Members Present: Chair Joseph M. Prior, Vice Chairman Douglas R. North, Clerk Steve Lobik
Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert
Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
Accept the Meeting Minutes: A motion was made by Steve to accept the August 29, 2012 meeting minutes, motion seconded by Joe. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD/NEW BUSINESS
Tow-Behind Generator ~ 4 bids were submitted for the September 7th opening, Kinsley Power Systems was low bidder at $46,040.00 for a Kohler unit. That was significantly lower than the prior bid result of $70,000.00 which did not meet specifications and therefore requiring us to re-bid. The Kohler Unit is on order. The Bunyan Road Station is ready for the generator and the two wells will be able to run at the same time if needed under generator power. However, at Bethany Road Station the generator receptacle that was provided under the construction contract does not match up. Craig has contacted the electrician who did the installation to come out and address this issue. Palmer Road still has the direct drive diesel and is all set. With MDC closing, there may be surplus
generators available. With the help of the Fire Chief we are exploring the possibility of retaining an MDC unit for the Water & Sewer Department building. With a steadily increasing amount of our maps and records being transferred to a digital format it makes sense to have backup power here. The unit would need to be plumbed for natural gas and the Commission discussed the benefits of converting our building’s heating system to natural gas as well.
Utility Truck ~ the cloth seats in the new truck have been covered by Park Auto Trim. Before ordering the utility body, Craig took a trip to Hartford Truck Equipment. While there, he noticed they were in the process of switching over two used five year old aluminum bodies to two new service trucks for the state of CT, after seeing this, Craig decided it was worth the extra $2,500 to order the body in aluminum which is half the weight of steel. The fuel plus wear and tear savings over the life of the truck should be significant.
Department Activity ~
Hydrant Flushing ~completed - this process normally takes a lot of effort, work and time. However, this year additional time was required to train the two new guys who have never participated in the flushing program. The procedure is complicated, maps are studied, valves are turned off and on in a certain order, and water has to be specifically directed. Having a third person helped to handle day to day business and provide relief for lunch. Along with improving water quality flushing allows us to test our hydrants and mainline valves. One hydrant was broken and repaired; two other hydrants will need to be replaced. During flushing, one water main break near 96 Palmer Road was repaired and one service line leak on Cedar Swamp was addressed.
Training ~ Tony has taken and passed both the D1 and T1 exams. Tony has not attended any classes yet and took it upon himself to study and prepare to take both the D1 and T1 exams in one day. He met twice with Dick Kilhart from Mass Rural Water who tutored him a bit prior to taking the exams. The State has changed the regulations since Jan went through the process. Now the D1 test must be taken before the D2, and before taking the D2 a 39-hour State-approved course must be completed. The Course is now offered at the Springfield Water & Sewer Commission’s Operations Center; Tony is registered to start Wednesday October 3rd. Craig sent an e-mail to Gretchen, informing her Tony has passed both tests on the same day and how we planned to proceed in posting the
Maintenance Man position for him to move up to. Tony has shown himself to be conscientious and an extremely hard worker.
Road Projects ~ emphasis is on cleaning up unfinished business such as relocating a hydrant in the tornado area on Bethany Road and replacing two other hydrants on Brimfield Road. Of the three demolished houses not rebuilt on Bethany Road, one of which has been addressed, Craig is hesitant to spend the time and money on the other two services without knowing the owners intentions. There are also two valves on Main St. at the bottom of Thompson that need to be dug up and serviced. Craig is not sure if time will permit to get everything accomplished.
Capital Funding Requests ~ Gretchen e-mailed the Department Heads requesting information as she is in the process of developing a capital plan for the Town. Capital planning information is provided to bond counsel and the bank when the town issues bonds. The W&S Dept. doesn’t have a lot of big ticket items. The pump at the Palmer Road Pump Station needs to be replaced. This is the only station left that needs a major re-hab. However, until we have some sort of guidance or long term plan from the Selectmen regarding the future water needs of Monson we should not commit ourselves to a major upgrade or change at that location until we know where the Town is heading. It would be best at this time to maintain what we have (just replace the pump as planned). The Bunyan
Road wells need to be scheduled for cleaning and rehabilitation. Craig also advised the Commission that now would be the time to move forward with updating our water and sewer system maps. The Assessor’s office is converting all of their maps to G.I.S. which we can access. They are working on a base map with Tighe & Bond (T&B) we could add onto. The Assessor will set up a meeting with T&B and Craig.
Special Town Meeting ~ Gretchen also e-mailed they are evaluating both need and timing for a special town meeting, therefore would like to know what needs are out there for a STM. Other than the Bunyan Road Well cleaning, the only other need would be body work on the 2005 Ford F250. The driver’s side rear quarter panel is completely rusted through. Since the plan is to keep the vehicle another 4-5 years the Commission agreed to have the repairs done. Craig will get pricing quotes for the work. However, the Commission did not think we needed to transfer money at the STM. Instead we will pay out of our sewer budget or transfer out of the emergency reserve fund through FinCom.
Palmer/Monson Maint. Of Joint System Costs ~ Craig has received and reviewed the FY07-FY10 Palmer Invoices, everything went great. The template we now have after the 3rd amendment for the invoice process is quite thorough. After re-processing the invoices as we agreed the end result is a total difference of $97,879.79 between the original invoices and the post 3rd amendment invoices. The Commission began discussion of our sewer rate and agreed prior to any rate adjustment consideration will need to be given to the rate structure, impact of the MDC closing and the costs related to the Sewer system mapping.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: A motion was made by Doug and seconded by Steve to adjourn at 7:35p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
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Stephen C. Lobik, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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