Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes March 11th, 2020 J.A. Provencial Building 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA 01420 A meeting for the City of Fitchburg Water/Wastewater Commission was held on Wednesday March 11th, 2020 at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd, Fitchburg MA, 01420. The meeting commenced at 4:55 pm Members present: Rick Healey, Chairman Nicolas Bosonetto, Commissioner of Public Works Steven Bodurtha, Commission Member George Seiner, 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 Division Absentees: Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from February 12th, 2020 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division:  FY2021 Water Division Budget- Small discussion was had about minor changes within the budget. Motion to recommend approval of Water Division’s FY21 Budget to City Council was granted unanimously.   5-Year Capital Plan – John spoke to the Commission about the Water Divisions Capital Plan. This plan prioritized infrastructure upgrades along with vehicles and equipment that might be needed through the next five years. We will continue installing new water meters along with electronic registers on all service lines and also install meter reading equipment through FY21. We will also need to replace the roofs at six pump/PRV stations, install the inline turbine and rehabilitate Narrows Rd. PRV station. Our Regional Plant will need a new roof, we will also be upgrading our SCADA/Computer/Control systems at both the Regional and Falulah Water Treatment Facilities. Other work that needs to be done will be to demolish and reconstruct the Oak Hill water storage tank, replacement of the transmission main between Falulah plant and Falulah storage tanks and water main replacement between the two water street bridges per MA DOT.  Continuity of Service, Planning – The Commission was updated on the plans we at the Water Division are taking to guard against the COVID-19 Coronavirus. We will continue to provide safe drinking water as we always do. We have locked our gates and prohibited anyone that does not work for the water dept. no access. We currently have one of our primary treatment operators out on workman’s comp, and cannot afford for any of our treatment operators getting quarantined or sick. They hold treatment licenses and are very essential to water treatment operations. Fortunately, Steve Neal our Distribution Manager and I do have treatment licenses, but are not familiar with the everyday practices and duties of our treatment operators. This goes the same for our Distribution crew. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  Fitchburg/Westminster Wastewater Intermunicipal Agreement – 2 year extension was granted unanimously by City Council.  FY2021 Wastewater Division Budget- Small discussion was had about minor changes within the budget. Motion to recommend approval of Wastewater Division’s FY21 Budget to City Council was granted unanimously.  Construction Project Updates – SSU project 100% to Substantial completion, 88% to Final completion due to the fact that the contractor will need to come back and fix some minor system failures regarding clarifiers. 100% of Contract price through the end of February 2020.  Next Combined Sewer Separation Project – This project has been funded with a loan authorization and we are very close to having the design bid documentation. Consulting Engineer Weston and Sampson will be submitting contract documents to us for review and we will return them with our comments for them to finalize and have ready to provide to the procurement office.  SSES, Phase 4 Interceptor Sewer Evaluation – We are still moving forward with this. This is where we are looking for excessive sources of infiltration & inflow. Engineers submitted draft report to the city for review.  Combination Manhole Separation Project – Engineers are continuing to finalize the design plans. We should be getting the bidding document pretty soon.  Siphon Cleaning Design & Bid, and Inspection Services Project – Engineers Weston & Sampson finalized the contract documents based on City purchasing documents used with bid advertisement. Documents have been provided to purchasing and we are anticipating receipt of bids on March 19th.   Miscellaneous updates – We (wastewater division) will be participating in the FPS “STEM Gala” event. We will debuting our new “Virtual Tour” of the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Facility. Our 2020 Rain Barrels Program will be press released, and promotion will commence this month. We also are preparing a Request for Expressions of Interest for a repurposing of the Westerly Wastewater Treatment Facility. This will be a step 1 of a 2 step procurement process that will be followed with a request for proposals. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm. on April 8, 2020 at the J.A. Provencial Building, 1200 Rindge Rd. Fitchburg MA, 01420. Meeting adjourned at 5:38 pm