===OCR macOS Vision===
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was not sewer specific. Jack looked at the plans and had one small design change. There is a public hearing on
2/11. Carl commented that if the Planning Board is doing a peer review by an engineer, they may be able to look at
the sewer too. The Commission will discuss this later.
PUBLIC COMMENT- none
CURRENT BUSINESS
FY20 Budget discussion and approval - Revenue - Barb received a new indirect cost sheet from Karen (Town
Treasurer) and she will be working with Karen on account numbers for the Purchase of Service line items. The
Commission reviewed the updated budget numbers and discussed the FY19 Q3 & Q4 numbers for user charges and
the Fitchburg and Leominster usage expense. Commission discussed the Capital Reserve Transfer and the
Reserve Capacity Stabilization Fund transfer to be done in October at the special town meeting and that it may be
used in FY20 with payments on the John Fitch Highway project. Payroll- Commission discussed the COLA (cost of
living) that the Business Manager may receive because she is at the top of her grade in the Salary Admin Plan. Joe
asked why the town is voting on an employee of the sewer enterprise fund. Heather replied that Barb's position is
non-union, and it is part of the salary plan. Purchase of service - John asked about the general consulting
services item. The Commission discussed and dropped the amount to $6,000. Jetting - Barb reported that Main
street is done every 6 months. The Commission discussed the camera'ing of sewer lines in response to issues.
Commission discussed looking for any duplication of services that the irrigation system upgrade might take care of
and adjusted for the manual meter readings that will no longer need to be done. Regarding Infrastructure costs,
Commission discussed cutting costs to avoid a rate increase and if faced with an emergency, could ask for transfer
from retained earnings at town meeting. I/l remediation - Commission is waiting for the 3r° party study to be done
and will decrease budget from $ 20,000 to $10,000. Outsourcing - the Commission discussed the Small Water
Service contract for pump station maintenance and made no change. Legal counsel- Commission discussed
calculating a fair hourly legal rate with Heather. In FY19, Commission agreed to give the town $5000 budgeted for
legal services. Heather added that the town would review the process periodically to make sure it still works and said
the average rate is $189/hour. Carl felt that this rate was not calculated properly and requested the average annual
rate paid by the town, not just the Sewer Commission for the past 12 months, be determined and used for any
adjustments in the future. Commission and Heather discussed the average hourly rate and legal costs in the past.
Commissioners agreed to give the legal budget of $5000 to the town for FY20 and Heather will ask Adam (Town
Counsel) for the total number of hours charged to the town. Pump station evaluation - Capital Plan - Commission
will keep a placeholder at $5,000 and discuss it later.
Utilities - Barb asked John Londa about the solar credits and he replied that the credits are given to larger users,
such as street lights and schools. He will find out what credits Sewer earns. Heather explained how credits from solar
are applied and suggested talking to Board of Selectmen. Commission discussed line items under Miscellaneous
and made no changes. Indirect costs - the Commission discussed the DPW director's job duties with Heather and
she said added that 15% of his time would be about 6 hours per week. Joe will be meeting with Jack to discuss the
actual hours he spends for the Sewer. Heather pointed out that IT support is not charged to Sewer. Commission
discussed the cost of $6,000 for office space and amount charged to other town groups. Commission discussed
getting the figures for the debt schedule, betterment income and increases in retained earnings. Barb will get the
revenue and cost figures discussed for the next meeting.
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sewer system. Joe and Carl suggested adding Sewer Commission as an exclusion. Heather will ask Adam if this
would conflict with the 'day-to-day operation, care and maintenance' language in the Sewer Commission section and
let Commissioners know his response. Carl suggested a motion, but all agreed to hear Adam's input first before
voting.
Elizabeth St Inflow/Infiltration (I/I) - Joe reported that Jack's cost estimate was a max of $20,000. The Commission
discussed finding which property owner is involved, Town Counsel's input that it may only result in a lien, the work to
be done and the cost to fix it. The Commission discussed the cost of that repair vs the gallons saved compared to the
savings with other repairs that could correct larger amounts of I/l for less money. Commission agreed to bypass the
Elizabeth Street I/l and look for more cost-effective repairs.
O&M Contract for the Lunenburg Sewer System for FY20 - Barb handed out the preliminary draft of the proposed
RFP for the Sewer System Operations & Maintenance (O&M) for their review for the next meeting. The 3-year
contract with Small Water Systems expires this July.
Commission tabled the rest of the agenda and adjourned.
Motion: John R.
To adjourn: 9:27pm
Second: Ryan S.
Vote: Unanimous
respectively submited,
Carly
Handouts
RFP for Small Water Systems