Category: General News

PUBLIC NOTICE
Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Protection Division
2 MLK Jr. Drive SE, Suite 1152
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Notice of Application for Approval of Local Limits Evaluation to the Academy Creek WPCP in the Glynn County Industrial Pretreatment Program

The following applicant has applied for approval of substantial modification to its industrial pretreatment program:

Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water  & Sewer Commission, 700 Gloucester St., Suite 300, Brunswick, Georgia 31520, for substantial modification to its industrial pretreatment program. This modification will serve to revise the local limits of the WPCP mentioned above.

On the basis of preliminary staff review and the application of the Industrial Pretreatment Regulations, EPD proposes to approve the Authority’s substantial modification to its industrial pretreatment program. This proposed determination is tentative.

Persons wishing to comment upon or object to the proposed determinations are invited to submit same in writing to the EPD address below, or via e-mail at EPDcomments@dnr.state.ga.us, no later than 45 days after this notification. If you choose to e-mail your comments, please be sure to include the words “Brunswick-Glynn County JWSC industrial pretreatment program substantial modification (Glynn County)” in the subject line to ensure that your comments will be forwarded to the correct staff. All comments received prior to or on that date will be considered in the formulation of final determinations regarding the application. A public hearing may be held where the EPD Director finds a significant degree of public interest in a proposed permit or group of permits. Additional information regarding public hearing procedures is available by writing the Environmental Protection Division.

A fact sheet or copy of the draft permit is available by writing the Environmental Protection Division. A copying charge of 10 cents per page will be assessed. The permit application, draft permit, comments received, and other information are available for review at 2 MLK, Jr.Dr. S.W., Suite 1152E, Atlanta, GA 30334, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For additional information contact: Audra Dickson, Wastewater Regulatory Program, phone (404) 463-4934 or e-mail audra.dickson@dnr.state.ga.us.

In observance of the Thanksgiving National Holiday, our administrative offices will be closed all day Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28, and will reopen on Monday, December 1, at 8:00 a.m.

All emergency services will still be available.

The Brunswick – Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission is very proud to announce that Mrs. Angela Walker has accepted an offer to be the BGJWSC’s Wastewater Pretreatment Compliance Coordinator. This is a very important position that is responsible for the BGJWSC’s regulatory compliance inspections, monitoring, enforcement, record keeping, and reporting. Mrs. Walker will also be responsible for the BGJWSC Fats, Oil, and Grease (FOG) Program. Other responsibilities will be to serve as a front line liaison to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Mrs. Walker will work directly under the supervision of Mark Ryals, Superintendent for the BGJWSC’s Wastewater Treatment Division.

Mrs. Walker is a native of Thomaston, Georgia, and has 17 years of experience with wastewater treatment systems, with four of those years being in a supervisory position. While working in the wastewater industry, she has obtained ten State of Georgia licenses, and a Georgia Class I Wastewater Operator License. She also holds a Lab Analysis License and a Wastewater Collection License all within the State of Georgia. Mrs. Walker is currently working on her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.

Mrs. Walker will be relocating to the Golden Isles with her husband Willie. Mr. & Mrs. Walker have three children and eight grandchildren and are very proud to have two of their sons following in their father’s footsteps serving in the U.S. Army, as he is retired from the Army.
Mrs. Walker stated; “When I was offered the opportunity to relocate to the coast of Georgia and work for the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission, it was a dream come true for me! I look forward to many happy years serving the citizens of Brunswick and Glynn County and enjoying the beaches here on the coast of Georgia.”

BGJWSC Executive Director, Stephen Swan said that the search for filling this position was conducted over multiple states and Mrs. Walker was one of the leading candidates even before she had her personal interview. Again, the BGJWSC has filled another position with a very experienced and qualified individual.

If your account is listed as commercial or multi-unit residential use, you may have recently received a letter in the mail advising of a change in the billing structure related to the collection of our fixed-debt recovery charges. The method for billing for these charges is dependent upon the correct evaluation of the demand for service at your property in relation to the typical demand of a single family residence.  This number is referred to as the Residential Equivalent Unit, or REU.

A History of the REU

This REU figure is used to ensure that a facility that has a higher demand for water and/or waste water service pays a proportionately higher cost to develop and maintain the infrastructure used to deliver the service from source to point of use, as in the case of water, or point of discharge to point of treatment, as in the case with waste water. Without this system in place, a user with greater need for service, such as a factory that builds on the same route as a single family residence, might cause the financial burden for increasing water main line sizes and lift station capacity to be unfairly distributed.

Prior to the merger of the two utilities in 2008, the City of Brunswick Water Department utilized the REU method for the fixed-debt charges whereas the Glynn County Water Department did not. Both utilities utilized the same policy on billing actual metered consumption for the variable usages charge on the bill.

Following BGJWSC Board approval of an audit of these methods over the past two years, our staff has been diligent in determining the correct REU rating on all accounts, whether commercial, such as gas stations and hotels, non-residential, such as churches, and multi-unit residential, such as apartments and duplexes. An update on this audit was approved by the BGJWSC Board and the results will be included in the September 2014 billing.

The BGJWSC has made a commitment to perform this system-wide audit every three years to determine if the rating is accurate and consistent. Water and waste water rates will continue to be reviewed on an annual basis.

The gallon-per-day flow rating system that is used to calculate the REU is one that was adopted using industry-standard mean averages collected over many decades and published by the American Water Works Association. The BGJWSC has updated that table of data using actual flow records from users within our system and will continue reviewing it so that the figures can be fair and equitable to all of our customers. That table may be viewed within our Rate Resolution at our page of Current Reports: http://www.bgjwsc.org/about-the-bgjwsc/current-reports/

Figuring the REU

For simple calculations on businesses that have a single primary function, such as an office or factory, our staff uses the following Excel spreadsheet to calculate the REU: REU_CALC

(Microsoft Excel will be required for viewing this document. A viewer may be downloaded here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10)

For more complex calculations, especially those involving industrial use or businesses where water consumption is part of the process essential to the business, such as a seafood package plant, the REU may be figured on average consumption. The typical single family residence uses 9,000 gallons per month or 300 gallons per day.  The thousand gallon monthly consumption of any location can thus be divided by 9 to yield the REU. The BGJWSC prefers to have a total of at least 12 months consumption history in order to use flow as a measurement of consumption, but exceptions must sometimes be made, especially in the case of new businesses without flow averages that must pay tap in fees based on the REU. In those cases, our staff will calculate fees using best-known figures provided by a project engineer and adjust accordingly when adequate history is known. The BGJWSC may then find it necessary to charge more tap in fees and potentially backdate an increase in the fixed-debt charges for that customer.

In cases where the expected flow is unknown, the BGJWSC may base the calculations on the square footage of the facility, where 3,000 sq. ft. equals one REU.

Contact Us

In order to properly figure this REU, our staff is prepared to assist you by phone or email. Please call Linda ‘Faith’ Blecher at 912.261.7139 or email her at lblecher@bgjwsc.org to set up an appointment, if necessary.

The Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission has added “Another Key” person to their management staff. Drexal Paulk has accepted the offer to be the Director of Purchasing and will begin working with the JWSC on August 4th. Steve Swan, Executive Director said “Mr. Paulk has a very solid background in procurement and purchasing and will be a great addition to our management team! Again, we went through a wide spread search and a long interview process to fill this newly developed position. Mr. Paulk clearly stood out above his peers during the interviewing process.” The Director of Purchasing will report directly to the Executive Director and work closely with the Finance & Administration Director.

Drexal Paulk, “Dexter” as he is affectionately known by family and friends in the area, has previously held Sr. Executive Procurement positions with the City of Richmond, Virginia, District of Columbia Government in Washington, D. C. and the City of Atlanta. He is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and the Keller Graduate School of Management. Drexal also holds professional procurement certifications from the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC) as a Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and as a Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) along with other regional procurement and technology certifications.

Drexal, a Waycross native, has been a resident of Stone Mountain and is married to Jacqueline, a native of Philadelphia, PA. He is the proud father of four children (Desiree 26, Drexal, Jr 25, Nyanza 10 and Leanna 7). Drexal is excited to return to the area which he is so familiar and we are proud to add him as the Director of Purchasing with the Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water and Sewer Commission.

The Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission has added another key person to their management team. Kirk Young has been hired as the new System Pumping & Maintenance Division Superintendent. This position was filled prior by Ray Tarker, who retired on May 30th of this year. This division is the largest division of JWSC, with approximately 50 employees and is responsible for 15% of the $24.6 M annual budget.

Mr. Young has a very large amount of experience and vast knowledge of Water & Wastewater Systems. He was selected from over 17 other candidates that had applied for the position from across the east coast. As Steve Swan, Executive Director for JWSC, stated, “Mr. Young was one of 5 final contenders for this position, but clearly stood out above the others during the interview process. He is exactly what we were looking for in this position and will hold a key role in our management team.”

Kirk Young, a second generation Master Plumber for over 20 years, has been a Water and Wastewater Treatment professional for the last 15 years. As Superintendent, Kirk operated both the Water and Wastewater Divisions in Plymouth, N.H. This included the Water Pumping and Treatment Systems, Distribution Systems, Wastewater Collection Systems and the Wastewater Treatment Facility. He received the 2013 EPA Region I Operations and Maintenance Excellence Award, for the 5 state New England region.

Having previously lived and worked on St. Simons Island, Kirk and his wife Stephanie and daughter Alexandria grew to love the Golden Isles. When an opportunity presented itself to return the area, Kirk applied for the position of System Pumping & Maintenance Superintendent with the Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water and Sewer Commission.

In observance of the July 4th National Holiday, our administrative offices will be closed all day Friday, July 4th, and will reopen on Monday, July 7th, at 8:00 a.m.

All emergency services will still be available.

No Commission meetings will be held on July 3rd.

The Brunswick–Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission Executive Director Steve Swan has made his selection for the new Water Distribution Division Superintendent.   The search began more than two months ago with what became a nationwide search to fill this instrumental position. Twelve valid applications were received with two applicants being within the JWSC organization itself.   Applications came from as far as Dearborn Heights, MI; Green Bay, WI; Plymouth, NH; and Deland, FL. Seven of the twelve applicants were selected for a grueling two hour long interview. A three person panel asked detailed questions during each interview regarding work experience in water distribution, developing and managing budgets, managing assets and personal, engineering and construction related topics, as well as safety.

Derrick Simmons, an employee of the JWSC and the current Interim Superintendent was chosen as the new Superintendent of Water Distribution. Derrick became the interim superintendent approximately eight months ago when prior superintendent Gene Sapp made plans for his retirement this last year. Prior to service as the Interim Superintendent, Derrick spent four years as a department supervisor and over six as a crew leader and operator.

“Derrick has stepped up to the plate as interim superintendent and has provided a solid, dependable, safe, and organized division for the JWSC. He is what we were looking for to lead this important division into the future,” Mr. Swan stated. “Derrick had some very stiff competition for this position, but he definitely has what it takes to lead that division as well as making the JWSC a more solid organization!”

The JWSC will soon have some more additions in order to fill positions that have recently become vacant. Two of those other positions include the Superintendent for the Systems Pumping & Maintenance Division and a Purchasing Director. Mr. Swan plans on making other organizational changes to better serve the needs of the JWSC and the community as a whole.

The Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission will be hosting a presentation by Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co. from 2:30 to 4:00 on Wednesday, 4/1/14.  Prepared for the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority, this presentation, entitled Water & Sewer System Study Update, is focused on the Eastgate and McBride Commerce Parks and will outline options for the most cost effective and technically viable method for providing sufficient fire flows and pressures plus adequate sewer capacity to serve the existing and future industrial areas in the vicinity of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport.

All citizens are invited to attend. There is a possibility of a quorum of Commissioners being present, in addition to officers and staff of the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority.