drafting the advisory was reviewed with new members. Ted will send document to Regina. Regina will forward it to Tony to convert to pdf file. Tony will post to the MALEHA listserve. The specification sheet will also be posted on the TAC website.

·         Commercial Flow Study: The student has sought other opportunities. Ted will work on and draft by October 1.

·         Site Compaction: Ted provided a report on the status of pricing information and status of including pricing information and order form on the web site.

·         Wisconsin Website: Ric provided copies of a summary of the Wisconsin’s web site listing.  Ric will forward to Regina to be sent to Ben Foster. The summary will serve as an addition to the TAC activities on the website under the link to Wisconsin.

·         Concrete Tank Manufacturers: Dan Wagner met with the Precast Concrete Association. Issue of water tight septic tanks was discussed, resources gathered, discussions held and they began the process to create concrete septic tank documents regarding mix, strength and testing.

·         Training Center: Work to renew the training center facilities components was begun. Work included repair to the sand filters and above ground distribution piping that were  effected by the weather/exposure, trenches were improved, etc. Still need to complete work on the Clearstream unit. An EZ flow system was installed. Ted is discussing another day of activities in October. Ted to send out another email requesting volunteers for help. Existing System’s evaluation class canceled. Soils training upcoming. Discussion regarding means of getting word out for Training Center schedule. Consideration of placing under TAC web area. Regina will check to see if on the MEHA calendar. Corky to get link to schedule for the MWEA. Discussion regarding septage waste haulers now being required to obtain CEU’s training of septage waste haulers and potential class curriculum created for haulers. MDEQ has training dollars available for the haulers to obtain the CEU’s. A brief written description outlining existing courses could be presented to MDEQ for review and approval. Ted will submit request to MDEQ for approval.

·         State Sanitary Code: Ric report on status of meetings with Senator Birkholz. A redraft for statewide point of sale and/or mandatory inspection every 10 years, and mandatory pump out inspection of tank only. In addition, a separate bill regarding the strategic water quality initiative fund to: 1. take money to fund the creation of a statewide web-based tracking system for all inspections, 2. fund local health department to access web, and 3. education. Also, Senator Birkholz discussion regarding an advisory council to work on statewide code. After an August 8th meeting, Senator’s office suggested meeting with MDEQ to begin work on the major issues. Discussion regarding MIS (management information systems) products already available. Discussion of fees, means of reporting findings, and pending submittal of a Senate bill soon. Group discussion of the issues followed.

·         MDEQ Guidance Document: DEQ has started work with a group to draft what issues should be addressed. An outline was discussed. Intended users would include various groups, including MDEQ, LHD, developers, and private sector engineers. An outline of the document was presented to TAC. Discussion regarding content. Ric requested any suggestions and assistance in creating document The MDEQ and LHD group will be meeting soon.

·         Technology Transfer: Ted discussed the multitude of publications available at www.ndwrcdp.org/publications.cfm. He suggested that each TAC member review and author an summary which could be printed in our associations’ newsletters and/or  websites. All publications are available through National Small Flows. First step could be a review of a state of the art assessment, which is a really good three part document. Each of the three documents included has an executive summary. Group discussion on how to get the summaries to the association audiences followed. Each member is to look over website and/or studies available and consider whether TAC would like to begin project of summarizing studies for newsletter. Chuck will place on the next agenda.

 

8.       New Business:

·         Chuck present draft synopsis of TAC for posting in journals, listserv, etc. Chuck will send via email for members to review, and comment back as soon as possible.

·         Ric reported a potential for the federal government to severely reduce funding for Small Flows. Ted reports that NOWRA working on a response. Ric will forward email regarding this issue to TAC members.

·         William Danly inquired about composition of the group that is working on the Community System Guidance Document. Ric clarified that additional groups would be included.

·         Future meeting dates: November 4, 2005 at the Agronomy Barn.

 

9.        Adjourn 12:15 pm.

 

Prepared by: Regina Young, Secretary