Ambler Borough upgrading safety features at Wastewater Treatment Plant

As part of an ongoing project to improve the Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), two new additions were discussed at a recent borough council meeting.

“We’ve already had people slide,” said Karen Sheedy, Ambler Borough councilwoman and Ward 1 representative, who also serves on the Public Utilities Committee. Sheedy was presenting the need for added safety measures atop the WWTP’s digesters.

“I would just like to reiterate Karen’s point,” said Hughes, who also serves on the public utilities committee. “We meet regularly with public utilities, and we were pretty shocked about the safety railing thing, which is why we wanted to bring it up.”

Hughes said that, thankfully, this item was already budgeted for in previous financial meetings for the overall project.

“It is just for transparency's sake, this is a budgeted item,” she said. “This is already in the budget. This isn’t like any extra expense or anything. But I think safety is paramount.”

While there was some council confusion on the finances, Borough Manager Mary Aversa said that the overage was built into the budget.

“I think in the full project, there is this overage,” said Aversa.

Jarrett Evans, the Wastewater Treatment Plant superintendent, agreed.

“There is a $20,000 allowance when they did the contracts,” he said. The money was designated for unforeseen circumstances such as these. “We haven’t used [the funds.]”

“We have it in the project budget, but this is an add-on,” said Aversa, noting that funds were already available as part of the project’s set-aside costs. “The bid came in less for the first part of this project, so we had overage. It’s all kind of the same project, so we’re OK.”

Some council members noted their shock that safety railings were not included in initial designs.

“We were pretty shocked as well,” said Hughes. The councilwoman said she was concerned for those already working on the rooflines without safety measures in place.

“The fact that they are up there without a safety rail scares the heck out of me just looking at it,” said Hughes. “I think that is definitely something that we want to get addressed.”

Though the committee just met with the WWTP team the prior Friday, they wanted to add this to the agenda to move on the matter quickly.

“We can’t have Jarrett falling,” said Hughes. “We’ll be in trouble. We can’t have anybody falling.”

Evans agreed.

“That’s a big issue of mine, the safety of my employees,” he said, who noted contractors may also have to be on the roof at various times.

In addition to added safety, the borough council heard remedies that could be put into place to mitigate odors coming from the WWTP. WWTP requested from the council the authority to collect quotes on the supply and installation of Variable Frequency Drives (FVDs) for all five drivers, as part of the digester conversions. The drives would allow the plant’s workers to control the released smells.

“These drives for the blowers, they’re to mitigate these smells that sometimes come out of the plant, which we do get neighbor complaints, directly to [Evans], they come to council, they get posted on social media.”

“I’m sure Mary [Aversa, borough manager] hears a bunch,” added Councilwoman Amy Hughes.

“Yes, and it is just because we can’t control the blowers,” said Sheedy.

“I’m getting emails from neighbors because of the smells,” said Evans. “These [blowers] will help us move the air and save electricity”

“We’re hopeful this will help,” said Aversa. “There is also fragrance we can add, and we’re looking into that, as well.”

Evans said that misters placed on the blowers can control odor for the surrounding areas. He also noted money for the VFDs was included in the budget, as well.

“We have money in the budget now to get them started,” said Evans. “I am waiting on quotes. But we do have money in the budget now to get going.” Sheedy noted that, depending on the cost estimates that come in, additional funds may be needed at a later time for additional FVDs.

“That may be an additional request to get all five of them,” said Sheedy. The vote for the evening’s meeting was simply to get quotes on costs. As the project stands, only three of the five planned blowers are completed and operational. Two remain to be finished.

“We thought if we got approval, we did three now, maybe the next two might not be until next year, but it'll be ongoing,” said Aversa. 

During public comment, one concerned resident asked if other municipalities were served by the Ambler WWTP, and asked if they were also contributing to such expenses. Council said that they were, but as Aversa noted, it is the Ambler Borough Council that must approve the entire use of funds. The WWTP is located in Ambler, though only 19% of its usage is from borough waste.

“I agree with Karen,” noted Hughes. “I think if we can do something about those blowers, I think that will help a lot, and we can cut down and make that a more peaceful, more pleasant area for people to be.”

“We can be better neighbors,” added Sheedy.
The borough council voted in its June 18 meeting to approve a change order with Eastern Environmental Contractors in the amount of $120,000 for the addition of safety rails on all five digesters’ rooflines. They also permitted, with the acceptance of the public utilities committee’s report’s recommendation, to authorize the gathering of quotes for the FVDs. Both matters passed unanimously with no objections.