Minutes of 8/27/24 Sewer Commission meeting– via Zoom (Video Conference) Attendees: Chair- John Reynolds, Vice-Chair- Brett Ramsden, Clerk- Mike Mackin, DPW Director- Bill Bernard, Business Manager-Paula Bertram, Minutes Clerk- Jane Ranley John opened the meeting at 6:01pm. and did a roll call of attendees. The Commission began the meeting by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENT- Mike wished Paula the best of luck and said she will be sorely missed. Brett stated he appreciated all the changes she has made and the time she has put in. Bill added that he has enjoyed working with Paula and she has gone above and beyond to make sure he can succeed in keeping the Sewer Dept. running. ANNOUNCEMENTS – none. CURRENT BUSINESS - --Minutes of 8/13/24- Motion: Mike M. Second: Brett R. To adopt the minutes of 8/13/24. Roll call vote: Mike M.-aye, Brett-aye and John-aye. --Assistant Business Manager Position- John reported that they just made an offer to a candidate for Business Manager and she accepted. The Assistant Business Manager job is still posted, but he was a little concerned about having 2 new people start at one time. Bill noted they have a few candidates but will not set up any interviews until they have the new business manager in place and can get her input too. Also if a Commissioner wants to sit in on the interviews, they are welcome. Brett suggested if find a good person for Assistant they may not want to lose them and there could be some advantages in starting together. Paula suggested the new manager should come on board first and get her input as to whether she wants to bring on an assistant or get adjusted first. --Mailing for Recruitment of Sewer Commission Volunteers- Paula said the mailing will be going to all sewer district customers—a total of 751 non-business customers. She will print the letters and mail them. The postage cost will be $500. Brett said it is good coming from the Town Manager’s office. John asked to note in the letter that the Commission can only approve an extension within the Sewer Service Area. Paula added that it will also be put on Facebook. Mike said he would write a letter to the Ledger editor, if authorized. Motion: Brett R. Second: Mike M. To have Mike Mackin write a letter to the Ledger editor about filing Sewer Commission positions. Roll call vote: Brett-aye, Mike M.-aye, and John-aye. Motion: Brett R. Second: Mike M. To approve the Town Manager sending a letter to sewer customers for vacant openings. Discussion: The Commission agreed to not send the letter to those customers in arrears. Roll call vote: Brett-aye, Mike M.-aye, and John-aye. --Potential Special Town Meeting Articles- Paula said that depending on what their situation is when FY24 is closed, they may need to make adjustments if there is a surplus or deficit. She has put together potential generic articles and they need to be summited before the warrant closes. Motion: Mike M. Second: Brett R. To approve the submission of articles to adjust the FY24 budget as needed at the close of the year. Roll call vote: Brett-aye, Mike M.-aye, and John-aye. --Commission Future-Brett asked if they don’t have a quorum, how do they function moving forward? John replied that Mike and Brett will still be Sewer Commissioners and hopefully Bill and the new business manager will keep them updated on what is going on with the sewer. Mike asked whether they will be able to sign documents needed to continue business. Paula replied that without a quorum, they cannot meet. The office can continue business but they will need to get someone before November, so they can sign the billing commitment and to assess Privilege fees. The IFB will be awarded by the procurement officer and Bill but no extensions can be approved. Paula added that there will not be financial commitments to sign until November. John suggested having the Town reach out to a previous Commissioner to serve temporarily until a new Commissioner is found and he will talk to Carter Terenzini. --Line Repairs- Mass 1 –Paula sent out last year’s estimate from CTE for the line repairs. She had budgeted $70K for FY25, but now estimates it will be higher. This repair is for the suction lines at Mass 1 station. The contractor cost is $64,625 and she estimates around $8K for pumping. They will keep one pump going while repairing the other side. Bill estimated the work will take 3-4 days per side, with pumping may be as needed. Motion: Mike M. Second: Brett R. To accept the estimate from CTE, dated 3/5/24 (estimate # 3278) for the repair of the lines at Mass 1 at $64,625 plus an additional up to $8,000 for pumping. Roll call vote: Brett-aye, Mike M.-aye, and John-aye. --FY25 Budget Adjustments- Paula screen-shared the revised FY25 budget and noted that the Betterment income is down $18K from the estimated amount. She decreased the Consulting Services line to $7,300 from $14K and increased the Utilities line item due to the increase from Unitil. She also made some decreases to Legal, Capital expenditures and Engineering. Increases were made to Office Expenses for Postage and Connection Fees. Total expenditures and revenues have gone done but the bottom line stays the same. Motion: Brett R. Second: Mike M. To authorize the line item transfers on the FY25 budget. Discussion: Bill recommends the transfers so they will have the budget correct for the new manager. Paula added that was why she wanted to do this now. Roll call vote: Mike M.-aye, Brett-aye and John-aye. --Business Manager Report – I. Grease Trap Update – Paula drafted all the internal and external grease trap renewals. In regard to non-compliance, the Commission has a $100 fine for non-compliance. Right now Kindred Spirits is non-compliant for missing a couple 1st Tuesday reports. In regard to external pumpings, Wind River is not using our form and their reports are missing measurements on sludge and grease. Other than that everyone is compliant. Paula asked the Commission if they want to impose the fines. She noted that in the past they sent reminders, but she has not been able to do it lately because she was consumed with billing. The Commission discussed this. Motion: Mike M. Second: Brett R. To impose the fine of $100 to Kindred Spirits for non-compliance in FY24. Roll call vote: Brett-aye, Mike M.-aye, and John-aye. ii. Review of all Ongoing Projects- Paula sent the Commissioners a list of things she has been working on and stated that it is imperative that the IFB goes out. Bill said that Carter has talked to Julie and he will do everything he can to get it out. She stressed that they need to develop an Emergency Response Plan. The NPDES permit went into effect 3/1/24 and they need to do an adaptation plan, along with updating the Operation & Maintenance Plan. She noted that they have already budgeted for the repair at Dana St. and that work should go forward. Energy grant: Paula said they were told the Dana St. project could potentially qualify so she emailed the Green Communities Committee to ask them to add this to their grant request. There are also a lot of files to clean up and reorganize. Paula added that she will be coming back to help the new manager get off the ground. John asked where they stand with CTE and Paula replied they have been renewed through to August 2025. Bill asked Julie to send out the extension letter. They can renew the contract up to 3 years without going out to bid. John noted that they should look into state revolving funds for capital funds plans. Paula will note that and added that Wade (CTE) said there are a number of generators approaching their end of life and will need to be replaced. Replacing generators would be an excellent project for state revolving funds. Bill reported that the Verizon line may be fixed. iii. FY24 Budget Overview – Paula stated that the FY24 budget has not closed yet but she believes there may be a surplus because a lot of betterments were paid after homes were sold. PUBLIC COMMENT – Paula thanked John for his service, guidance and willingness to step forward to help. Mike noted that one thing that will be missed is John’s depth of experience, knowledge and history of the Commission. Brett said John will be missed and thanked him for his input and professionalism in handling the Commission. He hopes to get him back when he is able. Bill said it has been a pleasure to work with him and noted how involved he has been –even to come out at midnight to help him chase a spill. UPCOMING SCHEDULED SEWER COMMISSION ACTIVITIES: September 10, 2024 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation September 24, 2024 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation October 8, 2024 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation October 29, 2024 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Remote Participation Motion: Brett R. Second: Mike M. To adjourn at 7:07pm Roll call vote: Brett-aye, Mike M.-aye, and John-aye. Respectfully submitted, Jane L. Ranley Minutes Clerk