Sewer Commission, April 28, 2020

The town has published neither minutes nor an agenda for this meeting. The recording is the only record, and what follows is a guide to it.

budgetcontracts and unionsfeeslegalpublic commenttown departmentswater sewer

Present: David Gallo (chair, remote); Michael Knight (member, remote); Carl (mr. Luck) (member, remote); John Reynolds (member, remote); Barb (business manager, remote); Jack (DPW director, remote); Jane (minutes taker, remote). Names are the caption model’s hearing and may be wrong.

Votes

1. ▶ 41:39Postpone discussion of the generator RFP until the next meeting. — moved by Mike, as heardnot audible
2. ▶ 1:28:16Accept the FY21 budget with a 10% increase. — moved by Mike, as heardnot audible
3. ▶ 1:48:39Postpone the due date for irrigation meter changeover to September 1st.not audible

And 3 procedural: accept the minutes from the earlier meeting with the changes discussed. (▶ 1:55:22); approve the minutes of april 14 with the correction. (▶ 1:57:12); adjourn the april 28th sewer commission meeting. (▶ 2:11:29).

The money

1. ▶ 52:09Pump station maintenance and infrastructure lines

   Jack asked whether the commission agreed with the figures for pump station maintenance and infrastructure; Barb said the sheet showed the pump station contract, generator maintenance and grounds lines adding up.

   as heard:a hundred and fifty thousand dollarsfifty thousand dollarsone hundred and thirty eight thousand dollars11,00050,000

2. ▶ 55:17FY21 budget summary with 10% rate increase

   Barb summarized expenses and revenues with the increase, a betterment debt service deficit, and the amount drawn from retained earnings with and without an increase.

   as heard:million 46a million 96one ninety three thousand1:44231

3. ▶ 59:15Effect of 10% increase on users

   Members discussed what the increase would mean per customer, noting many minimum-charge users and large commercial users make the average unreliable.

   as heard:87,000126 for a thousand115 now per thousand$80,000$100

4. ▶ 1:06:24Leominster outflow charges not in budget

   Carl argued that the budget carries nothing for Leominster outflow charges.

   as heard:150 to 180 thousand dollarshundred eighty thousand dollar$160,000

5. ▶ 1:20:22Fitchburg and I&I budget

   Carl noted additional Fitchburg costs and that the infiltration and inflow line was cut.

   as heard:another fifty thousand dollars a yearover two hundred thousand dollars$50,000 to ten thousand

6. ▶ 1:43:20Irrigation meter fee

   Barb proposed invoicing irrigation meter participants by mail merge for the fee since the billing system had failed to apply it; the revenue is budgeted for FY21.

   as heard:$50 fee

7. ▶ 2:01:51Woodard and Curran invoice

   An invoice for work through March 27 was presented, with a balance remaining on the contract.

   as heard:4,000 $14.8024,000

8. ▶ 2:02:13Fitchburg flow invoice

   An invoice for the period through end of March was low because of little precipitation and restaurant closures.

   as heard:ten thousand eight hundred sixty-five

9. ▶ 33:25Parts markup in the maintenance RFP

   Members disagreed whether markup should differ above and below a threshold for materials.

   as heard:a thousand dollarstwenty percent markup on a $10,000 pump$2,000

Settled without a vote

• ▶ 38:34The commission agreed to send the pump station maintenance RFP out as written, with the markup sheet, after wording additions such as a simulated power failure generator test.
• ▶ 46:30Barb will send a letter or email to Heather the next day asking counsel about the commission's rights against small water and the next step.
• ▶ 50:04FY21 budget to be presented at Thursday night's meeting; Barb and Heather to review the budget the next day.
• ▶ 1:41:58Barb will correct the 1170 Mass Ave agreement language on connection and betterment and return it to counsel before a vote.
• ▶ 1:44:00Barb will mail-merge invoice irrigation meter participants for the fee.
• ▶ 2:01:04Next meeting set for May 12 at 4 p.m., remote.

Documents and exhibits

State law asks minutes to list the documents and exhibits used at a meeting (M.G.L. c.30A §22(a)). Names from the recording are the caption model’s hearing; the two sides are matched by name, by script, so a document named two different ways can be missed. A place to look, not a finding.

Public comment

1. ▶ 6:50Chair called for public comment; no comment was offered.

Where the time went

Minutes of recording by subject, from the topic spans below. A topic with two subjects counts toward both.

• water sewer100 min · 76%
• fees51 min · 39%
• budget45 min · 34%
• contracts and unions43 min · 33%
• legal18 min · 14%
• public comment3 min · 2%

The whole meeting, in order

1. ▶ 0:25Opening, roll call, remote meeting noticeinformational · 3:55 long
2. ▶ 4:21Announcements and public commentinformational · 2:51 long · fees, public comment
3. ▶ 7:13Pump station maintenance RFP finalization, hours, generators, markupsagreed to send out as written · 33:27 long · contracts and unions, water sewer
4. ▶ 40:41Generator RFPtabled to next meeting · 1:59 long · contracts and unions, water sewer
5. ▶ 42:41Small water contract termination and legal noticeletter to counsel via business manager · 7:19 long · legal, contracts and unions
6. ▶ 50:01FY21 sewer budget and rate increasemotion for 10% increase made and seconded; count not audible · 38:59 long · budget, fees, water sewer
7. ▶ 1:29:01Presentation messaging and Leominster disputeinformational · 2:49 long · budget, water sewer
8. ▶ 1:31:511170 Mass Ave memorandum of agreementrevisions to follow, return for vote · 10:59 long · legal, water sewer
9. ▶ 1:42:51Irrigation meter fee and changeover deadline; billing project updatedeadline postponed to September 1 · 8:49 long · fees, water sewer
10. ▶ 1:52:02Approval of minutesvoted with corrections · 5:38 long
11. ▶ 1:57:41Next meeting date and formatMay 12 at 4 p.m. remote · 4:09 long
12. ▶ 2:01:51Invoices and business manager reportinformational · 2:49 long · budget, water sewer
13. ▶ 2:04:41Closing remarks and adjournmentadjourned · 7:39 long

What the captions could not carry

• Vote counts for all motions are garbled or only partly captioned.
• Several budget figures were rendered inconsistently by the captions.
• Some speaker roles are inferred from how they were addressed.

Reports this meeting suggests

Our reading of the discussion: questions where numbers were in play and a page laying them out would have helped. Every meeting’s suggestions are merged into one register.

• ▶ 55:17Sewer retained earningsHow much does the sewer budget draw from retained earnings with and without a rate increase?
• ▶ 1:06:24Leominster outflow chargesWhat will Leominster outflow charges cost the sewer fund and when do they start?
• ▶ 53:12Sewer pump contractWhat does the pump station maintenance contract cost and what does the RFP require?already answered: thread:sewer-pump-procurement

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