Commissioners Present: Chairman Joseph C Prior, Vice Chairman Douglas R. North, Clerk Steve Lobik
Employees Present: Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert; Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Guests: None
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
A motion was made by Steve to amend the January 29, 2013 meeting minutes to correctly document the correct
sewer residential flat rate decrease from $340.00/Yr, $85/Qtr, to $322.60/Yr, $80.65/Qtr vs. what was incorrectly written in the minutes ($293.00/Yr, $73.25/Qtr), motion seconded by Doug, motion passed unanimously.
Accept the Meeting Minutes: A motion was made by Steve to accept the March 12, 2013 and March 27, 2013 meeting minutes, motion seconded by Doug. Motion passed unanimously.
OLD/NEW BUSINESS
Mechanic Street ~ Bid has been awarded to AJ Virgilio Construction, Inc. and they have begun material submittals.
FY2014 Budget ~ Special Town Meeting Article requests have been submitted and include $15,500 for a new cutter cartridge for the sewer grinder, $9,000 for power washing both of the Ely Road water tanks, $10,000 towards on-going sewer easement clearing and $50,000 towards the ongoing Inflow & Infiltration inspection and repair program.
Portable Generator ~ the Kohler Technicians came out as scheduled on April 4th to perform the startup, Craig videoed the training steps and burned a DVD for future reference purposes. The unit was taken to both Bethany and Bunyan pump stations and worked flawlessly. At Bunyan with both pumps running and all electricals operating the generator ran at 62% of its rated capacity. No decisions have been made regarding a suitable storage location for the unit. During the routine weekly exercise on Friday the 19th a fault alarm came up on the control panel. Craig contacted Kinsley and they are scheduled to be here tomorrow to investigate. The generator has a one year warranty.
Department Activity ~
Water / Sewer Repairs ~ leaks were repaired at 75 Margaret Street, and 91 Bethany (Ace Molding). Tom was called out early Friday morning on the 12th for a service leak at 7 Maple Street, the service was repaired from main to house, later that morning another call came in for a service leak at 37R Bridge Street, assistance was given to Pete Lloyd whom the homeowner contracted. Sunday the 21st Tom was called out for a sewer back up at 9 Homer Drive (roots at the property line connection), we assisted in repairs the following Monday.
There is another leak on the 2” line on Margaret Street, the homeowner is in the process of hiring a contractor. Next week the plan is to address a leak on 35 Wales Road, and assist Mark Kline at OJS who the homeowner has contracted to repair a leak at 210 Palmer Road. During repairs to Ace Molding we discovered the stem was snapped off the curb valve for the 2” line that services the buildings at 85 Bethany Road (H&L Builders, Double A Plastics and Glens Mobile). That will be scheduled for replacement soon.
Service Replacements ~ the services for 10 and 12 Bethany Rd are the last two on Bethany that need replacement.
New Services ~ 12 Washington Street is back on, water and sewer permits have been issued for 15 Circle Drive.
DIG Safes ~ there have been numerous DIG-Safes for tree planting.
Back Flow Testing ~ Spring testing is underway
Geographic Information System (GIS) ~Craig and Jan met with Tighe & Bond (T&B) who have prepared the water base map. We will now begin the time consuming tweaking process. This is just the beginning, maybe only 10% of the finished product, there is a lot of work to be done.
Palmer Road Pump Replacement ~ Maher had a difficult time disassembling the pump due to the angle of the well, the pump shafts and column will all need to be replaced; the extra $6-8,000 required is still within the budget. A decision on what to do at this location in the next 5-10 years will need to be made. The ideal solution would be to convert it to a submersible setup similar to Bunyan. However, doing so would eliminate the existing direct drive diesel backup power so a permanent standby generator would be needed to replace the functionality. It becomes a domino effect with additional expenses and decisions regarding generator sizing; whether or not to incorporate the unused satellite well that is there. There is much to consider in the decision process, the electrical needs
to be redone from scratch as it keeps getting patches and add-ons to satisfy requirements. The submersible conversion cannot take place until we decide what we wish to do there and what the Town’s future water needs will be. The pump replacement was priced at $14,800 but with the additional pump shafts and column we are looking at an estimated $20,000 bill.
Fenton Road Water Line ~ residents have not responded to the letter to date. If the town people were to vote to put in a new main, rates would go up; it would cost approximately $150,000 - $200,000 and would have to go out to bid.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: A motion was made by Doug and seconded by Steve to adjourn at 7:30 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
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Steve Lobik, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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