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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - WC - 06/18/2015 _ cohnsset water D E PARTM ENT Commissioners Leonora C.Jenkins �o aY1A5 �o . Rolf N. Gjesteby John W. Steinmetz Minutes of the Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street—Water Treatment Plant June 18,2015 @ 9:00 am Members Present: Leonora Jenkins, Chairman Rolf Gjesteby, Vice Chairman John Steinmetz, Clerk Recording Secretary: Brenda Douglas Guests Present: Carl Hillstrom, Joe Geary, Paul Roux, Dr. Harvey Dickstein, Mary Gallagher, Paul Roux, Karen Quigley Motion made by Lee seconded by Rolf all in favor to call the meeting to order at 9:04 am. Public Comment No public comment Warrants/Abatements/Minutes John asked if there was a written policy for the abatement requests. Brenda explained what the process has been in the past. Paul explained that there is nothing in the Rules & Regulations. John felt that something should be written up to state that anytime there is a break it would need to be determined if there was negligence on the part of the property owner. If it were to be determined that there was negligence then it would be denied. John said that he would write something up and have it ready for review at the next commission meeting. Abatement requests presented to the board are as follows: Thomas Sullivan, 82 Whitehead: The board felt that this should be part of his insurance claim. Motion was made by John and 2nd by Rolf to deny the abatement request. All in favor. Barre &Amy Banks, 39 Atlantic Avenue: The board again felt that this should be part of an insurance claim. Motion made by John and 2nd by Rolf to deny the abatement request. All in favor. 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 Matthew& Susan Galligan, 31 Border Street: The board would not consider abatement on this account due to the fact that they had not paid the bill. Lee made a motion to deny this was 2na by Rolf. All in favor. Edythe Ford, 135 Beach Street: Lee recused herself from the vote due to the fact that she knows Edythe very well. It was explained that her service line has broken several times in the past and she still has not replaced the entire line. Also Edythe has already received abatement on the property back in 2010. Rolf made a motion to deny abatement this was seconded by John. Warrants were signed off on and approved by the Commission. Lee pulled the legal bills out stating that she felt they were not the Water Departments. There was an outstanding bill dated August 6,2014 for Bear Hill tank Lee said that she spoke to Chris but he never got back to her. Then Lee stated the bills for October 2014 had a teleconference with Jen Oram, also included were calls to Brian Joyce and Chris Senior. Lee thought that this was covered under the retainage for the town as they had to do with the warrant article for STM. Lee also asked what the retainage covered. Karen suggested that Lee make another appointment with Chris and finalize who is responsible for these bills. May bills include attending to enabling act; Lee stated she did not know what this is about. John said he spoke to Attorney DeRensis and that Chris holds a certain role on behalf of the Water Department. That is why the bills are sent here. Karen stated that at Selectmen's meeting it was discussed that there is a type of form which gives the attorney whether it is retainage or billable. Karen stated that it should be able to work vice versa. It was suggested that Chris or other town employees notify the Water Commission before bills are incurred and then the board would sign off. Brenda then informed the board that she has an outstanding bill from 6/14 and wondered if it could be paid out of this year's budget. Karen stated that it could not and it would have to go to town meeting for approval. Then Mary stated that there were still monies from fiscal year 2014 which were encumbered in the amount of$500.00 that could be used to pay for the old bill. John said that town council has stated that the Sewer Department is having the same issues. John suggested that there should be something put in place going forward that we should know what is being spent. Brian agreed that a policy should be put in place. Karen directed her response to Brian Joyce that it is her understanding is that there is no record of the land purchases which have been done by the board. She suggested reaching out to the prior board members for clarification on the legal charges in regards to "Real Estate Matters". John said that he will set up an appointment with Chris Senior to discuss the outstanding legal bills. If not he suggested meeting again. Lee asked when the cutoff date for bills to be paid is. I stated July 15 '. 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 W&C MOR Carl spoke about Looping of Ledgewood&Cedar Street. Carl stated it was in the W&C 4th year projections of the contract. Lee said that Cushing has had 2 breaks in the past couple of months and due to the age of the pipe it should be considered a priority for replacement. Lee said that she would like to speak with the Sewer Department to determine if they have any upcoming projects in the area and about the location of the sewer main. Carl presented everyone with a list of 6"unlined cast iron water mains in the system. Brian said that the town has a 10 year plan. He suggested trying to capture the water, sewer etc. in the same year if they are working in the same area. Water Model: Lee requested that the board get together and show the newer members the model and how it works. Carl asked Brian about the work being done on Jerusalem Road. Paul explained how the system works by simply changing the size of a water main, looping, and flows. You can type in water quality data as well. Lee asked if it would show if the main was replaced and Paul said yes. Paul explained that it is not an in house program; the previous board would not pay the additional 34K to have their own license and have it in-house. Lee wanted to see the cost to have it in house. Paul will put a quote together for the board. Drought restrictions: Carl said we need I" of rain by July 15t or there will be restrictions put in place. There is a slight chance of rain for this weekend and next week. This will be a mandatory restriction if put in place. Carl said there should be a discussion next week. Cleaning intake ramp: Paul said they have reached out to several vendors. Carl suggested doing it in the fall when the benthic barrier is removed and the plant won't be running as long. Carl will also have to notify conservation_ Signage & Fence conditions around water supply: Rolf said people are still dumping over by the Wellfields. Lee said that the signs have been put up; articles in the Mariner were done. Lee thought that the DPW and maybe the boy scouts can help out in removing the material that the neighborhood illegally dumped on town property. Karen said on the Conservation Commission they have had the same problem. They have tried the public outreach, spoke to the abutters. Unfortunately it has had no effect. Lee asked Health Board member Harvey Dickstein if it was a health issue. Brian suggested getting a fence and putting it around the area. It was suggested that a 6' fence be looked into. Paul said there is a trend that the runoff affects the Wellfields. Karen asked if the raingardens were helping. She said a very large rain garden is in that area. It was pointed out that the debris is between the raingardens and the wells so they would have no impact on pollution control. James Lane Lee informed everyone that the corner lot,JJ's Junction, was sold to 8 James Lane Partners. Town meeting voted that unfinished areas and garages did not count toward the total square foot of the units which would then make them fall under the maximum allowed by the town bylaw. They are waiting for the Attorney General to approve town meeting vote. Brian said that since they have bought the new property that they would 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 probably be resubmitting with the town new plans for the project. Lee requested again that the right of way the developers were eliminating would not impact town land. Other Business Brian informed the board of work being looked at currently. Pleasant Street was one. Then he spoke of N. Cohasset area of Black Rock Road& Forest Avenue. The next interconnect meeting will be on July 286 not sure of where the meeting will be or who will be attending. Back to fencing: Rolf stated that we have miles of fencing in need of fixing or replacing. In regards to the Neubert property,this is a fence on our property that her tree fell on. The property owner cut down the trees on our property so that they had a view of the reservoir. Mrs. Neubert said it was unsightly, and now is stating that it is unsafe. Rolf said that she is using our fence to hold her animals in the yard. Our guys went out and cut down the tree so that it was no longer leaning on the fence. She is now requesting that we fix the fence again. John said that it should be the homeowners liability insurance should take care of it. Lee made a motion to have John draft a letter which Brenda will send onto Wendy Neubert that she reach out to Arnica again on the liability side,this was 2nd by Rolf. Financials Mary said that we are in good shape. There will be retained earnings but right now she does not know how much. Lee questioned Mary as to if she knew about the attorney's retainage. Mary said that Chris states to the attorneys whether it be retainage or billable. Lee wants to set up coordination& communication between us and town hall. She would especially like better communication with Brian Joyce. Karen suggested having a liason for different aspects of water projects. John said that they are trying this now. Lee said that for the last couple of weeks regarding the contract,the board has been given no information as to the status of the W&C contract. The only thing they knew was that it was in the attorneys hands due to the fact that we had the attorney bill. New rate structure: The only questions John has received is the explanation of the capital recovery charge. Please he has talked to have assumed that the capital recovery charge was being used to pay for people who don't pay their bills. So the board is working on a bill stuffer which will explain the capital recovery charge. The bill stuffier must be completed by the 2"d week in July in order to get it out with the water/sewer bills. Karen suggested having the Board of Health put something in as well. Then the subject of the dumping near the well fields will be done as well. Lee asked if there would be another set of warrants next week and if so that she will be out of town and John and Rolf will have to sign off on them. Lee questioned our policy for installing meter pits on properties. Brenda explained that any new construction we are requiring it. Lee thinks that we are supposed to increase the 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 bill to Sewer for services rendered by Water by 2.5%/yr as all town bills are increased every year. Brenda will check with Diane to make sure it is in writing. Motion made by Rolf to adjourn the meeting at 10:38 pm this was 2nd by John, all in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Douglas, Recording Secretary Approved By Date: Jo W. Steinmetz CohIsset Board of Water Comrr' si ners 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906