Water & Wastewater Commission

FITCHBURG WATER & WASTEWATER COMMISSION MINUTES February 10, 2016 A meeting for the City of Fitchburg Water/Wastewater Commission was held on February 10, 2016 at the J.A. Provencial Water Treatment Facility Building 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA, 01420. The meeting commenced at 5:10 PM Members Present: Lenny Laakso, Commissioner DPW Rick Healey Michael McLaughlin George Siener Members absent: Dr. Ron Lubianez Others present: John Deline Jr, Deputy Commissioner of Water Jeff Murawski, Deputy Commissioner of Wastewater Jennifer Lambert Principal Clerk Water Office Item #1 Approval of last meetings minutes: Amend Item #4 wastewater division 5th bullet, The Beech Street and Hazel Street projects went out for bid to read “The Beech Street and Hazel Street projects will be going out for bid. Motion to approve was granted. Item #2 Public Forum: No public forum comments were received. Item #3 Water Division:  Mr. Deline spoke briefly about the FY17 budget, hasn’t finished but will forward when does. He doesn’t think there will be much change from last year except maybe increasing the overtime allotment from $95,000 to $ 115,000. Due to people working every weekend (treatment personnel) and also unforeseen circumstances like water main breaks, emergency calls after hours, etc.  Mr. Deline informed the commission of an upcoming meeting with the Finance Committee on February 23, 2016. There will be a presentation from Tighe & Bond engineering on the upcoming water rate increase. Asked if one of the committee members could attend the meeting.  The water office received a water quality complaint from a resident that lives on Fitch Hill Ave. Resident claims that the water is causing skin issues with his children according their doctor. Went and took a sample to test. Test came back with having a high elevation of iron and PH. Waiting to hear back from doctor as to what exactly is causing the skin issue. This area has been a problem area for quite some time, as with other areas in the city due to old water mains.   Small discussion on upcoming retirements with personnel. Inspector Roy Mclaughlin will retire in January of 2017, Dave Berger the Water System Manager will also be retiring possibly this fall. Mike Ellia is another possible candidate for retirement as well as a few others. We have a total of possibly 7 employees who will be leaving within the next couple of years which is a loss of knowledge or our city streets and experience.  Mr. Deline lastly informed the committee of a letter received from DCR regarding our Water Management Act permits & Water Withdrawal permits and that they are not going to change our authorized withdrawal volumes, which is good news. Item #4 Wastewater Division  Mr. Murawski updated the commission on the SSU project. He informed the commission that the legal Dept.is reviewing with purchasing the OPM Services Agreement w/CDM Smith. So it is still pending. The draft services agreement for the bid phase, construction phase and post-construction phase engineering services is also still pending. Legal to review with purchasing. FEMA LOMR study on flooding evaluation at the East wastewater treatment facility came back. Needs to be publicly advertised.  Mr. Murawski informed the commission that the SEP Project, River Manholes Project, and the CSS-4D Project are all pretty much completed except for maybe a few minor touch ups and that they are wrapping up with final invoicing.  Mr. Murawski spoke in great length about the ongoing issue with the sale of 431 Westminster St. (FiberMark/Crocker to Neenah Paper) and the potential loss of revenue for the city. The city has not received any formal correspondence but they (Neenah Paper) have been pursuing a new industrial use sewer discharge permit for new mill business. He also stated that he reached out to Neenah Paper via e-mail for an update as to the status of the purchase and notified them that he would be meeting with the water/wastewater commission tonight, and did not hear back from anyone. Mr. Healey suggested that we again reach out to them to see if we can do a meet and greet, whether it’s a formal meeting or they attend one of the commission meetings. He also suggested having a copy of the expired agreement to review with the new owners, and to check with the legal department to see what we can or can’t do. Mr. Laakso suggested meeting with Mayor Dinatale and also Mary Jo Bohart and get their suggestions.  Mr. Murawski also told the commission that review and evaluation of the proposals from both Wright-Pierce and Tighe & Bond for the Sewer use rate study, affordability analysis work performed by CDM in 2011 are still being reviewed and it is his intention to budget these important services for FY-17.  Mr. Murawski also passed out a memorandum regarding the services for which he is budgeting for FY-17. Item #5 Other Business: None  The next meeting is scheduled for March 9th, 2016 at 5:00 P.M. at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd., Fitchburg, MA. Meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM