Members Present: Chairman Stephen C. Lobik, Vice Chairman Douglas R. North, Clerk Joseph M. Prior
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 7:30a.m.
Accept the Minutes: A motion was made by Joe and seconded by Steve to accept the October 20, 2009 meeting minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
ADJOURN: At 7:35 a.m., a motion was made by Steve and seconded by Joe to adjourn from open session to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing pending negotiations and return to open session thereafter. Motion passes unanimously.
Re-Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 7:50a.m.
NEW BUSINESS:
State Ethics Requirement ~ Craig informed the Commission about the Mandatory Training Requirements – Summaries and Online Training under the Ethics Reform Bill. All current municipal employees must be provided with this summary of the conflict of interest law by December 28, 2009 and on an annual basis thereafter. Every municipal employee is required to sign a written acknowledgement that he/she has been provided with the summary. Training must be completed by April 2, 2010 and every two years thereafter. All signed acknowledgment notices are to be returned to the Town Clerk.
Tata & Howard (T&H) Client Value – Record of Service ~ Don Tata sent the Commissioners a record of service summarizing the engineering consultant service they have provided since 2003. The Commission discussed how they have been less than satisfied with services provided by T&H, and costs associated with past oversights, a comparison was made how in the private sector there is usually no opportunity to recoup job related costs. Craig met with Don and was disappointed the letter did not include a very important issue they had discussed. The tank rehab project and bid results evolved into a very unique set of circumstances in regard to bid prices and schedule. The differences in bids and the tight schedule warranted that T&H look after the contractor and help expedite the
DEP submittals in the interest of the client, so that the client was not put in an unfavorable situation. The Commission agreed it all comes down to lack of attention to detail and as part of their engineering obligation, it was the engineer’s responsibility to bring this situation to our attention so that a decision can be made on whether additional engineering services costs should have been approved to expedite the contractor’s DEP submittals. Don Tata would like the opportunity to meet with the Board and discuss long term planning considerations based on past work and future needs and to discuss an appropriate meeting frequency with the Board to improve communications.
Chlorination Equipment ~ Craig has been doing some research and has met with the representative for the dry calcium hypochlorite feed system. There are two models, one is smaller then the other, however it doesn’t have State DEP Approval or a skid set up to make it convenient to drop down and install. The bigger of the two is approximately $20,000, a ballpark figure for the smaller unit is $10,000 complete, 3 would be needed, MDC would also be looking for 1. The representative offered to bring a unit in as a pilot model; they would pay for the pilot study. They can also get MassDEP approval through a simple application process if they can document approval in three other states. Arch Chemical referred Representative Steve Roach from Wescor Associates; Craig spent three hours with
him going over the stations and their records. Integrating the system into our PLC control systems will be a slow process, however Craig would rather keep the physical installation in house which saves money and hassle.
OLD BUSINESS:
SRF Project Update/Tank Rehab ~ Tank rehab is progressing along. The entire tank is expected to be sandblasted and primed inside and out within the week, with the exception of a small area for auditors. Merithew provided a very detailed daily progress report; Craig is pleased to have a good contractor and a good inspector. Scott from Modern Protective Coatings (MPC) dropped by the office and took the opportunity to give a project update to the Commissioners. MPC found lead paint on the inside of the tank. The lead paint was covered with non lead paint, and consequently, was not identified during the inspection. One reason for being ahead of schedule is partially because no welding or pitting existed on the inside of the tank as the lead paint prime extended service of the tank,
however it was assumed the inside did not contain lead, this will require a change notice for additional costs incurred. In the 80’s it was roughed up and coated over, which was common practice years ago, vs. exposing down to bare. Weather has been cooperating, and heating has not been used. As a precaution the containment will be tied down as wind gusts are expected this weekend. To date three change notices have occurred:
- Chang Notice 1 was a language issue involving Davis Bacon wage rates; no cost difference.
- Change Notice 2 includes installation of PVC pipe for the Tideflex Mixing System in place of the originally submitted carbon steel pipe; this increases the contract price by $8,680, however will not require maintenance down the road.
- Change Notice 3 includes modifications to the weir box and increased the contract price by $3,150. Based on the bacteria hits, Craig feels that the water and ice on the roof might drain through the hinge and into the tank, and that this is the time to have reconfigured while the staging was in place, the Commission agreed.
- Change Notice 4 expected as a result of lead paint on inside of the tank MPC incurred additional costs for dust collection and hazardous waste removal. Fuel costs for blasting interior of tank and running dust collector (30 gal. a day x 8 days). MPC is not seeking compensation for additional costs for respirator filters, employee monitoring, etc. or additional money for the dust collector, as it is on site for use for the exterior of the tank anyway. Lead disposal goes to triple lined land fill in Michigan.
Sewer Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) Remediation ~ Notice of Intent (NOI) has been submitted to State, next step is to meet with ConCom. Town Council Ken Albano is working on easements.
Mechanic Street Water Main Relocation ~ Tata & Howard (T&H) prepared their proposal which included a couple of different ways to relocate the main. $65,000 is estimated to hang off bridge; $83,000 includes design, inspection and contingencies along with a budgetary fee for ET&L’s participation in the preliminary design process.
Margaret Street Sewer Brook Crossing ~ Northern Construction is still working on the proposal. John Raconan believes the job can be done easily from above on the bridge.
Dam Work ~ Specific immediate issues being addressed are brush removal in the spillway and removal of 2 trees near the upper North abutment. Removal of brush in the spillway was taken care of by Tom and Randy. Craig is getting prices to get the trees near the abutment removed. Conservation has no issues, unless removing roots. Discussion took place that brush should be handled as a maintenance process every other year.
Special Town Meeting Article Requests ~ Craig prepared explanation sheet to hand out the night of the meeting.
Department Activity ~
~ Winter preparations (hydrant flags).
~Hampden Avenue Sewer Line Repair required Tom’s assistance on Veterans Day holiday.
~10 Park Avenue sale is pending Sewer hook up, which will be a future project.
~Community Development Block Grant on Park Avenue will be moving forward and will entail new concrete sidewalks, drainage, 8” ductile iron water main, new services and hydrants. Although it is not a priority for Monson, we are glad to have the money to do projects that qualify based on the funding criteria.
~VADAR billing, Dale is working with Vadar and Ti-Sales to address meter reading collection issues.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 9:00a.m.
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Joseph M. Prior, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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