===PAGE 1=== Minutes of 7/11/23 Sewer Commission meeting– via Zoom (Video Conference) Attendees: Chair- John Reynolds, Vice-Chair- Brett Ramsden, Members: Dave MacDonald, DPW Director- Bill Bernard, Business Manager-Paula Bertram, Minutes Clerk- Jane Ranley Absent: Mike Nault John opened the meeting at 6:02 pm. and did a roll call of attendees. The Commission began the meeting by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENT- Dave said he wanted to send their prayers along to Jane for her husband’s speedy recovery and offered their help if needed. Jane thanked the Commission. Dave also noted there would be a Pancake breakfast at the Senior Center on 7/12. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none CURRENT BUSINESS - Minutes of 6/27/23 – John suggested moving them to the next meeting. Motion: Brett R. Second: Dave M. To move the 6/27/23 minutes to the next meeting. Roll Call Vote: Brett-aye, Dave-aye and John-aye. FY23 End of Year Commitment – Paula reported that since the 4th quarter billing went out, there have been bill adjustments of $656.87 and final reads of $2,297.95, for a total adjustment of $ 1,641.08. She asked the Commission for a vote on the adjustment and will send the Commissioners the Warrant as well as the Commitment to sign via DocuSign. Motion: Dave M. Second: Brett R. To approve the adjusted FY23 End of Year Commitment of $1,641.08. Roll Call Vote: Brett-aye, Dave-aye and John-aye. Grease Trap Permits- Internal/External Interceptors inspections & reporting – Paula asked the Commission to consider issuing a new form, due to the issue on Mass Ave and Al Packard’s concern about internal grease traps without interceptors. Many establishments simply initial the current form without providing any information except for 2 establishments that detail what they have done. The current form does not require details, so Paula created a new form, asking for a measurement of grease and details on exactly what was done. With the Commission’s approval, she would like to send it with the annual renewals that are going out soon. Paula screen shared the proposed Internal log and the current form. The Commission discussed the form and Dave asked who would be filling it out. Paula replied the establishment fills it out and noted that only one establishment uses a vendor for cleaning. Paula will send a sample and instructions with the renewal letters. Dave suggested being patient with establishments at first and asked if the Board of Health could get involved. The Commission discussed the new form and agreed to be a little lenient until establishments get used to it. Motion: Dave M. Second: Brett R. To accept the new Internal Log form with Paula’s suggestion to swap the Maintenance and Cleaning columns. Discussion: Dave asked how the establishment would know the grease trap model number. Paula said she could remove that line but John asked her to leave it in but not penalize if it is not filled out. Paula stated she is mainly looking for information in the highlighted areas. Roll Call Vote: Dave-aye, Brett-aye and John-aye. Dave asked about the recent grease blockage on Massachusetts Avenue and questioned if anything could have been caused by the construction at the old gas station. John said he and Paula looked at the system maps and the former gas station was bettered but not connected. Dave suggested running a camera there to see if the stub was broken or pipe broken. Bill replied if they had hit a pipe, there would be dirt or sand in the lines, so did not think any damage was done. Paula said Ratta found one of the lines on Mass. Ave. was completely blocked with grease. Bill noted they had to use the hose to hammer on it, to break up the grease and remove it. Paula and John have ===PAGE 2=== discussed doing inspections and reinstituting surprise audits. John suggested having the DPW inspect the first manhole down from each establishment that has an internal grease trap as a precaution. He is not concerned about those with external grease traps. Dave noted his company did an inspection in Shrewsbury and caught an establishment dumping grease into the floor drains, for which they were fined $10K. He added if they find violations, they need to fine them. Paula noted the grease blockage started near 1 Main Street and Bill said they jetted from that area all the way to the pump station. Brett confirmed there is only one restaurant in that area. John and Paula looked at the restaurant’s grease trap, but it did not appear to have a lot of grease in it. She is waiting for more information from the establishment. The restaurant and bank both go to a manhole on private property. Paula informed the Commission that according to the owner of Bad Larry’s the sewage was backing up into the restaurant and it was caused by both foreign objects and grease. John suggested getting the reports on how the line was serviced and have the DPW or Maintenance contractor look at the manhole. Paula said she wants to send a formal letter to the establishment, requesting the maintenance reports. Dave asked if the Town Hall was on that manhole and Bill said no, it goes to Oak Ave. Brett asked about the post office and Dave said he believed it goes down Mass Ave. John does not want to presume something needs to be fixed and just wants to investigate. The Commission agreed to have the DPW look at the manhole and have Paula send the formal letter. Brett suggested cameraing the line and Bill said they may need the property owner’s permission to do that. Bill added if there is a break on private property, they will have to fix it. Paula stated Mr. Arcidi is the property owner and she will look into it with Bill. John will add it to a future agenda for discussion. Annual Permit Fees – Paula stated the Commission adopted regulations on 2/28/23 that set the annual permit fee for both internal & external traps at $150, which is significantly less than prior permit fees. She added that during Covid, they waived the fees but would like to confirm they want to implement the $150 permit fee this year. Dave suggested waiting until there is a full board to decide. Paula replied the current permits would continue and they can table the discussion to later. She also pointed out they used to implement non-compliance fees and the new regulations state there is an automatic $100 non-compliance fine. Continued non-compliance would be $25/day of violation-the initialnon-compliance of $50 has been eliminated in the new regulations. Paula stated there is one establishment which is late all the time and she would like to discuss at a later meeting whether to implement the $100 fee. Paula will send out the new and old regs. Brett suggested adding it on the July 25th meeting agenda and all agreed. Oil Water Separators- Paula noted this was a new regulation implemented on 2/28/23 and is new to establishments. They will need to submit a completed separator service report within 30 days, need to clean it twice per year and pay an annual fee of $150. Non-compliance would be the automatic fine of $100 plus $25/day of non-compliance. Barb had noted 3 Oil Water Separators in town – Unitil, Whalom Wash, and Walmart—and had a question about the Mobil station Car Wash. Dave stated the car washes have to have an oil/water separator and suggested Paula contact the Plumbing Inspector. Paula will put together a new form and application for the Commission to review on the next agenda. Dave noted Walmart had a grease trap for oil changes, but Paula said Barb tried to research it and was unsuccessful. Dave suggested asking the Plumbing Inspector and John said they may need to do a site visit. Brett asked about Hannaford and Paula replied they have a regular grease trap, for which they submit interceptor reports. ARPA Funding- Dave noted the Select Board will discuss this at their 7/11 meeting, he added that Paula and John did a great presentation. IMA with Leominster- Paula reported Jake Fleming is thinking of meeting in the middle of August and would get back to her by the end of July. Dave asked if the engineers would be involved. Paula noted Wright Pierce is also working with Leominster. She added the Commission accepted a contract with Wright Pierce to look at the re- direction of flow and Dave asked to have them attend a meeting for discussion. Paula said Ken Olsen tentatively accepted for 7/25 and she will confirm. Dave suggested getting the wording right as to what they want to ask of Leominster, concerning new creative ideas for taking care of the pipes, which would be part of the IMA. Pond View Commons – John stated this is currently up to the lawyers and the Housing Authority. Joint meeting with Select Board- Scheduled for 7/18 at 7:30pm. Dave, Brett and John will attend in person. ===PAGE 3=== Business Manager Report – Update on System Maintenance & Upgrades- Paula reported she is trying to get the Liift tool (database) to work. This tool was purchased in 2020 and designed to determine areas of I&I. She said there are some issues with the data there is only 1 full quarter of data from CTE, more information is needed. Due to data integrity, currently it is showing a couple of the pump stations have significant I/I and her goal is to get a full year of data. John clarified the I&I would be in the lines leading up to the pump stations. Paula and Bill have also discussed doing more jetting, manhole repairs and infrastructure repairs during FY24. As long as the amount is under $50K, they can do it with 3 written quotes. FY23 Budget Status- Paula reported all the bills have been submitted but she cannot give an accurate figure because the Revenue is not up to date in Munis. She hopes to have the year-end figures by the first meeting in August. FY23 Encumbrances- Paula reported the figure has changed due to receiving some bills and the Encumbrance has been reduced to $36,616. She asked for a vote from the Commission to accept and the Commissioners can sign with Docu-Sign. Motion: Dave M. Second: Brett R. To approve the revised amount of $32,616 for the FY23 Encumbrances. Roll Call Vote: Brett-aye, Dave-aye and John-aye. PUBLIC COMMENT – Paula will be at 7/25 meeting but will not be attending the 8/8. UPCOMING SCHEDULED SEWER COMMISSION ACTIVITIES: July 25, 2023 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation August 8, 2023 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation August 29, 2023 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation September 12, 2023 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation Motion: Brett R. Second: Dave M. To adjourn at 7:06pm. Roll Call Vote: Brett-aye, Dave-aye and John-aye. Respectfully submitted, Jane L. Ranley Minutes Clerk Handouts: Paula screen-shared the current and new internal grease trap log forms