Bob Douglas will remain the chairman of the Bradford Sanitary Authority in 2019.
The board held a reorganizational meeting Tuesday, approving its slate of officers for the year. Other officer appointments are Bob Esch, vice chairman; Norm Strotman, treasurer; and Ernest Clark, secretary.
Additional appointments include Robert Saunders, solicitor; Jack Rae (Gannett Fleming) engineering; Clark, industrial pretreatment coordinator; Douglas and Strotman, finance committee; Esch and Brad Mangel, personnel & safety committee; Rick Brocius and Clark, commercial & industrial committee.
At the regular meeting that followed, the group heard a presentation on 2019 goals for the stormwater management program, which detailed work objectives, priorities and budget allocations, according to Executive Director Rick Brocius.
The group also listened to a report on the heavy rains on New Year’s Eve, which prompted the authority and the city’s Department of Public Works to work on flooding issues from hillside run-off on Maplewood Avenue, Brocius reported.
“As a result, four new catch basins were ordered to replace the deteriorated basins that were full and in poor condition,” he said. “The new basins will be installed when the weather allows, and some bank restoration may be performed to better manage the run-off.”
In other news, Brocius reported that advertising is underway to hire a field crew manager. The position is replacing a field crew foreman position vacated by retirement in 2018, he said.
Brocius explained to The Era, “The field crew manager position will entail a higher degree of managerial skills and responsibilities with a strong focus on the use of new technology to support the GIS mapping and asset management initiatives of the Authority.”
To help fund upcoming sewer system rehabilitation work, Gannett Fleming will assist in preparing a PA Small Water & Sewer grant.
“Currently, BSA field crew staff are compiling a list of those areas in the system where such work would yield the greatest benefit,” Brocius reported. “While the installation of new sewer line may be part if any rehab project, often new technologies that can line the existing pipes with a plastic coating are more cost effective and the least disruptive.”
The group also heard an update on ongoing construction at the wastewater treatment plant.
“Hickes Associates, Pure Tech Electric and Mazza Mechanical Services continue to make good progress on the phase three plant upgrades,” Brocius stated. “Concrete pours and the construction of digester tank #1, along with the installation of new LED lighting in the treatment plant comprise the bulk of recent construction progress.”
The work is part of a three-phase rehabilitation project to replace aging equipment and increase capacity at the plant.
