Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes February 21st, 2024 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 February 21, 2024 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:03 PM Members present: Rick Healey, Chairman Nicholas Erickson, Commissioner of Public Works Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Colby O’Brien, Commission Member Others present: Mark McNamara, Deputy Commissioner Wastewater Division John M. Deline Jr, Deputy Commissioner Water Division Absent: George Seiner, Commission Member Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from January 17, 2024 meeting were granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division  Water/Sewer Bills billing issue– There was an issue with the January billing when running the bills, as our software company (Munis) did an upgrade of the software and the calculation code for sewer charges was changed without our knowledge. This resulted in an over charge of $33.33 to all of our customers who had sewer usage in excess of 3 units. There were approximately 9904  adjustments that were hand-keyed in by water personnel. This was an 8-step process for each account. All adjustments were completed before the February bill run.  Water Division Dams – spreadsheet handed out on the 16 Dams that the City’s Water Division is responsible for. Spreadsheet shows height, hazard levels and their conditions. Out of the 16 dams, Falulah, Overlook and Scott dams are in poor condition. We did receive a grant to conduct a seepage analysis at the Scott reservoir dam. This will help us determine how to address the dam and its seepage.  SCADA upgrade – We did receive some of the cards back. They have been swapped out with some of the rebuilt ones at the Falulah Plant. Once we get the remaining ones back we will be able to do the Regional Plant. Once Regional is done, we will be in good shape. We may have some punch list items to finish. We did include a backup generator in this project, which will be done in the spring because we need to bypass pumps.  Boulder Dr. Water Main upgrade – 4 bids were submitted for this project. Main St. project will go out to bid in mid-March. This will allow the work to be start on Boulder Dr. and then finish on Main. St. The low bidder for Boulder Dr. came in at 3.3 MIL.  Regional Plant new roof (loan request) – This project was factored in with the rate study for capital projects. Motion was made to recommend to the City Council to approve the loan request of 2.3 MIL for the purpose of replacing the Regional Plants roof. Motion was seconded and passes by unanimous consent. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  SRF Appropriation request for CSO 032, 045, 083 – Additional project costs have been found for phase two and three of this project. Original appropriation for the project was done in 2022. Additional construction, construction admin and engineering costs are the main reason for this appropriation. Motion was made to recommend approving the $39.5 mil SRF loan to the City Council. Motion seconded, and passes by unanimous consent.  Staffing- Still having a hard time filling the Sr. Wastewater operator. A few operators have taken the exam, but have not passed.  Budget FY25 – Should have a draft budget for the Commission sometime next week, for you to review before our next meeting. Will email to all members. Budget follows what the rate study showed with no significant changes from last year.  NPDES Draft response letters-On call engineering reviewed the permit for us. We had until January 29th to submit public comments. Some parts may need to be modified or removed completely. MA DEP will review our comments and come back to us. Handout given to Commission Members on the City’s comments. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm on Wednesday March 20, 2023 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA. Meeting adjourned at 5:58 pm