Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes March 16th, 2022 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 March 16th, 2022 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:02 PM Members present: Nicholas Erickson, Commissioner of Public Works & City Engineer George Seiner, Commission Member Mark Piermarini, Commission Member Rick Healey, Chairman Water/Wastewater Commission Colby O’Brien, Commission Member Michael Mclaughlin, Commission Member Others present: John Deline, Deputy Commissioner of Water Mark McNamara, Interim Deputy Commissioner Wastewater Division Jennifer Lambert, Head Clerk Water Division Absent: Stephen Bodurtha, Commission Member Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from February 9, 2022 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division:  Staffing levels – Updates for the Commission that the Water Dept. has recently hired 3 new employees with one having construction experience and also a CDL and hoisting license. The other two have no drinking water experience. All will have to take the D1 class to get their drinking water license. At the end of March we will have 3 open positions in the treatment to retirements. Chief Treatment Operator position has one internal candidate that has applied. We  Oak Hill Water Storage Tank/SRF Funding – Last of our storage tanks from the 1960’s to be replaced. Notification from Mass DEP that we (Fitchburg Drinking Water) are on the list for the 2022 intended Use Plan for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for 2.75 mil, which will involve work at the tanks as well as a couple other tanks to prevent ice formation. Project will be going out to bid soon with bids being due by April 1st. Weston & Sampson had figured in cost increases while being in contact with tank vendors. Original cost was 1.75 mil and with increases is now at 2.75 mil. This project is part of our Capital Improvement Plan. Nick Erickson made a motion to approve the recommendation to City Council of borrowing 2.75 mil from the Mass DEP SRF loan program for the Oak Hill Water Storage Tank Replacement. Mark Piermarini seconded, motion carries unanimously.  DWSP Grant to purchase CR on Kerlinger Property – Application to purchase a Conservation Restriction (CR) 49.3 acres in the Town of Ashburnham, MA known as the Kerlinger Property. City contribution would be approx... $95,280 with the total project revenue being $291,590. This money would come from our land acquisition account specifically for things like this. Motion made to recommend to City Council to approve up to $95,280 for the CR on the Kerlinger property. Motion carries unanimously.  FY23 Water Division Budget – No significant changes. Handout of budget given out for review, will also forward debt schedule for review along with the budget. Next meeting, discussion and vote to approve to recommend to City Council. Item #4 Wastewater Division  Westminster IMA addendum – This will allow The town of Westminster to divert some of their flow from the Rte. 31 metering station to the Rte. 2A metering station. This will not have any impact on the treatment system. This is an extension for two years which will give us time to study to see if we can allow them to increase their flow to the treatment plant. Motion made to approve the extension of the Inter-municipal agreement for approval from City Council. Motion passes unanimously.  Staffing update – Two retirees since January 1st. We have hired an in-house employee but still have one operator position open. Our plant chemist is retiring this Friday. We also have an in- house candidate that will most likely be taking his place, but then we will have to backfill his position as well. We have been reaching out to technical schools as well as public schools to see if there is some kind of pathway/curriculum for students interested in Water/Sewer fields for occupation. We did find the Excel program out of Boston in which they train student and then help then find jobs. They have been working with us and setting up tours of the plant.  SSO Event @ 135 Intervale Rd. – On March 6th, the city received a phone call with customers being affected with backups. This was what we call a SSO (sewer system overflow). A manhole was damaged and filled with construction debris at 135 Intervale Rd. which is the reason for the backups. This was done by a contractor working where the Amazon facility is being erected. Approx. 5 properties have been affected by this so far. We have reached out to all affected so far about saving all documents, and pictures of damage. Liability for this event will be on the  contractor doing the work. Amazons developer has been very good to work with and they have agreed to pay for any damages.  Regulatory Submittals (Consent Decree & IPP Annual Report) – Both of these items have been sent out to MA DEP.  Wastewater Hazardous Communication Training - Weston & Sampson has completed their training program and are in the process of training staff. Half our crew was done last Friday and the other half will be done this Friday. Once training is completed we will contact Department of Labor Safety. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm. on April 20, 2022 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg MA, 01420. Meeting adjourned at 5:43 pm