Water Commission

Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Water Commissioners City of Norwich, New York January 14, 2026 Present: Jennifer Kelly, Steve Simmons, Alison Locke, Gigi Baas, Commissioners. Tim Miller, Superintendent: David Coish, Assistant Superintendent Absent: Doug Wilson, Sue Dietrich, John Kolb The meeting was called to order by Chair Jennifer Kelly, at 6:34 PM. Alison moved to accept the minutes of the December meeting. Steve seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Tim introduced Dave Coish, who is the new Assistant Superintendent. Dave has been organizing the information in the office, and has taken the lead in a number of areas. He has a great deal experience in water and wastewater treatment, having worked at the Greek Peak Ski facility, and for the town of Virgil. Water Treatment: Borden Ave. pump: sand has been detected in the pump, which Avanti will have to address. Once again, there is no news on the aluminum issue at the treatment plant. Tim counsels patience, as the DEC will address the issue in its own time. On December 16 there was a 2” water line leak on Colonia Place, which staff repaired within a couple of hours. Wastewater Treatment: Tim reported that the alarm system has been producing error messages. Responding is time consuming, annoying and expensive. Tim is working on repairs to the system. Correspondence: There was no new correspondence. Old Business: Jennifer has advised Mike Flanagan that the commission is not interested in going forward with any tree removal in the area around the reservoirs without having a Source Water Protection Plan in effect. She has contacted the department in the DEC which assists communities with the preparation of such plans and has not heard back from them. Jennifer reported that a forester who works with her at Soil and Water Conservation visited the property and agreed that harvesting was not warranted. Dave has located the hydrogeological study on well #4 that was submitted to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. This document was requested as part of the Capital Improvement Plan referenced in the December minutes. Tim stated that he had not heard any mention of the concerns about which the Commission wrote to the Mayor and Council last fall. Steve will resend his letter regarding violations at Chenango Lake to the new Mayor, Robert Jeffrey. He will cc a copy to Agnes Eaton as well. He will add a note inviting the new mayor to attend our meeting in either February or March to bring him up to speed with issues concerning the lake and enforcement of the Rules and the city's regulations. It was suggested that the Commission request a meeting with an attorney well versed in utility issues to answer our questions about the Commission's responsibilities, and to give us advice about how the city property at the lake should be managed. New Business: Dave will look into digitizing the maps of the water and sewer systems, which will greatly aid when repairs are required. Using paper maps is unwieldy, in an age when most people can access digital information in the field on their cellphones. Adjournment: Steve made a motion to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Alison. The next meeting will be held on February 11at 6:30 PM at the Sewer Plant.