um at 7:03 I would like to call this meeting the meeting of the townsman Board of Water Commissioners meeting to order on June 10th at 7:03 um the meeting place is 5 540 Main Street and um online um the zoom uh link has been uh provided additionally this meeting is being recorded uh roll call of members present Todd malanson I here Nathan matala I here Jessica foli here all right uh could we have a roll call of citizens present please da vison superintendent present Kevin Keith 16 Maplewood Drive present hey Todd how are you good evening sir and I believe there was one other person Mr Cary I think yeah Mr Cary but I don't believe he has audio okay that works um let's see I have no additions or deletions um uh Nate and Jennifer did you get to read the minutes I did yes yes uh I did as well and I had um Corrections um when my section on the on my section 4.1b on Capital Improvements which date is that uh this is the 10th uh let's see no excuse me April 23rd uh it says I wanted to make sure the water department has a pan in place to make sure there are no hydrants at the end of the system that's the opposite of what I said I want to make sure that there are hydrants at the end of the system um so I would like that part changed um before I could appr approve it um um the other one I and I completely uh um screwed up on it just give me a second to review the second one because I I stopped at the first one and my bad um okay okay the other one's fine [Music] um Nathan we could make a motion to accept them um as amended I believe so long as we make that change uh that change at 4.1b gets made in that that sentence you want me to make the motion um I certainly can make the motion okay sir if you would I'd be so pleased unless Jessica unless you'd like to make the motion oh there we go I move that we approve the minutes with the caveat of the um amendment to it second motion's been made and seconded all in favor Todd malanson I Nathan meta I Jessica foli I okay um let's see I did not see any correspondence except for Dave in the meeting packet so that can wait until I would say say superintendent reports um there was information that's okay um I don't think there's any appointments uh moving on to 3.1 uh lawsuit funds no update okay uh 3.2 master plan we got a we got a uh a price the master plan would be about 35,000 and the 25,000 for the flow test but we're going to have to um put put in for that plan for uh April meeting which is which fits with everything else because we can't do anything we can we can get information together but the flow we can't do anything with the flows till after the treatment plant goes fully online and that's not going to by the time everything change changes around it'll be spring Dave one point on that too um with those two things the the hydro model and um the capital plan um you might want to look at the MVP grants because both of those fit within those parameters and it gives you time I mean the closing of it fairly close now but it would give you time for next year to have that written and if we can get grant money to pay for it even if we only have to pay 25% of whatever those amounts are um it wouldn't be a bad idea all right yeah I think we get I think the grant is they would get 25% off and the other one that if you stop thinking about um grants and everything if there's a if there's land available for protection of the water our future Wells yep we can get reimbursed 30% back so so if you have ideas any one of you three have ideas on what you want to do in in you know a piece of land that could be bought then we're there's grants available to reimburse this SP no and keep in mind Dave um so that other people know the reimbursement part of it too um is um you can put uh oh what's the word for it um but you can use staff time towards your your contribut and stuff like that you there are easy calculations to do so when when you get ready for that if you want feel free I can give you a hand with that okay um so that answers uh the master plan um 3.3 system development charges oh that's that's the one where you you left off that's um system development charges what we charge homeowners or businesses to connect to the water system that's where we were broaching the subject that if you have an existing home and you say that you have a problem you just take their word for it but it's only for existing homes not new construction that we wave because of the P emergency and the grant money we're getting that we either wave or or come up with some some other fee for them because there are people calling all the time saying they're worried about peos but connecting to the water system with hiring a contractor is anywhere from a few thousand to May depending on how long the driveway is to maybe 10 but then we're tacking $3,300 on top of them and and it just we're it's just hard it's hard for someone who has an existing home that's struggling so the question of the board is would we wanna what did he want to do well the other thing too is do we want to limit it to a well that that we know is contaminated with Pas or they only have a now we're talking about people with private Wells correct Dave that are it right so if you're having well and you and you have a septic system there's a good chance of the possibility you having P so we don't don't we don't ask no so we take the word for well we also talked about it at one point I see to remember that when we were going through the drought and there were a couple of um the I'm going to be honest with you most of the wells that are going to be in danger aren't the Bedrock but are um uh the shallow OLS anything under 100 feet [Music] um but those are also the ones that have been susceptible to Drought I remember we had an issue where a couple of them were gone dry and they had asked to connect um two from your street yeah I know um so I you know I I wouldn't necessarily want to limit it potentially to um to just past contamination what's the feeling of the board Nate come back to me um we're talking about the system development charges where people um you know if their well is contaminated with pasas or and remember when we were dealing with the drought that there was a couple or not more more than a couple went dry and we at one time had discussed maybe either lowering it for those emergencies or or giving um uh uh abating the system development charge which is what we charge for them to hook up to the system they have to pay for the line to go in in the tap but the actual charge for connecting to the system um would be waved or abated um I have um go right uh we let Nate me I gave it to allow allow Jessica to speak go ahead okay so what about um because I think that we should help people that want to definitely connect um it is a huge cost so what if we could do something like putting a water lean on the property for however long they they want to have a water lean on their house and we're still getting that money even if it takes them 20 years to pay off the the loan the lean who cares because they're going to be water takers so we're taking in money from that still and we're still benefiting from it and they're benefiting from clean healthy water I don't I don't think I I understand what you're saying I don't think we can't put a lean on the property because it gets paid with the next year's property tax so if we did that um it would be more like a payment plan um and that we could do but you usually try not to go Mo well they like to keep it within one year but not go more than three right um so that that would be that those would be the only caveats I think we would be talking about is if we were talking about a payment plan um you know was it hold on let me do the math I can't do it on my head these days well while you're doing that there's certain things that are coming up lithium is going to be an issue um not this year but next year the EPA is coming down with test of landfills and that's going to make a huge difference from what I was hearing they weren't finding it all that at all that much it's 275 I've seen I've seen different numbers okay so if we did a like if we did a three-year uh payment plan be $92 a month in addition to whatever they had to pay for their water usage um and that's if we didn't Abate some of it we could have an emergency abatement policy for contaminate just label it contamination um or drought related you know wellgo dry um where we could give a certain percentage off for an emergency and then put them on a payment plan but even if they paid the whole thing it would be $92 a month for a three-month period um we could write up the stuff uh the the paper have Town Council review it make sure with we got all our um eyes dotted and teas crossed and do something of that um is that what you were thinking Jessica yeah something like that to help people that you know don't have you know a few thousand extra where they're already Doling out you know possibly 10 or more Grand you kind of want to work with people and I think that you know it should be for existing homes new homes should automatically hook up like Dave had suggested um but for somebody who's on a really fixed income which is like half the town seems like um doing that would be hard for them and they deserve clean water too and so anything that we can do to help people be able to get in the system I'm totally for okay I'm I'll be let me answer one question and I'll grab you Nate the only thing I I don't um I don't think every new home I don't think we should say every new home needs to hook up because there are places where we don't have water hook up um and there are some people that you can put a stub there or whatever for them to hook up later if you so choose if you're running water main but I don't think we should say that everyone that doesn't have water has to hook up Nate yeah I'm been looking for the rates and fees here I thought I had a digital copy of this um I'm sure I have a paper copy that's super old but isn't the connection fee like $3,500 yeah I did 33 so so we have we have a $3,300 connection fee and then the other associate it would be nice to have this information in front of us that if we're going to talk about this now what is the total number all said and done minus the work it takes to have a contractor dig and lay a line in who knows all right so the water Department's end what are your rates and fees 3375 3375 okay and that pays for all the materials Dave pays for nothing so they still have to buy the the meter and and you have you have to the homeowner has to go get a contractor the contractor do does absolutely everything so 30 3,300 75 to for the application charge you you're your people install the meter that's it right okay and install the the reader well so we're talking about we're talking about financing or having you know being have to be able a customer to be able to finance a $3300 or let called 34 for argument sake $100 charge when it may be that the meat and potatoes is the actual line install right but that's something on a general contractor since we don't do that right right so we're dealing with $3,300 we're talking about financing that or or possibly waving or something to take the pain off of someone that all of the sudden has their private well detecting this this these compounds and maybe more um to help them but it sounds like that's going to be the least of it true um if you're if you're close Road it only do be 2000 maybe $2,000 but if you got a 5 500 foot driveway it may cost you 10 yeah Mo most trenches that I see done it's like $2,000 to have it done you're going to have a machine there two days one day to dig and install and then someone's got it inspected you guys have to inspect it we have to inspect it hey Dave one that's just yeah I know not the labor one quick note for you Dave the rates and fees link on the website does not work they're doing some work they're doing some work on the uh on the town website and they they it's been like that for about two two or three weeks okay um I think they're replacing the time the town website with a new one yeah so Nate what's your feeling I mean are you well do you want to think about it some more and have the rates and fees in front of you or I know there's been discussion of um you know we used to dig service lines in the water the water department used to dig service lines and I know I thought I heard somewhere that you don't want to do that anymore um understandably uh but is there any way that the water department could do it for less money and save the customer the burden I will tell you no it's it's legally not allowed to go on other people's property since when since that's that's the state law if you if you read the DAT safe laws you do not unless you have an easement you do not go on people's property you're saying you do not go on people's property but you're in people's property all the time so what specifically are you talking about you're talking about um I'm not sure about the Mass General law part I'd have to look that up um so you do you um you can go to where the curve stop is Nate that's that's about where our end is um except for inside the house because we have to have access to the meter um so they do go on people's property to have access to the meter um I'd have to have more information about [Music] um about the the Mass General L about about being able to dig on properties and stuff I there's a difference between Municipal and utilities and and things like that so um I'd want to before I made any or said anything I would want to look at that a little bit more I'm trying to research it now and I can't call it up um so um let's table that for now um but I I would say come up with some options of what you would like to see it to if you're for or against it or if you have options of what you would like it to be or like it to look like um on all ears um I would rather try and help people um but with I mean we don't rely on those for our if that was like a big part of our budget Nate I'd be more cautious about it but where it's it's um not as large of a um part of our budget um you know I fully agree with no new houses no new like housing Pro uh Housing Development projects um getting this sort of assistance um but whatever we put together would' have to go before Town Council to make sure we haven't opened the barn door for for everybody I would want to make sure that it was worded correctly and things like that but so why don't we table it again come around with what you guys think you would like it to look like um what you're willing to I mean and if you're not that's fine too um because everyone else in the community that has connected to it at one time or another um paid these all be at at different levels and different different fee levels but um you know let's see what see what we come up with and we'll go from there can I could I give a little input just for one sec yep um next time just raise your hand on the screen I don't know how to do that I don't down the bottom down the bottom there's a raiseed hand feature on the bottom there's a whole do you have that no it's it's a it's right right just to the right of the center if you if you put the if you uh bring the arrow down towards the bottom the the thing the thing on the bottom will pop up in more I got to hit more and then it's it comes up I see it sorry okay so that's so what what what so just so my understanding is um that the the connection fee is just for us to for them just to be able to hook up to us so with the with the easement once the line has been installed and I deal with a lot of the contractors that do it um usually it's I think an average probably about 2500 is what a contractor will install from nuts the bolts um except in some rare instances where you have a long driveway but once we go and inspect that we're assuming the responsibility not of the not past the curb but we gain access to the curb stop the easement and to be able to get into the meter once they're a customer so once they actually tie in We Own the meter the water department so that's that's our rights to get onto the property but before it's installed and before it is accepted and inspected that's where the easement thing is is the issue where it's not our property we don't have a right to be there until we you don't well you don't necessarily have an easement because it's not written or deed to have an easement so the curb stop is usually within the right of way of the community of the town which is like six to S feet off the road um but an easement actually has to be deeded and that no service connection is actually an easement you have the right to inspect you have the right to the property to the meter but you don't have an easement that actually that's the language I think that we have the right to go on there once it's you don't right but then that's where the liability comes in because if you don't have that easement and you dig it and something else happens then the water department is responsible for it exactly we and we don't have the insurance rating or um language to do that so it it does that's that's where the tricky gets in um so let first of all and thank you for that um back to my board members I would say I would be in favor of tbling this until we have um One have the water rates in front of us so we can actually have some numbers um but come up with some legitimate options for us to consider um kind of shooting from the hip isn't what I like to do especially with if we're talking about it the betterment fee isn't just a fee to to collect it is supposed to help pay for the these new additions have on the system over the long term and that's why they're there um they're not just a fee to collect Nate go ahead where are you getting this betterment free from betterment fee that's what it's called system betterment fee Oh I thought it was an application did we change the the verbiage of that at some point well it's that's the the whole purpose of a service connection was a betterment fee but I don't know I just I've always called it a betterment fee I'm sorry I don't I don't remember it being called that I just want to make sure we're we're talking about the same thing because so there's one charge for 3375 I don't know that we need to see the rates and fees we don't need to table it we this should be discussed and we should come to some so I I have an idea okay um and it may be kind of complex in the wording but and I think you or someone already touched on this is that if you take if if someone is in this position where they're existing well or they home their domicile has a you know a I'd like more understanding as well as as what this is really beyond our purview but we can do this to help so what are they going to be incurring upon whatever agency this is that's telling them hey stop drinking your private well water you're not allowed to drink it anymore you have to get some other source of water what I think what we need to do is come up with verbiage that allows for this to either be offset like Jess said I don't know about a lean I think you'd want to do that in case they say oh yeah we have to up and sell you'd need to get but would the would the department be in a terrible position right if it wasn't so such so nasty as a lean I don't I don't I don't like leans I don't like that um certainly having the water department this is not cut and dry black and white there's houses that are very very far from town water there's houses that are nearby that could connect um I mean if they choose to connect of their own accord then I'm I'm less apt to because they they they they don't want to have you know someone buys the house they don't like the idea of a private well it freaks them out it does happen especially if they're coming from the city um and they want to cook up to the Municipal Water Well that's their choice where I'm more apt to want to help people is if they are in a situation where the well goes dry because of a drought on one of the shallower wells or if um [Music] the the there's some sort of contaminant now most of the contaminants are treatable radon is easy with ation um arsenic is easy with rro at a point of use you have different types of systems so everyone knows you have whole house and then you have point of use which is at your Taps um or like in your refrigerator that would be a point of use um pasas is a little bit different um there are a lot of filters that say they remove it um knowing how difficult this is to remove from water let's just say I'm skeptical at best um so I would be more apt to help those the department that's going to say that isn't going to be us Nate it would be the department health or our local Board of Health those are the ones that have the jurisdiction over um well qu quality standards um they would make the determination I don't think there's been any push to set P limits on private Wells yet um because most haven't tested them um and for the sole reason that the state legislature has not waved the personal liability of of if you find P to no fault of your own it's not like we were dumping someone was dumping gas in the backyard and they contaminated their own well this is stuff that was these compounds are in stuff that were legal to buy and is in everyday use so I you know I you know not waving that liability is a point of contention for me let's say um can we put hardship in the in the we or something like that oh I what I think we should do is put something together for the next meeting so that we can agree on it instead of hashing it up trying to Hash it out here then once we agree on something we send it to Town Council and he's going to protect us that's that's his job we send him stuff he looks at it he decides what needs to get added what needs to get um removed he will talk to him about it with us um we can have him at a meeting he will talk us through it if there is stuff that we're adamant about he'll keep it but he will make sure it's legal and um and enforceable I we could write something in with all the best intentions and have no ability to enforce it so I would rather really think about what we want it to look like in in words um and and then go from there I think there are ways to protect ourselves Nate on the sale of a home by um I think he I forget I'm forgetting the term I apologize but there is a way to set a lean in place but not not a formal lean but like if the sale goes into it any um extending um well if they sell the home and there's an acknowledge debt that debt has to be paid out before the title can transfer so I I think to a certain degree if we set up a formal um agreement agreement application whatever you want to call it and they sign it and we sign it I think that's a legal debt go ahead Nate I got a great idea we live in the wonderful Commonwealth of Massachusetts why don't we petition the state to give people free money to put towards this like they give people for Ev Chargers I'm sure they'd be all over this we could do a nice Grassroots uh effort a Grassroots um we we have the state legislators uh I think they' go for that yeah well the state's gotten enough P money that it would be something that should be considered I think all all members all leaders of water uh in the water industry should be probably doing that and say hang what about these private Wells what about the little guy Dave would you sign would you send something to state legislators on the behalf of private water tickers he can't the board has to he can is part of an association if the association think did it and people in the water industry did it it would mean all that much more the only problem with that Nate is the people and water have no control over private Wells it's something that's been B but yet here we are we're talking about it so like if we're gonna talk about it and try to do this I think the state should do their fair share as well well I'll make a com it's only fair that they don't have the money for the P they have now I'm going to tell you that they've ended forgiveness so no one gets forgiveness any longer so any nobody that takes out a new line of credit gets the the new srf we are we are all set but going forward because the number of products everyone else going forward has been told they're not getting any so the other part of it too is um the uh wastewater treatment PL now are going to be half to start they actually started the end this year well actually they already started EPA wants numbers um because they just approved the the Wastewater method um with the labs um but again we're getting far field here I think we should table it I think um I think having a letter come from the board to our state legislators um and I would think Nate instead of having an individual operator I think having a if we put a letter together and then send it to the Board of Health to cosign to planning board to cosign um and start to talk to the town administrators of our other communities that have wells that have the same potential to have the same amount of problems Ashby um they have no Municipal Water they're not going to have the option to do that um maybe we could get some traction where more than just one state legislator is bringing that forward so I Nate I actually think your letter idea is a phenomenal idea let's just hope it doesn't go over like swimmy where they kind of boilerplate loop everybody in in the same boat true I'll give you that one I fought the good fight on that one Nate um all right are we in agreement we table it until we have something better in writing um to have some options to choose from um in addition to the letter I think that is an outstanding idea but I also think to be honest with you that one would be far away um it usually takes two or three times and you're looking probably at three to four years where some of the people we're looking at now are looking at these things now I wouldn't be I wouldn't be opposed is starting something and then if the state legislature can move in the right direction um with enough uh comments um we would be able to to to get rid of it entirely but um what I move we table uh 1.3 oh Nate just yes sir so you said that you know three four years but you have do am I correct in understanding that we have a few people that are affected by this now is that what you said potentially I don't know I don't know of anyone that has tested um I know I I know of at least one person that has their wealth came up negative um they had a lot of there was some family issues and stuff and they you know with pets and whatever and they just wanted to make sure it wasn't past um and um they actually had reached out to me of a of a lab that or Labs that I could recommend and um they were kind enough to let me know that they actually came back with none they and again they had a deep Bedrock well um but there is always going to be the especially where we're we're septic um we do have older shallower Wells the old um what they call Wash Wells and stuff like that um one caveat I would make on the well well they would have to be connected to us s never mind [Music] um yeah I feel better if we had time to really think and put something together in writing I I with words I have a hard time visualizing them without seeing them on paper and I apologize for that um but I think shooting from the cuff on something like this that we're gonna send to Town Council i' rather have time to really think it through um and um have us really go through it and so I I would I'd like to table it um until next meeting um I can second that all right uh mo mo yeah motion to table has been seconded Roll coote Todd molans and I Nathan matala I Jessica fol I good enough um but let's not um let's make a commitment that we're going to put together our best foot forward and come up with some some options and we can discuss them at the next meeting uh 4.1 water commissioners um I did this one because Jessica is kind of new to the board and um just wanted to go over what our responsibilities are what our um expectations are as as water Commissioners and things like that um one um hold on I have my notes but I dropped them so they're out of order uh let's see so basically I called um like one I called around uh to a couple different organizations um I also called D um councel just to run some stuff by them New England water yes sir so I'm not sure if you want to uh if if you're going to site the acts of 1920 but I was actually in a meeting today with the super uh the um ta and our superint our liaison um and some of this stuff was discussed at length um and actually further comment there's an additional item under superintendent updates or actually it says it's 1.5 scratched out six um you may want to have a conversation with um the TA and Chaz before a lot of that has gone through but this nothing no just I'm just it's a two bird thing I all this was talked about and I want to hear what you have to say all right so um primarily and we probably should have done this when Jennifer started to be honest with you is just go over what did I say Jennifer you said you you've said it a number of times already all right sorry um apologize Jessica um okay we should have done this when you started um being new to water in general and as a new water commissioner um there is a handbook that was put out many years ago that is in the process of being updated um it kind of jumbled all different types of water utilities together um some of it applied to smaller ones not to older ones labor issues didn't get into it so so basically I called down what what everyone expects I guess of a water commissioner what they're what their primary duties and focus should be um where the line kind of is um that we're more of a team with the primary operator SLS superintendent some places don't have superintendant they're not large enough they'll just have a primary operator um those are the small systems and things like that things under I want to say f 1,000 um connections I think it's 1,000 10,000 then anything above 50,000 is considered um an ultra-large system um primarily um you're you're charged with helping to protect the public health um by making sure you're giving the resources to maintain compliance um taking actions um if there is a consent order following those the consent order get attached to us to the board any failure um or negligence negligence that causes a um failure of the regulations falls on the operator's license anything but that's where a consent order from D would come that would be directed at us as the board and the town so to speak um um you know the um your your basic duty is to support the operators um fiduciary um um with policies that give them Direction um we come up with um policy Direction where which way we want the the idea like we were talk like I was talking about the master plan and a couple of the things that I wanted to attach it those are things are priorities we can set for the Department um we approve the budget um things like that um communication um between the public and um and the board comes from the board as a whole um and basic legal responsibilities is you carry out the rules and rs um laid out in your town or District bylaws um or your local water ordinances some cities have different wording um you ensure your system is being being operated in compliance with all the federal state and local laws um and you conduct business as a board um you see all you you need to see you need to be able to see all the records make sure they're maintained and put forth correctly um you have a fiduciary responsibility um to make sure that the system is sustainable and that includes reviewing rates um the the old one said that you should fully charge for water no system fully charges for the full cost of the water um you do it with a balance of making it um economically sustainable for your community but you do what needs to be done um we did the rate study when we getting ready to build the plant and that required us to raise the rates to be able to meet those requirements um we have and it's why we continue to do look at it every year and make sure we can do what we need to do um Coming forward it requires you to plan be able to plan for the future um let's see um you you know you help develop uh reliable cost and revenue Productions um provide proof of implementation um of sound physical management um that goes into the Outreach that we do showing what we're doing with the treatment plant things like that um the expectations on the operator slash uh superintendent um you we rely on them to run the system properly um keep the board board informed of issues and present and projected potential problems um we should receive written reports from the operator on the condition of the system um the board should be we should be immediately notified of any violation um there is stuff that they do weekly there is stuff that they do monthly and quarterly some of those all have different levels of violation um but all of those violations should be communicated to the board immediately once they're known um um primarily because there's going to be a monetary attachment to fixing it potentially um the uh uh uh um the you know there's an expectation of continuous communication um with us with the community by holding regular meetings um there's an expectation the operator should notify the board and staff while in advance of any maintenance or treatment changes that could result in customer complaints um let's see um one thing they did say uh was that all boards should be supportive and encouraging the operator to communicate um even if the news is bad um too many boards have disc discouraged operators in the past um and I I've never seen it here to be honest with you but should never be discouraged from bringing bad news forward because the sooner you take care of it the the less it costs you in the long run um operated duties things like conducting retain inspections of the system um you expect him to know his system fully to know the regulations fully um those are those are non-conditional expectations on the operator um he has supervisory Authority um over Personnel um and making emergency decisions um uh he you know you you charge him with overseeing uh all the chemical monitoring um any of the regulatory testing um and Report those results uh both to the state and us um let's see basically the fiduciary stuff comes down to budgeting making sure we pass audits um finding different funding um we can suggest it but the one that actually has to fill the paper work out is the operator raising the rat sits solely on us that's nobody else's seat but our hot seat um the financial records are with the staff and the primary operator superintendent [Music] um it gets into a balance you should know your they say you should know your system should have a familiarity at least being able to speak about like what type of treatment we have you don't really know how the have to know the chemistry of how it works but you need to know what it's called like we we're installing G uh granular activated carbon for the removal of P um past um we are going to buffer the water with a pH adjustment system for corosion control and we are going to chlorinate because we we've had too much bacteria problems in the past um but we shouldn't get in we don't get into telling them how to do it um we try and stay out of the dayto day that is the purview of the primary operator it's his license on the line so we can't necessarily direct him to do something that isn't um so we have nothing to do with the Personnel of the water department our main contact is Dave if we have a problem with somebody there we called Dave we talked to Dave correct correct um but the personel we do let me finish we do have the responsibility of hiring all right that that is we make the judgment on who we want to be on there um we have the super no we we've made recommendations about hiring multiple employees some of which that are here right now yes we it the the candidate is put forward by the Board of Water Commissioners to the board of Selectmen so Dave will he will interview candidates we've interviewed candidates together um they've come before the board usually there's one or there's two um depending on how many candidates we get to apply to be quite honest with you but in that is in the purview of the the Board of Water Commissioners to review the candidates and we put them forward with Dave's recommendation um the finals usually come before the board and then we put forth the be the candidate we think best is that in writing somewhere because when I was looking on the State website under part one title 7 chapter 41 69b said nothing about that it is the general practice of every water utility that I've ever come across but it's not I can find it for adjust I'm pretty sure it is to be honest with you but in general practice that get to you in two seconds Nate the general practice of this board has been and of of every other board that I know of that the superintendent interviews candidates he brings want his best or two best candidates forward the board interviews them and on his input in our perception of the candidates the board is the one that puts it forth to the board of Selectmen Nate yes so Jess to answer your question there is that 90b document and then there's also the AE of 1920 which is the last ratified document by the town so I don't know when the last time someone went in and looked and asked about the a of 1920 from the clerk's office but I think I have a copy of it in that file cabin I think I saw it when I was going through all my other stuff for the uh it's pretty it's pretty easy to find on the the State legisl website too um okay awesome I'm not sure if they have the acts of 1920 on the State website I guar they do they good excellent um pretty sure my copy is not in good shape I was just asked I was asked to Tender it and I said it might not be in the best shape I think it had been in my van for two months before most independently elected Boards of water Commissioners refer to that act it's either the act of 1920 or the Act of 1933 I think there's two acts that are very very similar um and so one group of water utilities came under 1920 then another group came through in I don't know how they do the Bills or whatever but there's there's two different acts that are very very similar and a lot of the same language gets applied to both Todd yes sir so in my meeting with the TA and Chaz today this was discussed at length is it and and I'm going to make sure that this is reviewed and um there's going to be a little more clarity for for all sides of things moving forward so that's that's a good thing and I'm on board with this okay um I just wanted to make sure that someone didn't say anything that was preemptive that was no no I just it was more just for me I felt bad that I do it when Jess first started so we have a little bit of clarity on duties responsibilities and stuff like that okay um so that is that um I don't think we need to any more on there's nothing for me on that um the liaison is not point of order Mr commissioner yes sir sorry Mr Mr chairman I have a Comm I have an update and Report okay um [Music] I was approached by a citizen actually they called okay and we got we got a pretty darn positive report for the guys and I want to give a huge round of applause for I believe I don't know who was on the crew but the uh are we allowed to mention names in a positive light yes okay good just not a negative one right yep okay perfect so I believe our competent person Kevin I think yes anybody yes that is correct okay perfect that's what that's in line with what I saw too so um resident had their herb stop dug up and replaced or exercised and so it was able to function and she was super happy she made sure to reach out to me and say hey you need to make sure that you praise them during the Mee and I'm doing it and I'll tell you what I'm going to go one step further than that because I saw the very next day this exact thing happening and I I want to be specific okay the competent person was doing their job and looking at the person in the trench now our boards come from Great Lengths as far as safety and safety is Paramount we got a trench box that was another big achievement we didn't have a trench box before we got a nice lightweight trench box heck yeah um this said hold on hold on ma'am let me put the hand out like she did hold on ma'am I need to keep my eye on this person and the eyes were glued she said the eyes were glued to that person in the trench and so this this customer took great notice of this and reported that to me and said you must bring this up and me I said absolutely I will do this but furthermore the next day I'm driving down the road and I see exactly to the te of every detail of what she described on Brooklyn C Street and I want to give a I want to give a round of applause for for those employees for keeping everybody safe and doing the job as they're doing it so good job boy I appreciate it it's um the water world is is thank you Kevin a lot yeah thank you Kevin thank you the crew yeah thanks everybody I apprciate I don't think people realize how dangerous um the work that they do is um I have the unfortunate um um experience of knowing how actually d uh dangerous it is um so um Kevin thank you for keeping our people safe um you know the division of you know they they've hit a bunch of people for not doing things the way they should um so I do appreciate um that side of it um so for bring we got a great crew and their no their family where're we work as family we do everything together we communicate we work hard and it's every one of them as well that's no and that and that's that's the part of it I mean I don't think I I think most water utilities are the same way Kevin I'll tell you the crew I built um I'd match them up against anybody um it's it's more my speaking was more um just just on how actual dangerous it is and um how a lot of a lot of people don't realize it and take a lot of what we do or what you guys do for for granted um so um but most crews are the same way that you know we're with with the crews more than we are our family sometimes um so there is that aspect of it um so Kevin thank you um did you go to the competent person training that DSL and yeah that was a good training to be honest with you um just for your all our workers have gone to except for one and they'll do it next year Dave Dave Dave do me a favor yeah wait for me to recognize before you speak over me um all right um what I was going to say is DSL has been offers a lot of they don't get credits for it towards their licenses or anything like that but there's been a lot of free training on primarily on workplace safety especially on the roads in the trenches um and I know a lot of utilities have have been taking advantage of it um the last couple have been some of them you just get the bad in the the bad instructor and it doesn't go over well um they've done a good job of getting some really uh I hate to say the word competent people that are competent instructors to to that really bring it home so that people understand it and pay attention so enough said on that uh um so we again 5.1 we have no liais on um 6.1 superintendent reports so I will let you ready go ahead if you notic the last update on Facebook I started including other things because eventually I want that to morph as a a system update every month when the building's finished okay um would you with system or like uh projects update or just system update anything going on like if it's if it's something major projects you know so people know what we're doing okay you know so like the lunenberg road with a survey it was on there because people are going to see markings in the street yep so it's better to tell people what you're doing than to have them call and surprised Dave can I ask you a question speaking about upcoming progress in markouts y are you doing the LCR um at the curb stop the lead and copper uh and copper doing the house okay all right because that's the only way we can't can that's the only thing we can control otherwise you don't have a see we have a we have a v truck so it's real easy just for us to suck it so yeah I get that all right I I thought we had a vac truck as well now or a vacuum trailer we have it's a gate exercising it's it has it that're capably armed there but not to a big extent yeah to do the kind of Po holding that we're talking about is you need the the full vac truck because you actually need does the gate exerciser have water with it Dave yes okay it's limited um yeah but you I mean most of the VAC trucks um they're probably anywhere from five to eight cubic yards of of soil storage with anywhere from two to 500 gallons of water where the V trucks are probably what is it a half a yard Dave that they can store in the container what for the big ones no for the gate exerciser the one we got yeah probably about that yeah and then it's probably only got maybe what 50 gallons of water uh 300 300 okay that actually surprises me um we did an upgrade is Nate Frozen or is it me do I look Frozen oh no there you go okay you all right then it's my computer um but you know the to to actually do it you you'd have to go so um all right I'm all up Dave any sort of communication with the public I'm all for all right right um continue please as can I add something to that Mr chairman most certainly sir as long as it doesn't violate the social media policy that you've signed if you've signed correct correct so like the the doing the project updates on uh the treatment plant and things like that um individuals can't it has to be done as the department it's not a as Nate mentioned social media policy you can't make comments about politics or anything like that um one of the things that just kind of popped into my head that we could do on that in regards to communicating and it has to do with what Nate brought up um highlighting a staff member a lot of these people don't don't realize their background their licenses and i' first ask them if they were comfortable doing it but bringing the light what they do um you know especially as we get into the plant a lot of people here have never seen or heard of a plant so if the staff were comfortable with it maybe highlighting an employee once a quarter or something and as we go around the staff um the town gets to know them and know what they do but that just kind of your acclamation for the staff Nate is kind of what made me pop into my head go ahead sir I want to Echo what you're saying but I want to make sure that we do it in a in a in a legal way and as to not violate any sort of contract understood we'll do so again a lot of the stuff we suggest would you know go before the TA he should know it and if he doesn't Town Council would Dave you raised your hand yes yeah is the only thing we can put on is something in an informative manner like informing the public if there's if there's going to be discolored water if there's going to be construction if is it has to be informative to be hon now you talking about social media or social media okay then then then we need to I know a lot of places um and has something to throw up against the wall right right instead of just the CCR why don't we have a water department newsletter you could do something like that maybe we bring in the school so kids get an idea of what it's like to edit something maybe give it to them to produce um that's just something throwing up against the wall but it would tie in um it would you know you then you could do stuff like that highlight a staff member again we would have to run this by them to make sure they were com with it um we have one present Kevin do you mind clicking on for a sec yeah sure before we go too far down the road of my off the agenda idea um what you know if we were to put something together you think the staff would be opposed to it being like once a quarter uh once a year having a staff highlighted what they do what Their background is um and not all to make make what you guys do there's a lot of people like me that need to see it in writing or or or or have it put before them instead of just being told um so I I you know I mean we have the interns probably ask the whole we have the interns that I mean we've shown I mean every step of the process including digs the chemical feed to I mean we've taught them everything um no and that's that's great but I for the more general public I just want them to have a really good concept it's one thing to say you have a a license it's another thing to see what or hear what you do with it on a daily basis and and things like that and we can make instead of just being a water department staff person you can make that person more visible and and and shape them as a person instead of an entity in that sort of recognition or highlighting a staff member I think might do that think about it this isn't G something that's gonna happen we've got no money to do it or anything else like that but Nate's idea of of commending your actions was something that when we were talking about this made me pop in the head and Jen Jessica is going toind me that we're way off of the agenda [Music] um so uh Dave please continue with your report as a point hold on as a point of clarity to what you said it wasn't exactly my idea I'm reporting what a what a uh water taker had said to me but I will I will take some credit for it because I did see something after so I just for clarity no that's not a problem you brought you brought the matter forward how's that so um all right Dave continue please so the um this week at the building the chemical feed pumps are going in all sheetrock is finished okay um the wells start started last week I I sent a picture to you of um harbit Trace well when it was pulled and uh it was it was pretty bad all that's getting thrown away no I know there's no way you could clean that back to no well it's it doesn't it doesn't matter we because of what we're doing this is we're upgrading all three Wells so they're all brand new I cleaned um witchbrook two in February of last year I cleaned witches Brook one of September hit Trac wasn't on but and I was totally shocked at the condition of the W um Frank Sal told me that the well was pulled six years ago and they decided not to clean it and it's a shame but um so it's going to cost us 10 grand because I can't put it to the building because I can't do it as a chain change order in time no I know so it's gonna cost anywhere from from 5 to 10,000 to clean the screens all right so 5 to 10 to clean the screens and another 10 grand to replace the the um the pump itself no the pump is the pump the the bowls and the motors are coming brand new attached to the building my my okay because you I got confused because you said you couldn't attach it the cleaning of the the screens you can't ATT okay sorry all right so it's gonna be it's it's coming under the emergency repair budget okay so it he said no no more than 10 but he thinks it's a lot it'll be a lot less because he's already pulled pulled everything out and he's already doing the work there anyways so it there's no mobilization there's no bringing a special machine he's already there get the bill in before June 30th right well it if it if it does it's in the next it'll be the next year no I know um if you got it in this year's budget let's spend it right so we don't so we don't encumber next year's budget right all right so um the retention pawns are all finished you can come in and take a look at those they're pretty amazing there there's three retention points one to catch lmit one to catch the the fines and the last one is a bio retention Pawn so they're going to be planting plants on there to eat whatever is ever in the runoff water um the skater project Dave have they finished the grading the grounds anding right now we're waai so they've already they've already put the stor water basins and collection system in as well yes okay right now we're waiting for the electrician to finish his conduits okay and then they're going to be Paving probably the end of this month or the beginning of next month so they're going to put the base coat on and then and then they're going to be planting trees sometime this summer for the screen for the Neighbors um atten PS water so the waterline will be uh doing their final connections on Emory the next two weeks the skater project will be completed this week on Thursday Main Street and cross street chemical feed upgrades are being worked on now and we we have almost everything in place uh lunenberg tank survey is done there's going to be some some um things that you're going to have to decide what type of tank you want and then then and then you'll decide if you want to go f with that or another another project as part of the master plan one thing Dave on that yep I know what type of tanks are out there well there Jess I don't think Jessica does what I would say for the next meeting um add to the agenda but put the type there so that we can start talking about it start talking um that's one thing the hydrology model would tell us too is beyond where we're putting it how big we make it will determine the pressure we can get from it as well um the turnover type stuff um when I talk about turnover you always need to have the tank going up and down so you need to turn the volume over in that tank so you never want to oversize a tank it it sounds great having four million gallons of water in a tank but if it doesn't move and you're only moving like the top three or four feet there are bad things that can happen in the bottom side of the tank um so the size of the tank relative to the pressure it creates ba both based on the um the height of it because the size of the tank won't doesn't excuse me the size of the tank doesn't determine the pressure so much as how many times or how often you have to operate your system because you always will have to pump the fill it so you want you you would like anywhere from 10% to 25% of the tank to turn over on a daily if not like in every 3 day so that would be something that the engineers would recommend to us um but the types of tanks are out there um you have cement tanks you have um there are now metal tanks that have a um a glass lining to them um they are aquasphere they kind of look like golf balls on a tea um but they're a little bit higher um so these are all things that we should go into they're going to be diff they all have their positive and their negatives um so Dave when you when you put that forth um if in the literature if you can bring forth the positive negatives um I kind of know where I would want to go but I'm not going to say it because I want them to come to their own conclusions and things like that um let me finish and I'll recognize you in a second Dave um so having the different types of Tanks presented to Jessica and Nate I think would be Fair go ahead Dave all right so we know right now if if you max out every house that's up there it's right around 1,200 people if you add the mpta in the future it'll be about 15 so we know that it's it's 12 to 1500 for Max it's got to be at least 80 feet high because the house next next door because you have to have pressure so it's dictated by the house next door so it won't be concrete it it's won't be a stand it won't be a stand tank it will be a um would that be the only house Dave affected because I mean we've required booster pumps before that would boost the pressure in um individually except that we have to offer a minimum being minimum 20 we have to offer 20 you to the top floor so that's what's gonna I'd rather see it uh I don't I don't want to build something 80 feet tall I'll be honest with you um um I know my my fellow board members may may differ in that I just I think we would have a difficult time passing that in this community um let's see you know maybe we have to add a small booster station on it to to to meet the requirements loc you know local to that area um but I'd like to to see um well let's see what type of Tanks we are and then we can start talking about how high it is and stuff like that but um so um like I said there are positive and negatives to all of them um and I think it's best that Jessica and Nate come to a conclusion on their own right right so so when the time comes I'm going to have a write up and you guys are going to choose because there's there's the glass line tanks which are much more expensive probably 40 to 50% more expensive than just a steer a steel tank so but that's gonna yeah but then but but the so when why don't we wait until we get let me finish my thought and then I'll recognize Nate um what I would say is but in those positive negatives is the long-term maintenance costs are less on the glass line so yes you pay more up front but on the long on the long over the long term you might end up paying less than maintenance costs and they tend to last longer so Nate I will recognize you sir I want Jessica to have the benefit of um I know I was on the board when we when the two tanks had been re or at least one of the tanks had be redone no both uh we have a concrete tank and we have a steel River to tank both tanks have had extensive maintenance since I've been on this board um I would like Jessica to see the what we were presented by that uh engineering firm as far as the inspection reports oh yeah yeah you're gonna want to look at this this is what can happen now I don't know how well the maintenance had been done but this is what you can expect you know towards like before you get to end of life or or run to failure as it were it was it wasn't pretty no and it's I you know the inside listen nobody in the world wants to see the inside of a of of a pipe and no one wants to see the inside of a tank um they're pretty similar especially in our water um a lot of what you're going to you're going to see is due to the fact that we weren't um chlorinating on a regular basis so there are certain things that happen or can happen in a system um also it gets into like I said the size of the tank determines what happens in the tank and how how much the height of it is going to determine how often it has to turn over and how you turn it over um so a lot of that will be determined by both uh the engineers who are going to site and and S it up and stuff like that but there are maintenance considerations and things like that so there there there are different options and components they all like Dave mentioned have costs associated with them so we also have to balance what we can afford um I would love to have a Land Rover of a storage tank but I don't think that's something we can afford but if we look at the long-term costs versus what I mean we're not we're not talking a 7 million gallon tank or or what have you Dave what are Fitchburg and um Highland tanks what are their volumes uh Fitchburg is uh a half a million we're talking with this one is is it's more than likely going to be 300,000 for that the amount of residents we're talking about so an aquasphere Dave would probably give you better listen I'm gonna shut up right now we're gonna we're gonna get need to come to conclusions I have I like talking about this way too much our meeting's gone on far too long for that reason um I I will all right continue with your report I'm G I'm gonna get back to it just giving you heads up that this is a decision and if you want to stop reading about it that that's okay um but I'm I'm giving you a heads up that this is going to happen sometime this summer um will we have to make a decision this summer Dave no this is going to go into the master plan okay make um what I was thinking is do we have a utility membership to M uh toland Waterworks we have one for everybody individual or utility we have New England Waterworks Mass Waterworks Mass roll water because we're under 10,000 and awwa okay but they're utility memberships right correct okay and I have a mass one besides okay my suggestion to Nate and Jessica at my invitation to come to New England water Works um conference in April next year they have it every week the first week of April every year um the biggest part of that is the exposition uh you don't have to go to the classes you don't need credits and you really don't want to sit through those you think I'm boring never mind but they have really good examples of everything we're talking about the vendors are there the different tank companies there things like that um I think it would be a little bit eye opening for you to see this if you had the time that's all I'm suggesting when we get around to that if that is your wish I would be more than happy to introduce you to them show you them um not give you um you're probably going to have my view by that time anyways but you will get to see and talk to them and get the pluses and minuses or whatever keep in mind they are salespeople so they will always give the best light to their product and not so the other one um but I think that might help you um and to see all the different types of Technologies and things that are out there um so that is always an option the dis the department can take care of that because you um as a utility member it's already paid for and we can send as many people as we like um that being said Dave you take over again please okay the next thing is meter exchange we're will be at a th this month the first thousand customers which is we're approaching we'll be at 50% by this October okay um little note older water meters have lead in any percentage of brass is going to have some lead it's have more Yep have much more and of course we're do they're coming out with the as the 14th of October is they're coming down on lead pretty which is Leed service lines and we're doing the inspections also um you have anything that I think might be a lead goose neck not I haven't we haven't seen any yet okay what is what part is the goose neck attaches yeah back in the time where you were using materials that were less than Supple they lead you could make what is called the lead goose neck it would come down and bend and then you could make your connection where're most of our community is young enough in building sense that those aren't going to be very common if if if still in in use so but I was just curious right so right now water usage is up 90% from winter this is this is uh this was a problem for last year that most communities around us have had horrible Revenue stream and uh we're going to be all right because we're still because we we are really slow down our spending and we're we're we're going to take in about a million dollars less but we're going to be about a million and a half to two M uh sorry we're going to take in about $100,000 less but we're going to be about $150 to $200,000 under budget so we're we're going to be okay uh you go to peil they had to get $300 from free cash to make up their um their budget for this year um did you say 300 300, 300,000 oh 300 because it was such a a wet summer that a lot of utility I I'll go you one step further Dave I think it's our planning in maintaining the rate structure you know as hard has it's been and it has not been an easy decision but those rate increases the smaller ones as we've kept going I think has kept us above the curve if you look at utilities that haven't done rate increases um those are the ones that are really Fallen by the short and uh it's a it's an easier path to go not raising the rates I'll and I'm sorry I my glasses are driving me nuts I sat on them and the EV and they make me look like I'm crooked um um ADH Ada kicking in um but um I would say that um you know that and decreasing you know controlling our spending has been a large part of why we he's not wrong there are a lot of water utilities where they budget to rely on their summer usage to pay their budget to fill up their budget and I don't think we necessarily do that um we may have at one point but that puts you at a severe disadvantage should you have a drought and the state tells you you can't use water or if you have a a really wet summer like we did we had more rain if you look at some of the ground mon groundwater monitoring wells in stream gauges last summer was well above the norm on both accounts all right Dave sorry again we're we're okay but other towns are are getting money from from that and there are two towns that are putting rate increases a supplemental rate incre increases that are temporary to make up that Revenue which is making temporary rate changes Dave yep six months search charge okay they're putting a SE charge on that's different than a rate I didn't think you could make it temporary all right no they're putting SE charges on to to make up that Revenue um all right I presented the maintenance plan for the next eight years that it's very fluid if you have any ideas that you want to put on it then please do but the these are budgetable these are in budget items they they're can you hold can you hold on one second Dave please oh I apologize my dogs were wrestling behind me and I needed them out of my room couldn't even hear him um no he was bumping into my chair and he's driving me nuts go right ahead but as as you can see in the list this is what we plan on the uh for the next eight years fixing roofs fixing Windows there there are windows the crack there's so a lot of it's just I've spent it over not I put it over eight years so it's a doable and we've been working on it for the last three um I if you guys have any idea on on things to put in the master plan ideas you want want to see you know we have we have a long time to do it but you know we can start researching the ideas so please bring them up and uh that's it all right um right bear with me my computer my connection's got really slow I can hear it well you look like the six Manon doll man going really slow well let's not jinx it before we lose our chairman yeah somebody's streaming Netflix he lives in West towns and what do you want me to say uh oh throw in the shade in the shade I lost my agenda um in my uh schedule the next meeting all right let we schedule the next meeting well um what the hell I'm showing the next meeting would be wait a minute would be July 8th all right hold on bear with me um see all right I can deal with that Jessica July 8 is fine all right all right all right that being settled Mr chairman you read the yes sir oh I don't want to I was gonna make a motion to move stuff out of review stuff out of session that I'm am I am I premature nope you are not premature okay this is the last time I'm going to do this Jess unless you want to give it a whack again want to do this one be my guest all right I'm gonna do it this my La this is likely my last time ever I will do this okay Mr chairman I move that we review monthly abatements and adjustment lists review and approve end of month reports and sign reports and weekly bills payable warrants out of session second second motion has been made and seconded roll call vote Todd malanson I Nathan matala I Jessica foli I all right we are all said and done I will make a motion to adjourn the meeting uh whoa I didn't get the time and date there in there kid um motions been made and seconded a roll call Todd milans I Nathan matala I Jessica foli I everyone thank you for your time I really appreciate it all right you all guys have a good night have a good night