Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes November 10th, 2021 Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St, Fitchburg MA 01420 ______________________________________________________________________________ A meeting for the City of Fitchburg Water/Wastewater Commission was held on Wednesday November 10th, 2021 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:03 PM Members present: Nicholas Erickson, Interim Commissioner of Public Works & City Engineer George Seiner, Commission Member Michael Mclaughlin, Commission Member Mark Piermarini, Commission Member Stephen Bodurtha, Commission Member Others present: John Deline., Deputy Commissioner of Water Jennifer Lambert, Head Clerk Water Division Nathan Glenny, FATV Anthony Maressa, Sewer Collection Manager Kasia Allen, Constituent – 68 Bilotta Way Absent: Rick Healey, Chairman Water/Wastewater Commission Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from October 13, 2021 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum:  Motion was made by Mark Piermarini to reopen the case regarding 68 Bilotta Way, Fitchburg Ma. George Seiner seconded the motion. Motion carries unanimously. Mrs. Kasia Allen spoke again about not agreeing with the Commissions twice denial of this sewer abatement request. No new information given by Mrs. Allen. Commission again discussed that abatements are not given for irrigation purposes. No clear evidence that there was anything wrong with irrigation  system by Mrs. Allen, nor by Greg’s Irrigation Company. Many hours spent comparing water consumption from years past and nothing out of the ordinary was found to support such abatement. Motion to vote made by Mark Piermarini, seconded by Mike Mclaughlin. Motion carries unanimously. Motion made by Mark Piermarini and seconded by Mike Mclaughlin to uphold the Commission’s decision of denial of sewer abatement for 68 Bilotta Way that was made on October 13, 2021. Motion carries unanimously. Item #3 Water Division:  Falulah Transmission Main Project and SCADA Project – We experiencing some supply chain issues regarding the replacement of the Falulah Transmission Main. Project was supposed to start about a month. Contractors have been having trouble getting the 24 in pipe. We will have to come up with a new schedule and are working on that. SCADA project is more or less the same issue. Chip shortages are impacting this project.  Water Meter upgrade Project – The project is 96% complete. We have 10,864 out of 11,357 meters. We have been sending out shut off notices to our non-compliant customers, which has worked out well. They are quick to call and make appointment. We also came across a few vacant properties by doing this and water has been shut and wouldn’t be a problem this winter. We have 493 meters left to change with approx... 184 meters with bad service lines. We are going to put in for some of the ARPA funding to help some of these eligible (income wise) customers with replacement of their service lines.  Oak Hill Storage Tank Replacement – Engineering should be done on this project by the end of December and hopefully will go out to bid sometime near the end of January early February 2022. Item #4 Wastewater Division  Combined Sewer Projects – Sewer replacement on Clarendon St. and Nashua St. contractors will be working until the end of the year. CSO Water St. at Mid-town Beef and Market Basket will start in two weeks.  Downtown Combined Sewer Project –Project on going. Borings are being set. Design and Investigation work completed along with the smoke testing has been completed.  West Plant Anaerobic Digestion – RFP (request for proposal) due date had to be extended to March 31, 2022. Needed more questions answered and this will give bidders a little more time to put together there package.  East Plant Gravity Thickeners- We have received a draft OPM/RFP from our Purchasing Division due to the cost of the project and Chapter 149. We hope to have this out within the next couple of weeks.  Westminster IMA – Worked with Josh Hall DPW Director for the town of Westminster and agreed to do a two year temporary agreement. This will give us tome to look into Westminster having more flow. Flow meters to be installed near Monty Tech to monitor.  Lunenburg Sewer Ordinance update – We have not heard from the town of Lunenburg as of yet. We will be reaching out to them within the next couple weeks. Item #5 Other Business:  Interim DPW Director Nicholas Erickson spoke to the Commission on the recommendation of appointment of Sewer Collection Manager Anthony Maressa to fill the vacant position of Deputy Commission of Wastewater Division. Letter drafted on November 5th, 2021 and sent to Commission. Motion made by Mark Piermarini of a favorable recommendation to the Mayor for the appointment of Anthony Maressa to Deputy Commissioner of Wastewater. Mike Mclaughlin seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion carries.  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm. on December 8, 2021 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg MA, 01420. Meeting adjourned at 6:07 pm