Minutes of 01/21/25 Sewer Commission meeting– via Zoom (Video Conference)
Attendees: Vice-Chair- Brett Ramsden, Clerk- Scott Dall, Member: Joe Hurley, DPW Director- Bill Bernard, Sewer Business Manager-Andrew Valliere, and Minutes Clerk- Jane Ranley
Absent: Chair- Mike Mackin and Eli Torres.
Brett opened the meeting at 6:26 pm. and did a roll call of attendees. The Commission began the meeting by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT- Brett welcomed Andrew and asked how he is enjoying the job.  Andrew replied there have been billing challenges, but he is happy to learn as he goes along. He added that everyone has been fantastic and supportive – especially Bill Bernard who has been guiding him along the way. 
ANNOUNCEMENTS- none
CURRENT BUSINESS - 
--Business Manager Position New Hire- Brett said again that they are happy to have Andrew on board.
--12 Kimball St.- Brett stated that they will need to vote to assess their Privilege Fee. Bill noted that they had voted on an extension previously to allow the property to attach and instead of a betterment charge, they are assessed a privilege fee for connection. Brett asked if they have agreed to pay the fee and Bill replied yes. They are already hooked up to sewer and this is just a formality. Scott asked if the Privilege Fee goes on as a lien and if the property was sold prior to paying it all, it would be settled at the time of sale. Bill replied that it was correct.  
Motion: Scott D.                                                                                                                           Second: Joe Hurley
To vote for the lien (Privilege Fee) on 12 Kimball St.               Roll Call Vote: Joe-aye, Scott-aye and Brett-aye.

--Fiscal Year 2026 Budget- Bill screen-shared the spreadsheet for the FY26 budget and reviewed the line items. Andrew’s and the Assistant Manager salaries are based on FY25 numbers.  He noted that they paid overtime when Mass 1 was being repaired. Expenses – the largest amount is paid to Leominster and Fitchburg for sewage disposal. Bill stated that he level funded most items, with a few modest increases. Purchase of Service – Outsourcing - CTE contract is listed at $148K and an additional $90K covers other work such as line jetting. The Transfer to Stabilization Fund is 10% of any surplus. Capital plan – Bill noted that the Commission had a lot of discussion on the 10 year Capital Plan that Paula put together. In FY25. They put in $368K for Capital as there was a lot that needed to be done. Scott asked if the lower number for FY26 was because they do not have a big project planned. Bill replied in FY25, they budgeted $172K for work at Dana St. station plus other repairs to total $368K, but in FY26, they are just budgeting $80K for a generator at Twin City station and $10K for spare pumps. Bill bumped it up to $125K for FY26 to be safe.  The next project is Dana St., which they have money from FY25 to do the project in FY26. Scott asked if this would be a good time to have CTE check the cut-offs at the other stations. Bill agreed they could do that and take money from Retained Earnings.  He noted that whatever is not spent, will go back to Retained Earnings. The Commission discussed the figure of $125K for Capital, noting the repair to Mass 1 was about $140K. Scott asked if the cost would double if a repair had to be done as an emergency and Bill said yes. Scott suggested bumping it up $20K. Bill noted the Leominster Rd. pipes are in much better condition and would not need to be done right now. The Commission agreed to bump the Capital Plan another $20K. The total proposed Expenses for FY26 would be $1.866 million. Bill shared the revenue spreadsheet and stated that he is not suggesting any rate increase. He added that they are expecting revenues of about $1.5 million but have a delinquency rate of 27%, so revenues would be lower.  Joe asked what happens when users do not pay, and Bill replied it goes on their tax bill. He suggests going to a Select Board meeting noting that only 75% are paying the bills. He added there are other fees collected, along with betterments paid off, which would add about $368K. They would make up the difference from Retained Earnings, from which they would need to take $300K. Bill stated that the debt service will be going away after FY29.  Fitchburg will go up 7% each year and Leominster will go up 3% next year, so Bill said they should be ok without going up on rates. 
Motion: Scott D.                                                                                                                                    Second: Joe H.
To accept the FY26 budget.                                                         Roll Call Vote: Joe-aye, Scott-aye and Brett-aye.

--Absent Members- Bill reported that he has no update on Eli Torres and Brett requested this be added to a future agenda. 
--DPW Director/Sewer Business Manager Updates
     i. 2nd Quarter Billing- Demands – Andrew reported that Paula came in to help and they got a lot done but were having a problem with calculating the correct $10 late fee. He has put in numerous tickets for support but is having a problem with getting help from Tyler for correcting this issue. There are 300 customers that owe for a total over $3,000. Bill noted there has been an issue with printing demands for over a year.  The town will be upgrading to the Munis cloud system and they have been more responsive to their requests. 
    ii. Assistant to Business Manager Position- Bill stated the position is still posted and they have not had any applicants for a while. 
   iii. Manhole Repair IFB – Bill reported the manhole repair was put out to bid and they have a low bidder- Insituform Technologies. He will reach out to them to get the ball rolling in the spring.
   iv. Line Repairs – Mass 1- Bill said this work is completed. They replaced the suction lines earlier this month and it went well. Bill added that the foreman thinks he can do Dana St. all at once which would save money. 

--Future agenda Items – updates on manhole repairs, 2nd quarter demands, Assistant to Business Manager. Bill will check if Kimball St. needs to be discussed one more meeting. 

PUBLIC COMMENT – Brett thanked the staff for keeping everything running.  

UPCOMING SCHEDULED SEWER COMMISSION ACTIVITIES:
January 28, 2025  @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Zoom Remote  
February 11, 2025 @ 7pm – Regular Meeting, Hybrid Meeting 
February 25, 2025 @ 6pm – Regular Meeting, Zoom Remote
March 11, 2025     @ 7 pm – Regular Meeting, Hybrid Meeting

Motion: Joe Hurley                                                                                                                   Second: Scott D.
To adjourn at 7:31pm.                                                       Roll Call Vote: Scott-aye, Joe-aye, and Brett-aye.

Respectfully submitted,

Jane L. Ranley
Minutes Clerk