Minutes of the April 10, 2018 meeting
From 7:00 – 7:30 p.m., a demonstration of a septic system management software was given. No action was taken.
Chairman Prendergast called the meeting to order at 7:31 pm
In attendance: Chairman Rich Prendergast, Vice-Chair Donna Bednar, Dmitri Tolchinski, Rob McCarthy, Steve Cinami (alternate), Doug Wilkinson, Sal Cancellieri, Joe Carpentio.
Absent: Frank Chan, Andrea Lombard.
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder and Selectwoman Nosal were in attendance, along with 1 townsperson.
Alternate S. Cinami was named as full voting member in the absence of two regular members.
Approval of the Minutes: D. Bednar made a motion to accept the March 2018 meeting minutes, second by D. Wilkinson. Motion carries unanimously, with no changes.
Chairman’s Report:
DEEP feedback on Draft Waste Water Plan review and Environmental Impact Evaluation. The State has told Chairman Prendergast they are still working on one component regarding total nitrogen calculations. Going to redo and update. Not as simple as it sounds, will take time. We are on schedule. Not much progress to discuss.
Cooperation with Private Beach Association's WPCAs. Very little to discuss. Chairman Prendergast and First Selectwoman Reemsnyder received a request from the beach associations to move the discussion along for the land lease for the pump house. Very close to an agreement. Tweaking language to reflect a few areas be sure Town is protected. She expects the document in the next week.
Budget Update and Expenses
No new invoices. Paid the clerk. Did not have to attend Board of Finance meeting to present proposed budget this year.
Correspondence No correspondence.
Old Business
Hawks Nest Draft water testing plan; Lab Quotes and well location
Lab Quotes:
R. McCarthy obtained some additional quotes. Chairman Prendergast passed out a comparison of the companies. There were 4 vendors, now have added 2 more. ECL is the only one willing to actually take the samples. Regional Water Authority is new – they do not take samples. Talked to LedgeLight. Where we are now, prices seem to be about the same. ECL will do sample collection. There is a procedure for sampling the water. Not asking for a vote today – want to get info from one more lab (Eastern Analytical Labs in Old Saybrook) and they haven’t responded to email. S. Cancellieri asks if ECL would be willing to collect samples and then send to another company for testing. Don’t have answer at this time. Chairman Prendergast will find out. S. Cinami asks do we feel more comfortable with chain of control over samples changing,
or rather have one company responsible? D. Bednar noted that the sample will be sealed. In R. McCarthy’s business, one company collects, then pass it off to testing company. Will there be a perception problem? R. McCarthy says considering perception, it might be better to have one company. J. Carpentino says there have been issues with chain of custody in the past. He is less worried about it now. Each entity has appropriate SOP they follow, not something to be too concerned about. S. Cinami would rather see one lab take the samples and another lab test, because one is not vested in the other as far as outcome. Next meeting will look at quote, price, what we have it narrowed down to. R. McCarthy will follow up with Eastern, Chairman Prendergast will check with ECL, R. McCarthy can possibly provide contacts for any other labs.
Well locations:
Using the projector and a PowerPoint presentation, the locations of the existing and proposed wells in Hawks Nest Beach were reviewed, with information added (using research done by the Clerk) as to locations of known septic tanks and leaching fields. S. Cancellieri would like time to research previous documents. There are still some questions and action items. Chairman Prendergast replied that we need to make decision, or we will miss timing. DEEP already approved the draft that we sent them, we need to update and re-submit. Funding already approved. Generalized location of wells has been approved.
EDU Subcommittee evaluation of options update
Chairman Prendergast passed out a summary chart of 4 options for how to calculate EDUs (also projected onto the screen) and reviewed the pros and cons for each option. The task force has not met recently. They will have presentation ready for May. Would like to have standard, graduated way of assessing larger homes with more value. Key thing is to look at what is fair. Model uses $6,000 as hookup fee.
Environmental impact Evaluation Feedback from State No update at this time.
Letter to Zoning Board regarding Aquifer protection. S. Cinami attended the Zoning Board meeting and clarified the letter that Chairman Predndergast wrote. Incorporated all of Chairman Prendergast’s comments about our concerns. He explained that Zoning is re-drawing the whole deep-water aquifer map. More concerned about aquifer by Rogers Lake. Excluding sewer area. Concerned about discharge, not about transportation to a wastewater treatment plant. S. Cinami will attend the next Zoning Board meeting. We can read the minutes from their meetings.
New business
Public outreach planning: It is time for us to talk about dates/ideas for public outreach. There was a Q&A session in Sound View last summer. Should the outreach be during the week or weekends? Target audience? D. Tolchinski says June would be better. Could do one in May and June. S. Cinami thinks we won’t get many people out until a referendum date has been set. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder thinks there will need to be at least 2, probably 3 sessions (1 weekend, and 2 evenings). We don’t know when referendum will be set. When EIE comes back, might get feedback on what to talk about. Chairman Prendergast will propose dates and times for sessions at the May meeting. There will be some cost because of some advertisement, postcard/mailing.
Additional: S. Cancellieiri made note of a recent article in The Day about Governor Malloy and a climate change bill. Senate Bill 7 can possibly relate to us. Future projects along the coast will need to meet projections that sea levels might rise. Discussion about DEEP getting involved. How will this relate to us? Chairman Prendergast responded that we’re good on sea level rise even with pump house being located in flood zone.
S. Cancellieri also noted that he was surprised that there was no communication. What about the meeting minutes from Old Colony WPCA? They are dated in March, but state that they haven’t heard from town since October. Also, they will be securing capacity for 300,000 gallons of water, but only need 120,000. Are they going to sell the rest to other entities? When and if they sell capacity to another entity (us?) is it going to be at same cost they purchased it at? Or are they going to make money? Chairman Prendergast replied that they (Old Colony) are going forward with or without us. We are trying to preserve our right to buy in. Will be a percentage partner. They told him they don’t plan on making money from us. S. Cancellieri says the minutes also indicate OC trying to have a town meeting in early June? Chairman
Prendergast clarified they are referring to the land lease agreement. S. Cancellieri would love to see something in writing. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder replied that it will be part of the lease agreement, and has been part of the discussion.
Carmody demonstration – The Clerk gave a brief review of the software system that better handles septic pump out data. Will have to evaluate. WPCA would take on expense. Better reports, compliance, labor savings. Cost would be $2,500-3,500 to start up and $3,600 a year. Will talk with selectman’s office.
Public Comment – Limited time per speaker
Sandy Garvin, Hawk’s Nest Beach commented that she enjoyed the presentation from Carmody, and says it would be good to have snapshot of health of our system overall.
D. Wilkinson made a motion to adjourn at 9:15 pm. Second by J. McCarthy. Motion carries unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Datum, WPCA Clerk
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