Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, Clerk Stephen C. Lobik, Newly Elected Joseph M. Prior
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Reorganization of the Board: Election of Joseph M. Prior made it necessary to reorganize the Board. Doug made a motion to nominate Stephen C. Lobik as Chairman, Joe seconded motion, motion passed unanimously. Steve made a motion to nominate Douglas R. North as Vice Chairman, Joe seconded motion, motion passed unanimously. Steve made a motion to nominate Joseph M. Prior as Clerk, Doug seconded motion, motion passed unanimously.
Accept the Minutes: As a result of department activity minutes were not prepared. A motion was made by Doug and seconded by Steve to postpone until next meeting. Motion passes unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS:
S.R.F. Project ~ Bethany Road Well Project Update ~ Craig took a few minutes to brief Joe on the project. Just when alarms were finally hooked up and functioning and running complete, some bugs in programming were noticed, programmer is due back. A new wrinkle with the chemical feed pump at Bethany Road Station developed leaving no choice but to switch from automatic operation to manual as it was not pacing itself. This was when the program problem was noticed as the well fault alarm did not come in when the well shut off.
Palmer Road Well Pumping Capacity ~ Peter Maher will be out in a week to perform and document flow pump tests to send to Goulds. Discussion took place on the warranty period; residential is believed to be 5 years, not sure about commercial. Craig informed the Commission the well capacity hasn’t changed.
M.D.C. Closing Preparations ~ No new information. Craig has been named to the Closing Committee by the Selectmen.
Dam Safety Inspection ~ The Fuss & O’Neal contract has been processed and sent along, inspection should start soon.
Town Meeting Article Requests (Annual Town Meeting, Monday May 11th): Craig and Dale met with Gretchen and Debbie earlier today to finalize articles.
- Transfer MTBE award will require two articles one to create a Stabilization fund, the other to transfer from General Fund into it. Craig explained to Joe what the award and the purpose of the special Stabilization Fund was to address any future MTBE incidences and for addressing water system capital projects.
- SRF Transfer from Water Enterprise Free Cash to cover existing shortfall of out of pocket expenditures and additional funds for Tank Rehab Engineering Services.
- Transfer of $14,000 from Water Enterprise Free Cash 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.
- Standard Annual Article for Water Enterprise Fund
- Standard Annual Article for Sewer Enterprise Fund
FY2009 4th Quarter Bills ~ Bills will be mailed Friday and will include the new rate effective April 1, 2009. The Upgraded V2 Billing Program has issues to be addressed, functionality does not exist that was in the last version, and some inconsistencies in reports caused concern.
Sewer Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) Remediation ~ Craig was pleased with knowledge and jetting work performed by After Hours Drain Service, equipment jets 80 gallons a minute at 2000psi, some places had a lot of settlement such as Country Club Drive and Getty. Four 3,000 gallon loads were used Tuesday; ten loads were used on Monday. We have cleaned and inspected as far as the golf course, which is where Craig had them stop as he wants to be sure there is enough money remaining to test and seal the footage we have cleaned. Almost all of the joints tested bad today, water is pouring in some at the rate of 2-3 gallons a minute and some are just dripping. Charge is on a per joint basis and how much material is needed. Amethyst will be out tomorrow for part of the day, and will
return the week after next. Craig will explore SRF money options, currently $40,000 is left in this account. Doug is concerned that if these sections are bad, what will the downtown area which is deeper and cross country which is all under water turn up. Craig explained how cross country is tough just getting equipment in.
Department Activity:
Service Line Leak ~ Leak number 5 for the year was identified and repaired. This one was on Harrison Avenue from main to curb. The department is responsible for the lines in the street, however while the trench is open Craig gives the homeowner the option to have their line replaced (pulled from the basement), they are charged for the copper. Discussion took place about charging for this service as time is spent performing the work and adds a bit to the truck and backhoe time, however in the long run it saves the homeowner significantly. After doing some research, it is apparent a lot of time could be spent on that road and Cushman Street addressing old services.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: At 7:35 p.m., a motion was made by Doug and seconded by Steve 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.
___________________________________
Joseph M. Prior, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
| 
