Commissioners Present: Paul C. DeMaio Chairman, Marshall L. Harris Vice Chairman, Joseph M. Prior Clerk
Employees Present: Superintendent: Craig W. Jalbert; Secretary: Dale Barnes-Johnson
Open the Meeting: The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.
Reorganize the Board: Joseph made a motion to nominate Marshall as Chairman; Paul seconded the motion and motion passed unanimously. Paul made a motion to nominate Joseph as Vice Chairman; Marshall seconded the motion and motion passed unanimously. Joseph made a motion to nominate Paul as Clerk; Marshall seconded the motion and motion passed unanimously.
Accept the Meeting Minutes: Joe made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of May 18, 2016. Paul seconded and it was unanimously voted.
OLD/NEW BUSINESS:
Hospital Road Pump Rehab Project ~ National Grid has activated the temporary electrical service and once the bypass pumping system was working an attempt was made to shut the 16” valve on the force main to isolate the building. After three hours of effort we were only able to get the valve half shut due to its age and lack of use. Therefore the valve was deemed inoperable resulting in Change Order No. 1 (install a new 16” valve on the inside of building) as the project could not continue unless the building could be isolated. The valve was subsequently installed, demo is now complete and the wet well pumped and cleaned. The wet wells which were originally tar coated are in great shape; this is a bonus for us not having to pay to have problem areas patched and also saves time.
Change Order No. 2 (contractor is seeking payment for additional temporary pump service time due to a week and a half National Grid delay) is still being negotiated. During demolition it was noticed that the flange rings on both pipes that come through the concrete wall from the wet well into the pump room were cracked and needed to be replaced resulting in an additional Change Order (Flange Rings, Dresser Coupling, Valve Stand); the cracked flanges were removed and new ones were epoxied and threaded on. Craig supplied the dresser coupling which the contractor will install and the stand is to support the new 16” valve. New piping is underway, motor control cabinet panels are being put in place. The by-pass pumps clogged last night which Craig expected and warned would happen. Barbato’s people responded to the problem and it was addressed. A resident observer engineer is on-sight to oversee the project to ensure the project is being
completed according to spec. We are still working on the reserve account amount with T&H to see if this may benefit us.
DEP Wastewater Regulations ~ Craig met with Paul Nietupski and Dan Kurpaska from MassDEP to discuss alternatives to embarking on a full blown Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) study. The meeting went well; the initial Tata & Howard (T&H) I&I report is good. Craig brought everything in to demonstrate the plan in place and that will continue, after page one they were pleased. Paul gives kudos to Craig for being proactive in putting the I&I plan into motion after the initial report. To date roughly $200,000 has been invested in testing, sealing, jetting and easement clearing. Craig also explained to Paul and Dan that we have to plan for future financial obligations to Palmer where they will be rehabbing their two pump stations and we will have an approximate 40%
responsibility of those costs on top of our portion of the maintenance of the joint treatment plant. Craig will have to submit a narrative with the planned work including an update to the T&H 2005 report.
Department Activity
Water & Sewer Personnel ~
- Ryan Kiernan resigned effective May 24, 2016
- Matthew Doyle passed his D2 test with an 87
- Prior to posting and advertising vacancies Craig and Dale met with Evan Brassard Town Administrator regarding job descriptions and special requirements and agreed on the following revisions:
- Water & Sewer Maintenance Worker:
- Reduce time to obtain Drinking Water Certificates Treatment Grade 1; Distribution Grade 2, or ability to obtain from 2 years to within 6 months of hire or at discretion of the Superintendent
- Add Acknowledgement of Tuition Reimbursement Policy Required
- Water & Sewer Certified Operator:
- Add ability to obtain within 3 months of hire ability to obtain extra Massachusetts CDL and Hoisting licenses
Two Water & Sewer Certified Operator positions will be posted and advertised; Matt will most likely sign the Union Employee Job Bid, the other position will be advertised outside the Union; if there are no qualified applicants for the Certified Operator, the Water & Sewer Maintenance Worker position will be posted and advertised.
Capital Planning~ the Town received a grant from the State to hire a consultant who will come in and develop a new procedure to craft a financially viable capital plan that spans the next five years to afford better planning and transparency. The Water & Sewer Department has been working with a Fiscal Year Master Plan for years; individual meetings will take place to get an understanding of the scope of responsibility for each department and the relationship to the community.
Lead & Copper ~ a great deal of time was spent at the WMWW Meeting on the Flynt Michigan lead and copper issue, its effects on us, and what changes are going to occur. Mass DEP requires testing every three years, CMR 310.22 dictates to us the locations we must sample (it involves the time period of home or structure was built and whether the plumbing contained lead solder joints). The sample is required to be the first draw sample, a sample kit and complete set of instructions is delivered to each participant to insure a representative sample is collected. Our Iron and Manganese samples at the wells were fine and Craig also sampled for secondary contaminates at the dam which checks alkalinity, pH, water hardness and other water chemistry parameters. The test was good and historically
consistent with our past samples. Our corrosion control parameter, pH, has been averaging 7.5 here at the office. Craig would like to see it consistently around 7.7.
Water Line Replacements ~ 14, 41, 43, 40 and 35 Washington Street are complete at varying levels. 33 Washington is scheduled for tomorrow and work on Marias Pizza service will be scheduled after July 4th.
Sewer Connection ~ 20 Reynolds Avenue connected to the Public Sewer System May 25, 2016
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting has been set for Wednesday July 20, 2016, at 3:30 p.m.
ADJOURN: A motion was made by Joe and seconded by Paul to adjourn at 4:30 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
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Paul C. DeMaio, Clerk
cc: Selectmen
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