HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-09-18 Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Minutes14
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C`AVN CLERK
WATER & SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINI7TE§. I G, M A S S.
September 18, 2002
A meeting of the Water & Sewer Advisory Committee was held at 7:53 PM on Wednesday,
September 18, 2002, in the Berger Room, Reading Town Hall, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, MA.
In attendance were Committee members Steven Oston, Stephen Crook and John Wood,
Selectmen Liaison Gail Wood, and DPW Director Ted McIntire. Steve Oston was acting
Chairman.
Town Meeting
October 7, 2002 - The only item related to water and sewer is a revision in the Capital
Improvement Plan. At the April 2002 Annual Town Meeting there was an appropriation of
approximately $696,000 for Water Capital. The actual Capital Improvement Plan did not reflect
all of those items and at this Town Meeting Capital Improvement Plan will be revised to reflect
the appropriations.
November 12, 2002 - It was originally the intention of the Department to pursue funding for
design of upgrades to the existing water treatment plant and to request funding for connection to
the MWRA water system. Because of the complexity of the issues at the water treatment plant it
has been decided to postpone the request for funding of design of the upgrade of the plant to
April 2003 Annual Town Meeting. Also, because of the timing of approvals required for the
MWRA connection it has been decided to postpone the request for funding to the April 2003
Annual Town Meeting. The Department intends to present a progress report on both of those
projects at the November 2002 Town Meeting.
Water Meter Radio Read System
The Department has essentially completed the installation of the radio frequency water meter
reading system, and for the first time read the Town meters using that system to generate the
quarterly bills. As we expected there were minor problems with the installation and there were
some problems with the radio read equipment. Because of these problems we estimated usage
for approximately 600 water and sewer bills in the Town. We expect to remedy most if not all of
these problems by the next billing
Water and Sewer Billing
It took less than three days to read the meters in the Town. This normally takes approximately
two and one half months. Residents were issued transitional bills dated September 10, 2002 with
a discount date of October 15, 2002. This is the beginning of a revised billing schedule which
will continue on a three month cycle of December 101h, March 10`h, and June 10th. We have
received many inquiries to date and expect many more.
Minutes - WSAC September 18, 2002.doc.doc
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Water Conservation Plan
The Committee discussed the hiring of a consultant, or consultants, to carry out the conservation
plan, and the roll of staff during the process. There is a potential that some items would be
handled by a consultant and some would be handled by staff. The Department will review the
Water Conservation Plan and try to acquire a sample Request For Proposals (RFP) in order to
develop a RFP for the plan.
It was moved Steve Oston, seconded by Stephen Crook and approved by a vote of 3-0 to adjourn
the meeting at 9:22PM
Minutes - WSAC September 18, 2002.doc.doc
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