DRAFT

BOARD OF LICENSURE OF WATER SYSTEM OPERATORS

September 19, 2007 Meeting

 

Members Present:                                                                         Others Present:

Trevor Hunt, Chairman                                                                     Carol Champagne

Christopher Crovo                                                                            Rebecca Reynolds

Gregory Kidd                                                                                     Jeff McNelly

Alan Frasier                                                                                      

David Bartlett                                                                        

Teresa Trott                                                                                      

                                                           

The September meeting took place at the Jordan Grand Hotel at Sunday River, Bethel ME.

 

Called to Order: 

 

The meeting was called to order at 9:15 A.M.

 

General Administration:

 

Approval of Minutes:  Two corrections were made to the June 14, 2007 minutes. David Bartlett made the motion to accept the June 2007 minutes with the corrections and Chris Crovo 2nd the motion.  Passed

 

There are two positions open on the Board, the representative for the Very Small Water System and Class 2.

 

General Administration: 

 

1.      EPA Correspondence:  EPA has sent a letter to the DWP on the annual report that meets EPA’s guidelines for the 2006 calendar year.  Therefore, the State of Maine will not be subject to any withholding of the State’s FY-2007 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Grant. 

 

Rebecca Reynolds was commended on her work resulting in the exceptional 98.8% percent compliance rate of certified operators.

 

2.      Financial Report: 

 

Beginning of FiscalYear 2007    $41,716

Expenses   $32,405

Revenue   40,658

Balance   $49,968

 

Terry motioned for the Board to pay the Well Drillers Commission $22,678.60 for the Board’s share in their 50% of expenses for clerical support for Fiscal Year 2007.  The motion was amended to include monthly payments for SFY 2008 clerk support.  Chris Crovo 2nd the motion.  Passed

 

3) Operator updates: 

 

a)     System compliance – The FIT team has the responsibility of checking with systems during the sanitary inspections, reminding them of issues that concern them such as license renewals and sending in reports.  There are 31 systems presently receiving assistance to fill operator requirements. Most of the systems not in compliance are Very Small Water Systems or Class1 systems. 

 

b)     Operator compliance – Terry sent a letter to ABC on a security related question that was brought to the Board’s attention. No answer has been received.   

 

Gregg Kidd made a motion to accept the question because the examinee has shown that the answer was acceptable in a resource he studied. Chris Crovo 2nd the motion.  The motion was passed by the Board.

 

Terry brought up concerns of what may constitute operator negligence:

 Actions taken or not taken concerning water quality and quantity in the interim period after a notice is given and the final date of responsibility (employment).

Timely response of operators to take rechecks if they institute a boil water order.

 

The Board responded that operators are responsible for protection of public health first and foremost. The Board suggested including more public health messages in training.

 

DWP field inspectors have raised the point of contract substance between the operator and owner.  Inspectors may wish to review contracts during sanitary surveys. The Board stressed owner responsibilities for system overall responsibility and Operator water quality and quantity responsibilities.

 

4) Exams:

 

                  Exams in Augusta on October 23, 2007 with 81 examines.  Presque Isle on October 25, 2007 with 9 examines.  Proctors in Augusta will be David Bartlett, Trevor Hunt, Alan Frasier along with Terry Trott, Rebecca Reynolds and Carol Champagne.  Presque Isle will be Terry Trott and Larry Girvan.

 

5) Board Member Status:

 

                  The Board members updated their information. 

 

6) 2008 Meeting and Exam calendar:

 

Meeting locations were discussed. It was decided to continue to rotate meeting locations and to find an Augusta location with a better parking situation.  

 

    Meetings:

                  January 17, 2008 Board meeting – Augusta

 

                  February 21, 2008 Board meeting – Brunswick/Topsham

 

                  May 22, 2008 Board meeting – Augusta

 

                  September 11, 2008 Board meeting – Bethel

 

                  November 20, 2008 Board meeting – Augusta

 

Exam dates and deadlines:

 

Exam dates were discussed to evenly space exams and application due dates. The fall exam however was preferred to be in October rather than September to allow for exam preparation time outside of the busy construction and vacation time.

 

 Exam locations were also discussed to distribute these across the state.

 

March 25th in Augusta, 27th in Bangor area –

Application postmarked by February 2, 2008

 

June 24th in Augusta, 26th– in Portland area

Application postmarked by May 3, 2008

 

October 21st in Augusta, 23rd in Aroostook County area 

Application postmarked by September 6, 2008

 

Old Business:

 

SWOCS  Update:

 

                  The change over to the Oracle SDWIS platform should take place the week of September 24, 2007.  After this staff should be able to work with the SWOCS program.  The programs will run in duplicate for about 2 months and then a complete change over will occur.    

                 

New Business:

 

       TCH discussion:

 

                           Definition of relevancy as listed in newly adopted rules and the use of lists of topics either ABC Need to Know Criteria or Relevancy topics. No decision made to accept a list of topics. The Board stressed the importance of submittal of application for TCH credit. Operators and or systems may have varying needs for training. How the training topic relates to the definition of relevancy (see below) should be explained in the application.  If staff does not grant credit for a topic the applicant has an appeal process to take the topic to the Board. The Board chose to have information forwarded them electronically but decisions would be made at Board meetings.

 

Relevancy –

·        Influence on water quality, water supply, or public health protection and

·        Be directly related to the operation or maintenance of a water system or

·        Be directly related to managing the operation or maintenance of a water system.

 

Training applied toward license renewal must be relevant to the drinking water industry and approved for TCH credit by the Board.

 

The majority of Board members felt that Verbal Judo as described in an application letter and due to the distribution situations described could be approved for 3 TCHs.

 

Professional Development Activities:

 

York Community Collage has developed a certificate course on managing water and wastewater systems.  The program was initially directed at wastewater systems but most likely will be expanded to water utilities. Terry will work with Dana Peck to address additional topics.

 

Apprentice programs are also a possibility.  It was suggested to have Maine Water Utilities Association look into the possibility of having Gene Ellis, Director of Apprenticeship Standards with the Department of Labor speak to the membership. It was stressed that Board members be in attendance to endorse the effort.

 

NEWWA, Operator Certification Committee is also concerned about promotion of the profession. The Committee is developing a list of system practices that systems can take to promote the profession in everyday simple efforts.

 

 

 

The meeting adjourned at 12:35 PM