Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, V. Chairman Marshall L. Harris, Clerk Stephen C. Lobik
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.
Accept the Minutes: A motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to accept the January 21, 2009 meeting minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
ADJOURN: At 6:05 p.m., a motion was made by Marty and seconded by Doug to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing pending negotiations. Motion passed unanimously.
REOPEN: At 7:45 p.m. the meeting returned to open session.
OLD BUSINESS:
S.R.F. Project ~ Bethany Road Well Project Update ~ Work is being done toward finishing the connections to the alarm panel. However, it seems we have a faulty alarm panel board. It has been sent back to the factory and will be repaired. The Chemical Feed system at Bethany Road is up and running, the mixing tank probes have been adjusted and things have been running for a month now. We experience a pH fluctuation when the mixing tank fills and we trying to determine why. The Electrical and Dankris punch lists are almost complete. We also discovered some work was left out of the project in regard to the Palmer Road PLC and the alarm panel at that location, which will result in an extra expense.
Palmer Road Well Pumping Capacity ~ We have been experiencing an ongoing problem with the well pump at Palmer Road. The gallon per minute (gpm) output of the well drops off over a period of time (10 gpm over a month). This has been happening since the pump was initially installed in November of 2006. Typically, drop off is caused by the well itself plugging up, or is related to the pump. In this case it is definitely the pump. The design of the pump (open impellor) has allowed adjustments to be made which brings the output back up to specifications. However the cause of the drop off continued and we are now to the point where we no longer have any adjustment left. The pump will need to be removed to determine the cause. Discussion took place on the probable causes. The intake on this pump is 5-7 feet lower then before; it could be pulling sand and wearing the impellors. It could also be a defective pump in which case the manufacturer (Goulds) would hopefully stand behind
their product. Craig has pricing from Maher to remove existing pump and replace it with a new unit. New Goulds pump is $6,200. The labor cost for the pump removal and replacement is estimated to be $5,800. Craig explained to the Commission that a decision does not have to be made tonight and we can wait until our next meeting.
Dam Safety Inspection ~ The Commission is the owner of the Dam on Old Wales Road. The State is mandating all Dams undergo a Phase 1 Safety Inspection. It was rehabbed back in the 1950’s. The possible elimination of the dam was discussed. Craig has engineering proposals ranging between $3.500 and $3,900 for the inspection. The Commission authorized Craig to move forward with the inspection.
USDA Disaster Aid ~ Craig received an e-mail from Mass Rural Water regarding money being made available through USDA for relief from flood damage experienced in December 2008. Craig inquired about it with USDA but was told it would be distributed like their other programs. For the Town of Monson it would probably be 75% Loan and 25% Grant. Unfortunatley, we cannot afford any additional debt at this time.
Commissioner ~ Mr. Joseph Prior from Cedar Swamp Road will be running for the vacancy on the Commission.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
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Stephen C. Lobik, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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