Members Present: Chairman Douglas R. North, Vice Chairman Stephen C. Lobik, Clerk Joseph M. Prior
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m.
Accept the Minutes: A motion was made by Joe and seconded by Steve to except the April 19, 2011. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD/NEW BUSINESS:
Department Activity ~
Updates Regarding Tornado Damage ~ Craig discussed with the Commission the miscellaneous damage we experienced at the Water & Sewer Department (MW&S Dept.).
Immediately after the tornado, Craig made his way through fallen trees, downed utility poles and power lines and heavy storm debris to the Ely Road Water Storage tanks. Visually the tanks appeared undamaged. However, the power was out which meant our tank level heights would not be transmitted to the wells. No damage was experienced at the wells. Power was lost at Palmer Road and Bethany for only approximately 2 hours. Later on that night our portable generator was damaged so the utility truck was parked overnight at the tank so the built in power inverter could be used to run the controls in the vault at the tank. The next day we borrowed the Highway Department’s gasoline power inverter to power the tank controls, which required
refueling every 6 hours. Power was restored to the tank vault on Sunday, June 5th. Craig has purchased a new Honda power inverter from Tri-County which will run an estimated 18hrs per fill to replace the damaged unit. Craig has been coordinating with Hope Bodwell who has been appointed Disaster Recovery Assistant for MIIA (Towns insurance provider). Hope has put a claim in for us in regard to the tanks. From the outside everything looks perfect but Craig feels we should be very careful and have an internal inspection done on both to check for any possible damage to the interior structures or foundations. Based on the tree damage around the tanks they were definitely in the danger zone.
On Friday 6/10 at 3:30p.m., all the smoke detectors in the building went off for no apparent reason. It was later discovered the slate debris from Memorial Hall roof had punctured the MW&S Dept. roof which caused the insulation to soak up water, the leakage then caused a short in the fire detection system. David Beaudoin was called and he eventually replaced all the smoke detectors and the heat detector in the bay. Tom Murphy subsequently put temporary patches on roof punctures. All of the window screens were damaged from flying debris which were removed and taken to Squires for repair.
Since the night of the tornado the MW&S Dept. started the process of going house to house to shut services off, and has been trying to stay ahead of house demolitions and prevent further damage to what is already damaged, along with handling the steady stream of Emergency DIG Safes (pole replacements, transformer oil cleanup by Clean Harbors, demo’s, trailers, etc.). Houses have been demolished, torn apart and moved off foundations. It is the department’s policy to cap off water and sewer lines if the foundations are being removed. Temporary trailers are arriving and require water and sewer connections. Basically while the water trucks are driving to destinations, if a piece of equipment is at a site, the MW&S Dept. stops to see
what work is being performed. Time was spent doing leak detection and locating and exposing hydrants, surprisingly no hydrants have been damaged from the storm or equipment that we are aware of.
Water and Sewer hook ups for temporary trailers are being evaluated on a case to case basis, because they are going to be there throughout the winter, water meter pits are being installed on the property to prevent freezing. Afterwards they will be left in place and the service line run to the rebuilt house.
The MW&S Dept. is also involved in getting the Police Department relocated to the temporary trailers. Two water and sewer hookups will eventually be required. The first trailer has already been connected. The water service that supplied the Park & Rec. garage was re-tasked for this purpose. A meter pit was installed that Craig had plumbed a pressure reducer into and the line was extended to the temp trailers. The existing sewer main from the Old Office Building was traced using our transmitter and locator to determine the exact location of the pipe. We then excavated the pipe, installed a saddle tap and then laid 4” pipe to within ten feet of the trailer (an additional wye and 4” stub was left for the second
connection). Plumbers from Bierman Plumbing tied in the first trailer to our line and will be assisting us with second. It has been quite a lot of work. Over 300 feet of water tubing and 180 feet of sewer pipe were installed. The highway backhoe was used in addition to Tom Gregoire’s mini excavator to get underneath the trailer.
The Paradise Lake Road Cross Country Sewer Easement suffered extreme tree damage from the tornado. Craig is working with Ted Soini from Northern Tree Service to prepare documentation for submittal to FEMA to solicit their assistance. The State St. /Chestnut St. Easement has not been walked through yet, The Chestnut end should be okay.
In addition to handling her normal day to day tasks, Dale has been most helpful with compiling water and sewer drawings for services affected and maintaining documentation, new measurements and drawings, tracking services that are on or off, DIG Safes are coming in faster then we can keep up with. The office has been non stop with calls which must be managed, visits from homeowners and contractors looking for direction and answers.
Billing ~ Demands went out June 22nd. It is our normal routine to read water meters at the end of June to bill April-June usage, therefore Tom and Randy are reading meters. The Commission established a policy for those houses that were destroyed by the tornado and the meter couldn’t be retrieved. In that situation, we will go back to last year’s usage and bill a 2 month estimated April-May and consider water off June 1st. Sewer will be adjusted flat rate 2 months. In some instances people, although not residing in their home have chosen to leave their water on and will be billed accordingly. Dale is working to document and update the billing program appropriately for each account.
Chlorination ~ Chlorination is on going, and couldn’t have worked any better then it is, dosage is extremely consist (.20 residual at the tanks). June bacteria samples were perfect. There has been no scale build up yet in the units, no maintenance so far except filling of the pellets.
Water Line Repairs ~ Water line repairs are basically at a stand still other then tornado related houses which need to be addressed or shut off, some services were old like on 3 Washington St., where a new service line was replaced main to gate and capped off (Tom Gregiore assisted), two more services (8 and 21 Washington St.) were turned off at the corp and capped, later new services lines will be required.
Road Projects ~ John Morrell has decided to hold off on repaving the south section of Bethany Road due to heavy equipment operating there constantly. Tom Gregiore will be working on the middle section between Chestnut and Brimfield Rd. to hook up water and sewer to the new homes there. That section may be repaved this summer.
Margaret Street is expected to proceed, drainage will be replaced and water services will need to be addressed. Work involves relocating curbs out of street area into private property and replacing about 60 feet of 1” iron pipe.
Lead and Copper Testing ~ Testing results were all very good and well below limits. Copper was slightly higher than in the past, could be a wash off effect caused by the chlorine. Craig reported the best customer response, everyone cooperated.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, July 13th at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: A motion was made by Steve and seconded by Joe to adjourn from open session to go into executive session at 7:30 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
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Joseph M. Prior, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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