Wednesday, January 25, 2017
MINERAL RIDGE
The Mahoning Valley Sanitary District is temporarily operating with a lower class of licensed water treatment operator the law normally requires for a water supply system of its size.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, however, says it believes the district is in compliance with the agency’s requirements.
MVSD supplies treated Meander Reservoir water to Youngstown, Niles and surrounding communities.
The district’s Class 4 operator and chief engineer, Thomas Holloway, retired Sunday. John Nemet, a Class 3 water treatment operator, is acting as the district’s operator of record.
The Ohio Administrative Code allows the plant to operate for up to 30 days with a Class 3 operator, while it seeks a new Class 4 operator, explained Linda Amer, an OEPA spokeswoman.
Atty. Matt Blair, MVSD board chairman, said the board plans to meet at 4 p.m. Friday in MVSD offices to consider proposals for the regular plant operator.
He said he believes the proposals come from MS Consultants and CT Consultants, both engineering firms with Youngstown offices.
Any company to be considered for this role would have to have a Class 4 water treatment operator on its staff, Blair said.
“I’m not sure we’re going to make a decision on Friday,” Blair said.
Jamael “Tito” Brown, an MVSD board member, described Nemet as “top notch” and said he is “fully confident” in Nemet’s ability to maintain the water-quality excellence for which the district is known.
“He’s knowledgeable of the operations of the plant, and he’s knowledgeable of what the quality needs to be for our water,” Brown said.
“We’re very confident. He’s been at the plant for a number of years,” Blair said. “He was also in charge of the [water] distribution system in Niles prior to coming to the plant,” Blair added.
The operator of record must be physically present at the public water system at least five days a week and at least 40 hours a week, Amer said.
“The statute clearly allows us to select an individual or a firm,” Blair said.
Holloway’s contract as chief engineer was to have run until June 30, but he gave the required 30 days’ notice in December that he’d be leaving this past Sunday “for personal reasons.”
The water district’s four-member board, consisting of two representatives each from Youngstown and Niles, met in executive session for nearly 80 minutes Dec. 28, but adjourned without taking any action.
Holloway, who has been the district’s chief engineer several times, returned in January 2016, after Anthony Vigorito, who had been chief engineer, failed to earn a Class 4 license and a professional engineer certification.
Vigorito is the district’s superintendent of operations.
Although Vigorito has a Class 3 license, Brown said it was “the board’s choice” to make Nemet the interim operator of record.
“Anthony’s been in that seat already, and we’ve looked past that,” Brown said.
Holloway recommended Nemet as interim operator, Blair said, adding the board never took a formal vote to make Nemet the interim operator.
The Ohio EPA requires the Class 4 license; and the district requires the professional engineer certification for engineering approvals and grant applications.
MVSD will hire a person or company with those credentials, Blair said.
“Upon proper justification, such as military leave or long-term illness,” the OEPA director may authorize an extension beyond the 30 days if a request is made in writing to the OEPA district office, where the water system is located, the Ohio Administrative Code says.