okay today is uh June 25th it is 604 this is a regular meeting of the Sewer Commission I'm John Reynolds chairman of Sewer Commission and Bill I forgot to ask you if you had your flag there thank you so if we could do the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag flag of the United States of America and to theic it stand nation under God God indivisible liberty and justice justice for all okay great I brought a back up thanks B very nice Mike okay in accordance with the requirements of the open meeting law please be advised that this meeting of the Sewer Commission is being recorded and will a be able to be found on the lunberg access YouTube channel after the meeting the following information is also provided for members of the public that would like to participate in the meeting remotely to participate remotely from a computer please use the link to the public meeting webinar found on the posted agenda or from a telephone dial the tollfree number 888 475 4499 and enter the webinar ID number 871 1768 1305 if you have not registered with zoom you will be asked for your name and an email address no participant ID is needed just press pound when asked okay I'm going to do a roll call vote uh for the um commission members and the staff Brett Ramson here Mike here and I for myself staff Bill Bernard here Jane rley here and Paula Bertram is not with us tonight okay any I'm not seeing any public there so any public comment from any of the uh Commissioners or staff members okay seeing none any announcements from anyone all right seeing none I don't see our uh appointment here [Music] um now Bill if I remember correctly um their their biggest concern about being on the agenda originally was trying to get the um connection fee in before the prices go up on July 1st um that's correct surpr surprises me why he not here then right I'm surprised too well he has he has the rest of this week to do that um H Bill do you want to reach out to him do you want me to reach out to him tomorrow or yeah I'll give Greg a call okay all right well let's uh Move Along current business the first item on the agenda is organization of the board which um is the election of officers since we have three members and three office positions officer positions um and um so we have chairman Vice chairman and and clerk so does anyone have any recommendations for chairman I recommend John Reynolds for chairman I'd second that Mike that was such a quick second should I ask you if you're interested in being chair well I should ask if you seconded okay should I ask if you're interested in being chairman not at this time you know I still feel new enough that you know you know just enough to get yourself into trouble and given we're short-handed I think that having somebody experienced would be in our best interest okay all right I I would accept that so I guess let's take a roll call vote here uh Mike uh Mackin hi Brett Ramson hi and I I guess I for myself um and I personally want to thank you John for staying on as chairman you do a great job and we appreciate it so I appreciate it I simply can't do it at this time Vice chair um any nominations I'd nominate Brett remson for vice chair I'm so touched I I would second that so uh any discussion about that Brett well you think we should ask Mike Mack well I I guess you'd have to nom there's no need for discussion I'm happy to be Vice chair okay all right let's take a roll call vote uh Mike hi Brett I and I for myself and then there was one so then there was one does someone want to nominate Mike uh I would like to dominate Mike mecklin as our our clerk if he's open to the idea I would second that any discussion there Mike we're good I have I have a question sure Mr chair what what does the clerk do well officially the clerk uh takes minutes notes for the minutes but since we have someone who does such a superb job with that um than to do that and then of course the clerk if we had uh a full commission the clerk would be in line after the Vice chair to run the meetings right right very good I was just curious I was a clerk once and I didn't know what I was doing okay every now and again I have to stay in an undisclosed location oh that what it is so Jane you have all that uh do but you didn't vote yeah you need to vote you still need to vote on clerk um I was getting ahead of myself sorry y so all um I'll take a roll call vote for uh Mike as clerk uh Brett hi Mike hi and I for myself you better watch yourself John we got Jan on the job here she's not going to miss a trick I know okay the the next item on the agenda and I personally want to thank you Jane for being here thank you sorry John continue thank you Jane all right the next item is uh waiver of interest for the school department um I'm gonna I'm just going to read Paul's notes Here the school account let's see matal there's an interest they they didn't pay the interest on their last bill and there's $194 and4 in interest due um on the third quarter bills in order order to wave this because it's more than $15 we have to take a a vote and uh let myene know I have to let her know tomorrow so um I don't know why they chose not to pay it um you know we did have some discussion a couple meetings ago about um what our stance would be if uh someone came and asked for an interest waiver um and we we G came up with a Tim Li which has expired um but anyway they're asking for a waiver for the interest so let's uh any discussion on that well that's backg wanted to time Mike sorry ahead Mike go ahead Mr chair so we have no explanation as to why what occurred uh correct correct and um let's see Paula did send a reminder to um Eric heavy he um reminding him and she hadn't her hasn't heard back no I I I know I don't know maybe they think because they I I don't know I I don't want to speculate um any any other discussion on that well the school department and um you know anything they pay for we're all paying for just throwing that out there um with our taxes and so forth um that being said um I could see letting it go this time but would would be interested as to why they had not paid on time you know was it just an oversight just would appreciate some kind of explanation it's not a big deal but it would be appreciated Mike any thoughts you know absent any understanding of how and why it occurred I have real difficulty you know just sort of saying okay um just doesn't feel like it's thoughtful to to take that one and that's that's sort of my view and plus when you think that we we just the select board just voted to revoke the license of um REO reboot for non-payment um and I I again I think a couple meetings ago we we did decide we gave PE I don't remember what the time frame was but it's well passed about asking for interest forgiveness um and also as was pointed out at a couple select board meetings where I made ARA request presentation that the sewer department is an Enterprise fund financially independent of the rest of the town and you know we're having some cash flow challenges right now um so I would be inclined not to vote for this waiver um but that's you know that's one person's opinion so if someone wants to make a motion um about whether to wave this or not and then we could talk about it some more well then then I'll make the motion to deny the waiver okay um you know recollection recalling our discussion previous to which um and listening to your opinions is making me think further um we need to we need to hold people accountable more like we had discussed in the past so I'll second that motion I'll second that motion and further discussion Mr chair yes further discussion um again you know if there they wish to come back with some justifiable reason you know the bills didn't come in or you know I I just can't you know as I said I can't I can't support the idea of just walking away from it just because they're asking for it without any explanation all right so we we have a a motion on the table here to deny the waiver um I I think we're probably all done with discussion here so let's take a vote uh Mike hi and Brett I and I for myself the request for waiver is denied and I'll make sure I let myene know uh tomorrow okay um the Q Q4 FY 25 commitments did you have a chance to look at this is I get I did get a look at it but okay it's so it's a formality that we go through um come on Paula put it up on the screen yeah the the commitment amount is 2 842 for Q4 um so does anyone want to make a motion to um accept that commitment vote to approve the amount Mr chair I'd like the vote to approve the amount you have just mentioned uh for fourth quarter fy2 commitment um without further discussion second any okay let's take a roll call Vote or I should say any further discussion seeing none roll call vote Mike I Brett hi and I for myself and I believe Paula already sent out a a docy sign document for all of us to to sign so if you if you guys could go ahead and sign that that would be great um all right the next item on the agenda is the manhole inspection we hired CTE to uh look at a specific number of manholes that right Pierce in the past said had inflow um ey and ey issues so they they went and they looked at those and uh Bill what you you have a better understanding of what they found and what they did if you want to take it from here sure so we gave them an initial list um it was from previous inspections back in 2016 I believe it was yeah and we got them reinspected and uh the findings were a little bit strange where some of the stuff that was initially reported they didn't see or what wasn't as bad as as initially reported and some they said we didn't need any repairs at all so we had them for two days and they finished up the list in one day so they came in we talked and we gave them a second list and they went out and um looked at the second list so I'm just looking at the the list now it's it's a lot of just patching and new covers new frames um they did note a couple of um manholes where they could actively seeing I and I coming in so that was good for them to spot and I think just in general them looking in the manholes gave um Robert a better idea of where II issues are in town so Not only was it much much cheaper than um right Pierce but I think it's going to help was you know proficient yeah yeah bill can I ask you a couple of questions go ahead may I ask you a couple of questions you may yeah um so this is kind of exciting I like I like the idea of the contractor looking at them and they're going to know more than right Pi you know I have lots of respect and I appreciate what they do but the guys in the field that replace them that no man HS it this is a great way to go um I'd like to make this sort of a a norm for us with future inspections if we could Mr chair um and if you agree about but um so my qu my first question is how do they test for inii do they put a camera or a person in the manhole and then pour water around the top no they would just doing a visual inspection for the most part um so you know they'd open up the Mt shine a flashlight in there look around yeah yeah look for holes look for cracks look for staining you know obvious signs of water yeah I was going to say they're experienced so they know to look for signs of water movement and they can understand pitch of everything from the asphalt to where water could you know obviously enter and things like that um I feel good about this inspection and I just was curious about some of the ways they went bought it but that's great thank you very much you're welcome than I think the staining is probably a pretty big item as to identify the some of the I ini I and again this this inspection was um in prepar operation to go out for bid for manhole repairs using the aror money that the the town gave us the $100,000 that they gave us so that's that's um an update on the manhole inspection and any other questions so if I sorry go ahead Mike so if I look at the bottom line the estimate for repair is about 94 k yes I believe that's correct okay so within the budget as well right right um my question is um directed towards Bill did they um put together or are they working on a proposal uh estimate for repairs on these on after this inspection no so the next step is Paula and I are going to work on um putting a an um request for a an ifb invitation for bids so we'll put together specifications and and quantities and we have to put it out the bid because it's over $50,000 so we just can't give it to whoever we wanted right so Paula started uh working on quantities based on the inspection so we'll be doing that in the next month or so fantastic thank you okay any other questions regarding the uh manholes not seeing none all right the next item on the agenda is the pump station clogs I was supposed to have done a presentation on to the select board last Tuesday but something came up at the last minute um so I'm going to be doing it on July 9th it's just going over the presentation that Paula sent out a few weeks ago uh trying to you know it's an awareness campaign and hopefully hopefully the meeting I do it at is something controversial that will create a lot of views um and the other the other thing is we we talked about um thank you maybe running an ad on The Ledger which would be probably some pictures that I'll be presenting to the selectboard of of the clogs um and you know some wording that I mean this is definitely one thing that sewer users have control over that can help control cost um right directly affected that's directly affecting them right I I think at I think at this point in time it's almost 30 clogs since September when uh Robert started looking at them and it's it's it's frustrating I I I I drove by the Lem Pump Station one Monday a couple weeks ago and his truck was there so I pulled in and he had just finished um mounting a a pump back in place and there was a huge blob of of uh wipes and dental floss and whatever on the floor uh that he' taken out then just two days later on Wednesday I happened to be driving by saw his truck and went in and he was in the process of taking the other pump off because of a clog and the which is bad enough but the unfortunate thing there is that he's as he started to lift the pump the clog wasn't totally wound up in the impeller so it dropped back down into the wet well just waiting there to be sucked up again oh so it's you know and I I don't know what the answers are yet um I just I did look at maybe uh actual Grinders that um could be put right at the just before the sewage comes into the wet well but I mean we're talking tens of thousands of dollars for that kind of thing tens of and then um you know we could pump the wet Wells out more frequently but it's it's approximately $4,000 to do all 10 wet Wells and you know what would be the right frequency once a month once every other week you could pump them out on a a Monday and I think you could still end up with a clog you on a Friday so I'm not really sure that's the right way to go so right now I think trying to educate our users it's the best way to go so uh if you guys agree um you know Paul and I could put together some kind of AD to put in The Ledger a full page ad would be $400 a half page ad is 350 I I think a full page would really be the best way to go for a difference of $50 I agree y okay so I I'll work with Paula on that great all right let's discuss let's discuss this for a second though um I'm sure Mike has some questions as well uh I would like to just throw out there that during your discussion with Paul about what to put on there um I suggest that somehow in the ad on top of the obvious problem that we have that this is directly affecting their bill and future possible increases due to increased number of clogs kind of sort of thing somewhere in there that was my little suggestion I agree oh I I agree with that and in the the worst case scenario is both pums go offline with a clog at the same time which is is not that far-fetched scary and you know the if I I mean the absolute worst case scenario is both the case scenarios that cost you money the worst case scenario is you're not going to have sewer service or overflowing and we're gonna have and have an overflow right yeah overflow wet WS that's bad that's that's worst case right okay all right I remember the just one more John please sure uh I remember what the insert one of the things I liked about it was there was there was like these are pictures of what you should not be putting in the system right so I'd like you know I think it's it's good to include that in in whatever the ad layout looks like right and what I what I did um prior to the select board meeting that I almost did the presentation I I put put some toilet paper in a clear container 15 minutes before the meeting and I had a flushable wipe in an identical clear container that had been in there for a week I mean if you try to take the toilet paper out of that container it just it falls apart the the flush blow wipe you take that out it's all in one piece and you'd be hard prust to pull it apart no you are the big the in my mind M sh the biggest problem is they call them flushable wipes they're not flushable right they can be flushed theoretically but they're not safe for septic systems or sewer systems it's it's it's not unique to lunenberg it's it's an issue with all all sewer systems but of course of course but we we actually have a fairly small number of users um hopefully we can reach everyone any other questions or suggestions on the clogs no but thank you for your insights on that okay and yours too Mike thank you okay um business manager's report um I have some notes here from Paula and and Bill you can you can pipe in anytime um you Q4 bills um the fourth quarter bills rather did go out they went out late and it was all the same kind of issues that were we were having with the previous bills it's all munus related um and Paula uh Kathy uh the town clerk did offer her services and several other employees at Town Hall to help do the all the stuffing and mailing at the last minute so we did get them out and um we did have that executive session last Tuesday I think um which obviously I can't talk too much about but the select board were were there and some of the it um SU it was there um and all I can say is I really hope this doesn't happen again so basically basically where status quo went as of now yes I mean the the bills get out got out by Brute Force um so I mean you know you know thank Paula tremendously for doing that and and and the other employees at Town Hall that were helpful very they were all very helpful the question is how do correct it what what needs to be done to change our situation well bottom line is mutus needs to fix the software beyond that I I can't really say anything because uh all the discussion that occurred at the executive session but it it it really has to do with the munus software I don't know Bill I think there's really not much else we can say right at this point that's correct the only other thing to say is it's not fixed yet right and the next billing cycle is coming towards us at a truck August 1st August so okay um the next item here is the uh budget status as of now we're showing about a $502,000 deficit now of course we have um the Q4 bills that went out late that still need to come in and there's some delinquencies from Q q1 and Q2 and for whatever reason betterments are coming in slower than anticipated uh I think that's more of an accounting thing and uh and getting that information into the system but as of today are they using mun I'm sorry are they using munus yes yes but as of today there's about a $52,000 shortfall um I mean we could we could end up going out of the a with a surplus depending on what happens and Paul us will keep it Paula will keep us updated on that um green communities grant that we had all hoped that we might be able to use to pay from these uh uh new pumps the savings that the new pumps provided wasn't anywhere close to enough uh any electricity to to it was almost embarrassing how little the savings is so they were not going to be able to get any money from that um let's see yeah 50 massav reboot um as they mentioned the select board voted to revoke the alcohol license and the town the water district has shut their water off except except for the spring sprinklers so um don't head over to reboot right now for a for a meal it's it's unfortunate I mean I really felt bad that um it didn't work out I you want to see um business businesses ex succeed in town so absolutely y um next item bad Larry's um they're grease trop um I guess Paula received word that the new grease trap has been installed so oh good hopefully that's a done issue at the center of town um it'll be interesting to get their first reports on their new grease trap meetings uh I think that is that is it um so it unless anyone has any comments on items we've already talked about I would ask if anyone has any public comments I I want to take the opportunity again to reach out to folks that we have vacancies on this committee um I don't know if we need to do anything more proactively to get people's attention about this um but you know running on basically a quorum is the tough way to do business yeah I I um I know it was brought up at two select board meetings and um I'm talking to as many people as I can in town so hope hopefully we'll I think it's a good way to start if you're interested in being on a board or commission U I think it's easier one to be on than say the Conservation Commission and uh the planning board and that kind of thing so if people are getting their feet W I think this is a good way to start I agree okay um any public comments stay none um the next meeting is scheduled for July 9th 9th and then the 23rd and August 133 I don't want to talk about August you don't want to talk about August no that's late summer I can't think about late summer yet okay it just finally got there well it's It's Not Unusual to end up having only one meeting a month during the summer yeah U but I I don't I don't want to plan for that yet especially since um our appointment didn't show up tonight so let's let's count on the ninth um I am scheduled to present at the select board meeting on the 9th but I'm going to ask them to make me the last appointment so there should be plenty of time for us to have our our meeting and who knows maybe we'll have a fourth and a fifth member of the seore commission by then wouldn't that be something yeah okay so unless there's anything else to uh discuss if someone wants to make a motion let me make sure this seemed way too short let me just make sure I didn't miss anything here the interest commitment short meetings are okay yeah yeah all right I think that's it just everyone you did something terribly right yeah uh make sure you sign that docy sign um so Paula can get that off to the town accountant so if anyone wants to make a motion to adjourn I I make a motion to adjourn I'll second that motion any further discussion seeing none um all those in favor Mike I Brett I and I for myself enjoy the rest of the daylight yes good night all good night every good night everybody