Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes March 20th, 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 March 20, 2024 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:06 PM Members present: Rick Healey, Chairman Nicholas Erickson, Commissioner of Public Works Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Colby O’Brien, Commission Member George Seiner, Commission Member Others present: Mark McNamara, Deputy Commissioner Wastewater Division John M. Deline Jr, Deputy Commissioner Water Division Absent: None Item #1 Approval of meeting minutes: Motion to approve minutes from February 21, 2024 meeting were granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division  FY25 Proposed Water Division Budget – Our upcoming budget is mostly the same as last year’s budget except for maybe a few adjustments due to chemical costs/bids or emergency situations. Revenues of course will change due to the upcoming rate change June 1st. The 12% increase is  both for water and sewer rates. General expenses to stay the same. New debt schedule to go out next week. Capital expenditures, we are in need a new 6 wheel dump truck. Capital plan for new water main projects will have to wait. Need to finish Boulder Dr. and Main St. Projects including all mains. We will have further discussion at next month’s meeting and a vote for recommendation.  Main St. Water Main Project – Preconstruction meeting on funding. ARPA funds will only get us to Putnam St due to costs. We will need to borrow more money to complete Main St. down to Moran Sq.  Overtime transfer – We will need to go to City council to transfer $70,000 in funds to cover overtime costs. This is due to our SCADA project, and water main breaks for on-call personnel. Contractual agreements, step increases, 4hr minimum call in’s and double time for every holiday. Fortunately plants are automated now to tablets. If alarms go off, personnel have to respond. Item #4 Wastewater Division:  FY25 Proposed Wastewater Division Budget – Wastewater’s budget is also very similar to last year as well. Our revenue is up a little due to sewer rate increase. Sewer dumpage should be raised, we have truckers coming as far away as the Cape to dump loads because Fitchburg’s rates are so low. Budget to increase 5% due to the increases in chemicals costs to be on the safe side. All other costs are due to contractual agreements, step increases and cola.  Overtime due to staffing issues – Wastewater will also need to transfer funds to due overtime from vacancies. A senior wastewater operator is mandated to cover shift. Some don’t have the license requirements and another employee is out on Workers Comp.  Rain Barrel Program – May 26, 2024 is the last day to order Rain Barrels. They will be distributed and ready for pick up on June 8, 2024. The Mayor will reach out on Social Media.  Lab/Control Room Project – Construction expected to begin end of April beginning of March. This is renovation of the lab, locker room and the last two remaining clarifiers. Parts are delayed for the clarifier and won’t be in until November. Other than the delays, project is going good.  CSO 010 Project – Project will now be resuming on April 1st instead of March 18th as originally planned. This is due to allowing time for public communication. Item #5 Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 4:30 pm on Thursday April 18, 2024 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA. Meeting adjourned at 6:34 pm