Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes May 17th, 2023 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 May 17th, 2023 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:08 PM Members present: George Seiner, Commission Member Rick Healey, Chairman Nicholas Erickson, Commissioner of Public Works Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Stephen Bodurtha, Commission Member Others present: John Deline Jr, Deputy Commissioner Water Division Mark McNamara, Deputy Commissioner Water Division Absent: Colby O’brien, Commission Member Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from April 19, 2023 meeting was granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division  FY24 Water Division Budget – John spoke about getting budget out late to Commission members due to the Auditors office and last minute numbers for loans and other contract items. Unfortunately we had to wait for those numbers to finalize our budget. The increase in water rates is reflected in our revenue and will cover much of the increases in our budget. Some of  those include contractual agreements, and increases in overall prices for everything, including repairs/maintenance on equipment and buildings/pump stations, gas/diesel for equipment and FWD Fleet, heating oil/propane, electrical/chemical increases, etc.…Majority of increases in budget are due to the salary increases, along with price increase in all aspects of piping, labor, hardware, and repairs. Motion to approve and recommend the FY24 Water Division Budget to City Council for approval was voted and approved unanimously by roll call vote. Nick Erickson, George Seiner, Stephen Bodurtha, Mike McLaughlin, and Rick Healey all in favor. Motion carries.  Oak Hill Tank Project – We had a pour last week of approx... 400 yds. of concrete. Work started at 2am and went until 6pm next night. Everything went smoothly. Weather was a bit difficult due to rain. All in all, everything is going pretty well and we are hoping to have the tank back online mid-July. Restoration work, looming and seeding around the tank along with fencing will most likely be done mid-August, early September.  SCADA upgrade project – Everything is in as far as controls, cards and drives for the system. Everything is being assembled and tested offsite and remotely before they actually bring them out to the plants for installation. Project is supposed to pick up in early August and September with final punch list items to be wrapped up by December around Christmas.  Boulder Dr. Main St. Water Main replacement – Preliminary plans are being looked at, we are evaluating all of the fire protection services in the downtown area including the buildings to see what system they are served off of. We are looking to eliminate on of the water mains and reduce it to one. This will give us a main on both streets, Main and Boulder. This will improve fire protection in this area dramatically.  SRF Funding/ Meetinghouse Gatehouse /Mare Meadow Pump Station Rehabilitation Project – Unfortunately Fitchburg did not make the list for this funding so we will have to go with a conventional loan for this project.  Staffing update – With local 170 contract finally signed and pay rates are now in line with surrounding areas, we are bringing in qualified candidates. Due to this, we are hoping to have a full staff of 25 personnel, compared to the 13-15 person staff we’ve had over the past couple of years, which includes treatment and distribution staff. To this date we have 3 open positions and are hoping to fill them within the next two weeks. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  Additional Appropriation Request for the CSO 032, 045, 083 Separation/Rehabilitation Project – An additional $6M is needed for this project. This is due to the rise in construction costs. Piping, labor, along with paving. The previous $30M was based on 2022 numbers. Motion to recommend to City Council to approve the additional appropriation request. Motion passes unanimously.  CSO Notification Plan Grant – The state is required to notify the public if whenever there is a CSO event with the sewer system or the wastewater treatment plant. We applied for this last year and we were awarded the grant in the amount of $71,800.02 from Mass DEP.  Local 888 Contract Negotiations – This contract is for the wastewater treatment plant operators and the contract has been completed.  FY24 Wastewater Division Budget – Substantial increase in the budget from last year. This is due to some capital projects along with personnel services. Revenue has increased due to the increase in rates. Expenses of course have increased due to the rise in chemical costs. Major increase is due to the wastewater treatment plant. Upgrades to two of the tanks need to be done, along with upgrades to the lab and locker rooms. This will be done with retained earnings since we have the money. Motion to approve and recommend the FY24 Wastewater Division  Budget to City Council for approval was voted and approved unanimously by roll call vote. Nick Erickson, George Seiner, Stephen Bodurtha, Mike McLaughlin, and Rick Healey all in favor. Motion carries. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm on Wednesday July 19, 2023 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA. Meeting adjourned at 5:57 pm