in Via Zoom at Oldtown Hall 1111 sumerset Avenue dayon Mass um public input may be provided using the following methods contact our office at border selectman uh at D- ma.gov to provide input prior to the meeting or join as via Zoom or in person this is also going to be continually played on Channel 9 and on YouTube at www.youtube.com town of dayon this meeting is being recorded the listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the chair which may be discussed at the meeting not all items listed May in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law uh please call to order for the selectman Maro pres and Peter Karen pres reporing in progress uh can we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America is the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all uh do you guys have to open your meeting uh no it's only one commissioner so okay need to right yeah okay we'll start right in with wooden in cover how uh how are you guys good I think we're going to get a presentation okay turn it on my friend you y okay that um right there yes perfect thank you close switching teams there you too tall so thank you for uh for all agreeing to to uh join us here tonight I appreciate everyone's time uh my name is Mike head I'm a client manager with w and Curran worked with uh with Mike Mullen way back when we first started scoping this project uh worked with him on the Grant application and get that pulled through so I've been I've been on board since the beginning um I really just want to stress this has been a a true collaboration between wood and cerr and our partner rth Tellis financial consultants uh but with the town of dayon and dyon water district as well and er thanks for all your your your feedback on as we progressed through here so it's been it's been a real uh pleasure to work on this project because I think uh the different different entities all came together with a common goal and it was really uh fun to kind of see see happen so um just a quick uh you know stop through the agenda um really want to hit the background just to kind of refresh everybody's memory of what this entailed and what we are uh seeking to do um look at the existing conditions of uh of everything really uh including some neighboring uh water supply uh interviews um kind of look at the Alternatives that could be identified for further evaluation and the evaluation of those Alternatives and then bring it home with some recommendations um with the background um you know again this was a study between the town and and the and the water district and really was to explore um the ways that could strengthen uh the planning coordination between the two entities look at ways to potentially find efficiencies not only in um asset management but also in in um facility management and and Staffing and personnel and that kind of thing um we started the project uh at the end of March and uh and had a a a kickoff meeting with uh with all the entities to really get the ball rolling we had a list of you know just some initial thoughts and information gathering requests that we had had put out um to start that so we've been really going fulltime since the end of March um in in looking at all this um and just again a reminder this is uh funded by the community cabinets fiscal 23 efficiency and regionalization grant program so um specifically for this type of uh evaluation to look at ways that people can uh and communities can can come together and and find ways to get better and and stronger and uh and do it more efficiently so um I think with that no I one more slide for me then I'll hand it off to Zach um our our study really looked started with the uh inventory of existing conditions um organizationally and operationally we wanted to understand the ground floor before we started looking at moving the pieces and moving boxes around we wanted to understand what really uh was the starting point so that was uh a a big push at the beginning was to really understand um uh those um not constraints but just um you know conditions of of of the start so um we also wanted to become familiar with the potential for neighboring communities and looking at Water Supply from those communities Somerset taunt and others so it was uh really just getting our feet grounded in in that for through to that lens to see um kind of where we could start from um we looked at you know as you can imagine there's a lot of data that came in because you know operationally and organizationally with both entities Dion water the town of dayon and where those kind of potential overlaps uh came in there was a lot of uh data to sift through and kind of carve out so um that was the uh the starting point but that led to the Alternatives that we we looked together and at the at the very beginning of the of the process you know there was no nothing was off the table we just looked at everything and uh kind of narrowed that down to uh a handful of of potentially feasible ways to find efficiencies and find regionalization uh ideas uh and and those are the those are the uh Alternatives that really got a deep look a deep evaluation and there was a lot of back and forth uh between the down and d and water on that as well as we kind of carved out and just you know verifying did we get this right and you know making sure we had everything in the El ducks in a row so um and then uh of course you know the the goal here was to find recommendations that we could uh uh kind of put forth that are implementable and that give you meaningful uh results and a look ahead to uh to a future so um I was remissed when I started talking um I didn't introduce anybody from from us so I'm going take a step back and do that now um with me tonight um from water and Curran uh is Zach arenson who is our kind of uh engineer lead the charge on this Carissa Mack who worked alongside with Zach to really uh get her hands dirty and get there to get the the nuts and bolts figured out um Dave Fox from rap Tellis financial consultants is with us he looked at all the financial considerations and all of the organizational um work and then on the phone with us are uh d Scott who's our project manager for water and Curran and uh Todd procop who's our technical um uh lead for the for the project so as the technical Alternatives or Alternatives that included any kind of technical um component uh Todd stepped in and kind of directed the traffic on that one so uh sorry about that folks my bad uh but with that I'm going to hand the Reigns over to Zach to continue on thank thanks folks U Mike thanks for uh the introduction um might be a little faster than Mike he's got a good Cadence me not so much so try to try if you need me to slow down let me know uh uh again I'm Zach arenson I'm project manager with wood and K uh focusing in uh drinking water supply um and I'm going to go through the slides really the sort of the back half of the agenda uh that we went through uh that Mike went through so keep them up right here on the screen so um this process began with a a inventory of the existing conditions of the Town um from a organizational operational and Technical and uh Financial perspective um so we completed a formal data data request that was uh disseminated to um Town personnel and District Personnel in on March 8th 2024 U but it was not only completed by a data request we also held interviews uh one specifically held in this room with folks from various Town Offices um is that that was a town only section Town collector um U accountant Mike um and several others where we were able to GA gather information Mr Tom Ferry all those all those folks um and then the same on the same day later at the district office we had a meeting with the district to gather a lot of there District information we've worked with the district on a number of projects so we had some data ourselves but just to dive in on a little more of the existing practices and and how they operate on a day-to-day um in addition to the existing conditions within the town and District we also wanted to understand what were the um outside water supply sources in the area um as a crucial sort of element and that was identified as part of the project kickoff uh in March um so we ended up holding interviews from April 201 4 to May 2024 uh with the city of Taunton and the their water department quaria water LLC uh in the town of Somerset um those the summaries of those um interviews and collection of existing conditions was disseminated to the town and District on May 21st 2024 sort of give an outline and buy in on conditions that we've collected and make sure we had a representative understanding of what's going on for each system um so the conditions assessment um this portion was also at a at a high level included in the memorandum that was disseminated on May 21st um from an organizational perspective the the two entities the town and the district and I'm going to refer to the district as District often so um the as the main uh District in in town um are organized in a sufficient Manner and typical of similar Siz uh towns and Water Systems within the Commonwealth the Massachusetts um we we ran through all the organizational practices um and didn't find any sub anything substantive on different practices that should be done underneath those two as an organization um from an operation and Technical perspective um we really focused on the infrastructure needs here um for the district um the district has a draft water system master plan that they've been following since it was instituted uh it was a master plan that was conducted by environmental Partners um and really goes through the uh items that are necessary to uh sustain the water system over the years over the next few years address certain High service levels areas and things like that um and so the district's current plan is to continue and follow that that water system master plan um but we also found some new issues that we wanted to highlight as part of this is um you know disinfection byproducts formation within the distribution system is something that Ernie and his team have been constantly working over the last year um but and and we have there are some short-term Solutions but eventual long-term Solutions might need to be implemented and then also dis uh per and poly floral acoi substances or pasas forever chemicals you probably heard some of this stuff um couple of the Dion the district's well sites have had have tested over the new and I want to make this clear newly pregated MCL uh US EPA MCL for uh uh a couple of the substances um those those tests were done in 2021 and 2022 um at the time were all met every standard these this MCL is new and it there's a there is a long implementation period associated with well in 2027 is when it really starts but just to be clear that eventually those will will be things that have to be addressed at the the district's treatment plant um so that is another consideration and then what we found is that day-to-day operations between the town and District are are working really well um the town the town and District you know Town operations between the fire department Highway Department police department are coordinated very well uh with the district and um include a methodology for cost sharing and planning of uh I'm sorry an improved method for cost sharing and um planning uh of Capital Improvements could be improved upon that was one area where we could see it could be improved upon um in terms of financial perspective um both the town and District um operate in financially sufficient Manner and we'll let Dave get into this a little bit but considering all the improvements associated with the water district there are going to be need to be some rate increases as part of um as part of future water improvements just so like any any Improvement water doesn't you know money doesn't come out of nowhere so that needs to be looked at and then coordination between the town and District um on collections is currently being pered sufficiently so that's a highle overview of the assessment we did on on the um existing conditions from organizational operations and financial perspective um a summary of the neighboring Water Supplies um I'm going to just go through each one and give some high level points here um the town city of Taunton um utilizes 11 million gallons per day of their 14 million gallon per day treatment plant capacity um there's interest in selling water um to who to whoever they can sell water to um there are two existing interconnections to the dayon system one on Somerset AV and the other at the Route 44 and William Street intersection um and currently the city of Taunton has four agreements to sell water with other public water suppliers um Aquaria um includes uh oh I'm sorry talking too much um Aquaria um the cost of the water includes a fixed water availability and volumetric usage charge uh what that means really is that any water that they commit to a to a another public water supplier there's a base fee whether you use it or not and then there's the actual usage fee and that's based on how many gallons or how many cubic feet you use in that time period um they are obligated to provide 3.31 MGD to the city of Brockton um and that is at whenever they request um so they any additional capacity uh would have to be expanded at the treatment plant um there could be a situation where something could be worked out with the city of Brockton where Brockton gives up that request but they that that was not looked into as part of this this study um the last thing to note on this one is that no water supplied from April 20 no water can be supplied from April 25th through June 8th due to withdrawal restrictions from the Water Management act permitting office so um that will that's another one regarding Aquaria and then lastly Somerset town of Somerset utilize approximately 2 million gallons per day of their 6 million gallons per day available treatment capacity um and has an agreement under under negotiation with the town of swans Swansea to provide uh 1 million gallons per day um they are also interested in selling water by their treatment PL plant capacity numbers and through our interview process as well um they have existing infrastructure in Dion along Route 138 from the somerset line to Brook Street um and to the Brook Street well Source um and have identified that they would like to sell or commission that wellsite in the near future um it's becoming an operating um you know they're not using it they're they're all the water that's coming from there is coming from the somerset Reservoir so through that interview that's what they really they really showed that they're they're either want to sell or decommission in the next few years so those are those are the existing conditions in the water supply uh interviews we held um the water supply Alternatives development came from those uh the existing conditions review and and the uh neighboring water supply so alternative one considers a no action um scenario where the district still meets their water system master plan follows through with that and also addresses um p and dbpr issues as they need um and I will speak to De all these Alternatives consider a dbpr Improvement at the William Street tank um so that that is is synonymous across all the Alternatives um alternative two is purchase the Brook Street well from Somerset um and that considers what when we get into that one later it's what you're going to have to consider is there's also an issue with past levels under the new MCL associated with the uh Brook Street well um and then alternative three Supply Taunton um which considers a 1 MGD Source from Taunton at at both interconnection sources when we were looking at them and then we did some modeling to determine which one would be the most efficient currently and what that would look like in terms of improvements and then similarly for um Somerset we looked at some uh where that best connection would be um and the modeling associated with it um the the thing to note here is that both alternative three and four were considered at wholesale uh wholesale sources for the town of dayon so it it did not look at I mean sorry for the Dion water district um so it didn't look at taking a portion of what from its current sources and sourcing it one way um just to keep it clean and understand what what Supply was available and how it would affect operations you know having a treatment not having a treatment plant and so on and so forth so alternative one no action as I mentioned it considers a um following the district's dra uh water system master plan and accounting for new compliance with pasas and dbpr um the major Pros is there's no changes to major changes to District's existing onm practices and budget the only change would really be that around pasas um p uh remediate or or treatment um the district would control all of its water sources right um within within the town and then uh in terms of cons or negatives water water supply capacity and and town development limitations as we know in the district service area there's a currently a development moratorium only a certain number of lots are available so that that sort of would keep this going as as it is currently and then again likely will require PS treatment at The District's wastewater treatment facility I mean water treatment facility geez not talking about waste um the next slide is just an overview of the costs and I don't want to dig too much into these you can be seen more easily in the report uh but what I wanted to demonstrate here is that there are a number of costs here that are number of costs here that are proposed four or so some planning level some actual Construction level um but most of these uh costs are associated with the uh water system master plan and we worked with the district as part of this project to understand what's been completed what has has it been completed as part of the the master plan as it stands right now um transitioning to the next slide I know it's a lot of information there um but to the next slide we looked at The District's uh omm line items and or budget um and really tried to understand uh would there be increases on on any of these costs and as part of a no action alternative um the only real change here is uh past related repair and maintenance so we see a 5% increase to the district's uh estimated o andm costs so those these on andm items are chemicals electricity uh Lagoon testing well testing other things like that so as a no action you're going to see more of the same alternative to is a uh is purchased the Brook Street well um this this alternative is was one that would be in conjunction with this uh existing system and provide it's approximated that the Brook Street well can provide about a half MGD um raw water capability raw water capacity um increased so you would have increased raw Water Production as part of a pro uh the advantages of this um and the District again controls all of its water sources um there a three and a half uh as part of this alternative and we'll I'll show you on the next slide as part of the figure here um because of the pasas issues associated with the Brook Street well as it currently stands and historical data um there would either need to be treatment system at the Brook Street well um or there there could be implementation of piping into the existing uh raw water pipe Network that runs from Cedar the Cedar Street area up to Walker Street and near the um near near the Taunton line so we opted for um the ladder because although it's they're actually pretty similar in cost to implement pfast treatment model past treatment plant and a 3 and a half mile pipeline the onm cost with associated with treating the water at one location as opposed to multiple locations as you could probably figure is is is less so so that's why we opted for that um as part of this work um the other con as I understand is um the the cost associated with buying not only the wellsite but the land around it U so that the district can own this the land and and get its Zone that it needs um and then just increase omm cost for additional water that the district is producing and um pfast treatment so if we look at the next slide it can really illustrate what that raw water pipe Network would be um the green is the approximate location of the existing raw water piping Network that the district currently owns the purple is the uh air proposed uh new raw water piping that would tee directly into the existing line and run water from the Brook Street well to uh the existing treatment facil treatment facility right off Williams Street some other information on here including where the Cedar Street wellfield is where the walker street wellfield is where the elm and William Street tanks are um as part of this alternative and I you know first one I didn't I failed to mention first uh Alternatives cost was approximately uh for estimated Capital costs including what was um shown on the D water system master plan through 2039 is estimated to be 39 million uh 39.6 million more specifically and then as part of this one um this is the highest alternative really namely because um The Well site purchase um costs and um having to install that raw water man it's 52.8 million through 20 I'm sorry 50 yeah 52.8 million through 2039 so just be aware that this isn't like all upfront cost this is through 2039 as a estimated cost um in terms of on and M budget we are looking at higher past related repair and maintenance some additional uh cost for chemicals electricity um so those you see a total approximate increase to the existing onm budget which is the fiscal year 23 24 budget for the district to 19% and uh while we're on the topic of Somerset um we're skipping alternative three here for a sec so alternative four is Supply from Somerset um as opposed to purchasing the Brook Street well from Somerset this is a wholesale supply scenario uh from the town of Somerset um so utilize existing interconnections so there are two existing interconnections to the the district system one that's newly installed as part of the Main Street re replacement project uh to a 12in it's a 12x 12 in connection from the existing water main within for the some in Somerset water man within dyon that runs to the Brook Street well um and it tees into the existing it's off right now because it's just an emergency inter interconnection as it currently stands um and for a potential supply of up to 1 MGD or or greater uh as I mentioned earlier at treatment plant capacity level the town of Somerset had you know thinks they have or approximates they have three MGD Tre treatment plant capacity so um there's a little bit of nuance there in terms of water management act pering and and um in interbase and transfer but in in a wholesale supply scenario um not using the Walker Street wellfield which is in the Taunton River Basin would end up being uh the district could Source potentially more modern and similarly to Brook Street which is also in the Taunton River Basin um if those sources are no longer utilized they can go to an extra withdrawal that potenti EV dton could or the district could pull in a wholesale supply era max daily usages for water for for for uh what we we Ed 1.06 1.06 yeah that's what we used as a Max day that's the last 3 years uh when we were modeling these these scenarios we're looking at a Max day of 1.06 and that's the most going back to 2020 that's when you used them since then 2021 2022 have not been close to to that I think the highest since that time was 085 or I might be a little off but off the top of my head that's about where the current um max day has been based on annual annual statistical report information that the district has problem when you speak of t t some and the available water um 2 million gallons per day um that's excess that's excess yep so that's considering and and again this is all these interviews and things that we done these are to gauge interest with these communities there's more study that has to be done outside of this one outside of just having them done they're going to want to know what their what their um engineer says and there's going to need to be a study to that shows the hydraulic capability to make that happen um but generally identifying that that source is available and they they have the capacity you don't usually a lot of people are taxed right and you have no there's no um they know they don't have water or they're right at operating on the brink when you're trying to sell water you make it known and both these communities made it known thank you through the interviews at least um so uh the the the real Advantage there uh uh and I got to flip this slide sorry um real Pro here is that for the somerset connection at least there's an like I said there's an existing connection to a 12-in main that runs all the way down Main Street connects onto a 10-inch main on Williams Street and and uh really what that means is you have good hydraulic connection between a potential Source um and the William Street tank which for all intensive purposes is the controlling pressure uh system in in the DI and water district system um when that's full that's where we want to be um and this this having a a good connection there is great and it it's brand new um there will we did do some modeling as part of this um and and and observe that there would need to be a pumping system between the somerset um Somerset system and the Dion system to fill that will William Street tank um so there is some cost associated with that Master Meter installation cuz you got to meter the water that you're you would pay for in this case um and um and then pumping it as well um the big the big thing also Pro as part of the somerset connection is that um their past levels as currently promulgated by USPA um are below the four parts per trillion for PFS and PFA which are some of the problem chemicals that we are having with earlier that's under anything that's been currently ProMag by uh U you know United un States EPA or mass T um excuse me Z yeah some say a THM issue too TM issue yeah so that's why this alternative still considers that that irration in the in the tank right Y no thanks Arnie um yeah that's why it's cross the board on all of these Alternatives uh especially when you're your consecutive system right and you're getting supplied water you're you're taking water from one treatment plant all the way to another it's it's always you know we thought it would be wise to keep that tthm uh Capital Improvement as part of any work in each alternative um so total Capital cost through 2039 um with what um with those with those costs um is 32.2 million this is the the least of the Alternatives um um but one big thing to notice and we'll go through the onm costs is that there's a uh 102% Inc potential 102 uh increase in the existing om andm budget and that really heavily relies on um the the rate that that is secured as part of any alternative you know we assumed the retail rate which was we we discussed in the meeting was 650 per th000 gallons um but that would be something that would be have to be refined to really make this alternative worthwhile in the future right because um 6 $50 $6.50 uh per th000 gallons for a wholesale rate is you know it's it's a good so um switching it to the next page you can see the um the location of the existing interconnection along Main Street and Route 138 or Sonet AV um and then a potential location for a meter pit pumping station on a town-owned parcel along uh Route 138 um again the idea here is if you can see here there's a blue line that's the somerset main um so from that point um North is where you would see a um you know that would all transition to the district you know obviously this doesn't consider the Brook Street well but that whole main would become become live to that point because you have a wholesale pit there um the next is the the capital cost estimated Capital cost associated with this alternative um we take took a look at this and determined what may need to come off based on not you know in this case we would not have a treatment facility need um because it's a wholesale supply just keeping that in mind so we took a look at some of the Alternatives the items from the master plan that would come out as part of the as part of this alternative implementation um and then also the new costs associated with it which are namely that meter pit pumping station and then the airation um TTM uh um removal as part at the William Street tank like I said so the next SL next slide is the on andm costs um this this assumes $66.50 per th000 gallons at a half MGD which is right around the average day for the D and water district um and you can see here before total annual om andm is $652,000 and then when you add in the the rate your total annual onm is 1.84 so uh that's an annualized cost um and it's just something you have we have to contend with over but the the alternative here is you're also looking at a much less Capital cost than some of the other Alternatives that we put in and alternative three is a water supply from Taunton um again you're utilize the idea would be able to utilize one of the two existing interconnections for a supply up to 1 MGD um the pros here are that again under the current US EPA MCL um that was recently ProMag in April 24 past treatment would not be needed um they the city of tunon uses chloramines as a distance infectant which is different from what the district currently uses and um it is a different operation and will require a different uh understanding and some different monitoring um than what the district currently does um but there also could be potential DBP improve improvements with choram means um so that's a also a a pro um this Improvement we we looked at both locations um the flow value uh that we were given at 20 psi or flare flow um uh from we worked with the city of taunton's engineer on getting some preliminary values cuz the model wasn't available to US during the process uh ruled out the connection on the William Street at least at this level um we are recommending looking at it in the future as part of the report um but really utilizing the existing um pumping station um we uh did not perform an alternative I mean evaluation of that pumping station as part of this U but there would be some pumping required and because of the localized uh main diameter it's most of this in the area near the the somerset a u Somerset AV and dayon line um dyon ton line I should say um we do recommend some water main replacement to the William Street tank as part of that as part of this alternative it's approximately 24,000 ft of uh 12-in pipe to again hydraulically set up the tank with the new pumping system and and realistically if you were to pump into this that system as currently set up you would have a a a pressure increase um that would be unfavorable and unviable potentially um and that's sort of the modeling we did with as part of this interconnection um for this just a note on the om&m costs um we use utilize the rate the North D and fire district is currently paying at a wholesale rate um and we see a 265 increase in um omm budget for that rate um next slide is the a figure showing the U Somerset Avenue emergency interconnection which would be the eventual interconnection point we're talking about with the red line is the 12-in watermain to the William Street tank and again uh similar to Somerset Somerset we the the estimated Capital costs here are namely associated with things that take away work at the treatment plant and then implement the pumping station raw water I mean new new um water M on the downstream side of the pumping station and meter pit and airation as we talked about um so if you look at the estimated omm costs um you can see um what we're looking at there it's $10.83 per 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons at a half MGD is what assumed again for average day um you can see how much that is on an annualized cost basis and at this point um going through those Alternatives I'm going to take turn it over to Dave uh at ref tell us to go through some of those what are those cost uh Capital cost estimates and om andm cost estimates mean in terms of the the rate payer within the district thanks thanks Zach appreciate it good evening everyone um Zach mentioned my name is Dave Fox subc consultant through wood and Curran our firm is raap telis we're largest firm in the country predominantly focused on rate and financial related matters for the utility industry with the predominant focused on on water um these slides are going to get a little bit repetitive here but what I'm going to try to go through is just a punchline of or um Sor I get to the yeah get to the punchline here of um with all the technically feasible and operationally feasible Alternatives that Zach just went through um what does that mean in terms of impacts to a typical rate payer um we looked at the financial plan under each of these Alternatives we've developed uh four different financial planning model of understanding how those costs are going to change over time um under each alternative and what Revenue increases would be requ required to be to support not only the changes in operational costs but also the changes in um Capital costs which are the biggest driver so you can see here just as an example um the columns on this chart are your Revenue requirements are your costs um going out through 2030 obviously uh I don't think the world is going to end in 2030 things will continue past that but once we get outside of a 5-year window the the crystal ball gets really hazy um and so we wanted to just focus on on what we think is coming in the next 5 years with the predominance you can see there in 2030 that yellow component of that Revenue requirement jumping up meaningfully new debt service to start paying for the the Capital Improvements um that Zach just mentioned and that will continue over time um what we're also trying to do here is in the interim before that Debt Service hits um before we actually need that uh amount of money rather than delaying until 2029 and then seeing a significant rate increase to bring or Revenue increase rather both taxes and rates um to get your Revenue up to where it needs to be in 2030 tried to have smoother more um even increases annually uh from 2025 out through 2030 over that same period to ease into that and then utilize you can see in 27 through 29 where we have some uh Surplus that line going across where it's above the top of the charts uh the bars rather um we can use those additional funds that we're generating in those years to offset some of the capital improve improvements in 2030 and Beyond um again just to try to have a more equal increase um and so in this example you can see here how a uh a typical residential customers annual bill is going to change over time going from uh currently fisc year 2024 around $711 per year this is assuming a 60 CCF per year customer with a $300,000 assess value that same customer's bill would increase from $711 to $1,145 by 2030 um that's about a 61% increase over that next 5 years uh it's about 8.25% increase every single year it amounts to about $434 for this typical residential customer how much I'm sorry uh a 400 I'm going to get there I got a slide on that in a little bit but it was about a $434 um from 2024 to 2030 or 6 1% increase for the average customer your average customer yep um now obviously uh the district has some autonomy in how it's going to recover those additional revenues we're showing the need here for about uh 61% more revenue from 2024 through 2030 um how you collect that whether that be through rates or taxation obviously is going to impact your customers differently what we've assumed for this is just maintaining the existing proportion that you have coming from rates and taxes and it's just going to go up proportionately through 2030 but obviously that would be something you could continue to to look at and see if there's a better way of uh collecting those revenues to to maybe lessen customer impacts um told you these are going to get repetitive so what I'm going to do is um these are all in your packets you have them uh I'm going to jump to this slide here which is really difficult to see from where I'm standing at least I apologize but you can see that on your paper in front of you um this is showing for each alternative alternative 1 through 4 uh what the average revenue increases would be by alternative from 2025 through 2030 um what the 2024 bill is currently um $711 again for that typical residential customer what the 2030 bill would be for that typical residential customer under each alternative um I told you before alternative1 $1,145 or about a $434 increase uh from 20124 to 2030 about 61% and then if we look at alternative 2 you can see that's about an 80% increase over that same period of Time for That typical residential customer alternative three a 54% increase and alternative four lowest although your operating expenses are increasing uh much less with regard to Capital Improvements and that um by having a lot less necessary of funding of capital it's significantly reducing the amount of increase you need um for this this Revenue requirements here um but what we're showing in terms of now I I don't think this should be the ultimate uh end all be all of making a decision of what you're doing in terms of the alternative I think there's other uh things that Zach went through from an operational uh perspective from um an autonomy perspective um but if we're looking solely at what the impacts would be to your rate payers over the four Alternatives that we have uh modeled for you and explained or Zach went through already throughout this presentation alternative four um results in the lowest impact to a typical residential customer and we could say that would certainly be the case for every one of the district's customers um obviously the dollar amounts are just going to be different if it's a higher assess value or higher or lower consumption um but it'll be still approximately a 32% increase there compared to um alternative 2 which is the highest of about an 80% increase from 2024 to 2030 does that make sense I know there's a lot of numbers on this screen and I went through that quickly but um again trying to distill this down into tangible um what is a customer going to have to pay to support any one of these Alternatives now obviously uh Zach mentioned this earlier um bills are going to continue to increase uh there's no way around that um you know I every single one of my clients that I'm working with just just by inflation AR impacts and the need for new and replacement of infrastructure especially when you're dealing with water quality concerns posos letting copper rules things like that um all bills are going up um to put it into perspective for you water bills have increased uh by about 5% every single year for the last 20 years or so across the country um and where that alternative four is showing approximately a 5% increase every single year with the highend being alternative to about double that at 10 10.25% Zach turn it back over to you when you said 5% are you talking year after year it's 5% or collectively it's 5% year after year in that example would be a a 5% ER 4.75 to be exact every single year starting in 2025 out through 2030 so it compounds it would compound to about a 32% increase um from today through 2030 thank you welcome one question get rid of the was after we take is that included in this yeah so the some of the p on andm that's that's where that's that that that's living is part of the O and maintenance the highend is 24 24 pum right okay we'll take that feedback and see if we can look at whether encapsulates all of it but yeah it is p being I mean we I think in the the um alternative to which would be the good you know the most amount of water you have access to um I think it was like $75,000 annually um so yeah 2400 per million gallon serve per day yeah right so that that cost that cost is you know we we do Envision efficiencies as as more companies are get out in the marketplace um um but yeah right now there's a limited supply of number of available but we'll we'll revisit that and make update if needed on the report thanks so if anything that's going to drive om andm costs a little more right um so just to drive into the recommendation on which of these four Alternatives we think best suits where where the district is currently sitting um from a cost perspective um so the somerset Supply was uh the least in in total um in in total capitalized cost it was second most in on andm costs um really driving from that uh rate and and um additionally that from a Hydraulics perspective uh utilizing that existing uh connectivity between the 12-in interconnection and the uh William Street tank provides a great conduit uh for for for implementation um so between those two alternative four is really where we're recommending uh if any of these Alternatives would be considered um to to move forward with um the other what we will say as part of this is you know we want the district to be able to Source the most amount of water possible so there this this alternative is contingent upon you know being able to Source over 1 MGD um um through the Water Management act permitting process and like I said getting rid of some of those well sources that are currently within the Taunton River Basin and being able to potentially have a higher withdrawal from uh from from Somerset than than one MGD um the next one is is alternative to the Brook Street well purchase this is the highest in terms of capital cost um but we feel as though it provides the district with the flexibility U it needs for future growth and and controlling all of its own sources um it does um it it does have its limitations in terms of cost but you know now that source is within the you know the town of dayon and can be utilized for the remainder and you know if pasas is treatment if P treatment needed it's going to be at one location as opposed to two locations within the system um lastly uh or I guess the last two alternative three is a Taunton Supply uh they are a large water system and there is capacity there there's some challenges in terms of um installing a new water main about 24,000 ft um but if an alternative 3 was considered um we would we would hope that uh you know and noted in our report that you know the other interconnection be looked at too um with with more information that comes from the the Taunton model um to be able to look at maybe potential operational or you know maybe upsizing some pumps in the taunt system that could help you know the district Source more water in the high service area right off William Street I mean um right off Route 44 and then lastly alternative one no action um we didn't we consider this one as no action because of the current development moratorium uh within the town need for fee fast treatment um and other and other issues associated with with u not not going with another outside Source um what I will say is part of these Alternatives again we looked at these as part of wholesale implementation there are things that can be done in terms of blending and Hydra you know blending that could be done if if one were be considered or another um but in terms of keeping it you know a way that can be digestable and understandable by by everyone we kept it to the wholesale Alternatives so um that's the real recommendation in terms of outside water suppor and efficiency and regionalization um that could be seen from from neighboring Water Supplies in terms of U consolidation of the district and uh uh the town or the town and the district um we found through our through our interview process our preliminary data request that there's no significant advantages or cost savings that would come out of out of um a consolidation uh and just to go through them quickly um we believe that the financial interaction that is um currently going on between the district and town treasur collector and the assessor is sufficient and would be pretty much replicated on a day-to-day basis within Town Hall um in terms of infrastructural interaction between the district and town uh police fire Highway I've mentioned this a few times we we they are coordinating on a day-to-day basis uh and and utilizing uh equipment not equipment I'm sorry but if Manpower is needed they they reach out to each other there's a there's a strong connection I believe between the D water district and and those those departments in town um and then just uh you know a scenario where systems are Consolidated um would provide an additional level and and potentially redundant um level of governance over over the water district and because it would still maintain another a level of Board of Commissioners under under the selectman in that case um and then just the final you know sort of hitting at home just with a number of reasons is um there are some legal implications uh associated iated with uh those minor efficiencies we could see from some sort of consolidation or soft improvements I've been referring to them as um with the you know amending or redacting the chapter 359 acts of 1950 and the chapter 68 of Acts of 2012 that are in Massachusetts um acts of those specific years um we don't think there's no room for improvement though these the town and District can operate as separate entities but there are some things throughout this interview process that we saw could be improved upon and I think uh really to go through them um one thing that we saw is there was a a long list of indirect costs and this person's responsible for this person and everyone knows it here and it's great and it it seems like it's working great um but there was a level of there doesn't feel it we didn't see a formal document on those indirect costs it's built into budgets right there's there's there's information there but established ing a workshop between the district and and the town on indirect costs um and reviewing those uh every you know five years or so to make sure they're still existing and having that Workshop to sort of say get all the costs that are potentially out there including the stiens for the assessor and collector um and just uh setting that document as a formalized document issued between the district and and the town so all all concerns are heard uh is one one recomend recommendation um next on the planning side really two and three um establishing a formal review process for Planned development work within the town roads and this really can be applied to both districts within Town um such that representatives from the town and applicable District districts can review so having a a space where public you know the the superintendent or the highway superintendent can look at documents um that are coming in for plan projects and and check off yes we've reviewed Next Step Next Step Next Step so as far as planning there's uh there's oversight on both parts right and and and interests and obligations are are satisfied as both both parties um number three is um establishing a district commissioner or or or um representative to intermittently attend the capital outlay committee meetings as as applicable or as needed um for to increase District awareness Ness of capital projects within the town um and for the district to be able to provide input on some things some of these projects we heard going on um may may require more water than the district can can obtain or or provide so should those projects even be considered as part of future work is is the question so being able to have that early as part of outlay committee meetings seems like a um a potential uh Improvement um and then four and five um we've talked a lot about neighboring water suppliers today um there's going to be a lot of talks and Communications if any of those are considered in future as part of future work we think that those those meetings should be attended by representatives from the district and town jointly in tandem as as a as an entity that um that are advocating for one another um and understanding that the longterm um imp implications of a future water source um will affect both both parties so serving as advocates um and and entertaining those those discussions those negotiation periods as as one entity separate systems one entity in terms of of negotiating because it it affects both your your residents and your customers so um the last one this is a small one I was just thinking about it the other day I was on the the town's website perusing through you know getting information as I could and um there's no mention of the district or another supplier on the town's website so if you're a um you just moved to dayon right and um you you have a water you I need I have public water but where's that public water coming from just even put in contact information of the the dayon water district the north Dion fire district or even potentially the town of Somerset um to be able to know okay this is where my water pill is and if I have a complain I can go talk to them so that's a small one but just just in terms of something that I think for for the town's benefit for the resident benefit um something that could be easily yeah so uh that's all we have here today um I I know there's a lot of information we certainly appreciate everyone's time um but at this time we could take any questions uh yeah it says assuming $6.50 for th000 for Sumer that you know what the uh customers I think that's that's what they're they're it's yeah yeah that we assume the retail rate we didn't want to assume low we wanted to assume the high water inore or just water I think it's just water that's a very conservative assumption because um if we went through what I would refer to as a a cost of service study or an allocated cost of service study to determine how much it cost to Somerset or for Somerset to provide you wholesale water service it's going to be less on a per gallon basis than it is for them to Pro provide service to their retail customers they might not accept that and they're going to say no you're going to pay what our customers are paying um but from a purely cost Justified standpoint it would be something less than that right well they're providing media service they're providing yeah the distribution system all theing with water that's exactly right we again that's why we say that the rate that's negotiated thank you Dave um is is super important as part of this we we wanted to not we wanted to take what we had in the interview and project that on to our Alternatives and not assume less um but it can improve from there um as part of future work you know what they paid Swansea pays now I do not know the answer to that why does anybody Swansea what they pay we we haven't negotiated anything yet no what no what T Swansea pay Somerset for for for their water I mean still under negoti yeah still yeah oh okay yeah I'm on the board in Swansea oh okay but we haven't negotiated yet he's working on that so the process is long process oh yeah I'm sure yeah and so a lot of that just from a from somerset's point of view right like a lot what they told us there why do they have all this excess capacity right what's the point well there's and I encourage you know we're going to be sending the report you know we want to wait until we had this meeting and talked with everyone and got feedback um but we'll be sending the report in the next couple days um but the real they have excess capacity at least as it was told to us in the interview is because of the power plants that have been recently removed montop power and braon point power um so have it that's that's a real reason for excess capacity in their system so my opinion you know if they want if they have water and they want to sell it why not I know bre Point used over a million gallons a day right right right there so big plant they used a million gallons a day Mark do you have any questions I do um Tony's been waiting uh go ahead Tony I think he failed to address a couple things okay what about the night North fire district which is a water district yep why didn't you give us a report on so and second a lot of is serviced right now by agreed yeah wrong a wrong Route 138 yeah you know you should make that public oh no yeah so that they are you're giving us all these stats you didn't give us no stats on how does Tian operate the way they do with two two or three people with they got probably 11 or 12 yeah what what happens to the cost when you start buying there's there's a reduction right there you don't have to have the person right you know you operators right and that's why on some of the on andm costs we remove some trying you're trying to sell the to all let me answer all the residents want want to pay for the problem that that the district has if that's the case the district should be turned over to the town you should do away with this District this D water district okay yeah no you would have to have commission the would have control over yeah as current yeah and the one Tony let let him answer his question that that the question that you you comment that you stops the talk and then you interrupt him again let him finish this conversation so um the the the study was between two systems as it was set up um Tony it was the district and the um town when it was set up that's that's how it was put together um as the largest purveyor I understand what you're saying there are other parameters to consider you got you got the town of somerset's waterm that runs up Route 138 then you have the north I fire district that approximately has 400 to 500 water Sur connections there's um I don't know if you heard me throughout this meeting I said the districts often times because I would say there's there's three there's three districts really in dayon right and C these some of these coordination items are not just specific to them however the study in general was looking at the DI and water district and their efficiencies um in terms of uh future work that has to be performed and um what's available in the nearby area i a this for about four five years it's cheaper for this town to buy the and to try to correct the problems that they have because they've had a moratorium over four years four years this this July and and nothing has been done about how many more years we going to go with a moratorium in this time yeah I I hear you um we we got to do something we got to buy water and that's the cheapest one do you know what the uh North B District charges for each for th000 gallons of water it's like $10 is $10 it's actually more than what we approximated for um $10.83 per 100 cubic feet I mean per yeah they don't know we don't know that we yeah this is all just based on the interviews and then what the respective towns plus infrastructure you get putation what Happ testing uh so what happens to your treatment class not just by water that's the end of it you know you think it's cheaper what happens to your treatment PL if they stop buying water if they go with the water all the time shut the Tre PL down but but there's using our water you can sell less less to the customers to go out unless you can get a great deal right that's great but you would still have the infastructure and it's going to go up and up I believe based on their their wholesale rate and you you can look it up I think it's um I think it's on the town of Taunton or city of Taunton ordinance page but I I believe over it's all based on a volumetric amount how much you use in a certain month or whatever but what we used as part of this was $10.83 per uh 100 cubic feet which is correct per 100 cubic feet yeah so it's only 748 it's yeah exactly so it's actually right double with $6 right 650 looking at 12 yeah still $13 you the quality of water I'm not think is nothing compared to Sal I mean it's F per F per than South B some days I can flush a toil on hot Street all right and if I don't flush it twice got a stain in it all right why because your quality of water is L need now you want now you want to for need the S so I would say I I I do know that I see I you know some has all this water but um from what I understand their quality is I've I've seen pictures and uh it's like it's like rust water so I don't know yeah I just want to speak to one one thing that was said too maybe where you are um I just want sorry Tony I just want to speak to one thing um all these and Dave correct me if I'm wrong all these um Alternatives that were considered in the financial implications it wasn't those are considering the impacts of the of the uh Di and Water District's budget not The Whole Town's budget so that's everyone who's a Dion water district customer is paying for those improvements not the town correct me if I'm wrong I have some questions you don't mind um I want to thank you for your presentation and uh one of the questions about North Titan fire I believe when this opportunity came available the town kind of put it out to all three districts and I believe the water district was the only District that was amendable to to this so I want to thank you guys and you know just listening you know we learned some options and um so I think that's why we didn't Focus so much on the North dayon fire district was they I don't believe we amendable I'm on the electric District I we didn't take advantage of the opportunity so um again I appreciate that so looking at alternative for water supply from Somerset is most of the cost savings there because they meet their new the new standard for pfas they they yeah so they actually I left my sheet over there that has the specific numbers but they are currently under the the there's there's several the new MCL has several different components to it but the two that are impacting um well one that's impacting District sources is PFA pfoa I'm sorry and they meet the pfoa MCL and all the mcls uh they are below the new limit new uh maximum containment levels provided in the um EPA new new proposed rule or not propos a new rule at this time at this time and that's T I've been saying that right you said t a andon Time Changes right so we have most savings because we meet a standard that is really subject to change this is like a new science and it's changing can't predict but but to be fair like to to be fair if if they have an issue they're going to treat it at their treatment plant right right they're not going to they're not going to put a package treatment plant that's why these these efficiencies are seen at it from a from a regional level because you have a one larger treatment plant that H has the has a larger customer base that can potentially Source water out um and have to implement it any in any case that if they were to do it so yeah plus they're talking about giving uh low interest loans uh some uh forgiveness loan forgiveness oh yeah on P for us being such a small community yep going to to do that so you're talking about that also so those numbers could change there's only what a month and a half that fast regulation came in so yeah it's that dropped literally in the middle of this report but it it ended up being a very big focus of it because um it's just such a sweeping rule um you know con considering if you were to consider just without those maybe you know the recommendations I think overall you know you still have some issues associated with you know water supply right on alternative one and then two you know just getting water uh to where it needs to be in town or Purchase cost for a wellsite there's still issues but a main driving factor in a lot of this has been has been the P issue yeah I have a question um what would you say would be through litigation be um the percentage that a town would get from um like lawsuit because I'm sure that all these companies for oh for uh P there's been stuff out there for a long time now um I I think you had to get in early I I can't answer that question accurately yeah no yeah I can't I can't I I don't know to be frankly honest with you but there has been stuff that's been going on for years regarding that stuff go ahead Brook Street well one reason why we haven't tried to purchase it or they wanted a lot of money and had P pass so we we going to spend 6 million there a number they're looking at and another 6 million for 250 gallons a minute or 300 gallons a minute it's like that's we have to see what you know what we can do sure it's just not for all 6 million it's a waste and if if they decommission it then maybe we can do something after that right and uh you know we'll see what we can do we're working on it but it's not a quick fix on any of these things no and then now with these new regulations strapping we you only have 2,000 customers so sure how are we going to say hey if I had 15,000 customers I can put a little here a little there everybody take a little piece of it but 2,000 that's a lot yeah ask people us you see these increases they are outrageous yeah so they going to get worse it's not you buy water it's not going to stay at $12 per th000 5 years from now oh right it's going to be more so everything goes up it's not a simple fix y trying our best to do what we can you know sure but uh it's not easy I know people want to build they got land they want to do things with it it's just it's a tough spot to do right now right we're trying where does the most of where does the water come from now I didn't think I heard that in this water see else all Wells mhm for where you guys get your water all is it all inside of diting you guys purchase from other all of the water currently is indicted oh perect okay if you um if you look at U picture yeah if you look see all the wells I didn't know if that's was all of our sour it would be nice to get the brook the Brook Street but uh you can get it for nothing 6 minut just start off and then it's 2500 per million pumps get rid of it that's going go okay thank you I appreciate that how long are in general these intermunicipal agreements like if we bought water from taunt in their Somerset how long are those agreements usually whatever you want say on average 10 maybe maybe more than that I've seen 20 25 years um i' probably average I'd say 20 25 years okay thank you I me that's not you know it's not uncommon in in New England to have Regional water supply I mean look at MW Pro Providence not too far from here um supplies half the half of Rhode Island situ res Providence supplies yeah so it's not it's it's not Fall River supplies portions of free town and Westport Westport so it's not uncommon Germany also oh yeah one more just a moratorium comment how does that happen is that just from um not enough Supply basically pretty much water and Lawn and consumption in the summer so okay it's been working pretty good L even with the different days what everybody and that was that was a joint effort between the town and the district when it was laid out still let them water laun excuse me you're still letting the water launch so why trying we're trying to trying every time you got a problem every time you got a problem you're dumping thousands thousand you can't you can't water the lawn or they can't wash their car or they come to the town and they they purchase to live in the town they've been here for 30 years and then all of a sudden you tell nobody can use water anymore cuz somebody wants to a moral time that's what it was all about what what happened to this 40 this 40t well there new 40t well you coming around that was see yeah if they're doing it now it should be in another two weeks we should have we've had problems with the supply chain yeah I say as a business man yeah Liv in the town all my life as a taxpayer the cheapest way for that district is to buy buy the what I'm going to tell you I'll punch numbers with anybody and I'll tell you the cheapest way for this District to come out what the problems they got is to okay Lenny you have something regarding the somerset quality of water when breaking point went down somerset's water capacity filtration went down Ernie correct me if I'm wrong if you're not filtering at a certain level it has a negative impact on your water quality correct well the water's not moving through the mains like it usually does now you got more detention more time more chances for thms AAS and that's probably why they have it in the H THM this year I'm not totally familiar with somets and that's why Somerset is trying to sell water to get them back up from the loss that they had with bright and point which will raise the quality of the water the other issue is about two years ago transition Baker Administration heing Administration Senator Rodriguez and representative Pat hatan were really pushing a regional agreement my question is they're pushing it are they also going the state going to provide money to help make regional agreements happen and if that's the case then would that help make a Somerset TI more attractive um I know there are such grants like you know MVP you know Municipal vulnerability preparedness grants and and grants like the one that did this study that help help push um help planning process and and in some cases help the the construction process um to to say I know of any specific Pro you know grants right now that would do um that sort of work I can't say um but yeah call your local uh legislator oh and I should have reached to Mike earlier we have looked at uh not water regation but sewer regation before and representative Hadad was as you pointed out a firm advocate of that um and she was uh um on the front line trying to find money I there's never a guarantee but one option right now that's still available now it may be Clos of the future is the Congressional ear marks or the Congressional discretionary spending um that would be uh a fairly attractive uh project for for that type of spending so there are options for Grants right now um the windows open and close all the time the last is a comment that developers may not like to hear but we have heard it we've heard it previous couple of Select meetings that there is a concern by a segment of the population inditing about growth keeping things the way they are does Slow Grow and something to think about when you decide the direction you want to go where you want to see growth go the moratorium has helped greatly to slow growth to about uh thing on the grants I think right now there's some sewer grants out there I think might contacted me about moratorium and I told for a sewer gr so but I think a lot of the stuff right now they're holding off because of the P so they're not getting out a lot of money the small towns are going to be hurting for the P so I think they're going to Future they're going to be giv some grants off some money for that that will help some of us out I don't think they giv out a lot of money for anything that yeah what's your opinion on the options some set probably or the Brook Street well we could get the Brook Street well but not for $6 million not we got that you know some domain or something or Cheapo that might be a good option y that W is not too bad okay just it's the P pass yeah and can you know if you run that raw water main is is there a potential that you know you just have one you're going to need one past facility at your existing treatment plant that's why I you know Al although it was highly the highest Capital cost we thought you know from talks with individuals and I I think there's there's a importance a general consensus that it's important to folks here to have control of their water but also in the same light like there are two fairly large water source around you just the cost water it's like million per mile right num yeah 5 years ago was a million yep now it's 2 million of course everything this goes up and up and up and it just uh so you're looking at 6 million for a water raw water May or 6 million to put a fast so right you better off probably having at one one place like said two different places okay does anybody have anything else say new to add or add one more comment you say no I just really kind of walked in just thinking of the Brook Street well and kind of keep it control and uh but I will say I just want to thank you guys CU this open my eyes to the other options and there are some you know it's nice at least we have options you better off keep in your own Supply your own water right but if you have to go outside and get some swans doing it come to a point where there's no other options in swans we' tried everything to get water and there's nothing out there now they're looking at the reservoir so might be able to get that but it's something different but yeah going through the same thing have something else to I just like to know um how many users do we have using suet water right now we did not collect the the user data for the Somerset water do you have I don't think there's many it's 400 I know you got all 138 you got hot youve got Brook Street yeah it's not it's not that it's 400 in North D yeah 400 400 people 400 service P so probably probably like coming from Top what was that that water's coming time right yeah in terms of the yeah I do not have the Su set customer based data sure we can probably figure it out though well I like to thank W car oh absolutely thank you thank you so much you guys did a tremendous job yeah thank you thank you uh very informative and uh just if there's any other comments will take what we got today's Ernie's comment on what he's seeing for for past cost and if there's any other comments feel free um to you know I know Karen has my contact information if there's any anything that you want to send over our way for comments on which you saw today be great in the next couple days just so we can finalize the draft report y um in terms of um next steps we the the um this grant does need to be finalized by Jun June 30th right um just two weeks so do you need a vote from us what was that is that does that require a vote um no no okay so that's the that's on your part to close this out in two weeks uh we're going to work with uh Mr pcel and I think he has to right forgive me if I'm wrong I don't I don't know if we're submitting that or if he's submitting the report needs to be submitted by June 30 yeah but I believe the town has to submit yeah from our town administr correct yeah we we I don't think we can submit on your behalf right correct thank you thank you so much everyone thank you thank you thank you fantastic um well this is a review discussion act but we really don't have anything to vote on uh because they're going to take our Apartments come back with the final project and then Jim has to submit the final for the grant perfect I agree with that Yes sounds good motion to adjourn uh seconded and uh motion made in seconded any discussion all those in favor I I thank you thank you cable