Mayor Margo G. Bailey called the meeting to order at 7:42 p.m. In attendance were Councilmembers Harrison C. Bristoll, Jr., Thomas A. Gross, Sr., Mabel Mumford-Pautz and J. Brian Kirby, Medford C. Capel, Utilities Commission Manager, W. S. Ingersoll, Town Manager, Joan Merryman, Stenographer, and guests.

Mayor Bailey asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of the meeting of May 17, 1999. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the minutes be approved as presented, was seconded by Mr. Kirby and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey announced that the Utilities Commission has cash on hand and in banks on June 21, 1999 of $343,872.30.

Mayor Bailey said that the Maryland Rural Waterworks Associations presented an award to Mr. Capel. She said the award was the William F. Eckman Award for the "Decision Maker of the Year for 1999." She introduced Bob Thomas and Joe Everett from the Maryland Rural Waterworks Association. Mr. Everett said that the award was based on MRW going into the field and evaluating the systems through the State and looking at the decision maker for each system and how they are achieving their goals on a yearly basis. He said all of the field staff felt that Mr. Capel was well deserving of the award over many other persons. He read a summary of Med's accomplishments which was read at the annual conference in Ocean City.

Mayor Bailey called on Mr. Capel for his report. He said they had been working on getting the grease out of the Scheeler Road line. He said while pulling the jetter with the cutter and working on the line, it was completely covered with oil that had recently congealed. He said there are cities that making owners of restaurants, etc. furnish the community of schedule of the date, time and company that cleans the grease traps. He said some of the grease traps locally can work if they are properly taken care of, however, that does not always happen. He said there was a piece of equipment on the market, which was expensive but foolproof. He said everything coming from the sinks would go through this equipment and it takes the grease out of the water and it goes into a separate chamber. When the fat in the chamber gets too high, an alarm goes off and the chamber must be emptied. He said that will eliminate having someone come and pump out a grease trap. He said the Town can recommend the equipment but cannot force someone to get a particular kind. However, he said our ordinance states that no grease goes down the sewer line though that is very hard to monitor.

Mr. Capel said a strong letter should be sent to the businesses that have the grease to be disposed of advising them of the ordinance requirements. He said if they do not abide by it they will have to be fined. Mayor Bailey asked if he knew of any towns that have the requirement that the businesses provide a schedule for cleaning out the grease traps. Mr. Capel said he did not know of anyone locally but he could find out. He explained that the water from the sinks in restaurants goes into a separate line to the grease trap. He said he talked to the plumber for the new Pizza Hut and discussed the equipment with them. He said he gave the plumber the name of the company in Connecticut. He said the initial cost of the equipment would be offset in the future because of not having to get the grease trap pumped out all the time. He said when the business does not have the trap pumped out often enough, it stops up the pump and they have problems and the sewer lines clog up.

Mayor Bailey asked Mr. Capel to get more information about the scheduling and reporting process. She said the Town may have to take some kind action to insure that the grease traps are properly serviced.

Mr. Capel reported that a pump motor went bad in Washington Park. He said on the way out there he noticed a water leak. He said another problem had been a line on S. Water (Front) Street that has been jetted out. He said that line was full of sand. He said they ran the camera in and it still showed sand in the pipe. He said they saw no cracks in the pipe. He said when do this they get the honey-dipper there and they charge $100 an hour.

Mr. Capel said a letter had been received from the State telling us that our Consumer Confidence Report had been accepted. He said in October they will tell us how we will notify the public, maybe television and newspaper rather than mailing the letters to each water user.

Mr. Capel said that three years ago we had passed all the tests for lead and copper and did not have to make tests for a three year period. He said we are in the final year and we will have to start the tests again. He said we do 6 tests a month and we have passed the first six. He said we will have to perform tests through September. He said you start at the highest and go down to the lowest and at the 90% point you report the levels. He said if we do not pass this we will have to do the tests every year again. He said the lime and cleansoid (zinc and phosphate) and this has helps.

Mr. Capel discussed an article about a lower shore sewage plant operator who filed tests results with MDE when he had not taken the tests. He said the operator was fined $4,000 and the license was suspended. He said that will mean the man will never be able to work in a wastewater plant again.

Mr. Capel stated that every year we do tests for EPA for suspended solids, BOD and chlorine. He said they have been sending us the ampules that we have to check and we run the test and send the results back to the lab. He said starting this year we will have to buy the ampules and you must buy them from an accredited laboratory certified by EPA. He said he checked on labs on the internet and as of June 18 there was one that had filed for approval.

Mr. Capel said last month he discussed the instrument that had to replace the modules in the control panel. He said he has a price from Retro Electric of $4470 installed. He said that was the only company that has an instrument compatible with our control panel. Mrs. Mumford-Pautz moved that the instrument be purchased from Retro Electric for $4470, was seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Mayor Bailey asked if there any questions or comments. Mayor Bailey asked the Council to review the bills. Mr. Kirby moved that the bills be paid as presented, was seconded by Mr. Gross and carried unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. on a motion by Mrs. Mumford-Pautz, seconded by Mr. Bristoll and carried unanimously.

Submitted by:
Joan Merryman
Stenographer

Approved by:
Margo G. Bailey
Mayor