Board of Public Works

Board of Public Works Minutes September 2, 2020 - 5:00 PM Remote meeting Board Members Present: Thomas Malsbury, David Fagnand, Austin Sanders Director of Public Works Present: Greg Nuttleman Board Clerk Present: Not Present / Minutes Recorded by T. Malsbury Public Present: ________________________________________________ Virtual Open Meeting Language: Pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. chapter. 30A, subsection 18, and the Governor’s March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the Easthampton Board of Public Works will be conducted via remote participation ______________________________________________________________ Roll Call Attendance Chair Thomas Malsbury: Present Member Austin Sanders: Present Member David Fagnand: Present The Meeting was called to order at __5:05__ p.m. by: Thomas Malsbury Seconded by: Austin Sanders Thomas Malsbury vote: yes Austin Sanders vote: yes David Fagnand vote: yes in flavor __ all _Motion carries 1. Public Speak: None 2. Mayor Speak: Mayor Present for Agenda Item #4, but has no other business to report 3. Minutes Motion to Approval of the August 19th, 2020 meeting minutes Minutes for previous meeting were not receive by the members of the BPW for review Approval of the August 19th, 2020 meeting minutes continued to the September 16th, 2020 agenda 4. Appointment of Greg Nuttleman for the position of DPW Director Motion to approve appointment of Greg Nuttleman was made by: Thomas Malsbury Seconded by: Austin Sanders Thomas Malsbury vote: yes Austin Sanders vote: yes David Fagnand vote: yes in flavor __ all _Motion carries 5. Director’s Report • With Greg’s appointment confirmed as Director of the DPW his first priority is getting the Utilities Supervisor position he is vacating filled. The job posting closed today (9/2/2020), and he believes that there are some qualified internal applicants. • Greg met with Honeywell regarding HVAC upgrades and improvements to City Hall to allow proper ventilation and circulation for a potential reopening of the building. Currently the windows do not open, so there is a concern for air quality in the building. There is a potential for using these design improvements to qualify for CARES funding to make the safety improvements. • Greg will be meeting with ECS Controls on Friday (9/5/2020) to look into energy grants from Eversource applicable to government buildings. • The contractor working on the Maple Street CDBG renovation ignored the DPW Digsafe markings and damaged a section of 6-inch water main. DPW was able to stop the flow, and the contractor made repairs to the main with parts supplied by the DPW. Greg informed the BPW that is standard practice for the DPW to keep spare material (pipes, valves, fittings) on hand to expedite emergency repairs to DPW standards. It is expected that the contractor will replace the DPW stock at their cost within 48- hours. • Small leak reported on Park Hill Road. DPW crew will be investigating tomorrow morning (9/3/2020). The Park Hill Road has been problematic and had broken several times due to the pipe materially historically used and the high water table in the area. • Highway Department has been busy assisting the Clerk’s Office with election traffic to polling places. Traffic was detoured through the Tree House development due to construction at the Whitebrook Middle School. • Two new hires at the DPW Sewage Treatment Facility. Almost back to a full staff, and has allowed the department to catch up on catch basin cleanouts and other tasks. Thomas Malsbury followed up with a question if a previous request (to previous DPW Director) to track Sewer Department work as specifically related to Sanitary Sewer work separately from compliance Stormwater efforts was ever implemented for this fiscal year. This request was made to allow the BPW to better project and budget for Stormwater compliance efforts in the future. Greg stated that he had not heard of that request, but agreed it would be good information to collect for the Department, and will look into implementing some type of tracking moving forward. Motion to adjourn the meeting at _5:22__ p.m. by: Thomas Malsbury Seconded by; _ Austin Sanders Thomas Malsbury vote: yes Austin Sanders vote: yes David Fagnand vote: yes in flavor __ all _Motion carries Next meeting Date: _September 16th, 2020_________