REGULAR MEETING    Tuesday, JULY 22nd, 2008

EAST LYME WATER & SEWER COMMISSION

MINUTES

The East Lyme Water & Sewer Commission held a Regular Meeting on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at the East Lyme Town Hall, 108 Pennsylvania Avenue, Niantic CT. Chairman Formica called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:04 PM.

PRESENT:                 Paul Formica, Chairman, Dave Zoller, Roger Spencer, Mary Cahill, Dave Bond, Dave Murphy, Steve DiGiovanna

ALSO PRESENT:       Brad Kargl, Municipal Utility Engineer

                                 Michael Giannattasio, Director of Public Works

ABSENT:                   Joe Mingo

1.       Call to Order

Chairman Formica called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM and led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2.       Approval of Minutes

à    Regular Meeting Minutes – June 24, 2008

Mr. Formica called for discussion or any corrections to the Regular Meeting Minutes of June 24, 2008.

Mr. Bond asked that on Page 3 where he is speaking in the sixth paragraph down on the page that the statement is changed to read: ‘Mr. Bond vehemently disagreed with the $13,000 assessment and felt that $10,000 was a fair number. He said that he went through the Court system and lost and does not agree with a $13,000 assessment.’

**MOTION (1)

Mr. Zoller moved to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of June 24, 2008 of the Water & Sewer Commission as amended.

Ms. Cahill seconded the motion.

Vote:  5 – 0 – 1.  Motion passed.

Abstained:  Mr. Spencer

(Note:  7:10 PM - Mr. DiGiovanna arrived and was seated.)

3.       Delegations

Mr. Formica called for anyone who wished to speak under delegations.

There were no delegations.

4.       Approval of Bills

¨       S.B. Church - Invoice #106 - $4,127.00

**MOTION (2)

Mr. Zoller moved to approve payment of the S.B. Church Invoice #106 in the amount of $4,127.00.

Mr. DiGiovanna seconded the motion.

Vote:  7 – 0 – 0.  Motion passed.

¨       S.B. Church - Invoice #120 - $7,974.00

**MOTION (3)

Ms. Cahill moved to approve payment of the S.B. Church Invoice #120 in the amount of $7,974.00.

Mr. Zoller seconded the motion.

Vote:  7 – 0 – 0.  Motion passed.

¨       Infrastructure Technologies, Inc. - Invoice #2K8-0116 - $480.00

**MOTION (4)

Mr. Zoller moved to approve payment of the Infrastructure Technologies, Inc. Invoice #2K8-0116 in the amount of $480.00.

Mr. DiGiovanna seconded the motion.

Vote:  7 – 0 – 0.  Motion passed.

5.       Pine Grove Certificate of Substantial Completion – Contract 2

Mr. Kargl explained this certificate and the punch list that was attached to it, noting that most of the items listed have been completed.

**MOTION (5)

Mr. DiGiovanna moved to authorize the Chairman to sign the Certificate of Substantial Completion for the Pine Grove Sewer Extension Contract 2.

Mr. Murphy seconded the motion.

Vote:  7 – 0 – 0.  Motion passed.

6.       Radio Communications Upgrades – Boston Post Road Tank

Mr. Formica explained that he attended a meeting on this with Mr. Giannattasio and Mr. Kargl and that pictures were included in their folders depicting the location of the items necessary for this upgrade.

Mr. Bond asked if they would tie into the power line.

Mr. Giannattasio said no and explained that what they are essentially using is the height of the tank.

Mr. Spencer asked if the building and the ice bridge were too close to the tank and if they could get around the tank with them there.

Mr. Kargl said that was a concern of his also however it does not appear to be a problem although he will keep watch on that. They can get around the tank as they had trucks going around it from one side and the other. He said that they would also look at the ice bridge being higher than 9’. 

7.       Water and Sewer Bill Adjustment Requests

There were none.

8.       Communications

à         See Correspondence Log

Mr. Kargl noted that they had an interesting letter from a resident about the hydrant flushing in light of the request for water conservation who asked if there was a way to utilize that water rather than flushing it away.

Mr. Murphy noted that it seems that the lawyers have been talking regarding the East Lyme and Point O’ Woods agreement.

Mr. Kargl said that agreement has been executed.

9.       S.B. Church Proposal for Test Wells

Mr. Giannattasio explained that it is their intent to temporarily finance water exploration on DOC land that the DOC is considering giving to the Town for eventual Parks & Recreation use. There is no project entertained at this time for this area however they are looking to see if there is water there that might be able to support a project.

Mr. Formica said that it could be a dog park or could possibly have the potential for fields down the road however; they need to know if there is water there to be able to support whatever should happen there as they will not use Town water. The area would have to use its’ own well.

Mr. Bond asked the size of the area that they are talking about.

Mr. Kargl said that it is 22 acres.

10.   Status of Water conservation and Water Supply Emergency Response Measures

Mr. Formica recapped that they started a few weeks ago to bring notice to them and the people about the annual water problems that they seem to face when the population swells in the summer. The purpose was to raise awareness of what has been going on. Wells 5 and 6 has to be turned off due to the stream flow. The Board of Selectmen at their meeting authorized him to act subject to a Public Hearing that was conducted the previous evening. The Public Hearing had a room full of people where it was explained that while they have plenty of water in the aquifers, the stream flow is what shuts them off from using it and it is the DEP who regulates that stream flow. He noted that they did get bonding for the other wells that they are working on and that the rate was 1.66%. He said that they decided this morning to implement the water conservation measures and presented a graph of water usage that is also on the website. The first part of this water conservation will take place on the weekends and commence on Fridays at 9 AM and end on Mondays at Noon.

Mr. DiGiovanna asked if the pumps are all running for 24 hours straight.

Mr. Kargl said yes and explained the peak demand numbers for last year and this year and noted that those for this year (3.5M) reached an all time high number and they had to turn on Well 5 to maintain adequate pressure. Then on Sunday they also turned on Well 6 so that they would be able to handle any water emergencies in the event of a fire. Both of those wells are off now however they are requesting thru the State to be able to operate Wells 5 and 6 on weekends when mandatory efforts are in place when they need to. He noted that the wells need to have the opportunity to rest so they need to be able to ask the State to run Wells 5 and 6 to give the others a few hours rest.

Mr. Bond asked if they would be penalized for turning the two wells on over the weekend and if so, what the penalty for doing that is.

Mr. Formica and Mr. Kargl said that the safety of the public is first and that will be part of the further discussion that they will have with the State on this matter.

Mr. Murphy noted that their biggest customer is the Dept. of Corrections (DOC) and asked if they help to reduce their usage.

Mr. Formica said that he has quarterly meetings with them and that the DEP takes the approach that the DOC is a water customer of East Lyme and that they can be asked to conserve water and they seem to be very cooperative.

Ms. Cahill asked how long this would be in effect.

Mr. Formica said that it is for weekends only at this point and that they have tried to have the least effect on people while still trying to effect conservation measures. It is the stream flow that needs to rise and it is supposed to rain in the near future so they will play it by ear.

Mr. DiGiovanna recalled that it is written somewhere that they as the Water & Sewer entity are allowed to make the call regarding running the wells where public safety is concerned and that they should not be penalized for making that call.   

11.   Water Supply Improvement Project Updates

a.  Well 5 Draft Diversion Permit

This was discussed previously.

b.  Replacement Well 2A

Mr. Kargl reported that they are waiting for the proposal to come back from Pettini.

c.  Replacement Well 3B

Mr. Kargl reported that the well site approval had to do with soil exploration and that this is at the DPH waiting for approval.

d.  Regional Interconnection

Mr. Kargl reported that efforts are continuing with this.

Mr. Formica said that he has met with a number of people trying to get this done and that they have also asked for $2.5M in Federal funding to help accomplish this.

e.  Darrow Pond

Mr. Formica reported that this could be a short term emergency solution and that he is in talks with them and will know more for their next meeting.

f.  System-wide Chlorine Disinfection

Mr. Formica noted that this runs parallel with the regional interconnection and suggested that Maguire Group update them on this at their next meeting.

g.  Level A Mapping

Mr. Kargl said that Maguire Group could also cover this at their August meeting.

12.   Chairman’s Report

Mr. Formica reported that he met on regional issues and spoke with the public on all of it and that he and Mr. Kargl also taped a cable show. He said that he also signed up for the Clean Energy Fund to be able to get some energy savings. At the public hearing he asked for volunteers to let the public know about the Town-wide conservation measures. He lastly reported that the Spinnaker pump station is almost ready for them to address.

13.   Staff Updates

a.   Conservation Measures

This was previously discussed.

b.   O & M Building Renovation

Mr. Giannattasio said that there was nothing new to report here.

c.   Point O’ Woods Sewer Connection

There was no discussion.

d.   Pine Grove Sewer Extension Project

There was no discussion.

e.  Orchard’s Subdivision

There was no discussion.

f.   Boston Post Road Tank Painting Project

There was no discussion.

g.   Crossley Court Sewer Extension

There was no discussion.

h.   Saunders Point Sewer Extension

¨       Updated Survey Results

Mr. Kargl said that they did updated surveys and that Mr. Schutt worked with the people to get a better response rate. They mailed 266 surveys; 188 were returned with 143 of the 188 being in favor of sewers which is about 67% of the 188 that were returned or 54% of the 266 that were originally mailed. He said that they would next need to get a proposal on the feasibility.

i.    Darrow Pond Project

This was previously discussed.

j.   Camp Rell Readiness Center

There was no discussion.

k.  Maguire Group Monthly Status Report

Mr. Kargl noted that this was in their packets.

l.   Water Department Monthly Report

Mr. Kargl noted that this was in their packets and previously discussed.

m.   Sewer Department Monthly Report

Mr. Kargl noted that this was in their packets.

n.  Regionalization Issues  

This was previously discussed.

o.   Rates/Capital Improvement Plan

There was no discussion.

p.   Tri-Town Wastewater Capacity

¨       Treatment Plant Capacity Study Bid Results

Mr. Kargl reported that the bids were in their packets and that the Tri-Town group will have to set up a meeting to go over them.

Mr. Formica said that Mr. Murphy, their representative to the SE CT Regional Water Authority had recently attended a regional water meeting and asked if he would report on it.

Mr. Murphy said that a Regional Water Authority meeting was held on July 17 and that some of the Towns were looking at a 4% rate increase due to the higher cost of energy and that many people are having trouble paying their bills now without the increase. The stream levels were a hot topic along with having the DEP in charge of those levels which they felt could pose a problem for the reservoir systems. They also discussed a desalination plant at Camp Rell. Their next meeting will be a joint one with COG.

14.   New Business

There was none.

15.   ADJOURNMENT

**MOTION (6)

Mr. DiGiovanna moved to adjourn the July 22, 2008 Regular Meeting of the East Lyme Water & Sewer Commission at 8:10 PM.

Mr. Spencer seconded the motion.

Vote:  7 – 0 – 0.  Motion passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Zmitruk,

Recording Secretary