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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - WC - 02/28/2018 Commisioners " Cohasset Water Leonora Cs Jenkins V 4D E P A R T M E N T John W. Steinmetz OO ET RolfN. Gjesteby N „ Sew* Cawx#w S#W 1950 Minutes of the Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street— Water Treatment Plant Wednesday, February 28, 2018 @ 9:00 am Members Present: Leonora Jenkins, Chair John Steinmetz,Vice-Chair Rolf Gjesteby, Clerk Recording Secretary: Brenda Douglas Guests Present: Joe Geary,Rich Henderson,Jason Federico,Jeff Morse, Don Piatt Lee called the meeting called to order at 9:00 am., 2"d by John all in favor. Public Comment Jeff Morse came in to speak to the board about the Robert Pape Reservation. He is in possession of a headstone which he had made for Robert Pape,who was a dear close friend of Jeff's. He asked permission of the board to place the stone on the property designated the"Robert Pape Reservation. Lee made a motion to approve the placement of the stone which would not impair the current sign and would not impede any ingress to the property. John said that he had no issues, as long as no other board members would not want it,2nd by Rolf all in favor. Financials Don presented everyone with an update to the various capital projects that are still on the books. The board told Don that the Little harbor project was completed and can be liquidated. Don said that he will look into transferring in the water fund to pay back the debt. The account for"Filter Media"will stay on the books. Insulation for Ellms Meadow, Bear Hill Tank can also be liquidated. Bear Hill Tank can be liquidated. The water main loop capital project is currently being worked on. Jason will check into the wording of the warrant article. The bid came in much lower than what was appropriated and he will check to see if the monies can be used for another water main project, possibly looping Cedar Street. Lee would like to look at Cushing and 3A to see if they are in more need up updating than Cedar. Lee will look into putting another article on the warrant, this article would be to repurpose the monies for water system maintenance and improvements. 339 King Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383-0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org Tube Settlers—Barbato is going to give a quote and Waterline has supplied Jason with a quote already. Jason reported that Winston was a no bid. Jason is waiting on information from the distributor to see when the tube settlers will be delivered. Lee questioned Don as to town hall services increase. Lee was upset that the board was not part of the decision. Don explained the methodology for indirect costs. There was a 22% increase this year. This is a direct result of hiring Jason. The board requested that they be charged for 10 hours for Jason and 1 hour for Brian. Jason brought up the fact that Brian is in charge of the SCADA project. Jason also brought up the fact that they have the co-op working on other projects for the board which they are not being charged for. John brought up the fact that the board wanted to go with W&C on the SCADA project and the town wanted Brian in charge which has slowed down the project. There was a lengthy conversation of the number of hours each town employee is being charged to the Water Department. Lee then asked exactly how the bills get posted, is it done electronically or manually. Don said he would go back and redo the numbers making the changes that the board requested. Lee then asked that the sign at the dump be updated when the water/sewer bills are due. Brenda said she would contact the DPW. Jason brought up the issue of putting out an RFP for additional carriers on the water tanks. Looping-Jason said that they should be done laying water main today. Brian and Jason have recommended that instead of a trench path,that they do a 1 %2 overlay, then another 1 %2 overlay. Lincoln Lane is a private way and then there are the driveways. Jason said that there may additional cost of loam, seed &wood chips. The board was pleased with the progress of the project. SCADA—Conference call next Tuesday to go over the 30% comments. Lee asked if there was a projected date for the completion of the project. Jason said that they are looking at the end of May. Lee asked if in July we could get rid ComCast. Joe stated yes. Verizon Antennas -Jason will get a quote from David Merrithew to do pre-&post inspections and make Verizon responsible for the cost associated with the inspections. 3C Electrical Report—Joe said that a few years ago an Arc Flash report was done. This fall the settings were adjusted. There were 3 breakers that they could not be adjusted. Joe is going to get some quotes as to how to replace those breakers. Joe & Carl met with 2 DEP personal and 1 USGA surveyor regarding the aluminum study being done at the treatment plant. They will be testing the water for the next 10 months. The will be installing an instrument on a buoy in the pond which will data log pH. Emergency Response Training- W&C presented the board with a proposal for Emergency Response Training at a cost of$3300. John said it is part of the contract that W&C does this training. This is in section IA. Joe said that he would look into it and get back to the board. 339 King Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383-0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org 3 Year Contract Extension- John wrote up the extension of the Woodard& Curran contract,this contract extends to June 30, 2021. He would like the board to sign and give a copy to Joe&Brenda, Brenda will send via certified mail to Woodard& Curran in Portland. Jason said he will bring the signed extension to Chris and have him send with a letter on his letterhead and have him sign. John made a motion that the Water Commissioners agree to extend the contract with Woodard& Curran thru 6/30/21,as per stated in the initial contract. 2nd by Rolf, all in favor. John asked that Brenda mark her calendar for January 2021 to remind the board of the upcoming extension of the next contract. Addendum to Woodard& Curran contract—Joe said he understands that the board is not quite onboard with an additional employee. John read from the contract that Woodard& Curran stated that they would take care of everything that is in the addendum. Joe then stated that he would like to look into automating the plant, this would free up time for the operators to get more things done during the high usage periods of the year. This would allow the plant to run manned 8 hours a day and 8 hours unmanned. Joe stated getting rid of the lime helps with meeting this. Lee wanted to know how long it currently takes to read meters, Joe reported 7-9 days. Brenda informed the board that since January 15` 94 meters have been installed, and next meter reading should be complete in 5 days, barring no call outs or emergencies. The board would like to see if the state would be on board to unmanned operations prior to the board going forward with anything else. Milfoil removal-Lee is on board to do the 2 weeks of harvesting of Lily Pond. John made a motion to accept the contract for 2 weeks of harvesting from Soltitude Lake Management in the amount of$19,500 dated 2/13/18, this was seconded by Rolf all in favor. Atlantic Ave easement removal-John would like Rich Henderson to record a new plan and write something up for the board to sign at the next meeting. Scituate Hill water easement-Lou Ross is still working on this. There was a discussion about the monthly fee to sewer for Brenda's work. Currently they are charged $1300 a month. Jason will talk to Don about possibly crediting the indirect costs as opposed to Brenda billing each month. This would include in increase each year. Abatements/Warrants/Minutes Warrants were signed off on. Paul Winn requested abatement of his last 3 quarterly water bills. He had a new toilet installed that was leaking. There was a discussion and the board felt that Mr. Winn should go back to the manufacturer of the toilet or the plumber to get compensation. John made a motion to deny the request 2nd by Rolf, all in favor. The board then asked Jason how they would dispose of the milfoil. Brian and Jason are looking into getting a dumpster to have it trucked out. Rolf made a motion to approve the January 31, 2018 minutes 2nd by Lee all in favor. 339 King Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383.0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 21" @ 9:00. Lee made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:10 am, 2"d by Rolf all in favor Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Douglas, Recording Secretary Approved By: r Date: / 2 L RolfN. Gjesteby, Clerk Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383-0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org