Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes November 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 November 16th, 2022 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:03 PM Members present: George Seiner, Commission Member Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Mark Piermarini, Commission Member Rick Healey, Chairman Stephen Bodurtha, Commission Member Colby O’Brien, Commission Member Nicholas Erickson, Commissioner of Public Works Others present: John Deline Jr, Deputy Commissioner Water Division Kenneth Dupont, Sewer System Manager Absent: Mark McNamara, Deputy Commissioner Wastewater Division Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from October 19, 2022 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division  Staffing –Water Department is usually staffed with 25 full time personnel. We currently have 8 open positions along with 3 employees who are out on FMLA for different reasons. We have  advertised numerous times, but can’t seem to find anyone that has the required licensing. Hopefully when the new contract is signed with the new pay wages, we will see more interested applicants.  Falulah Plant raw water quality – With the seasonal turnover, we had experienced high manganese issues. This caused discoloration throughout the system. We did a bunch of flushing through the plant and the reservoir. This seems to have helped, as our levels of manganese have dropped.  Lead Service Lines – New regulation that requires us to take an inventory of all our service lines to make sure none are lead. We have never encountered a lead service line, but we have encountered some lead goosenecks which are right up against the main. DEP wants to make sure we don’t have any issues with service lines. As part of these new regulations, they are offering a grant to assist us with this task. Motion was made to support the Water Divisions application for this grant. Motion was granted unanimously.  Oak Hill Tank Project – Contract is all set, as it was signed a while ago. DEP is all set with the SRF funding. Tank was drained so the inside could be scanned to better design the new tank. We anticipate work starting late March or early April.  SCADA Project – This project is behind by almost a year. Due to the chip shortage and the supply chain issues, we are still waiting for some components. We’ve been in close contact with Arcadis and have monthly meeting discussions. Item #4 Wastewater Division  Greif Container Plant Sewer Service Relocation Feasibility Study – We began developing a base map of the project area to review potential relocation options. Some issues with inspecting a drain line off of Princeton Rd, we will need DPW to assist for access. Two vented manholes were discovered that may be contributing to the odor problem.  Combination Manhole Separation Program – In 2008 the city had a total of 262 combination manholes. In the last reporting period of Feb-July 2022 for the Consent Decree we had 131 remaining. Since August 1st City staff have completed 18 additional combination manhole repairs with 113 remaining.  Water/Sewer Rate Study – Weston & Sampson along with their consultant have been reviewing the information provided and will let us know if anything further is needed. They do not see any issues getting this prepared for the Water/Wastewater Commission and City Council reviews and meetings for January of 2023.  Staffing – Sent our recommendation for the new wastewater general foreman to HR. We are now waiting for HR to send acceptance letter to applicant.  Franklin Rd. Extension – Proposed development going in at the top of Depot St. on Franklin Rd. We were initially concerned with capacity in the trunk. This would travel across to Depot St. and then tie directly into the trunk. We did some cleaning in the trunk sewer and were able to camera that. The footage showed that the trunk was in really good shape. We also took approx... 30-40% of debris out of the trunk. We have given the developer the all set to move forward with the project. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm on Wednesday December 21, 2022 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA. Meeting adjourned at 5:27 pm