HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-12-15 Water and Sewer Advisory Committee MinutesWATER & SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
December 15, 1999
A meeting of the Water & Sewer Advisory Committee was held at 7:34 P.M. on Wednesday,
December 15, 1999 at the Louanis Water Treatment Plant, Strout Avenue, Reading, Ma.
In attendance were Chairman Gail Wood, Secretary Richard Moore, Committee members,
William Freeman, and Gerald MacDonald, and Robert Salter, Water Treatment Plant Supervisor
Peter Tassi, and DPW Director Ted McIntire.
Meeting Minutes
It was moved by Gerald MacDonald, seconded by Bill Freeman and approve by a vote of 3-0 to
approve the minutes of November 17, 1999 as written.
Water Distribution System REP
Ted reviewed the RFP with the Committee.
Gail Wood and Bob Salter joined the meeting at 7:45PM.
. Cn
The following comments were made regarding the December 15, 1999 draft:
• Page 4, Section 7F - should read "schedule of completion of tasks."
• Page 5, Section 813 - Ted will check with Bill Connors for the appropriate software
that is compatible with the Towns computer system.
• Page 6, Section 8J - add the following sentence "The proposer should balance the
yearly expenditures in the capital program so that water rates do not fluctuate
substantially.
• Page 7, Section 10 - The second sentence which reads "Three firms will be selected
as the first, second, and third choices of the Town." should be removed and replaced
with "The Town will rank the firms."
The Committee will notify Ted of any further recommendations early next week.
Bedrock Wells
Ted reviewed the location of five potential sites in the Town Forest area and five potential sites
in the Bare Meadow area as recommended by D.L. Maher. Richard Moore explained the site
visit with D.L. Maher and members of the Conservation Commission. He indicated that the
representative from D.L. Maher was not prepared for this site visit.
Gas Spill Well Monitoring
Peter Tassi explained to the Committee that the monitoring wells had been sampled and tested on
a monthly basis. DEP has notified the Town that monitoring of the production wells has been
- reduced to -a quarterly basis for wells number #13 and #66-8 and twice per year for wells #2 #3,
#15, and B-line Well. It is expected that Cumberland Farms will be requesting to remove the
treatment system and reduce monitoring at the spill site.
Minutes - WSAC December 15, 1999.doc
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WATER & SEWER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
September 29, 1999
A meeting of the Water & Sewer Advisory Committee was held at 7:45 P.M. on Wednesday; `S
September 29, 1999 in the Berger Room Reading Town Hall 16 Lowell St. Readi .I f a'1 -2 2)
In attendance were Chairman Gail Wood, Secretary Richard Moore, Committee members,
William Freeman, Robert Salter, and Gerald MacDonald, DPW Administration Supervisor
David Lee, and DPW Director Ted McIntire.
Meeting Minutes
It was moved by Bill Freeman, seconded by Richard Moore to approve by a vote of 5-0 to accept
the minutes of August 25, 1999 as revised.
Water Storage Tank Siting Report
Gail Wood explained the discussions that took place at the presentation by Woodard and Curran
at the Board of Selectmen's meeting on 9/28/99. The Selectmen indicated that the Water and
Sewer Advisory Committee could hold a public meeting with the abutting property owners to
discuss the technical report on the siting tank. Bill Freeman indicated that Woodard and Curran
did not provide true project costs for the identified options. He also indicated that there is not a
need for a flow of 5000 gallons per minutes for a four hour period. The need to construct a third
storage needs to be addressed prior to the November Town Meeting. The Committee would
recommend that Camp Dresser & McKee be approached to determine this. One benefit of
having a third tank is available storage when one tank is down for maintenance or if a feeder
main to a tank is damaged. Bill Freeman questioned whether we want to build a tank without the
improvements to the distribution system. It was noted at last months meeting that a vote taken to
support the construction of the Tank. Bob indicated that he was told by Woodard and Curran
that the DEP guideline of one days storage does not apply to Reading because Reading has a
backup generator. It was noted that the issue of a generator has nothing to do with recommended
storage. The Committee asked Ted McIntire to find out details of the DEP recommendation
regarding storage volume.
The Town should instruct Woodard and Curran to include all costs (contingencies/Engineering)
for all four tanks as identified on Table ES.1 as shown of page ES-3 and a detailed explanation
as to how these numbers were arrived at. The Committee feels that the numbers should be
revised to reflect the proper and accurate total project costs. The Committee is not ready to make
a recommendation until the desired information is provided.
The Committee discussed a public meeting with neighbors and would invite Woodard and
Curran. The environmental issues need to be identified and addressed including noise, dust,
safety etc. The question arose as to the legal requirement to do an environmental impact report,
and the Committee felt that the question should be addressed by Town Council.
The Committee needs to get direction form the Board of Selectmen as to the issues to be
discussed at a public hearing with the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee and the residents of
the Lothrop Road and Auburn Street areas.
Minutes - WSAC September 29, 1999.doc
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♦ Hazardous Waste - to be funded by the Sewer Enterprise funds.
♦ Dept service - The water storage tank cost of $1,150,000 will be bonded over a five
year period and the $57,500.00 represents payment of interest only for the first year.
Water Capital Improvement Program
Ted McIntire reviewed the Capital Program with the Committee. Following discussions it was
requested that sheet number W-12 of 29 be changed to $10,000,000.00 in FY03. The design of
$750,000.00 to be requested in FY02.
Sewer Capital Improvement Program
Ted reviewed the program with the Committee. There were no recommended changes.
Gas Spill Site
Ted reviewed the recent history on monitoring at the site. There have been no or minimal levels
of contamination in the monitoring wells surrounding the spill site. The Town of Reading, DEP,
Cumberland Farms, and engineering consultants will be scheduling a meeting in November to
discuss the last twelve months of monitoring results and it is expected that Cumberland Farms
will request a reduced monitoring program.
Ipswich River Watershed Association - Report Card
Gail Wood prepared comments to Kerry Makin and Lou Wagner, which she would like to
forward to them. Bob Salter indicated that he has no knowledge of the Water and Sewer
Advisory Committees discussions on block rates and would not feel comfortable signing a letter
from the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee. Gail is willing to sign a letter as a private
citizen or as the Chairman of the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee. Following discussion it
was decided that Gail would submit the letter as Chairman of the Water and Sewer Advisory
Committee and supported recommending that the Ipswich River Watershed Association
reevaluate the criteria used in rating the communities.
The next meeting of the Water apd Sewer Advisory Committee is scheduled for October 20,
1999.
It was moved by Gerry MacDonald, seconded by Bob Salter and approved by a vote of 4-0 to
adjourn the meeting at 11:OOpm.
Minutes - WSA C September 29, 1999.doc
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