OLD LYME WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY COMMISSION
UNAPPROVED REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Second Floor Conference Room
Memorial Town Hall
52 Lyme St., Old Lyme, CT 06371
Agenda Items
- Call to Order. Chairman Tolchinski called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm. The only guest was Old Lyme resident Mr. Dick Moll. Those present and voting members were D. Tolchinski Chairman, R. Breunig, L. Grogan Secretary & Treasurer and M. Roberts. Alternate members present were D. Redfield and L. Russo. Excused were members K. Czarnecki and G. James. Chairman Tolchinski asked D. Redfield to be a voting member of this meeting. Absent were members A. Eberly, D. McFadden and alternate member A. McDonald. Also present were B. Curtis WPCA Engineer, N. Dubicki WPCA Attorney and J. Flowers WPCA Assistant Sanitarian.
- Approval of September 15, 2011 meeting minutes. Discussion initiated by M. Roberts spoke of a spelling error on page 3, paragraph 5. J. Flowers pointed out a discrepancy in paragraph 6 that no abatement order exists. Discussion between Chairman Tolchinski and J. Flowers followed. The Chairman asked for a motion to approve the minutes with corrections. R. Breunig made a motion that the minutes be approved with corrections. L. Grogan seconded the motion. The motion was approved 5-0-0.
- Chairman’s Report. Chairman Tolchinski and Member M. Roberts attended the Special Board of Selectmen’s Meeting, October 19, 2011, to hear a presentation by Linda Krause of the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency (CRERPA) on the potential formation of the Lower CT River Valley Council of Governments.
At present, Old Lyme is a member of the CRERPA, which includes 9 towns. Just to our north there is another regional planning agency, the Mid-State Planning Agency that includes 8 towns. In addition, Old Lyme is a member of the Lower CT Valley Selectmen’s Association (LCVSA) consisting of 9 towns and the CT River Council of Elected Officials (CRVCEO) consisting of 17 towns.
The State of Connecticut is seeking to reduce the number of regional planning agencies from 15 to 5 or perhaps as many as 8. It was suggested that the 17 towns in the CRVCEO voluntarily form a 17 member regional planning agency and then form a Council of Governments (COG) before the State of CT decides to place the 17 towns in a COG of its choosing. At an earlier meeting of the CRVCEO about two-thirds of the Chief Elected Officials (CEOs) present voted to request the State Office of Policy and
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Management (OPM) to re-designate the 2 planning agencies as the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Agency.
In order for the Lower CT River Valley COG to be formed, 60% of the legislative bodies of the member towns must ratify the votes of their respective CEOs. In the case of Old Lyme the legislative body is the Town Meeting. The Board hopes to have a Special Town Meeting in November.
Linda Krause has explained the COG and its ramifications to the Board of Selectmen and the Board asked that she make a similar presentation to the Land Use Board and Commission members.
Chairman Tolchinski stated that Governor Malloy wants the 139 cities and towns in CT under more control and that by summer 2012 O. L. will be part of this new district. How this will affect WPCA remains an unanswered question he said. No vote was taken.
- Correcting WPCA Regulations. WPCA Attorney Narcy Dubicki presented copies of the WPCA Regulations with the changes to update the regulations and eliminate the pumping out regulation of every 5 years since it was not approved and replace it with the 7-year regulation. Chairman Tolchinski asked for any questions and there was no further discussion.
No vote was taken.
5. CT State Health Code Regulations to winterize a seasonal building into year-round use – “Building Conversion”. Chairman Tolchinski handed printouts of excerpts of the CT Public Health Code (January 2011). The three references – 19-13-B100a (2) Building conversion, 19-13-B100a (3) Change in use and 19-13-B100a (4) Code-complying area.
A discussion followed with Assistant Sanitarian J. Flowers distributing a handout with the same Public Health Code Regulations but in more detail. A heated discussion ensued with Chairman Tolchinski and Assistant Sanitarian Flowers over meanings and definitions of these regulations with member Breunig, alternate member Russo participating. R. Breunig asked what was the difference between Chairman Tolchinski and Assistant Sanitarian Flowers opinions? A. S. Flowers stated that he follows the State Public Health Code Regulations to grant approvals. Chairman Tolchinski asked that the discussion be tabled until the next meeting. No vote was taken.
6. Brian Curtis Engineering Report. B. Curtis reviewed the definition of a community septic system and gave out copies of a proposed presentation of a community septic system with photographs of a system built in the Town of Somers. He discussed the construction and the costs. Chairman Tolchinski asked for a date for this presentation to community and town leaders and December 5, 2011 was decided.
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R. Breunig presented a map (map #84) of various properties in Old Lyme. Seasonal properties were marked in red, lots less than 5,000 sq. ft. marked in pink and lots between 5,000 and 10,000 sq. ft. marked in green. Assistant Sanitarian Flowers commented that there were few issues in White Sands Beach but Miami Beach had more problems. Chairman Tolchinski asked member Roger Breunig to check it and report to WPCA on November meeting.
Chairman Tolchinski asked how many cesspools are in Old Lyme? Assistant Sanitarian Flowers said that Sanitarian Rose has this information in his office records.
No vote was taken.
- Budget. Treasurer Grogan spoke of monies spent for salaries since the last meeting and gave the WPCA budget balance of $23,277.30.
No vote was taken.
- Sanitarian’s Report. Assistant Sanitarian Flowers handed out the September 2011 pump out report, which showed 72,750 gallons, pumped out in the month. He handed out copies of a memo from R. Rose to Chairman Tolchinski.
In this memo Ron Rose said he could not supply the information that was requested. The Chairman stated he wanted to have a closer relationship with the O. L. Health Dept. He read the WPCA regulations about the responsibilities of the Sanitarian and had stated them in the October Agenda.
- Providing a copy of the Sanitarian’s routine monthly reports concerning subsurface sewer disposal systems (SSDS) and ground water table determinations.
- Report and advice to the WPCA of special problem areas and proposed solutions regarding SSDS and ground water contamination.
- Pump out monthly report
Ron Rose couldn’t come to the meeting to report part a) and b) of the Sanitarian’s report.
Chairman Tolchinski stated further that the WPCA needs the services of a full-time sanitarian to perform his duties as a common agent of WPCA and the Director of Health with all information and help listed in WPCA Regulations and Bylaws. Ron Rose has now a part time job and can not provide full time service as required by WPCA Regulations. R. Breunig asked if possible to get the measurements of sludge and scum quantities to ensure a better understanding of any problems?
Chairman told him that this should be considered in new regulations. Chairman also asked Johns Flower to include into reports to WPCA every month the measurements of sludge and scum in the septic tanks.
- Old/New Business. Alternate Member Russo asked since we are not under an abatement order, does that effect how we do business? Chairman Tolchinski handed out report from Old Colony Beach. He stated that the order from DEEP would come to Old Lyme very soon. The beaches have finished the study on the
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ground water problems which are the same as the results in our Town records from ground water test wells. The ground water table is very high and in some cases we have ground water table less than one foot below the ground.
Chairman Tolchinski passed out to all members the reports of the most problem test well results in the beach areas.
- Adjournment. L. Grogan made a motion to adjourn. It was seconded by
M. Roberts. The motion passed 5-0-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:27 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Myron Kavalgian
Clerk, WPCA
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