Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, V.Chairman 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 Marty and seconded by Doug to postpone the acceptance of June 22, 2005 meeting minutes until the next meeting when Steve is present. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Bunyan Road Well Improvements ~ Update:
USDA: The USDA called informed Craig the State Office has approved his request to pursue other financing options for the loan portion of the project while retaining the Rural Development grant funding. The conformation is believed to have been part of the mail received today, which Craig has not yet had a chance to look at.
Parco Controls / Brad Small: A snag occurred trying to incorporate the old surge control valve with the new VFD technology. Ultimately it will receive telemeter signal and convert to feet in the tank. Multiple programming options are available. This basically is a building block of a scada valve with Parco controls. Parco would work as used to start pumps. Brad Small has been out to look at how to accomplish what is expected when/if a failure occurs.
Ed Pelland: Ed Pelland who handles our alarm needs made a site visit to coordinate the alarm panel with new alarms which include smoke and high temp. He will be out with the actual panel next week.
Problems (Vault – Well #2): Craig informed the Commission one of the problems at the site is regarding the pipe alignment in the meter vault, which could have been caused by the trench settling. Karen Pighetti from Tata & Howard (T&H) has been out, Craig has seen a drafted a letter to Bay State Regional Contractors giving them a certain amount of days to address this matter. The second problem is with regards to leaks at Well #2. Even after being pulled apart and put back together, the leak can still be heard; it is believed to be the check valve. Doug made a few suggestions on how to do further testing, which happens to be their intent, however they did not have the necessary tools. Craig further expressed his discontent when he was in formed at
the site that the truck would be tied up until next week. Basically the letter T&H is sending a letter to Bay State advising them of a deadline in which they must address these matters in addition to the testing which includes pump, bacteria and pressure to avoid further unacceptable delays
Hospital Road Reconstruction: The project is moving along, however there was a slight oversight in the water design as Guertin & Elkerton (G&E) neglected to put include the temporary hook up parts and procedure both have to be working at the same time. It is not expected to slow down the project, as M&M has things to do. Craig did explain to G&E the design portion has already been paid, no further design charges should result from this oversight.
Craig advised the Commission of potential savings as the railroad is re-doing the crossing. This will allow the pipe to be set by trenching threw and is expected to be considerably lower then the $40,000 anticipated
Quaboag Heights: Gray Weiner of Ecotech Environmental Associates and Ted Burkowski submitted new plans to Craig as well as Dave Loring at Tight & Bond. Craig is not sure if MassHighway approved the Traffic Plan, however he has heard they refused them hooking into the drainage system, which has altered their plans.
Graham’s ~ Easement Plan: Mr. Graham has yet to return the final easement since requesting some changes mainly dealing with the lawn landscape conditions. Craig has worked out with Ken and does not include restoration of trees and shrubs. Marty asked who was responsible for clearing the land, to which Craig responded it would be our responsibility to clear woods.
Community Block Grant: Unfortunately Monson did not get the grant for Wales Road Project; Ludlow was awarded the grant for their infrastructure project. Craig would like to find out what the application downfalls were so that they can be resolved, as it scored only a few points below. There were four of five social projects on the application of which two were not federally recognized. Our prior years Route 32 application did not score as high Craig does not have the time to spend with Paul to start over, however by making the necessary adjustments to the current application it could be re-submitted with minimal tweaks.
NEW BUSINESS:
Appointment: A motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to appoint Thomas J. Murphy as Assistant Superintendent from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. Motion passed all in favor.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Oak Street Sewer: Craig informed the Commissioners Frank Hull recently purchased a house on Oak Street and would like to connect to Town Sewer. The house at the corner is already hooked; he plans on hooking to the existing manhole at the end of the driveway and leaving a Y for the house in the back for future connection.
DSL: Everything is hooked, installed and running, e-mail still remains to be switched.
Bee Hazard (Dave): Craig informed the Commissioners that while cutting brush at the Palmer Road Station Dave was stung several times July 7th and was transported to the hospital as he was experiencing allergic reaction. In the past both he and Tom have carried Epi-Pens, however they expire yearly. Dave has an appointment to get new ones, Craig will speak to Tom.
Sampling:
Lead & Copper: As incentive for participants to return samples, Craig has made arrangements with The Movie Gallery for each to receive a Free Rental Coupon.
IOC Sodium/Arsenic: This year sampling includes Sodium and Arsenic; based on the past history no problems are expected.
Nitrate Nitrite: As part of the Inorganic Contaminates, Nitrate and Nitrite will also be included in this years testing.
Secretary Hours: Brief discussion took place with regards to increasing secretarial hours as a result of the work load the department is faced. Craig will talk with Gretchen to see what steps are required. The members decided to table the discussion until next week when all Commissioners are present.
Further discussion took place on the need for a third person. Marty agreed this topic has come up when he was Superintendent too. Although a Laborer would help, the department would prefer to have someone who is licensed, with computer knowledge, could handle records, field marking of underground facilities in response to Dig Safe requests, and help with vacation coverage which would lessen the safety concerns with having one guy out in the field alone. The number of Dig-Safes needing to be marked out is greater than before, along with the expansion of users, an increased need for updating files, maps and records is also on the rise. Projects are planned through the winter, and carried out later in the year than before. While there is no
question the position is justifiable, the Commission agreed this would require planning and should be taken into consideration while review the rates.
NEXT MEETING:
A motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to set the next meeting for Wednesday, July 27, 2005. Motion passed unanimously.
ADJOURN:
A motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
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Marshall L. Harris
V.Chairman
cc: Selectmen
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