Board of Commissioners Meeting
May 29, 2014
Sunapee Town Offices
PRESENT: Theodore Gallup-Chairman, Kenneth Meyer, Kurt Markarian, David Cain, Douglas Gamsby, Peter Hill.
Also present: Holly Leonard, David Bailey, Scott Hazelton, Kimberly Hallquist, Peter Bianchi, Richard Lee, Charles Hirshberg, Neil Cheseldine.
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m.
Ford F 550: Scott H., Sunapee’s Highway Director, approached the table to discuss purchasing the F 550 that was going to be traded toward the new one ton truck. Scott H. stated that this vehicle could fill a gap in his fleet for smaller jobs in town and that he has been using it for a bit and is satisfied with the vehicle. The Chair introduced the members of the Commission to Scott H.
Douglas G. made a motion to sell the F 550 to the Town Highway Department for $6,000, seconded by Kenneth M., after some discussion regarding the sale, voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
February 27, 2014 Joint Meeting Minutes:
Kenneth M. made a motion to accept the minutes as written, seconded by Douglas G., Peter H. made a motion to table the discussion until New London has a quorum, seconded by Kenneth M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
Wastewater Treatment Highlights: Dave B. reported that there had been some high flows back in April and that it had caused some violations in that month. Dave B. stated that a lot of sludge had been hauled out of the plant last month and this month in order to empty the ditch and clean it out. Dave B. stated that the ditch is empty and that Penta will be filling it sometime next week to start up the headworks and the week after they will be starting up the centrifuge. Dave B. reported that there are many start ups going on at the plant. Dave B. stated that there will be a DES inspection of the plant next week. Theodore G. questioned if when the upgrade is completely on line if there would be no more violations due to this type of high flow situation. Neil C. explained that having
only one ditch running was a partial cause of the issue and that the plant will be running much better with the upgrades and both ditches functioning.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade: Neil C. joined the table and presented Penta Corporation Pay requisition #23 for $117,603.01 and stated that this puts the project at 93% of the contract value. David C. made a motion to have the Chairman sign pay requisition number 23, seconded by Kurt M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman. The Chairman signed the pay requisition and the monthly budget report.
Change Order #6: Neil C. presented that change order #6 was put together to bring everything up to current in order to address if the chemical building could be done or not. The net of the change order is a decrease of $15,685.39 and an addition of 8 days to the contract time. Neil C. explained the change order and what was included in it. There was some discussion regarding a deduction of time for the reduction in work, deletion of the sludge roll off container and that one had been obtained directly using the Town’s contract for containers. Neil C. reported that both USDA and DES concur with the change order as presented. The Chairman questioned if Kenneth M. is happy with the change order. Kenneth M. stated that he concurs with everything presented in it. David C. made a motion to accept and
process change order #6, seconded by Kurt M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman. Peter B. stated that he would like an explanation of the last page of the change order. Neil C. explained the changes in the numbers and the total contract value.
Change Order #7: Neil C. presented that in total there is $320,000 in contingency remaining and that the cost for the chemical building presented by Penta is $275,410 leaving a small amount of contingency for any other items that may need changing. Neil C. explained the differences in each Town’s interest and legal costs and where this leaves the total expense of the entire project. Peter B. questioned if New London has the authority to expend up to the amount shown and if everything in the building will be covered by that amount. Neil C. will ensure that Dave Mercier receives the information to give New London an answer as to their authority to expend amount, and explained that the quoted amount includes everything except the chemical feed pumps, tanks, and piping. There was some discussion
regarding the high cost of such a small building. Neil C. stated that it is not just the building that costs this much, that much of the cost is in the plumbing, HVAC and electrical. There was some discussion that in terms of priority the chemical building is the next item that should be addressed at the plant. Peter B. questioned how close the project is to completion. Neil C. stated that April 28th should have been substantial completion according to the original contract and that all of the change orders bring it out to June 27th for substantial completion with final completion two months after that. Kenneth M. made a motion to notify Penta to proceed with the chemical building at a cost not to exceed $275,410, seconded by Kurt M., after some discussion regarding when New London may vote on the change order, voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
New London Connection Fee/Sunapee Attachment Fee issue: Kim H. stated what she feels the impasse was about and that the Rocky Road sewer project in 2010 had brought the issue about. Theodore G. stated that Sunapee has a 22.75% interest in the pipe as they paid this much of the cost of the construction of New London’s sewer line. Kim H. feels that none of the agreements between the Town’s take into consideration the attachment or connection fees. Richard L. stated that David Montambeault had made a motion to allow New London to charge the fees to Sunapee residents who were attaching to New London’s sewer main. There was some discussion regarding the Rocky Road issue and that attaching to the force main is much different than attaching to a gravity main. Richard L. would
propose having a vote at a future date to put the issue to rest. Theodore G. reported that it was the connection to the force main at Rocky Road that started the issue and that now it has snowballed into anyone in Sunapee attaching to a New London line. David C. stated that he feels that Sunapee residents should pay the attachment fee to Sunapee, not to New London. Peter H. questioned how it could be make fair for the Sunapee resident currently in question. Kenneth M. would apportion the fee according to the 22.75%. Theodore G. feels that hooking into the gravity main is a whole different thing than hooking into the force main as there is much more liability when hooking into the force main. Kim H. feels that hooking into New London’s pipe is different because it is New London’s pipe. Douglas G. questioned if there is a clear definition of what is Sunapee’s property and what is New London’s property. Theodore G. explained the system and stated that he has no issue with New
London assessing the connection fee for customers attaching to New London’s line. Kurt M. made a motion that Sunapee gets an attachment fee for customers hooking into Sunapee owned lines, and New London gets a connection fee for customers hooking into New London owned lines in Sunapee, seconded by Peter H., after David C. questioned Sunapee not getting the fee and having no responsibility for New London’s lines in Sunapee needing to be written into the collection system agreement, voted 5 in favor, 1 abstained, passes in the majority, so declared by the Chairman.
Billing Percentages: Dave B. passed out a memo regarding setting the percentage to be billed to New London. There was some discussion regarding metering and New London billing by metered use instead of a flat fee. Peter B. stated that New London meters sewer users and that they have a good idea of what the water use is in order to bill for the sewer. Dave B. stated that Sunapee goes by the total at the plant meter. Kim H. stated that Sunapee has no way of knowing what the users in Sunapee are introducing into the system. Theodore G. stated that the percentages seem to be fairly consistent over the months. Dave B. stated that there is a fairly sizeable change in the percentages over the last few years and that the billing percentage needs to be reset accordingly. There was some
discussion regarding infiltration and metering.
New London departed at 7:30.
Water Intake Replacement Project: Charles H. approached the table. Douglas G. recused himself from the discussion. Charles H. passed around copies of the bid results and reported that the low bidder was Atlantic Mechanical at the amount of $153,341. He stated that CLD has gone through all the documents from the 3 lowest bidders and has checked their numbers and information on their bids. Kenneth M. questioned what CLD knows about Atlantic. Charlie H. stated that they do a lot of coast guard projects and gave some information of different types and sizes of projects that they have worked on. There was some discussion regarding the differences in the bids and individual line items. There was much discussion regarding the pipe where it comes down from the dam until it reaches the
bottom of the lake and needing some more resilient material in this area than HDPE. Charlie H. stated that he had called for 20’ spacing between the blocks and that the pipe supplier has recommended 15’ spacing so there will be a difference in the total cost of the project here. Charlie H. questioned how much CLD needed to be involved in the installations process. Theodore G. would award the project to Atlantic and then ask the questions regarding construction engineering. Charlie H. stated that the notice of award and notice to proceed would be issued and then a preconstruction meeting should be scheduled to get an idea of how the contractor would like to approach the issue of the dam area for the pipe. David C. made a motion to award the contract to Atlantic Mechanical for their bid of $153,341, seconded by Kurt M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
Kenneth M. made a motion to give the Chairman the authority to sign the notice of award and the notice to proceed, seconded by Kurt M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
Water Treatment Highlights: Dave B. reported that there had been some trying times in the water distribution system last week and that 155 feet of pipe had to be replaced on North Road. There was some discussion regarding the lightning strike and how so much damage could have been caused by it. There was some discussion regarding if the insurance would cover any of the cost of this emergency or not. Dave B. reported that during the issue they had found a valve that needs fixing or replacing in the area of the problem. Dave B. stated that he plans on getting a gift for appreciation for all of the people who had helped out during the emergency.
Dave B. reported that Mike Metcalf and Peter Pitkus of Underwood had been to look at the sand filter bed and that he had gotten some needed information about the filter sand from them and discussed the possibility of adding corrosion control chemicals again to try and remedy water quality issues.
Forms for Signing:
April 24, 2014 Meeting Minutes: David C. made a motion to accept the April 24, 2014 minutes, seconded by Kurt M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
April Sewer Purchase Journal: David C. made a motion to accept the April Sewer Purchase Journal as written, seconded by Kenneth M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
April Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Check Register: David C. made a motion to accept the April treatment plant upgrade check register as written, seconded by Kurt M., voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
April Water Purchase Journal: Kenneth M. made a motion to accept the Purchase Journal as written, seconded by David C., voted unanimously in the affirmative, so declared by the Chairman.
ORR 101 Abatement Request: Kurt M. made a motion to accept the request for abatement from Jonathan Barrett in the amount of $180, seconded by Kenneth M., after some discussion, voted unanimously in favor, so declared by the Chairman.
Perkins Pond Sewer Project:
Dave B. reported that project is moving along and that the directional bore went well and is completed.
8:35 p.m. David C. made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Peter H., voted unanimously in the affirmative, so declared by the Chairman.
Submitted by Holly Leonard.
Approved by the Water & Sewer Commission this ______ day of __________________, 2014.
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Theodore Gallup Paul Manson
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David Cain Kurt Markarian
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Douglas Gamsby Kenneth Meyer
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Peter Hill
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