Columbus, Georgia

NOVEMBER 12, 2001







The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Water Commissioners of

Columbus, Georgia, was held at the office of the Columbus Water Works on

Monday, November 12, 2001, at 1:30 p.m., the following Commissioners being

present:

Kathelen Spencer, Treasurer

Leon Siegel

Harry Vernon



Absent: James Yancey, Chairman

Mayor Bobby Peters



In the absence of Chairman Yancey, Commissioner Spencer was appointed

as Acting Chairperson.

Receipt of the Minutes of the September 10, 2001, meeting was acknowledged by

the Board and approved as written.

Management recognized the retirement of Lawrence Bass an employee of

the Columbus Water Works. Mr. Bass was unable to attend the meeting. Mr.

Bass has served 16 years with the Water Works. The following resolution was

presented as follows:











A Resolution



Whereas, Lawrence L. Bass has been an employee of the Columbus Board of

Water Commissioners since, 1985, is retiring; and,



Whereas, Lawrence L. Bass has served in the capacity of Process Control

Specialist at the South Columbus Water Resources Facility with the Columbus

Water Works; and,

Whereas, Lawrence L. Bass has performed in an outstanding and

productive manner throughout his Sixteen years of service;



Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved that the Board of Water Commissioners of

the City of Columbus, Georgia, on behalf of all the people of the City, hereby

publicly expresses appreciation and heartfelt thanks to Lawrence L. Bass for

his diligent and faithful service on behalf of the Columbus Water Works; and,



Be It Further Resolved that this resolution be spread upon the official

minutes of this Board this twelfth day of November, 2001, and that the

Secretary of this Board be directed to furnish copies of this resolution to the

said Lawrence L. Bass and to the Clerk of Council of Columbus, Georgia.



_______________________________________ ___________________________________

PRESIDENT, COLUMBUS WATER WORK CHAIR, BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS



____________________________________________

_______________________________________

SECRETARY, BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATION DIV.





Following the reading and presentation of the above resolution to Mr.

Bass, motion was made and seconded to adopt the resolution. Motion carried.

President Turner informed the Board that the Water Works received the

First Place Award for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National

Combined Sewer Overflow Excellence Award at the Water Environment Federation

Conference in Atlanta on October 16, 2001. President Turner also advised that

the Water Works was recognized for the Governor?s Award 2001 for Pollution

Prevention presented by Governor Roy Barnes on September 17, 2001. President

Turner stated that the Water Works has received 15 out of 18 awards, which have

been applied for this year. The Board offered their congratulations and

appreciation to Management and staff for their continued hard work.

Management presented the reports from the Division of Operations, Division of

Engineering and Division of Environmental and Information Services. Following

each presentation, the Board acknowledged the Division Reports for the months

of September and October.

Management advised the Board that bids were received on October 5th on

the Old Town Repair by Open Trench Installation, Project I. Bids were

submitted by four of the pre-qualified contractors as follows:

Gordy Construction Company $ 763,240.25

Morgan Construction, Inc. 1,182,975.00

Site Engineering 1,783,150.00

Griffin Construction 3,302,850.00



Management asked the Board for permission to accept the low bid from

Gordy Construction Company in the amount of $763,240.25. The current Special

Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) is funding this work. Following

discussion, motion was made and seconded to award the contract to Gordy

Construction Company in the amount of $763,240.25. Motion carried.

The Financial Reports for the months of September and October, along

with the Meter Reading, Employee Services and Customer Service?s Reports, were

presented to the Board. Following discussion, motion was made and seconded to

accept the reports. Motion carried.

The Secretary informed the Board that the sale of 1500 13th Avenue was

finalized on October 19th. This completes the sale of all Administrative

properties owned by the Water Works on 13th Avenue.

The Secretary advised the Board that the Refunding Issue Series 2002

had been finalized. A summary of the savings, which totaled $1.8 million, was

provided along with a copy of the Refunding Statement to the Board for their

review. The Secretary also advised that Mr. Joe Lay, Fiscal Agent for the

Water Works was on hand to answer any questions. The Board acknowledged

Management?s report.

The Secretary informed the Board that Gwen Ruff, Vice President of

Employee and Customer Services, has been called to active duty as of October

15, 2001 for up to one year.

Management advised the Board that the recent events, which took place

on September 11th, has caused the Water Works to look at ways to heighten its

security at all locations. Management informed the Board that they have asked

the firm of Newcombe and Boyd Special Technologies Group to provide a proposal

to perform a vulnerability study to show that the Water Works is doing

everything possible to secure their facilities. The estimated cost for this

work is $33,500.00. Management asked the Board for their approval to proceed

with this proposal and that it be funded from operating reserves.

In conjunction with the above discussion, Management provided the Board

with the cost of private security personnel; the total to date is $29,230.00.

The Board was advised that the Water Works would spend an additional estimated

$72,000.00 through December for security. Management told the Board that the

FBI has declared their highest state of alert to be in effect through at least

the end of December. After discussion, motion was made and seconded to

approve the firm of Newcombe and Boyd Special Technologies Group to perform an

assessment report in the of $33,500.00 and to spend an estimated $100,000.00 in

unbudgeted emergency expense for security from operating reserves. Motion

carried.

Next, Management told the Board that Congress was considering an

economic stimulus package due to the September 11th disaster. Congress could

appropriate as much as five billion dollars for this program. The funds will

be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency as a matching grant

program where the federal government would provide 55% of the cost and the

local government would provide the remaining 45% of the project. If Congress

does pass and implement this stimulus program, the Water Works needs to have

all projects designed and ready to be submitted to the Environmental Protection

Division in the next six months.

Management advised that the Water Works has a long-standing capital

improvement program to identify and plan projects to improve its water and

wastewater systems and meet regulations. The staff estimates the cost to be a

little more than $24 million. The projected design cost is $1.2 million. If

all these projects were accepted the Water Works would gain about $13 million

in appropriations for these projects.

After discussion, the Board was asked to approve spending $1.2 million

to complete the design work of this list of projects. Motion was made and

seconded authorizing Management to proceed with the design work. Motion

carried.

Next, Management informed the Board of the ongoing efforts of the Water

Works to dispose of biosolids. The Water Works has applied biosolids to its

Reclamation Site for the last 20 years and to Oxbow Meadows since 1996.

Management advised that they have been operating under a Consent Order issued

by the GA Environmental Protection Division since 1995, which allows us to

apply a higher rate of nitrogen to the sites. The Board was advised that the

GA Environmental Protection Division is recommending that we cease application

on these two sites as of January 1, 2003 until the nitrate levels return to a

point below 10mg/L.

Management informed the Board that off-site disposal could be as much

as $1.4 million per year compared to $375,000 a year for applying the biosolids

on its on sites. Management has been looking at ways to expedite this process

rather than plant crops to take up nitrate, which is a slow process.

Management advised the Board that they have requested proposals from three

engineering firms asking them to propose how they could return the two land

application sites below water quality level. The following firms are:

Brown & Caldwell

Jordan, Jones & Goulding

CH2M HILL (Declined to propose)

After Management reviewed the proposals, they found them to have some

innovated ideas that have the potential for bringing these fields into standard

in a shorter period than planting crops. Jordan, Jones & Goulding provided

the lowest price for this study at a cost of $75,000.00. It was the staff?s

recommendation to award this study to Jordan, Jones & Goulding and to fund this

study from operating reserves. Motion was made and seconded to award Jordan,

Jones & Goulding this project. Motion carried.

Management advised the Board that they continue to pursue federal

funding for a thermophilic plug flow process to produce a Class A biosolids

material. Management has been notified by Congressman Collins? office that the

Water Works has been successful in receiving a $1.5 million appropriation that

would enable Phase I of this program. Management will provide more specific

details of this proposed project at a later date. The Board acknowledged

Management?s report.

Management provided copies of letters thanking members of the staff for

their participation and services provided from various organizations and

individuals. The Board acknowledged Management?s report.

There being no further business the senior staff and the Board went

into Executive Session to discuss a privatization matter. Following the

Executive Session, Acting Chairperson Spencer reconvened the meeting and

advised that the privatization issue had been discussed and motion was made and

seconded to adopt a motion concerning the Columbus Water Works? responding to a

request for a proposal to own and operate Ft. Benning?s water and wastewater

utilities. Motion carried. Also, Management advised the Board that the

December Board meeting has been reschedule for Tuesday, December 11th, due to

the Federal Court hearing on the Georgia Power lawsuit on Monday, December 10th.







_________________________________

Emory E. Blount, Secretary