WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY
TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
MINUTES REGULAR MEETING
SPRENKEL ROOM PAGE 1 NOVEMBER 4, 2009
A. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Joseph Carino, Richard Aries, and Ed Havens, Jr.
Members Absent: Robert Dickinson, Frank Ferrero, Carol Fletterick, and Michael Patitucci
Alternates Present: Thomas Deming sitting in for Carol Fletterick
Richard Siedman sitting in for Michael Patitucci
Staff Present: C. Fred Shaw, Superintendent of Pollution Control
Ether A. Diaz, Recording Secretary
Others: John Ferruolo, Applicant (141 Scott Drive)
Frank DeMonte, Applicant (190 Lawrence Road)
Chairman Joseph Carino called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. The following actions were taken during the November 4, 2009 Regular Meeting of the W.P.C.A.
Chairman Carino appointed Mr. Thomas Deming to sit in for Ms. Carol Fletterick. Also, Mr. Richard Siedman was appointed to sit in for Mr. Michael Patittuci.
Motion was made to move to Item C1 – 141 Scott Drive (Request for user charge refunds).
Motion was made by Chairman Carino
The motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Aries
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
1. 141 Scott Drive (Request for user charge refunds)
Included with the Agenda was a copy of the letter (see Exhibit A) from Mr. John Ferruolo who owns a property at 141 Scott Drive, South Windsor, CT. Mr. Fred Shaw explained that Mr. John Ferruolo connected his property to the sewer back in May of 2003, ran the pipe all the way up to the house and into the house but never made the connection to sewer. Mr. Ferruolo has continued to use the septic tank since that time, and has been paying sewer user fees since that time up until the present. A description of the fees that have been paid up to date was distributed (See Exhibit A2); the total is $1,491.00 which included the prorated user fees. Mr. Shaw explained that he have been out to the site and verified that the basement piping is not connected to the building sewer. Mr. Shaw talked to
Engineering and Health Department staff regarding this situation; the engineering inspector did not have any knowledge that this was not going to be a completed connection. As Mr. Ferruolo explained in his letter, he did not need the sewer, but wanted to put in the pipe because he was doing landscaping to the property.
Mr. Ferruolo was in attendance and explained that he was digging and tearing up the entire landscape and thought that it was a good time to bring the sewer line into his house in case of an emergency. He went to the Town and obtained the necessary permits; He explained that this was done only if there was an emergency. The septic tank system was and continues to be in good operating condition. He did put in the line, capped it off and had it inspected. Mr. Ferruolo explained that upon his wife’s death, the property went in to a trust and the mailing address changed from 818 Sullivan Avenue to 141 Scott Drive. Apparently the Town has been sending utility bills to his office for the 141 Scott Drive and upon receiving the bill each year, the bookkeeper had been paying the bills. Since,
the septic tank is still working and there has not been a connection to the sewer and therefore, no use of the system, Mr. Ferruolo is requesting reimbursement for the six years of paid sewer charges in the amount of $1,491.00.
There was a concerned expressed about setting precedence, however, Chairman Carino explained that this is a unique situation because there were errors with the Town inspections and errors in Mr. Ferruolo’s office when paying the bill, and the owner only recently learned of the bills following his wife’s death. Chairman Carino explained that the Authority is not setting up precedence in this situation because the Town signed off on the pipe outside of the building, and there was no sign off for the pipe inside the building. In addition to that, Mr. Ferruolo’s office staff paid the bills without his knowledge.
Mr. Thomas Deming asked how is the Town to know if Mr. Ferruolo decides to hook up to the sewer. Mr. Ferruolo answered that he was instructed by Mr. Shaw that he will need to separate and cap the building sewer 5 feet outside the house. Mr. Shaw explained that in order to reconnect the building sewer, the owner would have to obtain another permit with the Engineering Department. In the Engineering Department there will be a note in the file that this building sewer was capped. Once the reconnection is made, the new permit for this work will place this property back onto the sewer billing list. There will also be a note placed in the Building department files.
Imperial Oil Company was mentioned in the letter provided by Mr. Ferruolo; therefore, Mr. Havens, Jr. disqualified himself from voting on this application.
Motion to approve under the unique situation presented a refund to Mr. Ferruolo in the amount of $1,491.00 with the condition that he take out a drain layers permit to disconnect and cap the building sewer at least 5 feet out the house foundation and that this work be inspected by the Town Engineering Department.
Motion was made by Mr. Richard Aries
Motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Siedman
Mr. Ed Havens disqualified himself from this vote; the motion carried unanimously
2. 190 Lawrence Road (Request for compensation)
Mr. Shaw explained that this application involves a project that was previously approved by the Town involving Vincent Circle off Lawrence Road; the approval conditions was that the contractor, with the assistance of the Town Engineering Department, contact owners of existing homes and obtain their preference for the location of the sewer lateral. This was not done in the case of 190 Lawrence Road.
Mr. Frank DeMonte was in attendance and provided an illustration of the actual location of the lateral installed by the contractor, and where he would now want it installed. The reason he offered for relocating the lateral was because he wanted a lateral without a lot of bends. Mr. DeMonte explained that because of the location of the well in his front yard, in order to connect to the lateral provided by the Lawrence Estates contractor, additional cost was involved to maintain a separating distances of 25 feet from the well in compliance with State Health Department regulations.
Mr. Shaw provided the Authority with a copy of the original approval letter (see Exhibit B) for Lawrence Road Estates dated April 9, 1995. Mr. Shaw referred to Item 3 of this letter, and explained that when a developer puts in a sewer that runs by existing houses, the Authority normally requires that the contractor provide sewer laterals for these houses, and that the property owners be given an opportunity to specify the location for this lateral; this was required as a condition of approval for the Lawrence Road Estates project. However, according to Mr. DeMonte, this did not happen in his case and the contractor installed the lateral in the middle of the lot. This property was not included on the recent project for the town sewers extension on Lawrence Road, because according to the records a lateral
has been provided. Mr. Shaw also explained that Mr. DeMonte has not encountered problems with his septic system, but still wants to connect to the sewer. Included with the Agenda were a copy of Mr. DeMonte’s letter and a copy of the proposal from his septic contractor for $5,000 to put in a lateral to connect to the lateral located in the middle of the lot; and a proposal to install a new lateral for $10,000 (see Exhibit B2 and B3). Mr. Shaw explained that it was not his intention to consider the $10,000 proposal, but to consider the additional cost to the property owner to use the existing lateral and install the building sewer at the required separating distance from the well. In this particular case, Mr. Shaw explained that the incremental cost difference was $500.00 (see Exhibit B4).
Mr. DeMonte explained that he is willing to pay the sewer assessment. He explained that he was not originally given the opportunity to mark where he wanted his lateral to be in placed. He discovered the placement of the existing lateral when the town’s contractor asked him to stake the location of their well as part of the Town’s project to install sewers elsewhere on Cliffwood Drive.
The Chairman briefly reviewed the application, and explained that the lateral was not located in the most desirable place because of the location of the well. The well was discovered later when the Town officials asked the property owner to locate their wells. Therefore, the property owner is requesting the town to put in the lateral in the corner of his property.
Answering questions from the Authority, Mr. Shaw responded that there were additional unexpended funds in the appropriation for the Lawrence Road Sewer project. However, he does not know what would be the cost for the lateral for 190 Lawrence Road. He will have design plans and specifications prepared and solicit competitive bid proposals for the completion of this work.
For the records, this property is listed in the Agenda as 199 Lawrence Road, it should be 190 Lawrence Road.
Motion was made to approve the Town providing a sewer lateral at Town expense at 190 Lawrence Road and to complete this work as soon as possible; this approval is subject to meeting all technical requirements of the Town of South Windsor Engineering Department.
The motion was made by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion was seconded by Mr. Thomas Deming
The motion carried unanimously
Motion was made to move back to Item B – “Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meetings”.
Motion was made by Chairman Joseph Carino
Motion was seconded by Mr. Thomas Deming
The motion carried unanimously
B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1. September 1, 2009 – Regular Meeting
There was only one changed under Roll Call; Mr. Robert Dickinson’s name was misspelled.
Motion was made to accept the minutes as amended of the September 1, 2009 Regular Meeting.
Motion was made by Mr. Thomas Deming
Motion was seconded by Mr. Richard Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
C. NEW BUSINESS
3. 352 Sullivan Avenue (approval to reduce user charge)
Mr. Fred Shaw explained to the Authority that he received a telephone call from Ms. Woodcock stating that she received a sewer bill for the two family house property located at 352 Sullivan Avenue in the full amount of $680. She reported that the house had been vacant and that the water company disconnected the water service. Mr. Shaw stated that the water company did confirm that the water was disconnected from this property on September 29, 2009 (see Exhibit C). Mr. Shaw stated that his understanding was that the house was going to be demolished; however, no action has been taken to disconnect the sewer piping, cap it, or to take out a demolition permit. Mr. Shaw explained that in order to remove this property from the sewer billing list, a permit for the work to break and cap the building sewer is
required, otherwise, there would be no way of finding out if they reconnect the water in the future.
After Chairman Carino recommendation, there was a consensus that Mr. Shaw will explain in writing to Ms. Woodcock that in order to remove this property from the sewer user billing list and to reduce the user charge to $85 (prorated fee), Ms. Woodcock would have 90 days to take the proper permits to separate and cap the building sewer and present such evidence to the Authority. When she provides such evidence and the Town inspector verifies that the lateral is capped, Mr. Shaw will notify the Authority for action.
4. Approval of Annual Report
A copy of the Annual Report was included with the agenda for the review and consideration of the Authority (see Exhibit D). The annual report must be presented by Friday, November 6, 2009.
It was suggested to include pictures of the Treatment Plant project upgrade and to add a few words indicating the progress of the project. Also, to make reference to the Town’s website for updated photos of the project as is going along.
Motion was made to approve the Water Pollution Control Authority Annual Report for 2008/2009 with the inclusion of pictures of the Water Pollution Control Facility upgrade project.
The motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens
Seconded by Mr. Siedman
The motion carried unanimously
D. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPORTS
Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the plant upgrade is going along very well. There are a number of items and services that the State will not consider eligible for the Clean Water Fund grant or loan. The Town negotiated with the engineer and the Town cut back the fees by another $805,000 to bring the scope of services more in line with the Department of Environmental Services (DEP) eligibility determinations. There are still a number of items that the DEP has not ruled on for eligibility. Mr. Shaw also reported concerning the DEP review of the Town’s sewer service area. The State is still reviewing the maps and they feel that the Town sewer service area extends into areas that are prime farmland or wetlands, and therefore, they would not pay for sewers or plant upgrade that may service those
areas in the future. The Town is awaiting DEP review comments concerning information previously provided to them by the Town. This issue will need to be resolved before the grant and loan agreement between the Town and DEP can be executed. The DEP has been very slow to respond.
A copy of the budget expenditure for FY2009/2010 was distributed by Mr. Fred Shaw (see Exhibit E) for review. Mr. Richard Siedman suggested adding to the Agenda an item for review of the Budget on a monthly basis. After a briefly discussion, it was decided to include the report of operating expenditures on a monthly basis with the agenda and if any of the members have any questions, it will be added to the following month’s agenda for discussion. It was also recommended to include a newsletter with the next sewer user bill.
Mr. Richard Siedman asked for any details concerning the pumping station. Mr. Fred Shaw reported that the contract was awarded to Kovacs Construction Company from Danbury, CT. The agreement was signed and a Notice to Proceed was sent to the contractor. This project is anticipated to be completed within 180 calendar days.
Mr. Siedman also asked regarding the commercial customers that are not metered. Mr. Shaw reported that he is still working on this issue. He is requesting and gathering information; Mr. Shaw will report on this matter at a later time.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
None
F. BILLS, CHANGE ORDERS, DISBURSEMENTS
None
G. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
H. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PENDING CLAIMS
None
I. ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m.
Motion was made by Mr. Ed Havens, Jr.
Seconded by Mr. Thomas Deming
The motion carried unanimously
Respectfully Submitted,
______________________________
Ether A. Diaz
Recording Secretary
Date Approved: January 5, 2010
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