DRAFT

BOARD OF LICENSURE OF WATER TREATMENT PLANT OPERATORS

January 19, 2006 Meeting

 

Members Present:                                                                         Others Present:

Trevor Hunt, Chairman                                                                     Rebecca Reynolds

Alan Frasier                                                                                       Carol Champagne

Carlton Gardner                                                                               

Chris Crovo                                                                          

Teresa Trott                                                              

David Beaulieu                                                                                 

David Bartlett

 

Called to Order: 

 

The meeting was called to order at 9:01 A.M.

 

General Administration:

 

Trevor Hunt accepted Carlton Gardner’s letter of resignation to the Board.  Trevor presented Carlton with a letter acknowledging Carlton’s long standing contribution of service to the State of Maine.  Carlton has been a valuable member to the Board and has served from June 1996 to January 2006.  Carlton has accepted a position with the Maine Drinking Water Program as Compliance Section Manager.

 

Approval of Minutes, Alan Frasier made a motion to approve the October 20, 2005 minutes with corrections, Chris Crovo 2nd the motion.  Passed

 

Election of Officers, Trevor Hunt motioned to elected David Bartlett for Vice Chairman and David accepted.  The Board voted and it was approved unanimously. 

 

Terry Trott will contact Richard Moffitt to ask what his intention is with being a Board member.  Mr. Moffitt has not attended the required amount of meetings and may resign his position.

 

David Bartlett was concerned with Day Care facilities having to take special test that are very costly in order to receive their license.  Some are on public water supplies and don’t know what to do with their bottles. 

 

These comments passed on to DWP.

 

 

 

 

Financial Report,

 

            Income            $6,215.00

            Expenses            718.00

            Balance          $36, 539.00

 

Terry Trott will be reporting the finances once a year.     

 

Exams:  The passing rate for the October 2005 exam was approximately

 70%.  The trainings are helpful. 

 

There is training out there for class 3 & 4 Distribution, but, it will cost.

 

April 2006 Exam, deadline is February 25, 2006.

 

Operator Update, approximately 290 renewals have been received and processed so far. 

 

System Compliance, There are approximately 62 systems still not in compliance.  Terry will be sending a letter out that will give those systems 30 days to comply.  There have also been new systems add to that list.

 

Terry past out a list of inactive operators that will have to re-test in order to get their licenses back.

 

Contract Operators, Some systems are not sending in their Designated Operator forms.  Some owners may be operating systems themselves with no license.  Terry is in the process of sending Notice of Violation letters out letting the systems know they have 30 days to comply or face a possible fine of $300 per day with no operator.

 

Operator Enforcement, There are three operators in question.

 

 1st.Operator not at his system, no contact in over 2 weeks.

 2nd Operator has charges against him and pleading guilty, in the Attorney Generals Office.

 3rd Operator complaint sent to Board incomplete.  Board will ask for facts and may open investigation.  

 

Old Business:

 

            Overview of 2005 action steps,  Three operators have used taking and passing their exam for their TCHs toward their renewals. 

 

            Operators are not attempting to use over 50% of safety for TCHs. 

 

            Non relevant courses are the biggest concern of the Board. 

 

            TCHs relevancy – tabled.

 

 

2004 Rule Change Status, The Board may submit changes to the rules. 

 

·        GED issue not in the new rules. 

·        There are six Grandparented operators with no High School diplomas. 

·        An increase of the late fee has been requested.     

 

David Bartlett made a motion to change ,Reinstatement of license fee to $65 Carlton Gardner 2nd the motion passed.            

 

There will be a Public Hearing for Rule changes in March or April 2006.

 

ERG Request for Proposals review, Maine Rural Water Association was awarded all the training classes. 

 

·        Training courses for Very Small Water Systems and Class 1 will continue.

·        A new five day course, Prep Course for Class 2, 3, and 4 Treatment will be offered and a Class 2 Distribution.

 

The Courses will be offered in a February – March timeframe.  A $20 fee will be charged for everyone.

 

David Bartlett did some reading on the Houston Industry Training Course and said they offer what is needed in the future and the course is very promising.  Houston Industry offered to send a trainer to the State of Maine.  The Board will have to develop what Maine needs for on – line courses.

 

Continuing Education, Terry will review contracts on new exam materials from trainers.  Terry asked for input from the Board on ERG monies.

 

New Business: 

 

Report from NEWWA Operator Cert. Committee Meeting, Jane Downing, from EPA, discussed a possible Pandemic Flu.  Region 1 is very concerned.

 

What would happen with 6 to 8 weeks with 50% staffing?  What were the high rate systems?              Could systems be able to run? 

 

·        Large systems  - would be all right

·        Medium systems – could get by

·        Small systems – no

 

Every system needs an Emergency Response Plan – Training.  Systems must be prepared to help one another.

 

ABC Conference, David Bartlett and Rebecca Reynolds will be attending the Conference in January.

 

EPA Conference for Certifying Operators , Terry Trott will be attending the Conference in Atlanta in April.

 

Recent Correspondence, Steve Ballou, from ABC in Iowa, will be coming to Maine and has been invited to attend the Board’s meeting in June in Brunswick/Topsham Water District. 

 

Future TCH Reporting/Tracking,  will be included with the new SWOCS program.

 

Topics for discussion in 2006, the new SWOCS program for the Drinking Water Program. 

 

Carlton Gardner made a motion to adjourn the meeting and David Bartlett 2nd it.  Meeting adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

 

Application Due Dates and Exam Locations

 

Application Due February 25, 2006 – Exam April 4, 2006 Augusta

                                                                             April 6, 2006 Presque Isle

 

Application Due May 13, 2006 – Exam June 27, 2006 Augusta

 

Application Due September 9, 2006 – Exam October 17, 2006 Augusta

                                                                             October 19, 2006 Presque Isle