June 15, 2016
A regular meeting of the Board of Water Commissioner was called to order by Chairperson Michael Caron at 12:01 pm. Commissioners present were Lucien Langlois and Paul Poulin. Commissioner Ingersoll entered the meeting at 12:30. Absent from this meeting was ex-officio member Mayor Paul Grenier. Also present for this meeting was Superintendent Craig Carrigan, General Foreman Steve Lefebvre and Lynne C. Lessard.
There was neither Public nor Board Comments.
It was moved by Commissioner Langlois, seconded by Commissioner Poulin, with all in favor, to accept and place on file, the Minutes of May 19, 2016.
Under the Berlin Water Works Monthly Status Report dated June 10th, 2016, Superintendent Carrigan reviewed and discussed the following with the Board:
1. Treatment Systems:
a. The $25,000 Critical Infrastructure Grant Project for security upgrades at the Ammonoosuc Treatment Plant has been completed and will be submitting for reimbursement.
b. We received a delivery of 40 bags of polymer. We were able to go back to our original type of polymer at the same cost. As this is a denser product, we are using less for the same results. This past month has an approximate 60% decrease in the amount being used.
c. The staff emptied and cleaned the three chemical bulk tanks.
d. We contacted Charlie Fritz of EII for a service call on our instrumentation, which he corrected. He also did other programming that the staff had flagged to be done.
2. Distribution System:
a. Water supplied into the distribution system for May averaged 1.82 MGD.
b. There were no main line, service line or curb stop repairs in May.
c. On Birch Street, we removed one customer off of the severe running water list.
3. BWW Office & Garage Upgrade Project:
a. The fencing slats and parking signs have been installed.
b. Staff transplanted 4 Cedar trees and 5 Rhododendrons from the Union Street Pathway to our facility.
c. The hydrant for the fountain should be ready Monday.
4. Water Meter Replacements & Backflow Preventer Project:
a. Donny has completed the testing of 13 backflow devices for the month of May.
5. Cost Reduction/New Income/Improvements/Customers:
a. The monthly 47 accounts were billed out at $128,785.90 which has been the highest so far.
b. The Hydro ran for 31 days out of 31 and generated 16.92 MWH of power in May. The Treatment Plant had zero net KWH billed and carried forward 2800 KWH. We now have a new net amount of 6600 KWH.
6. Safety/Personnel/Other:
a. One of our temporary employees has left for a full time position with the Public Works Department.
b. We have not had a Lost Time Accident in the last 621 days.
It was moved by Commissioner Poulin, seconded by Commissioner Langlois, with all in favor, to accept and place on file, the Berlin Water Works Monthly Status Report dated June 10th, 2016.
It was moved by Commissioner Langlois, seconded by Commissioner Poulin, with all in favor to accept the Cashier’s Report for the month of May, 2016.
Under Old Business:
a. Project Status: We have installed 347 feet of main line and 218 feet of service line in the month of May.
1. Riverside Drive Project Status: BWW has completed this project. The City is to start in the area from 12th Street to Cates Hill in July.
2. Cedar Street Project Status: We will be replacing 750 feet of 8 inch cast iron from Prospect Street to Hillside Avenue including the Hillside intersection. This line breaks frequently and is in a high water pressure area, it is up to 12 feet deep in places.
3. Brown Farm Back-Up Well Status: We drilled five new locations but only two were desirable to do pumping and water quality testing. One of the previous two wells drilled that contained high Iron and Manganese was raised to the depth of our existing well and a new sample was taken. One of the wells had no water at all. Geo-Insight suggests that we may want to develop a plan for another well and possibly start the large ground water permitting process. The results of the water quality samples taken should be in this week.
b. Brown Farm Back up Well Land Acquisition Status: The Superintendent spoke with the current owner of the land last week and stated that we are still determining where our new well site would be located.
c. Approve FY 2017 Budget: It was moved by Commissioner Ingersoll, seconded by Commissioner Langlois, with all in favor to approve the FY 2017 Budget in the amount of $3,272,834 as was presented at the Budget Hearing on May 25th, 2016 at 6:00 pm at City Hall.
d. Other Old Business:
1. Following up from last month’s meeting, the water customer at 757 Sixth Avenue was sent a letter from the office and has since paid his bill.
2. Security Counter – We are in the process of searching for any grant or special funding to help with this expenditure and we are exploring various options for security.
3. Kim Lambert is selling his 1991 Ford Tractor with an Alamo A-Boom mower with spare parts. It was moved by Commissioner Langlois, seconded by Commissioner Poulin, with all in favor, to have the Superintendent negotiate to purchase not to exceed $15,000.
Under New Business:
a. It was moved by Commissioner Langlois, seconded by Commissioner Poulin, with all in favor, to approve the Joint Loss Prevention Manual.
b. We received a letter complaint for lawn damage at 1878 Riverside Drive. Superintendent Carrigan and Commissioner Langlois visited the site and discussed same with the Board. It was agreed to send a letter stating that we will not replace the whole lawn but will fix the original area that was a part of the water line project.
c. Approve Other & Communications:
1. We received a letter from the Zoning Board dated June 7, 2016 stating that an application for Special Exception has been filed with the Berlin Zoning Board. This exception, if approved would allow the property to be used as an overnight campground off Jericho Road/NH Route 110. It was agreed by the Board to have the Superintendent send a letter to the Zoning Board that we want to be included with this process because our access road is involved. Their Public hearing will be held on June 27th, 2016, 6:00 pm, at City Hall.
The Board agreed to hold their next regularly scheduled meeting on July 14th, 2016 at their 55 Willow Street location at noon.
There were no Public-Board comments.
At this time, it was moved by Commissioner Poulin, seconded by Commissioner Ingersoll, with all in favor, to enter into a Non-Public Session: RSA 91-A:3II(a) – Personnel – Wages-Grievance and RSA 91-A:2I(b-c) – Collective bargaining and consultation with legal counsel at 12:45 pm.
At 12:54, by roll call vote, with all members voting in favor, the Board re-entered into the Public Session.
During the closed session, the Board discussed the pending approval of the City of Berlin Water Works & #1444 labor contract. At this time, Commissioner Langlois made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Poulin, with all in favor, to ratify the Labor Contract as amended and the motion was approved by all.
There being no further business to come before this meeting at this time, it was moved by Commissioner Poulin, seconded by Commissioner Ingersoll, with all in favor, to adjourn this meeting.
The meeting did so adjourn at 12:55 pm.
A True Record: Attest:_________________________________ Paul W. Poulin, Clerk of the Board
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