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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - WC - 10/02/2014 Cohasset Water =r- -.N.' DE PARTM ENT Commissioners mow Leonora C. Jenkins 9� 0 Daniel M.Varney Rolf N. Gjesteby Minutes of the Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street—Water Treatment Plant October 2, 2014 @ 10:00am Members Present: Leonora Jenkins Daniel Varney Rolf Gjesteby Recording Secretary: Brenda Douglas Guests Present: Carl Hillstrom, Kevin McCarthy, Mary Gallagher, Karen Quigley, Chris Senior, Paul Roux, Tanna Kasperowicz Motion made by Lee seconded by Rolf to call the meeting to order at 10:06 am all in favor. Public Comments Tanna Kasperowicz from the Tiny Town Gazette was questioning the agreement that the Water Commission has with Hingham. Lee stated that there is no agreement with Hingham it is with Linden Ponds. She then wanted to know why a rate study has not been done since 1999. Brenda told Tanna that Russell Consulting did a rate study back in 2005. She then questioned why in 2012 the DOR required an analysis. The board was unaware of any such request. Tanna then asked if they were planning on doing another rate study in the near future. Lee stated that they would be looking at doing another rate study. Tanna then stated she would wait to talk more about the agreement with the interconnect when it came up on the agenda. Lee explained that the line item was only to discuss the next meeting regarding the interconnect and who would be attending. Warrants/Meeting Notes/Abatements Rolf made a motion to approve the September 4, 2014 meeting notes this was 2nd by Dan all in favor. The warrants were approved and there were no abatements. Financials/Warrant ArticleNcrizon Brenda presented the board with the expenditure budget to date. Budget shows that Extraordinary and System Maintenance has been used a lot. Lee stated that these two line items need to be looked at to possibly increase in future budgets. Paul stated that the plant needs to be reassessed and the last time it was done was in 2000. In 2004 Weston & Sampson put in new motors and new filters. The majority of the equipment will need 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org to be upgraded. Converting from chlorine to hypo would be $250K. All would be capital projects. At this point it is becoming cost prohibited. We are spending more on preventative maintenance than simply replacing. Paul stated that the monies were spent a lot in distribution as well as Ellms Meadow. It is time to look closely at the plant. Dan stated that the board should come with an extended plan. Paul stated that an in depth analysis would be approximately $50K. Paul informed the board that Chris Senior signed off on a rate for National Grid which was a very good rate but Mary Gallagher was unsure as to how long the rate was applicable. Paul stated that the budget for chemicals is a little higher due to the high consumption of the summer months and Ellms Meadow being down off ad on due to the drought conditions. The electricity is high as well since the plant has had to run longer. Ellms meadow was restarted on September 29, 2014 and it is planned to keep it running into November. Lee stated that the warrant articles have been submitted. She is hopeful that all articles will pass. Brenda reported that she still has not received any monies from Verizon and neither has Mary. Paul noted the contract with Verizon shows that the monthly payment would be $2,050.00. Mary said she would touch base with Brian Joyce again to see what the hold up is. RFP Lee was stating that Brian& Chris were currently working on a 1 year contract to bring the Water and Sewer contracts in line. This way the town could look into putting out RFP's for both facilities individually and together to compare costs and efficiencies. Interconnect meeting will be October 141h @ 10:00 here in Cohasset. Lee is unable to attend and Rolf said that he would attend meeting. Rolf wanted to know if there were any issues that he should be made aware of before the meeting. Carl stated that through the end of June to the beginning of July Hingham received an excess of 5million gallons. Currently the pumpage has been reduced and they are up 2.5million. This will be trued up by the end of the year as has been done since the contract began. Lee questioned Paul about removing some of the silt from the entrance to the intake structure. Carl said he was looking at it. Lee stated that the kids did a great job but she never heard back from the teacher to write accommodations for each student. Rolf questioned Comcast bills. He wanted to know if it was possible to get one bill for all sites. Brenda explained that she had requested this many times over the years to no avail. Last November Paul stated that once we proved that the stream gauging was working properly that we would be able to drop some of the sites. Carl got a verbal from DCR but we are still awaiting formal notification that some of the stream gauging sites. Paul then stated that a proposal was submitted to the board to change to radio that would get rid of Comcast completely. This would be approximately $100,000. The costly portion would be to bring the video back to the plant. 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org Motion made by Dan to adjourn meeting 2nd by Rolf. Meeting adjourned at 10:50 am Respectfully Submitted, Brenda Douglas, Recording Secretary Approved By: i— �- Date: %/ y�� Rolf Crjesteby, Clerk Cohasset Board of Water Commissioners 339 King Street, Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025 Tel: (781) 383-0057 Fax: (781) 383-2906 www.cohassetwater.org