Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - WC - 01/23/2019 G14 O O Crs ohasset Water John W.rssione Steinm tz D E P A R T M E N T RolfN. Gjesteb Y Leonora C.Jenkins wN Senhf&e amm mV Since 1950 Minutes of the Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street—Water Treatment Plant Wednesday, January 23, 2019 @ 9:00 am Members Present: John Steinmetz, Chairman Rolf Gjesteby, Vice-Chairman Leonora Jenkins, Clerk Recording Secretary: Brenda Douglas Guests Present: Joe Geary, Carl Hillstrom, Jason Federico, John Amonte, Linden Ponds, Steve Olson, Aquarion Water, Don Piatt, Chris Senior, Wayne Medlin,Verizon,Kacey Looney, Verizon& Michael Creamer,Verizon, Ali Black, Verizon John made a motion to open meeting at 9:01, seconded by Lee, all in favor. Interconnect Meeting Carl reported that 1.5 to 2 million gallons are still due by Cohasset Water to Hingham. He said that the meter at Whitney Crossing needs to be tested and calibrated. Prior testing at Whitney Crossing reported that it was 9%over recording. This could be due to manganese build up in the Venturi meter. To replace the crossing meter Carl estimated $5,000.00. Lee asked how long it has been doing this. Carl said that it gets tested every year and this is the first year that there has been an issue. John asked about Weymouth and their water issues. Steve Olson said that they are working on getting the filters up and running. Lee spoke with Weymouth Mayor Bob Hedlund and he said that it was an engineering design issue in their 8 yr. old plant that was an expensive fix. If the 3'filter bed continued working until the other two are fixed, then the emergency plans with Braintree and Hingham would not be activated. Steve reported that it was a mechanical issue. John Amonte reported that the 2"meter head at Linden Ponds was replaced. The 8"has been backordered and should be in within a week. After that is in place with the new transmitter, they should be up and running. There have always been conductivity issues within the building for example lightning strikes. Lee asked about Hingham taking over the plant, but Steve said that it is still up in the air and will probably have to go to Town Meeting. John reported that at Linden Ponds they are 8 units short of being at full compacity. Next phase of the project would be assisted 339 King Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383-0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org living/assisted care, but that is probably 2 years out. There are currently 1086 units but are permitted for 1700. Tuesday April 23`d at 9:00 will be the next Interconnect Meeting here at the Water Treatment Facility. Verizon Michael Creamer RF Design Manager, Kacey Looney RF Engineer for this area, Wayne Medlin RE Engineer& Ali Black Real Estate Contracts. Michael presented the board with a presentation which he had already presented to Jason, Chief Silvia and Ron Menard. He mapped out the areas where there is hardly any reception. Chief Silvia suggested possibly using Whites Farm as an area to put an antenna. With this design change it will improve cell phone coverage a lot more. It was suggested that wifr be enabled on phones that have no reception. Jason said that Chief Silvia was very pleased with the efforts from Verizon and would like it to proceed. John asked what the timeline of this is. There will be a structural analysis that has been done. No welding will be needed the 6 antennas will be removed and new ones will replace the existing. Ali suggested that an approval letter be sent only. No need to do a new contract due to not adding additional stuff. Ali will send an approval letter out today. John made a motion to approve the redesign that Verizon is proposing contingent on the approval of Police&Fire Department as well as the Water Department 2nd by Rolf, all in favor. Scituate Hill Water Tank Painting—Work is complete but eventually it will need to be drained again and the roof will need to be stripped and painted. Lee asked if the paint flakes off would it be an issue. Carl said that the paint would simply float to the bottom and not effect water quality. Dam Repairs—Jason is working with local contractors hoping to get out in the next month for bids. Communication/SCADA Update—Joe reported that the communication upgrade is moving forward. Submittals are being reviewed. Site work and conduit installation planned to be complete by 1/31/19. Antenna installation planned to be complete by 1/31/19, all material has been ordered. Security camera installation in progress,planned to be complete by 2/15/19. Cut overs, PLC Conversion,planned to start mid-February. PLC and Radio communication tie in planned to be complete by late February. Completion of Cyber integration by mid-March. Unmanned Operations—The controls have been converted. The Sensaphone (backup dialer)will be delivered this week. The plan is to have Sensaphone implementation by 1/31/19. We will still need approval from DER Aaron River Dam EAP Update—Jason reported that this should be completed by early Spring. 339 IGng Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383-0057 Fax(781)383-2906 www.00hassetwater.org Capital Projects on Warrant- Cedar Street Loop—The existing rate study was looked at, and it stated that future borrowing would be needed to do the job. Jason asked the board if they wanted to use Retained Earnings to pay for project. Jason presented (suggested moving forward with)the new plant roof and the truck to the Capital Budget Committee and he filled out the necessary paperwork. John was unable to attend the meeting and Lee reminded the Board that it was decided last year that a Board member should attend the Selectmen's, Capital Budget and Advisory meetings which pertain to our Warrant Articles. It was determined to hold off on the loop to see if monies are available based on a new rate study, which will be done by Jason& Don. State Funded Weed Harvesting Equipment—Jason said that owning a harvester is not feasible as we previously discussed. With the purchase of the conveyor with state funds plus the addition of the$56,000 which is in budget for next year this would allow us to do the entire pond. Lee said that there is a volunteer who would be willing to run the backhoe during the cleanup. Jason said that it would be a huge commitment for a volunteer. The state funded us $34,000 for a weed harvester(weed harvesting) and instead Jason suggested purchasing a conveyor to assist with the weed removal. This is a conveyor belt that goes into the water and it would drop into a bucket. Jason said the 1' phase would be raking on the water's edge. Carl asked if Jason has spoken with Soltitude Lake Management. Jason said that he had, and they said that it would be very helpful. Jason said that he would have to get 3 quotes for the conveyor. He was quoted $33,000 including delivery from one company. Lee asked if the cost includes extra parts, etc. Jason said it did not that is why he is getting 3 quotes. John made a motion to approve Jason to get quotes and hopefully get approval 2nd by Rolf, all in favor. There was a discussion if the conveyor could possibly be used elsewhere in town rather than using it just a short time possibly every other year. Jason reported that on March 4"they are coming in to do the raking,then back in June to Harvest. Indirect Costs/FY2020 Budget Lee said that she is very concerned with the drastic increase 12.5% for Water while Sewer charges appreciably decreased so that the combined increase for both Indirect Costs was 2.5%. Lee said that with the new technology she wondered if more people are using electronic payments especially with the new ability to use Unipay rather than using the townhall directly. With the technologies available, Lee also questioned why all townhall bills were not using bar codes to increase efficiency by cutting down on manual input or electronic payments were not made for invoices especially those that are regular monthly bills. The biggest difference between water and sewer was in the charges for Jason. Also, what the spreadsheet does not show is that sewer pays '/2 the salary and benefits for Michelle and includes a rate for a full-time procurement person being charged to Water while that is Michelle's other ''/2 time job. After Lee questioned why we do not get a bill from the town with a breakdown as all professionals do indicating actual time spent on Water. Chris said that he would be willing to come up with some sort of monthly report on who does what at Town Hall and make adjustments. Rolf then stated that budget numbers have not been updated since October 31". Don stated that he is a month behind due to it being budget season. There was a lengthy conversation and breakdown of each charge. Rolf felt that with Jason and W&C that the board was double 339 Kng Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383.0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org paying for engineering. Joe explained that he cannot write specs as Jason can. Chris said by having Jason you are saving on engineering services as you do not have to pay a separate engineering firm. Jason's salary was the biggest contention. It was noted that the board is paying for engineering services that are beyond Jason's scope. Rolf and Lee also brought up questions as to why our financial reports are not accounted for on a cash basis or the accounts receivables have not been reported. Both Don& Chris asked where we got the information for our questions. We informed them that it is on the State Website included under best practices. John made a motion to approve the indirect costs as proposed, 2"d by Rolf, Lee opposed. SCADA Hardware/Software Upgrade— John made a motion to approve this was 2"d by Lee, all in favor. Minutes—Lee made a motion to approve the December 11, 2018 meeting notes,2"d by Rolf all in favor. Commission Comments Annual Town Report Calendar Year 2018 Brenda will remove the Cedar St Loop from report, and await final numbers from Don, before sending off to Jeri Oram. Lee then spoke of how she was contacted by Peter Pescatore, Chair of the Open Space and Recreation Committee about participating in the town wide Earth Day. She attended the first meeting and discussed working with a group in getting the area around Ellms Meadow cleaned up. April 27' will be Earth Day this year. John had to leave meeting at 11:00. Jason then spoke about the easement on James Lane. There is no issue with the easement and the house. The home is not on the easement. The house footprint in not within the easement. Jason is awaiting a letter from Attorney Richard Henderson with the details for the board. Lee made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:12 am, 2"d by Rolf, all in favor. Next meeting will be February date to be determined. Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Douglas, Recording Secretary Approved By(:2�, (O. (Zs `. Date: Lenora C. Jenkins, Clerk Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street,Cohasset,Massachusetts 02025 Tel:(781)383-0057 Fax:(781)383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org