Attendees Present: Water Sewer Advisory Board
Scott Carlson, John Michalak, Eugene Stirchak, Joe Pridotkas
Absent:
Brian Forts
Others Present:
Marlene Whipple- Recording Secretary
Jim Zingarelli – Sr. Civil Engineer
Mark Elbag, Jr. – Water Sewer Superintendent
Anthony Renzoni – Selectman
John Woodsmall – Director of Public Works
- Approval of November 17, 2011 Minutes. All members in favor.
2. Public – No Public Address
3. Introduce John Woodsmall, Director of Public Works.
John introduced himself to the members of the Board and mentioned that the last five years he was the Town Engineer in Southborough, before that he had spent five years working for the Town of Concord as the Assistant DPW / Town Engineer. John also mentioned that he spent some time working for Weston and Sampson Engineering early on in his career. John is a graduate of WPI.
4. Update of the Enterprise Fund for November and December.
Mark Elbag stated the Enterprise Fund is in good shape compared to the last two fiscal years. He presented a Memorandum regarding the year to date revenue and expenses to the members (see attached).
5. Update on Draft Recommendation-Sewer Connection Fees.
Mark presented a Memorandum regarding Draft Water & Sewer Connection Fee Modifications (See Attached) that he prepared for Nancy Galkowski, Town Manager and the members of The Water Sewer Advisory Board. The members took a few minutes to review the Memorandum. In review Mark pointed out Appendix C- Proposed Water
Fee Schedule, and he discussed the proposal for water connection fees for the first dwelling or commercial unit served by a single meter to have a fee of $2500 and each additional dwelling or commercial unit served by the same meter fee of $1000. Mark also pointed out, Appendix D- Proposed Sewer Fee Schedule, and he discussed (a) Application for sewer connection: for first dwelling or commercial unit to have a charge of $1400 and each additional dwelling or commercial unit $1400. Also (b) Flow based fee: The addition of a $2.00 surcharge per average daily gallon of requested use. Said surcharge to be calculated in accordance with the methodology used in 310 CMR 15. Lastly, (c) Payment of both fees shall be made at the time of application for the sewer entrance permit. John Michalak made a
motion to approve to recommend the connection fees listed in Appendix C & D to the Select Board. All members voted in favor. Eugene Stirchak made a motion to recommend to the Select Board that the Sewer and/or Water by-laws be amended to remove fee connections and incorporate recommended fee schedule, (9.2-9.4). All members voted in favor.
6. Discuss sewer capacity –Flow Monitoring.
Mark stated he is still working towards getting better flow data to better access the existing sewer capacity. The main trunk line flow meter at the Worcester Holden line was connected to the Town of Holden SCADA system to collect real time flow data. Future efforts will be made to connect to the main trunk line flow meter at the Rutland Holden Line to SCADA.
7. Status Update of the 5 Year Capital Improvements Plan for the Water & Sewer Division.
Mark stated that this has been submitted to the Town Manager and the Capital Improvements Committee, no further update since last meeting.
8. Status update of the FY 2013 Budget.
The Draft FY2013 Budget for the Water Sewer Enterprise Fund has been submitted to the Town Manager’s Office and is currently under review.
9. Water breaks, leaks, and other issues.
There was a water main break on January 11, 2012 on Chaffin’s Lane, which was caused by a failed 6” transite pipe. There was an estimated water loss of 4,500 gallons from the break. Also, there were 3 different leaks found within water services over the past two months with an estimated total water loss of 292,320 gallons. The Spring Street Well was taken out of operation for the winter months due to the difficulties associated with water main flushing during winter months. The high iron and manganese concentrations within the well cause the need for frequent water main flushing within the Spring Street area when the well is in operation.
10. Discuss Open Chairman Position for Water Sewer Advisory Board.
Scott announced that this will be his last meeting. The chair position is open and should be discussed at next meeting as long as all members are present. In the future, Scott would like to see a formal letter be sent to the Fire Chief to ensure that the fire hydrant color code system (amount of flow available at each hydrant is indicated by hydrant color) will be utilized during emergency situations. Lastly Scott wanted to state how well we run our system and how well we have prepared ourselves for the future.
11. Schedule next meeting. The next meeting time will be scheduled via email.
12. Other Business – None
13. Motion to Adjourn. – Adjourn 8:15 PM
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