Members Present: Chairman Jack D. Gustafson, Vice Chairman Douglas R. North, Clerk Marshall L. Harris
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Accept the Minutes: A motion was made by Doug and seconded by Marty to accept the January 26, 200, and February 9, 2005 meeting minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Bunyan Road Well Improvements:
· Reference Check: Tata & Howard (T&H) has informed Craig that two of the references for Bay State Engineering (low bidder on project) have come back with excellent comments, and an individual in the office at T&H has also worked with them in the past and has also spoken highly of them. Doug asked how O’Brian Electrical’s references were. Craig responded that he knew only of his work at the Palmer and Bondsville Fire Stations, which was good, and that all the General Contractors are required to use the electrical low bidder.
Palmer Road PURD Project:
Gary Weiner from Ecotech Environmental Associates Inc. advises within a week the electrical portion of the project and the proposed easement should be on the drawings and will then be forwarded to Dave Loring at Tighe & Bond (T&B) who will evaluate and submit comments. Marty mentioned he is pleased that the electrical will appear on the plans prior to them being reviewed.
Craig has contacted Dave Loring to send in a proposal to do the inspections.
· Graham’s ~ Survey Easement – Sherman & Woods has mapped the easement and draft language which will be sent to Craig. At that point a meeting will be organized with the Grahams to discuss compensation as discussed at previous meetings. Craig did inform the Commission it will be our responsibility to clear the trees from the easement when the time arises.
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) ~ Wales Road Project: Paul Bracciotti from PVPC is just about done with the application for the grant. The submittal date is 2/28/05.
NEW BUSINES:
Consumer Confidence Report (CCR): Dale and Craig have prepared Monson’s 2004 Water Quality Report for the Commissions review.
Water – Sewer Rate Survey’s: Based on the information in the Tighe&Bond surveys, the typical annual water cost in Massachusetts ranges from a low of $45 per household to a high of over $1,215, the 2004 average is $321 per household; Monson comes in under the average at $292.40/year. The average household sewer usage cost is $408/year; with a low of $120/year and a high of $1,329/year with Monson coming in at $200/year per household.
GIS w/ Tata & Howard (T&H): T&H is coming out tomorrow to train Craig and install the GIS software and complete map system. This will allow for comprehensive planning, lot layouts which will be readily available. Marty expressed how convenient it will be to have actual elevations available, vs. estimating as we currently do.
Flushing: Craig informed the Commission he has been thinking about how the upcoming projects will impact the annual hydrant flushing program. He feels he might have to scale down the program and limit it to the dead ends in the Spring. Currently it is expected Hospital Road and Bunyan Road along with the usual smaller projects, including Lead and Copper Sampling, will significantly consume a lot of our time this Spring, which is when the flushing takes place. When Jack suggested flushing in the Fall, Craig explained that would cause two flushing operations to occur in the same fiscal year (Fall 2005 & Spring 2006) causing increased overtime costs. It was agreed dead end flushing could be done twice (Spring 2005 & Fall 2005) and a complete flushing program in the Spring of 2006,
the Commission will leave it up to Craig’s discretion.
OTHER BUSINESS
Water Main Break: Craig reported to the Commission a 6 foot section of pipe opened up on Bethany Road by North Lane around 7p.m.Thursday Feb. 10th during the snowstorm, which began to wash away the road. Marty explained at the same time the water break call was received Dave was on ambulance call, which came upon an accident which had damaged a telephone pole and knocked out power in the downtown area. Craig and Tom responded to the Water Department during the power outage to gather needed equipment with flashlights in hand. Due to the ice at the water break site, the Highway Department sent a truck, luckily due to Ben Murphy’s driving skills he did not get stuck when the road gave away. With the slippery conditions being as they were two cruisers were blocking
traffic, since power was out Marty volunteered the use of the new Rescue truck with its light tower to light up the area while repairs took place. The most difficult part was closing the water valves which were quite stubborn. Craig acknowledged John Morrell for his timely cooperation, along with Marty for the assistance of his men and the new Rescue Truck. Craig also reported that Tom and Dave did an excellent job in spite of the terrible conditions; they finished up at 3:30a.m. Friday morning and still reported to work at 7a.m. that same morning.
Marty mentioned the Selectmen took a vote at their meeting on Feb. 22nd to freeze all cost of living pay raises for all department heads. Contractual step raises will be allowed. Marty agreed it is not fair for department heads to get pay raises if others do not.
NEXT MEETING:
A motion was made by Doug and seconded by Marty to set the next meeting for Wednesday, March 9, 2005. Motion passed unanimously.
ADJOURN:
A motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to adjourn at 7:45 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
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Marshall L. Harris
Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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