City Council - Utilities Committee

CHICOPEE CITY COUNCIL UTILITIES COMMITTEE APPROVED 9-26-2016 MEMBERS William Zaskey, Chairman Timothy McLellan, Vice Chairman Shane Brooks William Courchesne Robert Zygarowski MINUTES March 30, 2016 The following are the minutes of a public hearing held Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers, Fourth Floor, City Hall Annex, 274 Front Street, Chicopee, MA 01013. Members Present Zaskey, McLellan, Brooks (arrived 6:37), Zygarowski Courchesne Absent Also Present Dan Garvey (Associate City Solicitor), Councilor Laflamme, Councilor Lamontagne, Carl Deitz (Building Commissioner), Lee Pouliot (Planning Director) Chris Chapin (Assistant City Engineer) The meeting was called to order at 6:31 PM In compliance with the Open Meeting Law the Chairman asked if anyone in the audience was recording the meeting. Item #1 Petition from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to grant a location and permission to rerun and maintain 635’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Towne Street (from Pennsylvania Avenue to Massachusetts Avenue) and 215’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Pennsylvania Avenue (from Towne Street to Ivy Street), together with such laterals and service connections as it may now or subsequently find necessary. Brian Barnes Columbia Gas Engineer, Bryan Meccariello of Columbia Gas were present Bryan Meccariello stated that on Town Street we’re replacing our existing steel gas main with 2” plastic main. It runs the length of Massachusetts to Pennsylvania and we’ll replace the main on Ivy as well. It will all be done in the tree belt. Councilor Zaskey asked if the old piping will be removed. Bryan Meccariello answered yes we will be removing sections of the old piping. Some pipes have asbestos on them and we’re required to remove that section of piping. Councilor Laflamme stated that we had an issue with old pipes being left behind with the sewer separation project. He stated that he doesn’t want this issue to come up years from now. Bryan Meccariello stated that it’s a standing order on all the permits that we issue now, that any and all asbestos be removed. Councilor Lamontagne wanted to make sure that there’s no part of the road being ripped up. 1 Bryan Meccariello stated that it will be in the tree belt. He stated that the only part of the road that will be affected is where it’s going to be tied into the existing main. Councilor McLellan motion to approve – Councilor Zaskey 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable Item #2 Petition from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to grant a location and permission to rerun and maintain 40’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Berger Street near the intersection of View Street, together with such laterals and service connections as it may now or subsequently find necessary. Bryan Meccariello stated that last year the sewer separation project was being done up Berger near View Street and we were in the way so we cut off the main. One month later the Septembers Lounge on 13 View Street called and wanted gas service to their facility that had been disconnected since early 2000. This is just to replace that main to get service back to 13 View Street. He stated this will be done before the paving starts. Councilor McLellan motion to approve – Councilor Zaskey 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable Item #3 Petition from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to grant a location and permission to rerun and maintain 260’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Social Street (from Munger Road to end of main), together with such laterals and service connections as it may now or subsequently find necessary. Bryan Meccariello stated that there is some leakage history on the street so we want to go in there and just remove that section of main. Councilor McLellan motion to approve – Councilor Zaskey 2nd the motion – motion passed. Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable Item #4 Petition from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to grant a location and permission to rerun and maintain 475’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Bernard Street (from Chicopee Street to #53 Bernard Street), 400’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Dillon Street (from Chicopee Street to Terrance Street), and 300’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Terrance Street (from Dillon Street to #20 Terrance Street), together with such laterals and service connections as it may now or subsequently find necessary. Bryan Meccariello stated the rest of Dillon and Bernard Streets were already replaced previously so we’re just tying into those existing points and just replacing the section of steel. Councilor Zygarowski motion to approve – Councilor Zaskey 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable 2 Item #5 Petition from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to grant a location and permission to rerun and maintain 2,250’ of 2” MP plastic gas main on Horseshoe Drive (from Applewood Drive back to Applewood Drive) together with such laterals and service connections as it may now or subsequently find necessary. Councilor Zygarowski asked when all this work will be complete. Bryan Meccariello replied the end of August. Councilor Lamontagne was concerned when the work is complete in Doverbrook Estates that the road will be even and it will not sink. Bryan Meccariello stated that they will put a four inch base down and once the project is complete they will put down an inch and a half of topcoat. Councilor McLellan motion to approve – Councilor Zaskey 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 4 – 0 favorable Item #6 BE IT ORDERED that the City Planner and Building Commissioner appear before the City Council or its designated sub-committee to discuss the Burnett Road solar farm proposed by Southern Sky Renewable Energy. Councilor McLellan stated that there was a lot of concern from his constituents. This is for informational purposes on what can and can’t be done there. John Henry Engineer with Beta Group was present. Carl Deitz stated that under Mass general Law 40A which sets out the zoning allowances for cities and towns to provide solar is one of the exempt activities like churches and schools and we cannot say where they can or cannot go but we can reasonably regulate them in terms of; setbacks and parking requirements. By right I will issue them a permit if a permits put in front of me. They’ve been through site plan review and have met all the setback requirements under the Residents A zone. I don’t think there’s a lot we can do in terms of being able to modify this other than work with the developer to understand what the concerns are, trying to voice the concerns and try to mitigate the concerns the best we can. Lee Pouliot stated that the SPROC review had no issues with this application. Cities and towns have very little ability to regulate these. Facilities such as this being done on closed landfills are a very common practice. From a planning and land use perspective there’s very limited re-use potential on these types of properties. DEP has the authority to determine based on the design and the system being proposed whether or not they’re comfortable with that system and ultimately they have approval. These types of facilities should be situated on properties that have limited re-use potential; they should not be clearing land or using greenfield property to do this type of work. Councilor Brooks stated that the abutters will be negatively impacted for a period of six to eight months when the solar farm starts building. He had concerns about the noise of the generator that will be running constantly. John Henry stated that the transformers and converters will be on the north side of the site. He stated that the solar farm only produces electricity in the daytime, at night everything just shuts off. 3 Councilor McLellan stated he had concerns on how to mitigate the dust that this facility is going to produce for six to eight months. John Henry stated that they are going to put a geotech style fabric on the ground followed by a layer of three to four inches of crushed stone. He stated that during construction if it’s really dry and there’s a dust issue we will have a water truck spray down the area periodically. Public Input Claire Label, 60 Post Road stated that she built her home because she loved the area, it was quiet and she didn’t have any neighbors. Now I’m going to hear the generator humming and have to look at solar panels. I know solar is the way to go but put it where it doesn’t affect people. John Henry stated that if it’s the cooling fans I’m not sure there’s much you could do. They are in enclosed cabinets to help dissipate any noise and because of that they usually have cooling fans. He stated if it’s a humming noise he will look into that. Councilor Zygarowski asked when the work will start and how long before it’s complete. John Henry stated usually three to four months. There will be ten to fifteen truck deliveries per week. Councilor Courchesne wanted to add that the City of Chicopee cannot deny a permit to the solar farm proposed by Southern Sky Renewable Energy but, we will make it the best situation we possibly can. Claire Labelle stated that waste management does not do anything over there. If you can’t get them to do anything how are we going to work through Southern Sky to get anything done. John Henry stated that Southern Sky has an agreement with Waste Management on anything that would jeopardize the site. Southern Sky has a direct line to waste management and they are just a phone call away. Claire Label 60 Post Road stated that Waste Management has not been doing anything since 2011. George Trias 50 Post Road stated he thought this meeting was about passing an ordinance. Attorney Garvey stated that the City has a right to pass an ordinance but the way the law functions is the State Statute preempts any local ordinance that we make. The State takes control of the issue of where these particular facilities can be placed. As a City we have some control depending on where it’s zoned, certain setback requirements and some regulations that they must abide by. Councilor McLellan motion to place on file – Councilor Zakey 2nd the motion – motion passed Committee vote 5 – 0 favorable Item #7 Minutes – March 2, 2016 – motion to approve – motion passed Meeting adjourned at 7:32 PM. 4