Water & Wastewater Commission

Water/Wastewater Commission Meeting Minutes June 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 Thursday June 20, 2024 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus, 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA 01420 The meeting commenced at 5:01 PM Members present: Rick Healey, Chairman Nicholas Erickson, Commissioner of Public Works Michael McLaughlin, Commission Member Colby O’Brien, Commission Member Joseph D. Byrne, 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 May 15, 2024 meeting were granted by unanimous vote. Item #2 Public Forum: None Item #3 Water Division  Boulder Dr. Water Main Replacement Project – Project is moving along. New water main has been installed from Main St. @ Boulder Dr. down to where Cushing St. was. We will be doing under the bridge and then up Main St. Project is down to Putnam St and beyond and then lower  Main St. They do have to install two water mains on Putnam St. high and low along with a temporary line to supply the old GE building. New Main also installed on Newton Pl. temporary line will be picked up once new line passes bacteria testing. More work still to be done from the connection to Main St. and over.  Scada Upgrade Project – Project is winding down. Montachusett Industrial Park the pump station, the generator is installed up there, and contractor is finishing up some loose ends. Project should be completed by the end of July.  PFAS – Was hoping to have some more results from additional testing that we did, but they did not come in yet. Fitchburg is in full compliance with DPA regulations. When collecting samples for PFAS testing our technicians must wear gloves, no perfume or cologne is allowed of course for the chance of contamination. DEP is very strict about how samples are captured and all precautions must be met, otherwise samples will be thrown out. Item #4 Wastewater Division  CSO’s – CSO 10, upper Main St. As of June 1st, the project is 57% complete. The project is due to be completed by the end of December this year. Contractor will be working on School, Arlington, and Prince St. for the next couple of weeks. CSO 32, is currently out to bid, bids are due back by July 11th. Construction will not begin until spring of 2025.  Staffing – We currently have 5 Sr. operators at the Wastewater Treatment plant. The cover the plant 7 days a week, 24hrs a day. Two of our Sr. operators are out of work right now on FMLA and one is having family issues of his own. We are hoping within the next couple of months this will resolve itself. One way that we are hoping to alleviate some of our staffing issues is that we have petitioned the DEP into getting an emergency grade 6 for one of our wastewater operators. July 1st, Arcadis Engineering will be helping us with a study to see if we can automate the plant to the extent of where we won’t have to staff it 24/7.  NPDES Permit – July 1, 2024 our new permit takes effect. We have to meet all the requirements of the new permit all. Biggest difference will be testing, PFAS, the influent and the affluent along with the river. If car washes are connected to a sewer line, then we will have to start monitoring them as well. Other Business:  The Water/Wastewater Commission will next meet at 5:00 pm on Wednesday September 18, 2024 at the Legislative Building, City Hall Campus 700 Main St. Fitchburg, MA. Meeting adjourned at 5:29 pm