Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, V.Chairman Marshall L. Harris, Clerk Stephen C. Lobik
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 Steve and seconded by Marty to accept the meeting minutes of September 7, 2005 as corrected. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Bunyan Road Well Improvements ~ Update:
The Conservation Restriction (CR) has been resolved. The State Office of Environmental Affairs (SOEA) decided to accept the Kelly’s CR as is. The Gasparini’s CR had to be modified because it had language the SOEA could not accept. The Gasparrini’s and the Selectmen have signed the revised document and now it will be forwarded to the DEP and finally back to the SOEA.
A meeting was held at Tata & Howard (T&H) with the contractor, Bob Watson, who handled the Bunyan Road Well improvements from Bay State Regional Contractors (BSRC), to discuss the submitted and denied extra charges. Don Tata, Karen Pighetti and Craig attended. BSRC had submitted $30,000 in additional charges, of which $10,000 was for shoring and dewatering etc. Craig explained the background and how at the time the contract was signed Bob was uncomfortable with the June 30th deadline but he agreed to sign the contract with the knowledge that if we were not fined by the DEP we would not pursue damages from BSRC and that we would look favorably upon any change orders submitted for additional costs incurred by BSRC that were directly related to finishing the project by
the deadline. At the time Don Tata reminded Bob that the change orders must be submitted before the extra work is performed. If change orders were submitted as they occurred, they would have been looked at and taken into consideration, but they weren’t. The project was not completed until August 2nd, and it is felt that the contractor should have familiarized himself with the job site before bidding, instead of trying to recoup money lost on the job. Craig does not see anything done beyond the scope of the work. One mistake in the spec did cause a change order equating to an approximately $1,000.00 charge. BSRC has made threats to take the Town to court if need be.
Craig explained to the Commission he may be bluffing, or this could end up in court for mediation, or a settlement could be reached to give him something. Craig spoke with Gretchen and Town Council Ken Albano who both agree the legal fees could be significant even if we were to win and the best alternative is to reach a settlement both parties can live with. Craig is concerned with warranties on equipment, which T&H is addressing with BSRC so that all warranties will be honored with the settlement. Craig will keep the Board posted on any developments.
Hospital Road Reconstruction: A complication on the project has come to light; no calls have been received from the Railroad for about 3-4 weeks. Craig called Mike Lawyer at New England Central Railroad (NeCR), who said the sticking point is there is no construction agreement in place to install the new water line in the crossing. The agreement NeCR has with MassHighway is to rebuild the crossing, and it does not include the water line. Craig explained to Mr. Lawyer that that the work needs to be done now and asked why they didn’t return any calls. Mr. Lawyer told him he has been out of the office for the last three weeks. Craig scheduled a conference call with him later in the morning to discuss the situation.
Craig informed the Commission it seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong and all at the same time Monday, September 26th. Craig had a noon meeting at T&H scheduled, the day started out with a service leak on High Street, which required a Police Officer detail but none were interested, fortunately Kevin Brown from the Fire Dept. stepped up to the task. In between there Craig found out about the railroad mess and then shortly after 9a.m. a call came in from the Police Department announcing Palmer Paving broke the water line on Hospital Road. After assessing the situation Craig pulled Tom from the High Street leak and put him on the Hospital Road break while Dave continued to repair the High Street leak. On the way to T&H Craig had a
conference call with Mike Lawyer who instructed his contractor to order materials to get on site in the meantime an agreement will be worked out between Monson Water and NeCR. It is not understood why Mass Highway doesn’t have the water line included, usually when Mass Highway is involved they hold all agreements and inform us what is due as non-participating work. This is extremely inconsistent with standard MassHighway practices. When Craig returned, Dave had the service line done; and Tom had Hospital Road taken care of.
Tuesday, September 27th a Hydrant Replacement was scheduled on Main and Maple. This turned out to be a bigger task than what was expected, the bottom of the main was 7’ deep, 3 truckloads of rock were taken out, and digging was extremely difficult. The job was started at 7:30, and completed at 5:30 working through lunch. Discussion took place on ordering 6-1/2 to 7ft hydrants for future use.
Quaboag Heights: Research determined the manhole we have picked to make the connection will be a lot easier and have better access. However, Craig is not sure what is going on, as Gary Weiner of Ecotech Environmental Associates has not returned his calls.
Shut Off Notices: As of today 7 certified letters were sent, only one has been picked up from the post office and only 2 accounts have been paid. The shut off procedure will continue, and termination will take place Thursday, October 13 to those accounts not paid in full.
Lead and Copper: All samples have been collected; results are not complete yet but so far we are in compliance with state reg’s. As of today, only 1 house was over the 90th percentile for lead (the rule states 18 out of the 20 samples must be below the action level). Craig told Dan Laprade at the DEP he will do more testing on the house that was higher than the rest. Craig suspects it could have been caused by sampling error or maybe and electrical problem with the home causing excessive corrosion on the pipes.
Wellhead Protection Plan: Craig informed the Commission the meeting held September 21st went excellent. Our goals are now defined. Rebekah McDermott from Mass Rural Water Association and Craig will begin an outreach program starting in the schools with grades 4, 5, 6, and 7 to present education materials and information about public drinking water and source protection. That will be followed by a public meeting to discuss the entire Source Water Protection Plan. We will be contacting the railroad to obtain a written agreement to limit and control spraying in our Zone 1 with the cooperation of the Conservation Commission (ConCom). The railroad must get permission from ConCom for all spraying of herbicides. Craig will be contacting MassHighway in regard to establishing
our Zone 1 areas as low salt or at least persuade them to switch to calcium chloride in those areas.
NEW BUSINESS:
Budget Cuts: Craig informed the Commission of the Department Head Meeting which Gretchen talked about different budget cuts needed to be taken in this FY to help make up the deficit including layoffs, cutting workers’ hours, or scaling back town services. Basically layoffs will not occur, however they are cutting secretarial hours 2-1/2 hours a week in some departments. This has a significant impact to individuals considering no raises are being given, and insurance has increased. The Selectmen have agreed not to take their salaries, and the Board of Assessors may do the same.
NEXT MEETING:
A motion was made by Marty and seconded by Steve to set the next meeting for Wednesday, October 12, 2005. Motion passed unanimously.
ADJOURN:
A motion was made by Steve and seconded by Marty to adjourn at 7:40 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
___________________________________
Stephen C. Lobik,
Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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