Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes April 10th, 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 April 10, 2019 at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA, 01420. The meeting commenced at 5:22 pm Members present: Lenny Laakso, Commissioner DPW Rick Healey, Chairman George Siener, Commission Member Joshua Bedarian Commission Member Others present: John M. Deline., Deputy Commissioner of Water Jeff Murawski., Deputy Commissioner of Wastewater Jennifer Lambert, Head Clerk Water Office Members absent: Steven Bodurtha, Commission Member Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Item #1 Approval of last meetings minutes: Motion to approve minutes from March 13, 2019 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division:  Tour of the Falulah Water Filtration Plant was postponed until next month’s Commission Meeting due to two Commission Members being absent.  FY20 Water Division Budget- Draft budget given to Commission Members at our last meeting, no changes since then. John still waiting on numbers from Calvin to finalize budget. Once budget is finalized, a copy will be forwarded to all Commission Members for review so a vote can be taken at next Commission Meeting. A Five-Year Capital Plan was given to Commission Members outlining, cost estimates and prioritizing the FY19-FY24 Water Infrastructure projects/upgrades and new vehicles/equipment.  The City-wide water meter replacement project is coming together. We are finalizing the contract with Baystate Winsupply Company who will be installing the meters throughout the city. The gateways/towers still need to go up, but we have received our first shipment of meters and have installed a few of them ourselves. We are doing a small test run to start and work out any glitches that may arise before the installation of meters gets in full swing. Even if the gateways are not all up, we will be able to read meters with a handheld device by driving by the property.  Update given on the Hubbardston PILOT (property taxes) for City owned land and Mare Meadow Reservoir. We are in standby mode, and are waiting while the assessment is re- evaluated by the town. They do agree that the properties should not be valued as if they are buildable lots. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  FY20 Wastewater Division Budget- Jeff still waiting on numbers from Calvin to finalize budget. Once budget is finalized, a copy will be forwarded to all Commission Members for review so a vote can be taken at next Commission Meeting.  City Code Chapter 147 & “Rules and Regulations” – Update form Jeff that the petition was submitted to Council then was referred to Council’s Legislative Affairs Committee. The petitions hearing was held on April 2, 2019 and then a report was sent to the Council as a Whole. The petition requires 2 votes by Council in order for the ordinance revision passed.  CWMP-Tighe & Bond incorporated comments from MA DEP into the phase 1 report and they continue to draft the phase two report. They have also submitted the phase 1 report to the City for review along with the draft phase 2 report for review.  WWMP-The Waste Water Management Plan was presented to City Council on March 19th. Work to finalize the CSOs long term control plan has continued as well as the first submission of the WWMP. A draft version of the WWMP & CSOs LTCP was sent to City for review and comment. We have also collaborated with Weston & Sampson and Tighe & Bond to evaluate the financial impacts of the WWMP & CSOs Long Term Control Plan (LTCP). We submitted an extension request to EPA and MA DEP to have the first deliverable of the Consent Decree submitted to them on or before April 30, 2019.  SSU Project- the SSU project is 81% to substantial completion, 76% to final completion and 86% of the contract price through the end of March 2019. For work completed over the last month or planned work for the month ahead please see attachment.  Combined Sewer Separation Project-Next separation job is in the design phase. Meeting with Unitil held today to figure out where infrastructure goes. Need to coordinate where drainage  will go. Weston and Sampson continue to prepare a private inflow removal policy for implementation by the City. They are also continuing to develop a preliminary design report to go along with the separation project.  SSES Phase 4-Conducted CCTV inspections and sonar inspections with National Water Main. We will continue laser sonar inspections with Red Zone, and will continue to do manhole inspections within the next month. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm. on June 12, 2019 at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd. Fitchburg MA, 01420. Meeting adjourned at 6:24 P.M.