Tri-Town Board of Water Commissioners

TRI TOWN BOARD Of Water Commissioners Braintree, Holbrook, Randolph Braintree Town Hall MINUTES January 27, 2016 PRESENT: Chairman, Joseph Sullivan, Mayor, Town of Braintree; Richard Brewer, Town of Randolph, Timothy Gordon, Town Administrator, Town of Holbrook. IN ATTENDANCE: Michael Dowhan, Waterman Design, Vincent Dube, Flansburg Architects, Tyler Dunn, Lou Dutton, Ben Fehan, Kent Kovacs, Flansburgh Architects, Barbara Mello, Steve Stafford, Symmes Mani & McKee Associates, Mike Walsh, Robyn LaFrance, recording secretary. Rich Brewer opened the meeting at 11:00 am. Mayor Sullivan arrived late. MINUTES: the minutes of the December 2, 2015 meeting were reviewed. MOTION: by Rich Brewer to accept Minutes of December 2, 2015. SECOND: by Tim Gordon VOTE: Unanimous Dam Safety, CDM Update: Mike Walsh, Tyler Dunn  CDM is near the end of the design. The next step for the Tri Town Board will be moving forward with funding. CDM will do another cost estimate. The maximum award is $1 million and $200k of that is for the design.  There was some discussion about dam inspection ratings from 2007 and 2009. In 2007, the Upper and Lower Dams were given Fair ratings. Later, the Office of Dam Safety (ODS) made stricter guidelines and added more categories to the inspection reports and for that reason, CDM changed the ratings for the Upper and Lower Dams to Poor. It was mentioned that another company inspected the dams and rated them as Fair. What needs to be done to meet compliance? Mike Walsh explained the process and the criteria for rating the dam.  Mike Walsh explained that the next step for CDM is to submit the design to ODS. Great Pond Lower Reservoir update: Lou Dutton  Lou discussed the Lower reservoir with regard to the Fair vs Poor Rating.  Barbara Mello explained the position that Tri Town is in now regarding the grant schedule and timeline. Construction should be ready to start at this point and we should be moving forward.  Tyler Dunn explained that if the grant work is done and he was to go out and re-inspect, he would give it a Good rating.  Ben Fehan noted that he read the entire report and he strongly feels that the project should be done.  Discussion regarding the grant status and the consensus is that the project should go forward. The only issue is the inconsistency of the ratings. If submitted, how would ODS would see it? Tyler Dunn has a discrepancy in the other report. It was agreed that the right thing to do is to move 1  forward. The Board discussed submitting the other report and questioned how the state might see this concerning the grant and all felt that it won’t affect the grant.  Mike Walsh discussed moving forward and finishing the dam safety design and the permitting. The design will be complete in a week and they will get feedback from the Division of Marine Fishery. Sec. Beaton update: Mayor Sullivan  Mayor Sullivan explained that Rep. Cusack is assisting with scheduling a visit by Sec. Beaton and he is hopeful that will happen in February. Lou Dutton will arrange for a front end loader to clear a path and mark it out. It is important to the Board that Sec. Beaton do a site visit and see the body of water and the D.E.P. issue.  There is no update on the legislation, funding and state match.  Mayor explained the Environmental Bond Bill line item (in 2014) that provides…  There was no update from MWRA but the Board is aware that the cost would be more than that of building a new treatment plant. Board members are in agreement and enthused about staying independent.  Mayor Sullivan noted that he met with Weymouth Mayor Bob Hedlund and that the MWRA will provide water to SouthField and will need to go thru Braintree.  Tim Gorgon asked Mayor Sullivan for a D.E.P. refresher regarding capacity. Presentation of new Holbrook K-12 School plans:  Representatives from Flansburgh Architects introduced the plans to build the state’s first new K- 12 school building in Holbrook. Holbrook is asking for a Tri Town waiver to irrigate the boys baseball and girls softball fields. The rough estimate is 2 to 3 acres and possibly approximately 9000 gallons of water/day would be used in spring and fall.  The irrigation system would need to start in the month of April 2016 to have proper growth for the projected start of the school opening in June 2017.  It was explained that they tried to build wells but were not successful. They explained the use of drought resistant plantings. The cost of the new building is expected to be $103 million (69% reimbursed from MSBA).  Mayor Sullivan asked that Holbrook get more solid numbers so that a determination can be made.  Mayor Sullivan suggested that they consider exploring the use of wells.  Mayor Sullivan asked if Holbrook would consider paying a premium during the high water season (July and August) and questioned the rate and capacity. The next meeting will depend on a date and time for a visit by Secretary Beaton. MOTION: By Mayor Sullivan to adjourn meeting at 12: 15 pm. SECOND: by Rich Brewer VOTE: Unanimous Respectfully submitted, Robyn LaFrance Recording Secretary 2