##VIDEO ID:G0-3pHLDhxQ## okay it is August 14 20124 at 6 PM 6:01 now this is the regular meeting of the sewer department my name is John Reynolds I'm the chairman of the Sewer Commission and I'd like to open with Pledge of Allegiance Michael if you want to hold up your flag I'll start us off I pledge allegiance Al to the flag flag of United States America America and to the the repblic for which stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice justice great thank you um in accordance with the requirements of the open open meeting law please be advised that this meeting of the Sewer Commission is being recorded and will be able to be found on the lunberg access YouTube channel after the meeting the following information is also provided for members of the public who would like to participate in the meeting remotely to participate remotely from a computer please use the link to join the public meeting webinar found posted agenda or from a telephone dial the toll-free number 888 475 4499 and to the webinar number 871 1768 1305 if you have not registered with zoom you will be asked for your number and an email address and no participant ID is required just press the pound symbol attendance real quick uh just say I uh Mike Mackin hi Brett red hi I for myself we have a forum uh staff members Jane rley here Paula Bertram here and Bill Bernard here okay um any I'm not seeing any general public so any public comment from uh the staff or commissioners I'll start it um I'm just want to express my gratitude for you know everything that Paula has done uh in her time with the the Sewer Commission I know that it's later in the the agenda that you're announcing your resignation but I think it's already public knowledge so I feel free to acknowledge you know the work that you have done done um and acknowledge the frustrations of the fact that our town has not been able to fix a problem that seems long-standing um and we hope that that's going to change uh but one of the things I want you to know is that you know you've had a long history of service to the town and uh you have my gratitude thank you so much Mike well I would um basically Echo what Mike said um adding adding that it's um as a commissioner um it's going to be difficult moving forward without you and John for that matter and um I uh I don't know who we're going to find to run things as smoothly as you have regardless of the incredible title waves I was going to say waves but more like title waves you've had to deal with um over the last year with little or no assistance or help from anybody um or support and uh totally understand you um needing to go and I'm very happy for your new opportunity wish you the best and know you will land on your feet um just know you will be incredibly missed um and I appreciate everything you've done and without repeating everything Mike said um thank you for your service thank you very much um I obviously Paula I Echo everything that Mike and Brett have said um I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you you know that um you are going to be missed and I I truly am going to miss working with you a lot so um well excuse me you will be successful well thank you I'm gonna miss all of you and I really appreciate the kind words and I really enjoyed working with all of you and and I've got one more meeting to go so I'm not leaving yet uh we have someone from the public who's trying to join do you see anyone no oh there he is yep okay I think they have joined least it tells me they have but I don't see them okay someone's joined that says Malone um is that you Scott bear microphone is off and there's no video right I just requested they unmute but I don't know I'm sorry Paula you just requested what that they unmute but I don't know if it went through right maybe they're here to observe let me I'm going to ask this person a question okay give me a second here okay the the screen that says Malone is uh Scott Foreman who has expressed an interest in joining the Sewer Commission um wonderful so hopefully exent Scott Could you um if you can hear me could you just text me that you can hear me okay he can hear so he's going to be observing the uh meeting Scotty um I'm sorry you had some trouble connecting we started the meeting at 6 um we we've asked for uh public comment couple of the Commissioners and myself have uh expressed um our views about having worked with uh Paula Bertram the sewer business manager who is is leading at the end of this month and from there we are going to go to announcements does anyone have any announcements to make okay um I guess the only announcement I have you obviously you know that I'm stepping down and I just want to make something really clear I I know you guys understand I'm I'm not leaving because of anything that is or isn't going on on the town these days uh I thoroughly enjoyed being on the Sewer Commission working with the sewer department um I hope that someday I can come back onto the s commission it just uh just like I said before it's not in the cards for me but again um it's been great being on the S commission I would recommend it to anyone okay uh current business the the minutes from 4:30 and 6:25 um we all had a chance to read those yes okay does anyone want to make a motion to accept the minutes from the uh 4:30 meeting I would like to make a motion to approve the minutes of the 43024 meeting second okay roll call vote here uh Brett hi Mike hi I for myself the minutes are accepted uh the next minutes are from the 62524 meeting does anyone want to make a motion to accept those I'll also make a motion to approve the 625 24 minutes okay Mike want a second okay um any any further discussion on those seeing none uh roll call vote Brett hi Mike hi I for myself minutes are accept okay the next item on the uh curent on the agenda is the sewer manhole overflow from uh this past Sunday bill I'll let you sort of summarize that uh that whole event from the I forgot who it was who called you first but anyway go ahead okay so Sunday night around 700 PM the resident at on Sunset Avenue um saw water coming down his driveway it's a gravel driveway and they smelled sewer they noticed coming out of a sewer manhole um they I assume they called the police who called the DPW we sent the guy out confirmed what was happening yep it was overflowing we called out a um a VOR truck so the VOR truck um sucked out the manhole and we found that there was a leak in the pipe in that area it's um um pressure system so it's a closed system so in with inside the manhole there was a couple connections and one of the fittings had cracked and the water was just squirting out of it and eventually it had filled up the manhole and then every time somebody flushed the toilet it was running down the hill so we called out our contractor CTE they got right out there they were great and with within a half an hour of them arriving they had it repaired um they actually used a part that was there was kind of a spare part and um got it back together we repressurized the system and everything was okay uh the next day we went back back the the DPW went back we put lime over the area where the the water had run and then we excuse me covered the area with stone dust the kind of fixed their driveway covered the area they were concerned they had dog and they concerned a dog might be looking the ground um this is it was Sunset Avenue which is right over lake whum so so I was out there in the woods with a flashlight John was there we made sure that the the water did not make it into the lake I could trace it it it kind of went in two directions One Direction I could see right where it stopped the other direction it went towards an abandoned house it looked like it was going under the house so I went around the front of the house there was no sign so I'm I'm 100% confident nothing went into the lake um the fitting that broke it's it's a pressure fitting it's made for this um who knows maybe it was a bad fitting bad manufacturer or maybe it got damaged at installation we'll never know but shouldn't have happened but it did yeah all right thanks Bill and Bill did send out a uh or filled out a sanitary sewer overflow notice to the uh see that goes to the EPA is it or the d d both both both okay yeah just you know describing it's it's a three-page form um just a requirement that was taken care of any questions for uh is there anything you would recommend that we do going forward to I mean is there inspections that might be need did at this point I mean to be yeah maybe Overkill we could pop open the mans check them out make sure there's no other fittings that are leaking uh we did open a I don't how many manol John like three or four in the area right no other problems there uh one the manol had water in them but it's a closed system so that water is not infiltrating into our system so that was okay uh but we talked about getting a few spare parts you know have them on the Shelf at the DBW because Sunday night there's no no place to buy one right right so go and we'll get some parts yeah um yeah I don't I know that's uh an item later down on the agenda but we might as well talk about it now um I don't think it would take many parts uh that was a looked like a three-inch line um the line on Lancaster app is a 2 inch I don't think there' be anything smaller than a 2 inch so you know a handful of Parts just to have on hand like you said it was fortunate that CTE had had what was needed so I did I did ask Robert to put together a list um and get us some prices so that we can go ahead require some parts to have at the gpw so I know that Wade and Robert are actually looking at uh working on that good thinking the other thing as we're talking I'm I'm remembering the extension on Lancaster R which is also a low pressure system um I believe has a a cleanout um valve that I think it actually supposed to be uh actually ex sized periodically um and I don't recall if the lines that went in on um over around Lake whm have that because it's it's a larger line maybe it's not needed but just probably something to take a look at um uh any other questions about um The Spill or spare parts mean the most exciting time Sunday night was when uh the manhole was being pumped and I think Bill and myself and Rob all said I hope that's rain because all of a sudden as soon as he started pumping there was water dripping on us and sure enough it started to rain so luckily I'm glad to hear it was rain yeah I do want to um say thank you to Bill and John and everyone else and CTE for jumping uh jumping on the situation and taking care of it and helping it become a happy ending um and avoiding a larger catastrophe as a sounded it could have been um you know once it entered the lake or a person's house things get really messy and expensive um so I just want to extend the gra gratitude to those uh on this meeting and who aren't on this meeting who uh got the job done so thank you okay great um all right so the next item is um Sewer Commission vacancies as you know there are currently two open positions there will be one opening up the end of this month um I have spoken to one person who's observing tonight um you know he expressed some interest and I I'll certainly will follow up with him and I I called someone else today who expressed an interest on Monday to uh Dave McDonald's who used to be a sewer commissioner but I haven't I haven't spoken to him so I feel like I can't really share his name in public but um you know I'll try to get a hold of him again tomorrow um I just want to stress the importance of making sure we fill that vacancy because I did look up the um open meeting law and if we only have two Commissioners we cannot call a meeting correct so it's imperative that we do get a third member before uh John's departure or very shortly thereafter right right okay it's a very big concern the um manhole ifp so um they'll follow whichever one of you want to give us an update on that I know that I sent a draft out to everybody um and I know Bill had some concerns about more specifics relative to the work that the specifications and so Bill can add onto that um but before we go into that I do just want to say it's really important bill and I talked about this today that it goes out ASAP because the Selectmen are in the process of allocating reviewing the arper um allocations and we need to have a contract in Hand by November at the latest at last night's meeting they talk to talked about moving it up to September which certainly is not doable wow so I did at a previous meeting that I was in attendance at I informed the select board that we were in the process of doing the RFP or ifb um and stress the importance of maintaining that $100,000 allocation um but it's it really is important that we get it out ASAP it has to go through procurement it will have to go through Julie bellw um for her additions under you know Mass General law certain forms that need to be included Etc um so we are looking at a few weeks and it's just important we get it out but Bill can talk about what what he's working on yeah so Paula did a great job putting it together um but I think it needs more um definition of the the specifications um you know how they're paid the [Music] um Well the description of each of the items and then how it's paid you need to put that in there otherwise it's too vague it's a little bit too wide open you know I could interpret it one way the contract can interpret it another way and it just gets messy so I started to work on that then it became a crazy week so I'll get to it soon okay any other questions regarding that no okay for anyone who might end up watching this on YouTube uh the the the manhole ifb is the select board granted us uh $100,000 for manhole repairs last last year right um and that's what this that money that $100,000 is is being used for um okay the next item is the uh q1 commitments and this was for the um quarterly Su sewer billing usage billing yeah and the amount of the amount of the commitment is $298,500 $8,390 if they could uh make a motion ask motion I just want to clarify where I just want to clarify you're you're approving the commitment we don't pay it yes I'm sorry yeah approving the commitment yeah Mike it's all yours uh I make a motion that we approve the commitment and in the stated amount [Laughter] 298,000 [Music] change that's fine that's fine um all right we have a motion anyone want to second that I'd like to second that motion okay let's take a roll call vote uh Mike hi Brett hi I myself the motion passes and we have to uh do a docky sign for that right earlier today we did that yeah I already signed it I did as well okay I have not um okay business manager's report um so the resignation we've already talked about my last day will be uh Thursday August 29th um and I'll let Bill talk about where we are with hiring and training Etc really appreciate you putting in the time to train the new person well we'll see how that goes but Bill can talk talk yeah right so the the job has been posted um so Julie was doing interviews and for other positions and there was one candidate she thought was a great fit for this position so that turns out the day it was posted we actually brought her in for an interview um she was very good um we're hoping to get a few more candidates to to look at um nothing yet and did this person express any interest oh yeah y definitely definitely he got a good background you know no sewer background but that's all right but business background then business manager type background definitely did she appear to be a quick study bill she did yes okay think we should has a yeah uh do you know if she has any I know you you can't reveal too much to us but um does she have any Municipal background no Municipal but she she's worked in the private sector but she has worked with government contracts okay oh government contracts that's good um so she's being interviewed by Julie ill yes um well well I don't know if this is appropriate or not would Paula have an opportunity to I was just going to suggest the same thing I if anybody knows who's cap I protocol sorry I'm sorry Brett go ahead no no I over I overp spoke with you John please continue I don't know what the protocol is um you know I I would value Paul's input I guess that's what I would say well at this point the interview's over but Paul Paul has definitely seen the resume so and I have Bill did talk with me about coming back um to do some training um I will be working full-time um so I informed bill that I'd be happy to do that but it will be during the evening um a couple nights a week um so happy to do that to try to ease the transition position I do think it's going to be important that I come back you know in addition to the initial training is the First Billing just based on the nightmares we've been having I think it probably makes sense for me to come back at least the first week of no November as well um but happy to do that and want to see the Sewer Commission and the sewer department continue to succeed okay um uh go ahead as a newbie um is there a role for the Commissioners in this I my understanding if the Commissioners uh I believe can say yay or nay U I think that's in the town Charter isn't it Paula Town bot some I think I think the SE commission has input I I'll have to look it up and I'll get back to you Mike okay good question was not it was not meant to be controversial it was like no I I will say in the past I've been told it's a town manager appointment um but you know certainly worth looking into I honestly having been on you know any number of town committees you know there's usually you know cross Department you know there's some input from somebody other than the town manager and right so I would recommend that be part of it it doesn't have to be the entire commission just I think I'm having having been on the school committee you know we always had you know at least one you know Community member you know you know even though the uh school committee had you know the ultimate authority to appoint um there was at least you know a broad spectrum much like you know when we do other appointments there are you know uh you know the Town M moderator has you know calls a group together that's across spectrum of various uh committees in appointments and I just think it might be worthwhile to you know you know get somebody to right I I think it's a good idea I'll look into it tomorrow and it sounds like you're volunteering Mike I am okay great okay I do have one question Mr chairman um before we get too far off the subject Paula you did you have a chance to look at this resume in any detail I'm not sure which individual was interviewed so I I don't know but I will certainly make a point to do it tomorrow tomorrow um but I honestly I I don't know who it was your opinion would matter to us um thank you myself since I'm not really involved in the interview process I can't really the recommendation okay okay well thank you anyways well look while while we're on this particular uh item um I'd like to have all resignation letter added to the minutes if um that's all right with the rest of the Commissioners probably absolutely we probably should vote on that so if someone wants to make a motion I will make that motion I'll second that motion okay and any any further discussion no vote Mike I Brett I and I for myself the motion passes Jane if you could include Paula's resignation letter with the minutes we'd appreciate it is Chan there uh oh did we like looks like we lost Jane no the recording is there so I'm sure she she she watches the recordings okay Paul uh Bree traps um I honestly have not printed the report so I can't really give you an update I can tell you that there have been a couple non-compliances with late reports but not anything overly alarming um but I did want to ask the commission um typically this time of year we send out the renewals um and I'm not sure if you want me to do that prior to my departure or if you want to wait for the new person to do it because once the renewals start to come in along with the checks then it you need to do the permits I have created a database that makes the permit generation very easy um but I just want I'm kind of looking for direction from you guys on whether you'd rather wait or whether you want me to go ahead and send them out I guess part of that might depend on you know you've only got x amount of hours left it's very easy to do I've automated the entire process if if you're able to do that Paula I think it might be just throwing it out there anything you're able to check off the list before a new person who's guaranteed to be overwhelmed comes back would be appreciate it no problem it's very it's very easy it's literally the push of a button at this point so I will take care of that and prior to the August 27th meeting um I will put together a list of things that I think need to be worked on um John and I have talked about this a little bit um things like the Nifty permit um reports that we're going to need to work on I have put together a general outline of an emergency preparedness plan but it needs to be really completed um so I'll put together a list of the various projects that I'm working on um and I am in the process of putting together a manual to go over you know how to do billing how to do a final bill um how to do an adjustment so I I am putting together how to submit an invoice um so I'm putting together a manual that hopefully will really help the transition thank you very much pa okay thank you um munice software update so I you know it was mentioned at the selectman's meeting last night that the bills did go out and they were correct which was a pleasant surprise when we tested them initially in the training database they were not correct um and the consultant and I worked together and determined that they were not um we worked with munice again and and they reloaded a form correction um and the amounts on the on the bills were then correct and we were able to get them out um but there remains to be a number of issues with munice um so I have sent an email to um Peggy Wile and copied uh the interim Town manager as well as um you know um Bill and other individuals um but there there are several issues still remaining that need to be addressed there were a number of errors that were generated during the um Bill generation process so I've sent print screens to munice um we still can't do an account inquiry um which is a big problem and that open that has been open since April um so I have put together a document that I'm emailed out today right now there I believe there are four um or five open issues um which hopefully will get addressed um but we did run into 598 errors during the bill generation process so it's not fixed completely uh but at least the amounts were right so um but just want to make sure that they I put the ticket numbers and copied eie the finance director who is now kind of the lead person with munice um so that everyone is aware that these issues remain open so sorry Mr chairman no go ahead right um so only 500 plus errors that's you know just great um I guess my question would be and nobody is more on top of what's going on obviously than paa here um moving forward and what do you see as possible rectification appication decisions could be made here not that you'll be doing it but do we push the select board to get us a new software I mean is this munus just playing something we have to seriously talk about scrapping um it's horribly affected our board I can't imagine it hasn't affected other commissions and Boards in town and other towns well I where do we I can tell you it's affected other departments and I know the finance director is exploring options um and that's at this point that's really all that I can say is I know that the select board is aware of the problems um the finance director and and the and the treasur tax collector have run into some significant problems um currently and I emailed it to asie yesterday there's a mun update that there's a problem with closing the fiscal year um that other communities are experiencing so so there are pretty significant problems um and I know the town is looking at at other options and what our options are um and I will say that eie has really taken the lead on on working with munus to to try to correct these issues and the consultant that he brought in Randy Mercier has been a a great um he was able to determine right away what the problem was with the with the bills um so I think that's a step in the right direction um as you know we submitted in our oper request um funds to cover the cost of the consultant um and asie did as well um so so I think there the town is trying to address the issues um and and exploring options the shame has taken what it has taken to make this process finally start to happen but thank you very very much for your but Pa thank you Mr chairman I think as a as a commission I don't really think there's too much more we can do other than just keep updated at this point [Music] um what eie is doing um it's been pretty frustrating to be responsible for this Enterprise fund and not have control over software decisions um I I know you all feel the same frustration um and other towns are experiencing and Paula forwarded a um she's part of a a chat room for uh municipalities that have munus and someone had put a very lengthy message in there um I think it was in California having all the same kinds of problems and maybe some more so and it it it just seemed like the responses from Unice were the same kind of responses we would hear here right Paula exactly a ticket we've got this group working on it you know we it's a priority but here we are anyway I'm sure it will it'll fix question toip Paula do you have any idea what the the annual cost of that contract is to the town I honestly don't know I've heard some numbers but I don't I don't know whether they're are not that accurate I think it's 50 to $60,000 range is what I've heard I honestly don't know yeah I I seem to remember when Paul and I went before the select board um I think uh select manmy asked that question and Heather said that the annual fee is $60,000 for something that doesn't work right okay um anything else under business manager report Paula nope okay um old business this isn't really old business but I made a note here um pauler have you or Bill been able to talk to uh Robert yet about the phone line over at Dana street that um is is on the ground I think we did ask about that right what did he say B I can't even I think we need to call Verizon I and I apologize I dropped the ball now when I should have called Verizon okay myself a note okay um yeah because I I nothing else to do one day so I drove over to Dana street so okay um any public comment from the uh public any public comment from any of the Commissioners or staff no I would just like to thank you um Mr chairman I did want to just say uh I know there'll be one more meeting for both of you but uh thank you Paula again and and John as well for uh for your time and and dedication um you'll both be missed terribly uh thank you Brett hopefully I'll see you again someday on the Sewer Commission hope we will I I would hope great thank you I see Jane has her hand up Jane is not there oh maybe she's just waiting good night [Laughter] okay all right um the next meeting is August 27th and then uh September 10 10 September 24th and October 8th all regular meetings so if no one has anything else if someone wants to make a motion so moved I'll second that motion and see no discussion uh we'll take a vote here Brett I Mike I and I for myself the uh meeting has come to conclusion good night everybody good night good night everyone good night everyone thank you bye bye