Town Board News

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Town Board of Buffalo, Oklahoma, located in Northwest Oklahoma on the Easternmost edge of the panhandle, met this evening in the East wing of the Town Library to address certain issues regarding the Waste Water Management Facility.
Present at the meeting were representatives from both the Oklahoma DEQ and Myer's Engineering who spoke about Buffalo's wastewater management facility.
Wastewater Mis-management facility may be the better term since the DEQ - Department of Environmental Quality, penalized the Town of Buffalo by slapping another $ fine because of the wastewater system operations.
Mis-operation may be a better term since the facility hasn’t been operating the way it was designed for many months.
A yet to be determined monetary penalty is being levied against the Town and another “Voluntary Consent Order” has been issued but has not, as of this date, been entered into by Buffalo. The enforcement document calls for the immediate correction of the bypass of raw sewage wastewater which is currently overflowing into an area adjacent to the lagoons and redirection of an overflow pipe into, preferably, lagoon #1. IMMEDIATELY – TEMPORARILY to alleviate the EMERGENT situation. (Within the next week) The order continues to place the Town on notice that it is required to clean up the area of improper flow and pump the overflow into the correct lagoons.
A lift station is referenced as needing repaired and brought current as well as putting the system back into the correct flow situation, requiring the Town to restore wastewater flow to the original design.
Furthermore, the consent order calls for an immediate (within the next week) repair of the sewer pumping facilities which have not been maintained for years and have been inoperable since April when a backup pump failed. The system has been functioning with a backup pump for, by most estimates, 5 years, but that backup pump failed, by admission, in March or April 2008.
Moreover, the DEQ addressed other concerns but is giving the Town of Buffalo necessary time to complete needed changes in correcting the man-made dike breaches and fulfilling required vegetation removal, including trees growing in the sides of the lagoons. The Town will be required to rectify the problems caused and will require engineering studies and assistance as well as soil, impact and permeability testing on the repairs to be assured of following standards. Excessive work will be undergone in concert with the engineers in bringing the wastewater facility up to the accepted norms but a final deadline has not been determined. When asked for an approximate time table, he responded with a June 2009 date.

“Capacity” was a big topic at the meeting of the Town Board of Trustees and a small selection of the general public in attendance. Capacity was brought up time and again after a comment by the DEQ representative. He commented when asked about capacity: “we have not, at this point, identified a real capacity issue, I’m not saying there’s not one…”
Capacity continued to be the discussion for many more minutes but the Board seemed to only want to hear the part where he said, “we have not, at this point, identified a real capacity issue…” completely forgetting the fragment where he said, “I’m not saying there’s not one…”.

Here’s the argument:

DEQ was responding to a complaint about raw sewage and dry lagoons. That’s what they came to Buffalo originally in October - to check on why there were dry lagoons, why there were breaches in the lagoon holding dikes and raw sewage, nothing more. They conducted an evaluation (found on this website under support documents) and made a report. Uncomplicated, straightforward - even a cave man could understand it. (Sorry Geico)
As with any investigation by a government agency, no one is going to volunteer information. It’s not as if our Town Manager is going to say: “Hey, Mr. DEQ dude, we want Buffalo and its citizens to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe millions, to remedy a capacity issue, buy more acreage, dig new ponds and generally spend, spend, spend - so we have a capacity issue and we need you to address that!
Uh – no! Thank you, that’s not what the people of Buffalo want. DEQ was not requested to look into capacity. That problem, if indeed there is one, is to be addressed by the operator(s) of the wastewater treatment system and DEQ advised the Board that Joe, the Town Manager, could assemble the figures to determine capacity. He also spoke of Ms Sheets, a DEQ affiliate who will assist the Town as well as the engineer to assemble obligatory data to determine capacity and address the capacity issue at a later date.
HOWEVER! Certain members of the Town Board only heard what they wanted, as did a couple of citizens. They totally failed to see the big picture. Buffalo MAY have a capacity issue. If that’s the case, while the Town Board is looking at everything else, they need to be looking at volume and scope: capacity - and NOT just sweep the issue under the carpet. It’s much less expensive to address any concerns now than to look at problems down the road.

As an example:
Re: The pumps - the Town is in need of purchasing pumps to correct problems.
If the pump which had gone down over 5 years ago, was replaced then, the cost would have been substantially less then.
If the pump which went down in March or April had been purchased in March or April, it would have cost much less in March or April than it will now.
Inflation anyone? Cost increases? Economy?


It NEVER should have come to this point.
And, the most important factor in all this discussion?
IF THE FACILITY HAD BEEN MAINTAINED PROPERLY…

• There never would have been a DEQ complaint.
• There never would have been a DEQ fine.
• There never would have been the need to hire an engineer.
• The Town never would have incurred the costs of engineering studies and the work necessary as a result of these studies.
• There never would have been the need for a grant request of $49,900 for costs associated with engineering.
• There never would have been the need to spend extra money pumping out a field of raw sewage ponding therein.
• There never… enough said.

On a positive note

The DEQ levy based on the Town of Buffalo’s environmental violations, will be able to be spent in Buffalo for capital improvement of an environmental nature. The DEQ operates on the theory that a fine can serve two purposes. One; the levy serves as a disciplinary function, two; it can also benefit the community instead of enhancing the coffers of the DEQ or EPA.
The program is entitled: SEP – Supplemental Environmental Project. If the Town of Buffalo meets the requirements of the enforcement document, the deadlines and standards in the manner agreed upon, then the fine, which again, remains to be announced, can be utilized in Buffalo for the benefit of the community. This was stressed again. It's for the people of Buffalo not utilities or wastewater improvements. The DEQ representative mentioned things such as: tree planting, playground equipment, etc and recommended that the Board get creative and to “think outside the box” when it comes to using these penalty payments or “SEP” funds.


In other news this Wednesday evening, 5% pay raises instituted by the Town Board for employees of the Town, originally effective December 3, 2008, were made retroactive to December 1st, 2008 by a majority vote. It appears that there was a certain amount of paperwork and mathematics required to figure out the 3 days worth of wages at the old rate for a few employees therefore prompting an agenda entry to address the issue and request that the Board merely pass a motion to make the pay increase retroactive.