Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes February 13th, 2019 J.A. Provencial Building 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA 01420 A meeting for the City of Fitchburg Water/Wastewater Commission was held on Wednesday February 13, 2019 at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA, 01420. The meeting commenced at 4:59 pm Members present: Lenny Laakso, Commissioner DPW Rick Healey, Chairman George Siener, Commission Member Joshua Bedarian Commission Member Steven Bodurtha, Commission Member Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Others present: John M. Deline., Deputy Commissioner of Water Jeff Murawski., Deputy Commissioner of Wastewater Jennifer Lambert Principal Clerk Water Office Tom Skwierawski, Executive Director of Community Development Samantha Squailia, City Councilor Members absent: None Item #1 Approval of last meetings minutes: Motion to approve minutes from January 9, 2019 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division:  John spoke to the Commission about the upcoming Roof Replacement Project for pump stations and the Treatment facility in Westminster. We have a total of six roofs to be fixed with two of them on the administrative consent order from MA DEP. Engineering will also look at the Regional Facility’s roof, its approaching 20yrs old and we need to determine if we can repair or replace part of it or does the whole roof need to be replaced. They will also develop cost estimates to go along with what needs to be done. We also have spoken with MA DEP about the possibility of a grant (solar), which they may participate in. We will not look at that this year, but maybe next year.  The Commission was also updated on the status of our Scada System Upgrade Project. This project would be to update the control panels on the Scada System which runs both water facilities. An RFP (request for proposal) has been sent out for the Engineering bidding on the Scada System. Original cost estimates which we thought would be between $300,000 - $400,000 ranges, has come to be much closer to $500,000 - $750,000.  The topic of Property Taxes in other communities was next on the Agenda list. We pay taxes on our watershed land to 4 communities, Westminster, Ashby, Princeton and Hubbardston. A letter was recently sent to us regarding the Mare Meadow Reservoir in which we have a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) each year based on the value of the property and the current year’s tax rate. The taxes for FY19 increased significantly. We have reached out to the City Solicitor and are waiting to hear back from him, and have also reached out to Hubbardston’s town administrator for a detailed explanation as to how the total valuation was determined.  We recently had a kick-off meeting regarding the sale of Carbon Credits from our Watershed Forest Land. We met with Ralph Baker, Chairman of Terra Therm and Courtney Lamoureux, Business Manager for the City of Fitchburg who will be spearheading this endeavor. What this means is that by not harvesting our forest land, there is valuable carbon inside the trees that can be sold for credits. This is not something that’s done with small acreage of land. We need approx.5000 acres to qualify. We will do some assessments and look into it more and see if there is any value to it.  Regarding the overview of Capital Projects and the Water Divisions Debt Schedule, John decided to update the Commission on those items along with the Water Divisions FY20 preliminary budget at our next Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting in March. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  Executive Director of Community Development Tom Skwierawski spoke to the Commission on a Technical Assistance Grant Program that would highly benefit the City if granted. The said grant would help with the repurposing/redevelopment of the Westerly Wastewater Treatment Facility parcel.  Status update items were given by Jeff to the Commission on City Code Chapter 147 & Rules & Regulations. Council petitions have been developed and we are waiting on review feedback or approval of petitions by the City Solicitors Office. Once this happens we will be ready to submit to City Council. Tighe & Bond continue to work on the CWMP. They have incorporated MA DEP comments into the draft phase 1 report and continue to draft the phase two report. They hope  to finalize the phase 1 report this month and deliver the phase 2 report to the City for review. Weston and Sampson incorporated the East Plant upgrades and the flow and loads analysis into the WWMP. They also continue to analyze the City’s Hydraulic Model.  The SSU project is 75% to substantial completion, 70% to final completion and 82% of the contract price through the end of January 2019. For work completed over the last month or planned work for the month ahead, see attachment.  Regarding the Combined Sewer Separation Project, Jeff informed the Commission that Weston & Sampson joined us to meet with Mass DOT. This is because of what they are doing with Bridge replacements on Water St. at Walnut St. where there is a combined sewer. The design project for the next separation job is moving along, Weston and Sampson have completed the light cleaning and CCTV of the remaining sewers in the project area along with on the ground field surveys and a second round of building inspections to reveal private sources of Infiltration/Inflow.  SSES, Phase 4 – Interceptor Sewer Evaluation update was given by Jeff. This Sewer System Evaluation Survey is basically looking at the existing sewer systems for sources of Infiltration /Inflow. Weston & Sampson has secured sub-contractors for laser/sonar CCTV connections. Looking ahead they will begin this work on the trunk sewer, and then schedule manhole inspections. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm. on March 13, 2019 at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd. Fitchburg MA, 01420. Meeting adjourned at 6:03 P.M.