Members Present: V. Chairman Stephen C. Lobik, Clerk Douglas R. North
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-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 Doug to accept the Meeting Minutes from August 30, 2006. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
Tank (S.R.F): The Commissioners reviewed a map of the existing Ely Road tank which showed the property owners near the existing tank; Craig sent letters advising the three property owners of the department’s intent to look into the possibility of expanding the existing tank site to make room for a new one. The Commission discussed the cost advantages of expanding the existing site, and the next step which would be to have a survey crew come in for evaluation purposes. Craig informed Doug and Steve that Marty and Craig had discussed another possible site on town owned land on the other side of the road, which would require us to pay for additional piping but not land. Marty and Craig plan to explore the area. Tata & Howard (T&H) have already spoken to the surveyor, Don
Frydryk who knows what is needed, however Craig would rather wait and have them come out once and look at multiple sites. Craig would like to have multiple options if possible. Craig has also invited the Natgun Concrete Tank Representative to come out and view the locations and get his opinion of the sites. Discussions took place about sending the land owners additional correspondence indicating the area of interest and invite them to come in to discuss their concerns.
Palmer Road/USDA: Budget has been approved and USDA would like the remaining funds to be used. Craig presented a plan which included Well Cleaning, Refurbishment of Pump Motor, Replacement of Motor Control Panel and Lighting Fixtures at Palmer Road, and Replacement of Overhead Door at Bunyan Road. Craig explained it seemed advantageous at this time to replace the motor control panel at Palmer Road as it is self contained and can be moved if needed at a later date. Hopefully the pump can be taken out and put back in with little problems and the $55,000 appropriated for contingencies will not have to be touched. Well cleaning at Palmer Road is slated for October early November and is expected to take one week.
Macomber Road Sewer ~ Update: Back in July Craig had sent the Planning Board comments after reviewing the Preliminary Subdivision Plan. Two days before the next Planning Board meeting Mr. Cortinia submitted revised plans. Craig sent the Planning Board a second letter stating that we are comfortable that Mr. Cortina is aware of our concerns. However, Craig also stated in his letter that he wished to remind Mr. Cortina that Planning Board approval of his preliminary plan does not mean we approve of his Sewer Plan, as the proposed sewer layout will not be evaluated until the Definitive Plan Stage. Discussion took place regarding the proposed sewer easements on his plan and how past experience has shown that easements are difficult to keep clear especially on a small lot. Mr.
Cortina has the burden of having a Sewer evaluation done to reveal what the system can handle, as he may have to put in septic, which effects lot size.
Quaboag Heights ~ Update: Craig spoke with Ted Bukowski about performing the tree clearing and water main installation on the easement as part of his work being done in the development. He agreed and he will put together a proposal for us. 10 of the 34 units are already sold.
Sewer Inflo: Amethyst Environmental came out and fixed the sewer pipe problem at the corner of Maple and Route 32, Craig has a DVD of the process. While they were out, Craig had them televise a section of the cross country sewer between State and Chestnut Street near the tennis courts where a massive tree was recently cleared. The pipe looked good. Craig would like to have them come out to inspect other suspect areas, like on Route 32.
Craig would like to put a plan in place to start addressing our inflow problem. Tom Hansen from Tata & Howard (T&H) came out to meet with Craig to discuss options. Craig suggests submitting an article request in the Fall to set aside some cash for this work, possibly start with $15,000 for inspection and repair vs. having an individual line item in the budget which effect the rates.
MDC Sewer/Grinder: An October 3rd meeting has been set with Jane Auther to discuss Grinder costs, discuss the future billing process, and to see how far they have come with issues discussed in the Spring. When Craig was compiling data for Jane, data wasn’t correlating; further proving they need to get an accurate flow meter in place. Doug plans on attending.
Monson Highway Department Permits: Craig and John Morell came to a workable solution. We will not be charged a permit fee but we will pull a permit for all our excavations. John and Craig have agreed to work on a case by case basis in regard to controlled density fill.
NEW BUSINESS:
Palmer Issue: Gerry Skowronek from Palmer brought to Craig’s attention that a small number of accounts have not been included in the calculation of our share of treatment costs to Palmer. Apparently, there are 24 accounts on State Avenue involved; Craig proposes taking the FY’s total water usages for those accounts and simply adding it to the formula. This seemed like a workable solution to Gerry.
NEXT MEETING: The next meetings have been set for Wednesday, October 11, 2006.
ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
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Douglas R. North, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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