Tri-Town Board of Water Commissioners

TRI TOWN BOARD of Water Commissioners Braintree, Holbrook, Randolph Braintree Town Hall MINUTES February 8, 2017 PRESENT: Chairman Joseph Sullivan; Richard Brewer, Timothy Gordon. IN ATTENDANCE: Ryan Allgrove, Paul Gabriel, and Alex Richards, of Environmental Partners. Jim Arsenault, Lou Dutton, Ben Eccord, Helen Gordon, Lisa Maki, Barbara Mello, Dave Murphy, and Robyn LaFrance. Mayor Sullivan opened the meeting at 10:00 am and introductions were done MINUTES: the minutes of the January 19, 2017 meeting were reviewed and accepted MOTION: by Tim Gordon to accept the minutes SECOND: by Rich Brewer as corrected VOTE: Unanimous Mayor Sullivan and Dave Murphy reiterated an item on the last meeting agenda with regard to legislative priorities for 2017. They said that the Tri Town Board will address this as one and not prioritize individual communities. Great Pond Dam Project update: Barbara Mello, Mike Walsh.  Barbara Mello explained that all three board members need to sign a contract.  Ben Fehan is confirmed as being the “point of contact” (Owners Representative) for the dam repair project. He will be made a Special Employee and covered by the Town insurance policy. All three towns will receive an invoice for his service divided by three and will pay the contractor directly.  Mike Walsh, CDM, explained that contracts will go out for construction bidding on March 1 and this will be a 4-5 week process. In early April CDM will review the proposals, report to the board, and award the contract in April. If everything goes well construction can start in late April-early May. The Board agreed and there was no further discussion. Capacity: Lou Dutton  Lou Dutton provided a handout for the Board members and he explained the research he did on capacity. Lou said that he stopped transferring water from Richardi to the Upper Reservoir to avoid overtopping it. He discussed times that the Town has been in Phase 2 & 3 over the past few years. Phase 5 has not occurred since 2007.  Lou Dutton explained the steps that need to be taken in an emergency plan. He said it needs to be on six months’ time, pay a 10% mark up, and pay on their system. The Tri 1  Town Board does have an emergency plan. Lou noted that hopefully the town will never need to use the plan Lou provided. Tri Town plant update: Mike Walsh  Mike Walsh provided handouts for the board. Mike briefly explained the history with CDM coming onto the project in March 2009. In March 2010 CDM was told to stop the design work and it stopped at that point.  He explained the handout saying that CDM uses the updated cost tool using the ENR Construction Cost Index, an industry standard, all along to keep up. He explained that a new design cost should be done now as it is seven (7) years into an old estimate. Mayor asked the question of paying the prevailing wage, and Mike responded that it is included.  Mike Walsh discussed reasons to support why a true cost estimate is needed now. He noted that the bidding environment is very different now than it was in 2007. Other reasons that were mentioned included; having a Mayor in place; available federal dollars; public/private partnerships; infrastructure funding projects; funding streams; shovel ready projects. Mike mentioned something related to this will be a topic discussed at a conference in April.  Mike Walsh said a complete design will be ready in 9 to 10 months using a traditional route design period.  Tim Gordon mentioned that he attended a joint water meeting recently and said that the Tri Town water project was brought up. He asked how water will get from Randolph to Holbrook, and the response was that the water pipelines will be finished.  Mayor Sullivan said he wants to maintain relationships and he asked specifically what Braintree’s role is in the distribution network. Paul Gabriel explained that Environmental Partners Grop will look at all three towns and determine the best method and most cost effective way using hydraulic models and boosters.  Mike Walsh clarified that CDM had focused on the plant and to finish the water pipeline. They have not gone out further than that. CDM has not looked at distribution system.  There was some discussion on shared storage, potential cost savings, booster stations, and storage capacity in this one source of water for all three towns.  The Board decided to establish a working group who can look at this over the next several months. The working group will consist of: 1. Representative from Environmental Partners, Paul Gabriel, 2. A CDM representative, and 3. Town Department Head representative.  Paul Gabriel will develop a plan and get back to the Tri Town Board.  The Working Group will work in concert with CDM and not overlap.  Mayor commented that he’s assuming that CDM will be more money for the design. Regardless, he said this is the year. CDM will advance the design from 80% to 100%. Proposal: Cochato River Diversion Reactivation to Richardi Reservior: Helen Gordon  Helen Gordon provided the proposal from Woodard & Curran dated October 12, 2016. Helen briefly discussed the Baird & Maguire groundwater and surface water. She talked about investigative research and said they would do their own testing and talked about DEP and EPA.  Helen explained the recommendation to do an analysis and get the results and then work with MassDEP and EPA. Have a toxicologist and do a risk assessment. 2   Explained a workshop with MassDEP and EPA, a $50,000 proposal, and said the lion’s share of the work is in the lab work. Her advice is to go slow and not invest a lot of money. She said this will provide a baseline.  Dave Murphy said that Kim White and the EPA want to meet with the Tri Town Board. It was suggested to hold a public meeting that will include Dave Murphy and Helen Gordon. It was agreed that early March should be the target date to schedule the EPA to come to a Tri Town meeting. Other: Draft letter to Sec. Beaton  A draft thank you letter was reviewed to send to Sec. Beaton to thank him for coming to meet the Board and others to do the site tour on December 12, 2016. MOTION: By Tim Gordon to approve the letter to Sec. Beaton SECOND: by Rich Brewer VOTE: Unanimous  Tim Gordon and Dave Murphy had a couple of design cost questions for Mike Walsh. The questions were regarding carrying a 20% contingency and the cost coming down, and advancing the design from 20% - 100% and fewer unknowns.  The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, March 8 at 10:15 am at Braintree Town Hall. If the EPA cannot attend on March 8, the meeting can be adjusted until this can happen. The next meeting agenda (on March 8 or another date) will be: 1. EPA discussion: a. Invite a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the next meeting. Helen Gordon and Dave Murphy will reach out to Kim White to invite. 2. Environmental Partners: Working Group Plan 3. CDM: Cost and Design update MOTION: By Tim Gordon to adjourn meeting at 11:10 am SECOND: by Rich Brewer VOTE: Unanimous Respectfully submitted, Robyn LaFrance, Recording Secretary 3