Water & Wastewater Commission

FITCHBURG WATER & WASTEWATER COMMISSION MINUTES December 6th, 2017 J.A. Provencial Building 1200 Rindge Rd. Fitchburg, MA 01420 A meeting for the City of Fitchburg Water/Wastewater Commission was held on Wednesday December 6, 2017 at the J.A. Provencial Water Treatment Facility Building 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA, 01420. The meeting commenced at 4:36 pm Members present: Lenny Laakso, Commissioner DPW Rick Healey Mike Mclaughlin George Siener Others present: John Deline Jr., Deputy Commissioner of Water Jeff Murawski., Deputy Commissioner of Wastewater Mayor Stephen Dinatale AJ Tourigny., Assistant to the Mayor Nelson Mui., Business Manager DPW Mike Schrader, Engineer Tighe & Bond Jennifer Lambert Principal Clerk Water Office Members absent: None Item #1 Approval of last meetings minutes: Motion to approve minutes from November 8, 2017 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division:  John started meeting off by updating the Commission on the Water Main Upgrade Project. Project is winding down, just finish up work being done now. The small sections of Pershing St., and Newtonville Ave., that we are finishing up did not require any temp lines so these sections will be quick and easy and we won’t have to deal with freeze ups. Contractor’s still need to  pressure test the lines and then we can swap over the services. Overall the project went well, we had a few minor hiccups because of work that was being done by Unitil and ledge that we encountered when digging.  John updated the Commission on an issue we had at the Regional plant on November 14th. Because there is not enough pressure up at the plant, water system tripped out overnight and we were not able to get it back up and running until the next morning. This is considered a monitoring violation which will appear in our yearly CCR.  The Tracer Study that was done at our Falulah Plant is completed. Weston & Sampson will write a report and submit to MA DEP on the city’s behalf.  The Oak hill tank has been drained and we are running off of pump stations. We had an inspection today and a number of small cracks were found, otherwise the tank is in pretty good shape. Contractor will be here on Monday to seal these cracks. Once this is done the tank will need to be cleaned on the inside and disinfected. It may be offline for a couple more weeks until all this is done.  The Water Division did submit for in conduit hydro power for Narrows Rd Turbine. This is GAP Funding through MA DEP up to $300,000.00. Also, Green Communities is going to help us with power and lighting that is failing up at our Regional Plant and here at the Falulah plant.  John discussed the number of requests for abatements due to discolored water. These types of issues come up occasionally when flushing hydrants, but with the water main replacement this past year we have had more request. Unfortunately per city code we are not responsible for matters like this when it comes to maintenance of the water distribution system. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  Jeff gave updates on the three Construction Projects that his department has been working on. First update was the SSU project which is the treatment plant project. Work is going well and we’ve had no significant issues. Next pay req. will go out tomorrow which will bring us too roughly 32% of the contract cost, and 35% of the contract days completed. The Beech/Hazel St Project is complete. This had to do with the Sewer Separation Project. We are preparing to make final payment to the contractor once all paperwork and change orders are complete. Regarding the CMH’s Project, Jeff informed the Commission that since work began in December of 2016 we’ve separated 32 combination manholes with approx. 200 left. Work is wrapping up for the season on this project.  Status Updates: Regarding City Code Chapter 147 & “Rules and Regulations”, a kickoff meeting was held with Arcadis, they will in turn provide recommendations in memorandum form that will include language that should move from Ordinance to Reg’s. We also had a kickoff meeting with Tighe & Bond Engineers, and met with representatives from Westminster and Lunenburg to address their concerns. They have submitted a plan of study as to what we are going to do with the CWMP. The Consent Decree’s WWMP (wastewater management plan), is a remedial measure and looks at everything we have done so far in terms of studies and improvements and maps out what we still have to do to become compliant.  MA DEP performed a Safety Audit of the East Plant sometime in late August. They are doing these types of inspections in treatment facilities all over the state. The state in turn gives a written warning of assessment with an order to correct a small list of items, such as a damaged electrical power cord, safety guards on pumps, personal protective equipment for various work tasks and ladder safety training. Because these tasks are not a quick and easy fix we reached out to Weston and Sampson who in turn helped us with a Hazard Safety Mitigation Grant  Application, which we were awarded in the amount $6,000. These funds will help with the cost of the service fee.  Regarding “Infiltration & Inflow”, Jeff informed the Commission that Weston & Sampson is assisting us by helping with a deliverable report by the end of December for Compliance with State Regulation (314 CMR 12) which governs what wastewater does.  Mike Schrader, from Tighe & Bond gave a presentation of the “Sewer Rate Study”. This was just an informational presentation on how to move forward with potentially raising sewer rates. Additional data still needs to be factored in to study and next presentation will include findings and recommended rate scenarios. Item #5 Other Business:  Set next meeting date and location. Meeting adjourned at 7:18 P.M.