===PAGE 1=== Minutes of 3/21/23 Sewer Commission meeting– via Zoom (Video Conference) Attendees: Chair- John Reynolds, Vice-Chair- Brett Ramsden, Member: Dave MacDonald and DPW Director- Bill Bernard, Business Manager-Paula Bertram, Minutes Clerk- Jane Ranley Absent: Clerk- Mike Deveikis and Mike Nault John opened the meeting at 6:08 pm. and did a roll call of attendees. The Commission began the meeting by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENT- Dave thanked Barbara for all her years at the Sewer Commission. He congratulated Paula for her first meeting as Sewer Business Manager and wished her the best of luck. John and Brett agreed. ANNOUNCEMENTS – Dave announced they have an opening on the Sewer Commission and the Town Caucus will be on 3/27 at 7pm. He encouraged anyone interested in joining the Commission or any other town openings to attend. Brett will also be nominated for another 3-year term. CURRENT BUSINESS - State earmark request – Paula reported the ARPA money remains unknown; it appears unlikely they will get the money they have requested. Instead they have put in an earmark request for $200K for sewer manhole repairs and $300K for sewer pump station upgrades. The request has been submitted to the Town Manager. FY24 Budget discussion- Paula screen-shared the FY24 budget draft. Revenues are estimated at approximately $1.2 Million. Payroll - $90, 965 (decrease due to a change in personnel), Purchase of Service - $86,086, Utilities- $46,700, Other departmental expenses - $920,617 (Capital costs for Leominster debt service and John Fitch improvements, as well as Usage fees), Indirect costs - $90,920 (decrease due to personnel change). Deficit for Revenue vs Expense -$218,690, Deficit for Debt service vs Betterments - $163,406, Transfers to Stabilization- Capital Reserve-$36,621 and Reserve Capacity - $8,000 and Transfer to OPEB- $1,000. Projected Retained Earnings appropriation would be $427,718. Paula said they knew it would be a difficult year but it would level off eventually. Dave added they have had projections worse than that and noted Retained Earnings will start to go up after FY25. He is more concerned about a decrease in new permits until interest rates improve. Paula noted they are basing Connection fees on last year’s number of 6 connections, but she has seen a big decrease in final reads and new connections. They have received $8,674.18 in penalties in FY23 and have budgeted $10,300 for FY24. The Commission discussed the budget for FY24 and Dave suggested looking once a month at a snapshot of the budget. John will add it to the agenda for next meeting. The Commission discussed the FinCom presentation, which was screen-shared. They discussed the slide for IMA debt services and Paula will update the FY24 figure. John noted the Select Board decided to remove water & sewer from ARPA funds at the 1/31 meeting but it may not be their final decision. Dave asked Bill if manholes fall under sewer or roads and Bill replied that Chapter 90 money covers drainage manhole covers, but he will check if Chapter 90 covers sewer manholes. Town Meeting articles – 3 standard articles Motion: Dave M. Second: Brett R. To accept the articles for this town meeting as written. Roll Call Vote: Dave-aye, Brett-aye and John-aye. Paula noted she will plug in the figure for Article 1. RFP-O&M Contract for Pumping Stations- Paula sent the Commissioners a draft and will need to have a contract in place for 7/1. John stated they will need to look at the contract to see if they have any changes and discuss it at the next meeting. Dave suggested asking Bill for recommendations. Paula noted the RFP will need to go out to bid but there are some changes that need to be done first. John asked Paula to send a reminder to all Commissioners to review it. Dave asked Bill if he heard anything from CTE about the new contract and Bill replied he had not. Business Manager- John noted Paula accepted the Business Manager position and all Commissioners need to go to the DPW to sign the form giving Paula signature authority for processing Purchase Orders and Accounts Payable. Assistant Business Manager position- Paula reported they have had 5 applicants. She and Bill will review them and decide who to interview. The position is covered in the FY24 budget. Paula and Bill will be doing the interviews. Clerical position – Dave suggested opening up a scope of work for a clerical position but they do not need to hire someone now. Paula noted a clerk will be under the clerical union. Dave suggested taking the same scope as the ===PAGE 2=== Assistant but delete some things. Bill and Paula will work on it. Paula pointed out that Jane works as a minutes clerk for up to 12.5 hours/month. John will add the discussion on a future agenda. Grease Trap accounts status- Paula reported John and Bill attended Il Forno’s interceptor cleaning on 2/17. John said he expected there would be more sediment. Paula received the report, which showed FOG at 15% after 8 weeks. They decided to let Il Forno go back to pumping every 3 months but monitor the FOG level. Historically, their FOG level has been 25-30% after 3 months. A&D Crossroads – Paula noted they had started the non-compliance process, because they received an incomplete report. On 3/1, they sent an invoice of $2,525 for 99 days of non- compliance but the invoice has not been paid. A&D is now in compliance and Paula asked how much the Commission wants to pursue the payment of the invoice. John suggested they could come to a meeting to discuss it. Paula noted the 1st invoice of $2,057 was sent at the end of January, the 2nd sent on 2/14 for $2400 and the 3rd on 3/1 for $2,525. She sent them via regular and certified mail but received no responses. The only option now is to contact the Board of Health to pull their food permits, but that would effect Ixtapa and Darios. The Commission discussed contacting Board of Health, pulling permits and attaching a lien if not paid. Paula noted the business owners were also sent copies of the notices. The pumping company said they pumped the system on 9/28 and the FOG was at 25%. Dave suggested filing a pre-lien and send a copy to the businesses. If the owner has a problem with the bill, he can meet with the Commission. Paula will talk to the Tax Collector and Town Counsel if needed. Brett agreed and John will add it to the next agenda. 1st Tuesday reports- Paula reported all are in on time and Conrad’s is currently not open. Minutes of 2/28 meeting Motion: Dave M. Second: Brett R. To accept the minutes from 2/28. Roll Call Vote: Brett-aye, Dave-aye and John-aye. Business Manager Report – Wright pierce- Paula reported the contract for general engineering services was executed on 3/2/23. She asked Ken Olsen to look at the IMA and forward any thoughts he had but she has not heard back from him yet. Town Caucus – 3/27 – Brett is up for re-election. Mike Deveikis is not running again, so there is an opening. Mass Homeowners Assistance – Paula was contacted by the contractor administrating the program. She found out that homeowners are eligible for up to $50K of assistance, which can be used for water and sewer bills. Anyone interested can go to Mass.gov and search for the Homeowner Assistance Fund to file an application. As of 3/9, they had accepted 17 applications from Lunenburg. John suggested adding an insert in the May 1st billing and all agreed. Fluid Conservation- Paula & Bill met with representatives of FR Mahoney and Fluid Conservation Systems, who have developed a technology to identify I/I (Inflow/Infiltration) issues. They demonstrated a digital float sensor that allows the float to monitor the levels within the manhole. Paula screen-shared an information sheet on the SpilllSens product. It is portable and the cost is $2K. At present there is $9,900 in the FY23 budget to spend on I/IBill added it will tell when water is rising and they could use it to pinpoint where the I/I is coming in from. Commission discussed the product and agreed it is worth further discussion. Dave said they should decide where they would use it and they would not want to buy something if they are not going to use it, such as the SKADA system. Bill & Paula will talk to Al about it. Invoices- Mead, Talerman- $756 (1/30-2/17 for Wright Pierce contract, public hearings, policies & regulations) and Fitchburg Usage- $19,383.93. John will come in to sign. Action Items- Dave asked if they will be continuing Zoom meetings and Paula replied it is due to expire 3/31, but the state has not made a decision yet. Public Comment – Dave noted Todd Dwyer just resigned from the Select Board and he thanked him for his service. There will be 2 openings now for the Select Board. UPCOMING SCHEDULED SEWER COMMISSION ACTIVITIES: March 23, 2023 @ 7:30pm – FinCom Presentation, Town Hall, 17 Main Street March 27, 2023 @ 7pm – Town Caucus, Middle/High School Auditorium, 1079 Mass Ave ===PAGE 3=== March 28, 2023 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation April 11, 2023 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation Motion: Dave M. Second: Brett R. To adjourn at 7:24 pm. Roll Call Vote: Dave-aye, Brett-aye and John-aye. Respectfully submitted, Jane L. Ranley Minutes Clerk Handouts: The following items were screen-shared: FY24 Budget draft FY24 FinCom Presentation SpillSens information sheet