Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, Vice Chairman Marshall L. Harris
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: Postponed until Steve is present.
OLD BUSINESS:
S.R.F. Project ~ Updates
Ely Road Tank ~ The pipeline is all in and pressure tested. Bacteria tests took place Wednesday and again today, things will be good to go if results are okay. Since the initial bid slight changes have been made (i.e., grading plan, access road to the electric pole and gate). Craig described how the hydrant on site will be used to drain the tank during the chlorination process and for future maintenance, the current tank has not been drained in the past 10 years.
Bethany Road Pump Station ~ This project is proceeding, minor site design problems were discovered. The fencing and black top need to be extended out away from the building to allow enough room to maneuver our truck at the loading dock. With regards to heat it will be electric with minimal usage because of the VFD’s. Well cleaning is going good although it is taking longer than expected to remove the sand and as a result an extra day of surging and pumping was necessary. Records indicate that the well was never cleaned before so the extra time is not surprising. In 1995 the oil lubricated pump was removed and replaced with a new style pump. Records also show that in the 50’s Lane guaranteed Mr. Winters 400 gal/minute from this well and ended up crediting the town the
difference when this goal was not met. The current pump test results are over 400 gal/minute and that is great news.
Pads were poured for the antenna towers at Bunyan and Palmer Road. The tank will require a boom truck to install that antenna. A remote terminal will be mounted at Palmer Road, Tom and Randy have cleaned up and painted the room where the panel will go.
Fern Hill Water Main ~ The pipeline still has not passed the bacteria test. We have flushed the line and the contractor has re-chlorinated the pipeline three times now but to no avail. T&H ordered the contractor to install a sampling tap after the hydrant on Fern Hill so we can determine if the bacteria is originating from the pipeline or the hydrant itself. We re-flushed the line and also removed and disinfected the four inch cap on the Fern Hill hydrant. Samples were collected again on 8/20 and 8/21 and much to our surprise the Fern Hill hydrant and sample tap were both clean but the State Ave hydrant had small amounts of bacteria on both days. The contractor is angry and believes the lab is messing up. The State Avenue hydrant has always passed until that last
round. T&H has volunteered to step in and collect the samples themselves. We re-flushed the line and cleaned all the caps on both hydrants. Jeff from T&H collected samples on yesterday (8/27) and today and as of 4’oclock the 8/27 samples look good. We probably won’t have official results on the samples collected today until Monday.
Palmer Billing Dispute ~ Craig has not heard anything further. Discussion took place on the continued turmoil Palmer is facing, now with the most recent resignation of the new Collector.
Sewer Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) Remediation ~ No time has been available to spend on this project.
NEW BUSINESS:
Memorial Hall Winter Closing ~ Craig learned minutes before the Wednesday 8/27 Department head meeting took place that the Selectmen have announced plans to terminate heat to Memorial Hall (drain the water and shut the furnace off) for four months starting December 1 in an effort to save fuel costs. At the Department head meeting Craig told Town Administrator, Gretchen Neggers that there are three other buildings that receive water service from within the basement of Memorial Hall (W&S Dept., Art Council & 194 Main St). This situation will need to be addressed before December and will require significant materials in addition to assistance from the Highway Department (backhoe and black top). Craig met with Gretchen and custodian Paul Demaio at Memorial Hall and walked through
what was involved. If we had known of their plans to close the building this winter preparations could have taken place. There are 5 corporations in the street feeding the 3” line that services Memorial Hall which will have to be addressed also. The biggest problem is the multi family home at 194 Main St. where a new service line will have to be installed. It was suggested to send the land lord a letter asking for assistance. Gretchen is following up with Legal Council on who might be responsible for the changeover.
Appreciation Letter from Palmer Water Department ~ The Palmer Water Department sent a letter of appreciation to our Department for the help we extended them on 8/4/08. Craig explained that on August 4th Palmer was notified of a major water main break on Shearer St. and unfortunately they only had one man that day. They called Craig to help shut down the water main and Craig and Tom responded immediately (they were on Fern Hill). They helped shut down the break and then returned to Town.
Service Termination Notices ~ 23 certified notices were mailed August 22nd , water services will be terminated Wednesday, September 17 unless all past due water and sewer charges, including penalties and interest are paid in full. Discussion took place on the need to increase the Service Termination Notice Charge to help cover the time spent on this process.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: At 7:30 p.m., a motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously.
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Marshall L. Harris, Vice Chairman
cc: Selectmen
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