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 Steve and seconded by Marty to accept the February 18, 2009 meeting minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
S.R.F. Project ~ Bethany Road Well Project Update ~ Punch list items have been completed, a few minor electrical issues remain to be done to satisfy the Electrical Inspector. Dankris came out to raise the tank which is believed to be the cause of a sporadic chemical feed pump loss of prime issue. LCS Programmer Brian Ford came out yesterday; everything is tested and taken care of. Craig will refer to the specs to verify well level and alarm/pump functionality. Ed Pelland is expected to call regarding the alarm panel repair. Craig explained the Palmer Road alarm panel work and further PLC functionality.
Tank rehab ~ No major issues were uncovered during the tank inspection other than the rusted hinges on the over-flow hatch. Tata & Howard (T&H) has begun working on proposal and specs for tank rehab and have notified the DEP so that funds will be made available. Don St. Marie from the DEP implied this may get covered under the Stimulus Plan.
Discussion took place about having a system tour now that the SRF Projects are nearly completed.
Palmer Road Well Pumping Capacity ~ The Commission agreed something has to be done at this location, however until the pump is taken apart it will not be known what went wrong with the pump. A pump is approximately $6,000, if it’s found to be defective Goulds will stand by Maher (installation occurred when they were the DL Maher Division of Boart Longyear Company). Doug suggested contacting Goulds directly as they would probably like to avoid any bad publicity, especially with a municipal customer. The commission agreed the goal is to get satisfaction; it is easy to sell something new vs. warranty on equipment, it is one of two things, either defective pump or an installation problem. Craig will follow up and possibly have a Goulds representative come out.
M.D.C. Closing Preparations ~ Diane Enocks, Assistant Facilities Director for the State and Facility Director Jane Arthur attended a Selectmen’s meeting to discuss M.D.C.’s closing, a lot of the buildings are slated for demolition. Craig attended and discussed how the closing will impact our department. M.D.C.’s wastewater piping system allows a large amount of groundwater inflow (roof drains) and infiltration to enter their system and flow through the pipelines to our system contributing to our total flow to Palmer whether the facility is closed or not. Discussion took place on the water tank. Craig explained the tank was not constructed for use as part of our system. If it was connected directly to our system it would overflow constantly because it wasn’t
built high enough. Water rates have been increased in FY2010 to cover our SRF loan repayment, Sewer rates have been increased to cover major cost increases we have received in Palmer. When the facility eventually closes although we will experience some modest savings in electricity, with the loss in revenues further rate increases are unavoidable. There is a lot of planning and questions that will be on-going, the financial impact is huge.
Dam Safety Inspection ~ The Fuss & O’Neal proposal has been sent to Town Council Ken Albano for review. Suggested revisions have been forwarded.
NEW BUSINESS:
Town Meeting Article Requests (Annual Town Meeting, Monday May 11th) ~ There are 3 Special Article requests:
- SRF Transfer to cover existing shortfall of out of pocket expenditures and additional funds for Tank Rehab Engineering Services.
- Transfer MTBE award from General Fund into a special Stabilization Fund.
- Transfer of $14,000 from Water Enterprise Fund to Corrosion Control, $17,334.04 has already been expended and there are 4 more months to go this FY, our usage is right on target. Bids for the upcoming FY are received in June, long after the budget has been submitted. A 35% increase from FY08 to FY09 occurred. To avoid this predicament in FY2010 this line item was increased from $16,000 to $30,000.
Office Equipment ~ Dale’s 8 year old printer needed to be replaced, its replacement could not handle the networking environment required by the Utility Billing Software Upgrade. CMD Technology recommended a HP LaserJet P2055dn which was purchased, installed and set up on the network.
The Canon Copier purchased on 3/22/1999 ($1,215.00) needs repair, the required drum replacement (third) and maintenance would be over $400, which is too much to invest into such an old machine. CSB, the same company used by other Monson municipal offices, has been contacted and a replacement copier has been ordered ($1,762.00). We will participate in the same service & supply agreement used by other departments, which covers all service & supplies except paper.
Billing Software ~ Vadar Utility Billing software has been upgraded to V2. While the programmers did the best they could with the data conversion, data clean-up has been required. This has been extremely time consuming as the theory has been not to assume anything is the same, no list of changes were provided, there is no manual or on-line help. Dale has been working with Vadar to address identified deficiencies and system bugs while preparing for billing.
4th Quarter Reading/Billing ~ Reading is expected to take place the last week in March; bills are expected to be ready Mid-April and will include the rate increase notice. Ratepayers will see new rates on July 2009 bill for April 1 – June 30 usage.
Department Activity:
Annual Statistical Report ~ due mid April. The MassDEP has changed the report format again which requires a great deal of extra effort to reorganize the information.
Consumer Confidence Report ~ due July 1st. The MassDEP has made updates to the CCR requirements including tables, health effects, required language, etc. In the past this has been prepared and included in the April billing which reduces postage costs, while meeting the delivery requirement to each of our water customers. However, time may not allow its preparation & printing to be finished in time for the 4th Quarter Bill mailing. We will do our best.
Service Line Leaks ~ Another service line leak required repair, there have been 4 since January 1.
Drawings ~ Craig has been working on updating the drawings in the Valve Book (the Bible), and is up to Hospital Road. His goal is to have a new updated book in each truck and in the computer; the old original book will remain in the office.
Preparations for Spring/Summer Projects ~ Memorial Hall water service separation, Water Fountain at Veterans Field, and addressing leaking services will be our priority. A full system hydrant flushing will not be performed year.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
ADJOURN: At 6:45 p.m., a motion was made by Doug and seconded by Marty to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing pending negotiations and not to return to open session. Motion passes unanimously.
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Stephen C. Lobik, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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