2026-08-05 - Water and Sewer Commission Meeting

Summary

The Charlton Water and Sewer Commission, chaired by Robert Coleman, opened the public forum with a well-sharing question from a resident of 100 Worcester Road, redirected to the Board of Health since wells fall outside the commission's jurisdiction; Vincent Masterson noted public water is accessible but not hooked up at the property. The board approved minutes, warrants ($17,781.96), and senior abatements ($1,345) by roll call (Paul Gagner, Emmanuel Asenso, Erik Grotton, Thomas Coleman, Robert Coleman).

Veolia's monthly operating report (delivered by Shane (Veolia)) covered wet-well cleaning at pump stations; a significant contamination problem at the Route 20 pump station, where roughly two feet of nip bottles were removed, traced to upstream commercial users (Amazon, the Mass Turnpike Authority flow meter, and Treehouse Brewery) — the commission directed a joint letter be drafted (Sue and the full commission, with town counsel review) warning that continued dumping could lead to camera investigation and cost recovery. Other operating items: a new grade-5 operator hired; UV disinfection is underperforming and the plant received DEP approval to supplement with chlorination while Trojan Technologies (rep "Manny") evaluates a system upgrade; Route 31 camera inspection found a badly deteriorated ductile iron pipe section under a culvert that may need emergency relining or replacement, coordinated with Chris McClure on a grant for the culvert; two of the plant's return pumps were rebuilt in-house, deferring a $22,000 replacement purchase; and the Veolia contract-operations agreement was noted to expire October 31, 2026. The board discussed combining a required 20%-of-system I&I inspection obligation (needing a state highway access permit for Route 31 traffic control) with tracing the nips source.

Under new business, Erik Grotton relayed Andrew Golas's recommendation (as town administrator/chief procurement officer) for a joint workshop with Chris McClure on correct RFP procurement process for the sewer operator contract; the commission agreed to poll availability and hold off on the RFP process pending the workshop. On staffing, Eric and Lynn Ashley reported interviewing candidates for the admin position and the board approved their hiring recommendation by roll call vote; the board also voted to reclassify the vacant foreman position to a water/sewer superintendent position, on Eric's observation that foreman-level candidates lacked the project-management skills needed.

Under old business, the board voted to waive tie-in fees for the Griffin Road water main extension for all properties with signed authorizations (resident Larry McPeck confirmed all abutters had signed on, engineering by McClure, and Southbridge's approval), reasoning the pipe is being privately funded. Matt Abraham, the sewer rate consultant retained in December, presented a deficit projection showing a surplus through 2027 turning into a projected $326,000 deficit the following year, growing to $800,000 by 2029, driven by rising operating costs without corresponding income growth; comparison to eight peer towns showed Charlton's average rate ($910/year) near the middle of the range ($695–$1,500). The chair considered a motion for a roughly 15% rate increase but tabled it pending confirmation of the board's authority to raise rates without a public hearing, board input via email, and clarity on the pending new contract-operator costs; the board agreed to revisit next month. Chris McClure gave a brief water-system status update (chloramine/storage-tank enhancement still awaiting state approval; the City Depot Road extension completed, bringing "unit 9" online). Vinnie's monthly project update covered a Bellingame Road sewer force-main break (excavation/repair by Russ Leammansky, reported to DEP as an SSO), an oil tank installation at North Main Street, the City Depot Road tie-in, and — most notably — an upcoming MassDEP fact-finding meeting on August 12, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. regarding non-compliance issues and staffing, which Veolia's attorney will attend and which the town (via Andrew Golas) has also arranged counsel for; Robert Coleman and Vinnie plan to attend. The meeting closed with a reminder to sign outstanding paperwork (held by Mary Dellin in the town administrator's office) needed to assess the mill's privilege fee, and adjourned by roll call vote. Next meeting: September 2, 2026.

Issues discussed: Sewer Rate Increase and DEP Compliance

Transcript

0:06 | I believe we have a quorum and it is 6:30 p.m. I call this meeting of the Charlton Water and Sewer Commission to order.
0:19 | Uh the um first item is the uh public forum.
0:26 | Is there anyone on this call that wants to discuss something that is not already on the agenda?
0:36 | Hearing none, we'll move on to minutes and warrants.
0:39 | Am I Am I being heard or seen Jerry Cero? Anyone?
0:47 | Hi, Jerry. Hi, Jerry. Yes, we can see and hear you.
0:50 | Oh, thank you. Uh, as far as uh not on the agenda, I have just a quick question about uh an
1:00 | ongoing building permit uh for 100 Worcester Road.
1:06 | Uh I was we're at the state of the permit permitting that uh we have to ask
1:15 | the board for um approval to share an existing well for the main building and the proposed ADU.
1:36 | Is Vinnie on?
1:40 | Yes, I'm on. Um, wells are not our department. If if it's a well question, that should go to the board of health.
1:49 | Okay. Okay. Well, I was directed by the building department to get uh approval from uh water and sewer uh in regard to
1:59 | being able to share a well with both the main building and the proposed ADU.
2:06 | So, uh I need to go to board of health for that.
2:13 | To my knowledge, the board of health oversees everything to do with wells.
2:18 | Yeah. Is there any public water on either property?
2:23 | There is. It's accessible. It isn't hooked up.
2:27 | Uh if [clears throat] uh if it's an issue to share a well, then uh the owner
2:34 | would be willing to tie into public water for one of the for the main
2:40 | building. And then uh let the proposed ADU uh be serviced by the existing well on the property.
3:01 | Yeah.
3:05 | Yeah. I I agree with Vinnie. it's if it's solely private well and there's no public drinking water on the property,
3:11 | it it's it's not ours to approve or or deny. That's a that's a board of health issue.
3:17 | Okay. So, if uh if the board of health prefers that I that we tie into public water, then I would come back to you.
3:28 | I I don't think you have to come to the board necessarily. I think you could go to the office and get a uh get a tie-in
3:36 | permit and work that out outside of the boards. Okay.
3:40 | Uh I think Vinnie and others have the authority to approve that.
3:45 | Yeah, the first stop would be Southbridge to see if they would approve it.
3:50 | Southbridge regulates the drinking water system in town.
3:55 | Okay. I appreciate the information. and your time. Thank you.
4:02 | Did we pass some sort of resolution uh in favor of Jerry or do we have uh nothing to add here?
4:16 | Just to be just to make it sure clear that we are in favor of him being able to take action. Is there anything we should be doing?
4:27 | I don't think so.
4:32 | All right, we'll uh hope everything works out for you. Thank you very much.
4:47 | Do we have is there anyone else on this call that wants to discuss something that is not already on the agenda?
4:57 | Hearing none, we will move on to Minister and Warren. Mr. Asenzo, do you have a motion to approve the meeting minutes?
5:04 | Uh, yes. So, I make a motion to accept the minutes uh dated uh July 7, 2026 and
5:12 | July 8th, 2026 as written. Do we have a second?
5:22 | I'll second it. Okay.
5:28 | Uh we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion?
5:35 | Uh hearing none. Uh it's time to uh hold a vote.
5:43 | Uh roll call vote. Roll call vote. Yes. Mr. Gagner. I.
5:52 | Uh Mr. Aseno. Hi. Mr. Rotten. Hi. Mr. Thomas Coleman.
5:58 | Hi, Mr. Robert Coleman. Hi. Great.
6:04 | Um, I make a motion to accept warrants totaling
6:13 | 17,781 96 cents for this month's uh warrants.
6:22 | Do we have a second? Okay, it's time for a roll call vote.
6:29 | Mr. Gagner.
6:33 | Hi, Mr. Aseno.
6:36 | Hi, Mr. Graten.
6:38 | Hi, Mr. Thomas Coleman.
6:41 | Hi, Mr. Robert Coleman.
6:43 | I um do [clears throat] we have a motion on senior abatement?
6:59 | Um, we did we have I don't think uh Sue, did you send me anything for senior abatements?
7:08 | At the very bottom of the warrant cover page, it says senior abatements where it lists all the invoices.
7:17 | Oh, yes, I see it. Thank you. Um, so I make a motion to accept senior abatements for
7:25 | uh flats and meters in the total amount of $1,1345.
7:34 | I second. Time for a roll call vote.
7:41 | Uh, Mr. Gagner.
7:47 | Hi. Hi, Mr. Aseno.
7:50 | Hi, Mr. Gren.
7:53 | Hi, Mr. Thomas Coleman.
7:55 | Hi, Mr. Robert Coleman.
7:58 | I Great.
8:03 | Uh, for our next order of business, uh, the Bolon monthly operating report.
8:13 | Good evening. I submitted the June report. Um, we've been making a lot of repairs. You can see in the operation and maintenance activities and report
8:21 | that I furnished you. Um, on top of that on some stuff that's not in here. Uh, most of the pump stations wet wells have
8:30 | been cleaned. I think we have two left to do. Um, those are scheduled for this week. Uh, one of the things we're finding is the wet walls were so dirty.
8:39 | That's some of the that's one of the reasons some of the pumps weren't working. Once we clean them, we're getting pumps back in service.
8:46 | Um, one of the issues is at the route 20 pump station that takes uh Amazon, the brewery and the mass turnpike, there is
8:53 | so much trash being dumped in there. Um, we took out almost 2 feet of nips. Um, that's a problem because when we take it
9:02 | and bring it to the plant that's the only place you have to dump it. Um, we remove as much as the trash as we can, but the nips are a real issue. I urge
9:10 | the board through their consultant to maybe send the people upstream users um notification that you know obviously
9:19 | someone's dumping more than just sanitary sewer because it's just going to continue to cause issues. Uh the guy
9:26 | that cleaned the pump station for us who's been in business for years is probably the worst pump station he's seen in his career. So um just wanted to
9:34 | make you aware of that. Other things going on, we had a new employee start on Monday. He's a grade five operator, so
9:41 | that helps us with our staff. Um, had to approach Mass D about chlorinating at the wastewater plant. UV systems just
9:50 | not doing what it's designed to do. We have uh Trojan Technologies coming in on the on Friday to give us an overview of
9:58 | the system. And you're probably looking at some kind of upgrade, but um I'll wait till I have the full report from Trojan. Once I do, I'll share that with the board.
10:09 | um a route on route 31 camering before they paved that road. Uh I notified
10:17 | Vinnie that there is an issue with Dr. Lion pipe under one of the culit um in my conversations with Chris McClaw
10:25 | the town is seeking a grant to replace that culit and then you could fix the line end. The problem is um
10:35 | that ductal lion is so bad shape that I don't know if you're gonna make it until you get the grant. And if you have a and
10:44 | if you have a blockage there, um it's going to be a big problem. So, we're going to send some uh video and some
10:52 | pictures over to Vinnie so that then we can we might be able to try and jet through it
11:00 | and that could help or that could make the situation a lot worse. So, once we have the pictures on that um we'll decide what we want to do and
11:09 | we'll be back out there Friday and next week to finish cameraing the line. Uh, one of the things we did note that the
11:15 | line is very dirty and um is in need of cleaning. So, at some point uh somebody will have to come back and clean that
11:24 | line. We're also doing all the manhole inspections before they uh start paving.
11:29 | So, any manhole issues hopefully can get addressed before the paving starts.
11:35 | Um, we were able to get two COMA return pumps going by stripping pots off of old pumps. We still we have two working
11:45 | pumps now. Um I was going to ask the board's permission to buy another new pump which would basically be a spare
11:51 | but it's a $22,000 pump. So at this see how we only usually run one com train at a time. We'll just continue to make it
11:59 | by on uh the two pumps that we've rebuilt in house.
12:04 | Um and that's all I have for you this evening. I'll answer any questions if there's any questions. I have some questions. Go ahead.
12:12 | Is the UV system not working well because the coax system isn't working well or you think the feed water into the UV system is
12:20 | good? To be honest with I think it's a couple things. Um, one when and just from my experience when you add feric
12:27 | and you don't have a wiper system on your bulbs, the feric's going to coat those bulbs. Um, and we're cleaning them and I and they've been cleaning them by
12:35 | hand for years. I think that's one. Um, one of the things I noticed when we when we had to bring all the stuff from the uh pump stations, it was nasty stuff and
12:44 | we had to put it in the plant that increased the TSS in the F1. When you have increased TSS, you're not going to get the kill on the UV either. Um, and
12:53 | the system's antiquated. So, um, once again, that's why we brought in Trojan.
13:00 | Let's, you know, let's let the experts look at it and then we'll provide you a full report.
13:05 | They coming in from Canada or it's a rep?
13:07 | It's a rep. It's still out of Canada, but it's a local rep in this area. Who is it?
13:13 | Um I I don't know his last name. I believe his first name is Manny. Okay.
13:19 | All right. We've used him in We've used him at other places. Um he he's a local guy, you know, that's who you have to go through.
13:27 | Yeah. The ductal iron pipe on route 31 is that just a special section. It's strange that sewer pipe is ductal.
13:37 | So assuming what they probably did is they knew it was going to be underneath the drainage pipe, right? And they didn't want to use plastic, so they used ductal. What they should have done is
13:46 | use an oversized ductal pipe and sleeve the plastic through it, but they didn't do that. So, you know, and then you got the H2S, it's constantly hitting that,
13:55 | right? So it's rotten it and um you know according to Vinnie because he knows the system better. I mean you get a large
14:03 | number of customers over there. So we want to look at the videos um because you could put the Jetta through it and
14:10 | you know it might get through and you might be good and you might even be able to reline that pipe or it could break the pipe or the Jetta could get stuck and that pipe is 12 feet deep.
14:21 | How long of a section of ductal is there? Um, I spoke to the kid that did the work. He's coming back Friday and he had already left the day. He said roughly about 30 feet. Yeah.
14:31 | But we're going to shoot the camera again from both ends and then be able to give you exact uh length of the pipe, Eric.
14:38 | Yeah. And the cool mag return pump, who's that through? You buying that from?
14:44 | We got two prices. Um, one was we didn't ask to buy it because we were able to get two running based upon what we had
14:51 | there. Um, one was from Carlson Systems and I don't remember who the other quote was, but there was a pretty big gap. One
14:58 | was uh 22,000 and the other one was 29,000. Yep.
15:05 | Is Carlson Is Carlson the cheapest?
15:08 | I I'd have to go back and look at the quotes. I didn't really bring them with me, Eric, because I wasn't asking for that uh money at this point. Um I
15:16 | Carlson was 29 and Hayes was um 221
15:25 | 22,154 each.
15:29 | Did they say the lead time on any of that stuff?
15:32 | Again, Eric, I didn't follow it up because we have two working pumps at this time. If the if the town wants us to buy one and have a spare on the shelf, I can certainly look into it. But
15:41 | just keep in mind, most of the time you're only running one train at a time unless you get extremely high flows.
15:50 | Yep.
15:52 | And and Eric, um if I can add, um in my time when I was in Charleton back in
15:59 | 2019, um we were having problems with getting suffic sufficient um uh uh disinfection
16:09 | with the UV system back then. So the systems it as Shane said is is antiquated and we've had kind of
16:18 | historical challenges with getting with getting good results from that.
16:24 | Yeah. I I don't know that the com system has been working very well for years now
16:31 | and I wonder how much of the poor performance of the com system leads to poor performance of the UV system.
16:38 | That's all from Yeah. I mean, we're we're getting we're getting really good results right now.
16:44 | Um, and we're still having UV challenges. Um, as Shane said, you know, when you use feric in the system, it
16:51 | tends to to coat the quartz sleeves. Um, and they're doing a really good job at cleaning those on a daily basis um
16:58 | because they don't have automatic wipers installed um to try and get the best the best results out of it. But all the
17:06 | ballasts work, all the bulbs work, all the sleeves are in good shape. Um, so we're doing the best we can with with the system. Um, so it's going to be it's
17:15 | going to be good to get Trojan in there and to kind of get their reps to to give some suggestions uh and maybe do some some testing as well.
17:27 | Um, and just on that note, Eric, with the chlorine, uh, the last result for E.coli was less than a one. So we we um
17:36 | be exceeding permit by a lot with the chlorination.
17:41 | Okay. I guess I didn't catch that that you were you were chlorinating downstream.
17:46 | Yeah. I had to get I had to get permission from D and which we did seek out because we just weren't, you know, just kept violating with E.coli. So they
17:53 | agreed that the best thing to do especially this time of year would to be start adding chlorine. Um we're tracking residuals in the effluent and we're also
18:01 | tracking residuals at the discharge point into the river. Okay.
18:07 | And given that um the operations contract expires sometime in is it October?
18:18 | I believe it's October 31st.
18:20 | Yeah. So we have we have two more meetings with you. We'll see you again in September and see you again early October. That's correct.
18:28 | Okay, that's all I had. Thank you.
18:47 | So, with regards regarding the issue of
18:55 | the uh NIPS ending up in our system, uh should we be drafting a letter to send
19:03 | to uh everyone on the system that we can you know let let them know that we have this issue they should be working to uh
19:12 | resolve it if they are aware of where they might be coming from. Um what we've done here in the past when we've had the
19:20 | same issues is you send um anybody on that that contributes to that pump station, you send them a letter letting them know that you're having the issue
19:28 | and that you have the ability to um camera those line and find out who's causing the issue and if it gets to that point then you could come after them for
19:37 | the price of that work. Sometimes that um gets the customers to stop doing what they're doing. Quite frankly, um I I
19:47 | don't believe the people that are putting in putting this stuff down into the sewer, um whoever owns the building, I don't even I bet you they're not even aware it's going on would be my guess.
19:58 | And two, it was two feet of nips.
20:05 | Uh how how many nips does it take roughly to get to two feet worth?
20:12 | A lot. That's all I could say. We didn't count them, but it's a lot. Let's I've been doing this 35 years. I've never seen anything like that.
20:19 | Let's do an experiment. Robert,
20:22 | [laughter]
20:25 | I'd say I'd say based on the pictures. Hundreds, right, Shane?
20:28 | Oh, at least. And uh you know, I don't know when the last time the pump station was cleaned, but it was uh it was definitely nasty. So, regular cleanings
20:37 | will definitely help. Um, but you still want to try and get the people to stop putting stuff down in the sanitary sewer that they shouldn't be putting down there.
20:45 | Shane, it was clean this month.
20:47 | Um, last month ear. Yeah, it was. We had to do it. Actually, we had it took us two days. That's how nasty it was.
20:56 | Can we Can we have it checked, you know, uh, this month? See how much is down there before it becomes an issue.
21:02 | Yeah, the the nips are coming to the uh, basically staying on top of the uh, grease mat. So, um, I can certainly have it checked again and give you another update at the next meeting.
21:12 | Thank you. You're welcome.
21:15 | So, how do we draft the letter? Do we draft by committee? Do we just have uh
21:22 | Sue do it? Uh, does the chair just draft it?
21:31 | Sure. Draft a letter and send it in to the send it to the committee. And I'm sure the town lawyers want to look at it before it goes to uh the customers.
21:44 | I would think.
21:48 | Uh so Sue, can you uh draft a letter for uh I guess uh town's lawyers to look at?
21:57 | I think I think it would be a combined effort between the commission. Okay. Yeah, that's a good idea.
22:04 | So, do we just draft it in the open meeting and discuss what it should say or No, we don't have to draft in an open
22:11 | meeting, but um you can all put your thoughts together and we can um draft something up.
22:19 | Okay.
22:20 | Well, I guess we should emphasize that we hope the problem can be resolved uh quickly without needing to escalate to
22:28 | putting cameras anywhere. And I'm sure whoever Pat is the nips going out doesn't even
22:35 | know what's going on and hopefully they can uh get it sorted out and figure that out. You are an optimist.
22:46 | Doesn't hurt to try being nice.
22:53 | Vinnie, there's a a very limited number of customers that feed that, right?
22:59 | Amazon, there's very limited customers that are going to be feeding it that level of nip balls.
23:06 | So, the Mass Turnpike Authority feeds it, Treehouse feeds it, and Amazon, they're the big contributors. Yeah.
23:14 | Um I'd I'd like to add though, um you know, the Turnpike, correct me if I'm wrong, Vinnie, that that has a station.
23:22 | No, that does not. That's just a flow meter. Oh, that's the flow meter. Okay. Okay. Um, yeah, I it it's definitely I agree.
23:31 | It looks like a, you know, an industrial user um or a business of some sort. Um,
23:41 | I don't know if the treehouse has some sort of intermediate tank um that was part of their pre-treatment that may
23:50 | have I think that's only for the process flow.
23:53 | Okay. Okay. Well, so so maybe there's a possibility from that as well.
24:00 | Yeah, probably not, but we should still include them. Has to be thorough. Yeah.
24:09 | Is there any anything else that we should make sure is in the letter?
24:15 | Just something along the lines of look, we have this problem. There are a lot of nips in our system. We're hoping if you can find out where they're coming from,
24:23 | you can make sure they stop going in. If they keep going in next month, we're going to have to use cameras to figure
24:31 | out where they're coming from, and that would be unfortunate. We'd prefer it to be resolved before that has to happen.
24:39 | Yeah. Um Vinnie, the the Route 31 TV
24:44 | work, we can use that for our II work for this year, but that that's not
24:52 | sufficient to cover everything we were obligated to do, is does it?
24:57 | I believe we need to do 20% of the system.
25:01 | Could we schedule the next uh section to be upstream of the um
25:08 | We need to have the shap's permit in place for that to happen, which includes traffic control measures. Yep.
25:15 | And I wonder whether we could we could kill two birds with one stone here and do some II work and kind of narrow down the
25:25 | the NIPS um source at the same time. So instead of sending out a blanket like it might be
25:33 | you, it might be you and having everybody ignore it, say we know it's you. Um, and we're going to take action if you don't fix it.
25:43 | Yeah. I mean, we got four months left before the end of the year. I'm sure we can get that shap's permit issued and
25:51 | arrange for a contractor to do that work.
25:54 | Yeah. What's the permit you're talking about? The state highway access permit. Okay.
26:00 | The town has a blanket one for emergencies, but an individual one needs to be pulled from maintenance items like this.
26:09 | And it needs to include a traffic plan and be approved by Mass DOT.
26:21 | So, how much of this how much of this can be done before our next meeting?
26:29 | Probably just a letter.
26:33 | Just getting the DOT permit is a process and um it can take because we deal with it here in Sturbridge. Uh it can take,
26:40 | you know, a month, two months even after uh whoever from the town submits it. And with the traffic being like it is over
26:49 | there, the they can they'll be pretty uh particular about what you're doing for traffic and it can it can get very detailed.
26:59 | And your other issue is your cameraing um 31 right now and getting away with it
27:06 | because it's not too bad in need of cleaning.
27:09 | Typically, you clean the line before you hammer it. If that line hasn't been cleaned, your other issue is when you do
27:18 | when you do clean it, what to do with the waste. Well, it has to be done sometime.
27:28 | I agree. I'm just letting you know that it's not it's not as simple as just popping a manhole and throwing a camera up there. And if it has to be cleaned,
27:36 | um getting rid of the material can get very very expensive.
27:40 | Yeah. You know, if the pump station was that bad, do we think that that is a area that probably needs to be cleaned?
27:46 | From what, and I'm only going by what I'm told, I don't think your system's ever been cleaned. Vinnie might know more than me, but if it if your system's
27:54 | never been cleaned, it's going to need to be cleaned and it's probably going to be pretty bad.
27:58 | Yeah, that section definitely needs to be cleaned.
28:02 | Well, let's do it. Let's do it on FiA's watch.
28:07 | Yeah. Um, McDonald's definitely coated those pipes with grease, right?
28:14 | I'm I'm kidding. But I I don't think the fact that it's never been done and it's going to be difficult is a reason we should avoid it and kick it down the
28:22 | road much further, especially if we're having a problem, you know, with that much trash in that section
28:30 | makes me think that that's maybe the next place we want to tackle. And I'm not saying we have to do it now. I just don't think we push this to the back burner and never think about it again.
28:40 | Yeah, Eric, your biggest problem is dewatering. You got to have a way to dewater the trash and then be able to put the trash in a dumpster and haul it
28:47 | off. And um your current situation doesn't have that ability and won't have that ability for years.
28:58 | Or you can buy, they do sell um dewatering equipment for stuff like that that you could put over a manhole and dump the stuff into there and let the u
29:07 | stuff go into the plant and grab the trash and then put that into a dumpster, but it's a process and it's not cheap.
29:19 | This is This is Chris. I mean, I can help you guys um facilitate this uh I think with the dewatering trailer and um
29:27 | the traffic management plan all through that. So, we can at least get the ball rolling if wants to.
29:34 | Yeah, it's it's probably a bigger issue of how do we prioritize what sections of town need to be done? How do we identify the 20% that we're going to do this year
29:42 | and next year and the year after? There is no plan like that, is there, Chris, that you know of?
29:47 | No, there isn't. But um that is that is the priority right there. That's that that uh section of pipe has been a
29:55 | problem in the past. There's been some SSOs on it and uh I think that's I think that's the one that we got to we got to get after right right off the bat.
30:03 | Yeah.
30:07 | Okay. Well, [snorts] while while Chris wants to do it, can we
30:14 | still send a letter to, you know, Amazon and Treehouse in the meantime?
30:23 | Uh, uh, Shane, do you happen to have a a a template or of a draft of a letter that you've used in the past? Maybe that
30:30 | would help uh shape what what the commission needs to pull together as well.
30:34 | Yeah, I can I can dig I can dig something up. Um, yeah, let me see what we have because like I said, we've done it here in the past and
30:41 | it it has actually worked for us. My problem here was uh baby wipes more than trash. Um, so I'm sure I have something
30:49 | in my library I can dig up and send over to Sue and she can use that as like a template. Thank you.
30:57 | Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure whether it's at Sturbridge or one of our other projects, we can we can do something like like Shane said this. We send a lot of these
31:05 | out for grease and uh wipes. So, I mean I I think I think we can just modify it slightly to say, you know, nip bottles.
31:22 | Okay. Uh does anyone have uh anything else to say about Violia's monthly operating report?
31:37 | Uh hearing none. Uh new business. Uh the sewer operate RFP is next on the agenda.
31:47 | Um I'd like to Robert if you're okay um with me
31:54 | interjecting. Um, I spoke with Andrew Goolas, the town administrator, who is
32:02 | also the chief procurement officer, and he's recommending or suggesting a workshop with himself and Mccclure
32:10 | engineering to discuss the corre the correct procurement process.
32:18 | How um, how does commission feel?
32:23 | I suppose that sounds like it would improve the procurement process.
32:30 | What I would need is um couple of dates where you guys are all familiar. I mean all available including Andrew and Chris.
32:39 | We can set something up because it has to be posted. Okay.
32:47 | It would be a workshop.
32:49 | Can you get us on an email discussing that and coming up with a date, please?
32:54 | So, you want me to send out an email so you guys If we're all here now, do we have access to our Andrew is not here. Not everyone's here,
33:03 | right? But are specific days or times better and then we can dwindle it down from there. Are mornings better, afternoons?
33:14 | I'm available pretty much anytime.
33:17 | Robert uh not Monday or Wednesday uh nights but otherwise available.
33:28 | Emmanuel, what's your schedule like?
33:31 | Um Tuesdays and Thursdays are tight for me, but any other day I can adjust.
33:39 | Is that all day, Emanuel? Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Tuesday, Thursday. Yeah. All day.
33:45 | But but Mondays and Wednesdays you could make Monday, Wednesday, Friday almost.
33:51 | Okay. And uh Paul Paul, what's your schedule like? Pretty much available.
33:59 | Okay. [clears throat] And Eric, I cannot participate.
34:04 | That's right. You said I knew that. I was testing you. [laughter] All right. So, um, when I'm back in the
34:12 | office, I will send out an email to and include Andrew and Chris on and all of you on it, and we can get that going.
34:22 | Okay.
34:38 | All right.
34:42 | So should we be continuing the sewer operations RFP process or should we be waiting for the uh
34:51 | you will be waiting for the after the workshop. Okay.
34:56 | And uh the next uh item on the agenda is the staffing update.
35:02 | All right. I'm just going to interject here again. Um, two questions for the board of the commission. Um, today Lynn
35:12 | Ashley and I met with several candidates for the admin position and we would like to know if you are
35:21 | okay with our recommendation or would the commission like to have a second interview?
35:30 | Are you recommending this person for hire?
35:32 | Yeah. Yeah. I'm not I just want to know I'm not gonna name names or anything, but um I just need to know if you are
35:42 | okay with our recommendation or is there a subcommittee that would like to meet and interview them as well?
35:49 | I'm okay with your recommendation. As am I. As am I.
35:56 | Great. Um so can I get a motion then? I move to accept the recommendation of Lynn and
36:04 | Sue in the hiring of the new water and sewer commission admin position. Second.
36:12 | Second. I second. All right, Mr. Gagner.
36:25 | [clears throat]
36:27 | Mr. Aseno.
36:28 | Hi, Mr. Rotten.
36:31 | Hi Mr. Thomas Coleman.
36:33 | Hi Mr. Robert Coleman. Hi.
36:37 | Okay. And second thing I would like to discuss is um
36:44 | with the upcoming projects that are coming down the pipeline. Um what are your thoughts on changing the
36:53 | foreman position to a superintendent position?
37:01 | I support it. Sitting through the interviews we had, we were getting foreman um you know, people that were
37:09 | qualified to be a foreman, but we really need a a manager, like a project manager to manage these projects.
37:19 | And I don't think we're going to get that with the uh advertising as a form and offering a form salary. Okay.
37:28 | So, so the super the people that you interviewed would not be qualified to be superintendent, Eric.
37:34 | The only one we had that was close was um was way out of our uh our price range.
37:41 | Okay.
37:44 | All right. I agree to make it a superintendent position.
37:48 | Okay. Could I get um a motion to do that? Motion to change um form and position to a water sewer superintendent.
37:57 | So moved. Second.
38:02 | I All right. Where's my list? Mr. Gagner.
38:10 | Hi, Mr. Aseno.
38:12 | Hi, Mr. Grten. Hi, Mr. Uh Thomas Coleman. Hi, Mr. Robert Coleman. Hi.
38:21 | Great. Is there any further discussion of the staffing update?
38:34 | Hearing none. Uh now it's time for old business. Uh as the first uh such item
38:41 | is the Griffin Road water main extension.
38:50 | I I'm not sure if Larry's here.
38:58 | He did email me asking me the time, which I did give him.
39:09 | Do you want to skip over it and come back? Maybe he'll show up. I think that's reasonable.
39:18 | Uh the next item of old business is the privilege fee discussion.
39:26 | Is this on for me? Sue, did you put this on at my request? I did. Okay.
39:34 | So, as background, in December, the board voted to um pursue the major major renovation of
39:42 | the wastewater plant. And as part of that, we retained the services of a rate consultant whose name is Matt Abraham
39:51 | um to review our sewer income and expenses and see if we can um if he could advise the commission on options for funding the new plant. In May, he uh
40:00 | he met with myself, Tom Coleman, Vinnie, Sue, and Ashley in a virtual meeting and
40:07 | gave us a spreadsheet. Um at the time some of the analysis needed to be
40:13 | confirmed but um right now through 2027 we have a um a
40:22 | a surplus but starting next year actually uh there's a deficit of 300,000 of a
40:31 | projected deficit of $326,000 and by 2029 it goes to $800,000 in deficit.
40:39 | and it's mostly due to operating expenses that are growing with really no increase in our income.
40:46 | Um in June he forward us a spreadsheet comparing the annual um costs for towns
40:55 | around us including Auburn, Holden, Northridge, Oxford, Rutland, Southbridge, Spencer, and Sturbridge.
41:03 | Um Charlton's rate was right in the middle of all those. They ranged from uh $695
41:11 | a year to $1,500 a year. And our average rate is 910.
41:18 | Um our income is h about half of our income is from the sewer user fees and the other half of our income is basically
41:26 | from like high uh strengths.
41:34 | Um, and there's almost no income really from tie-in fees. Those are there's a little bit this year, but there's none in that projection for the next couple
41:41 | years. So, he had a projection. He he just put some numbers in there. A 5%
41:48 | increase in user fees and a 20% increase in the sewer loading fees, those high strength users
41:56 | every year. 5% increase every year for the next 10 years would result in $2 million in deficits through 2033.
42:07 | Um and all models project that increasing the rates early help to prevent um future deficits. And again,
42:15 | there's no income here for the future renovation of the plant or any capital improvements. This is just us paying our
42:23 | normal bills. Um, and we're going to go in the red here pretty quickly. So, I'd
42:30 | like to make a motion tonight to increase those fees. And I have some recommended numbers, but Sue, did you
42:38 | look and see whether we're authorized to do that or we need to go through a um uh I did not look at Yeah,
42:48 | I I was part of only when we increased I think it was the
42:54 | ammonia levels. I wasn't a part of user fees. So, I'm not sure how that was done.
43:02 | When we increased what? What? Chris, what the uh search charge ammonia fees had a public hearing for that.
43:12 | So do you think if I made a motion to increase these rates and the number is roughly 15%
43:20 | um I think at 15% we we stand a chance of not going into deficit in the next
43:27 | two or three years. um pursuant to some refining by Ashley and Mark, but I think
43:36 | 15% looks to me like the number that keeps us from going deep into debt. Um if I do that, do you think the board can
43:44 | actually move that through [clears throat] or do we need other authorization before we can do that? I'm not certain.
43:53 | Any ideas how we can figure that out or I [clears throat] would have Yeah, I would have to talk to either Andrew or Ashley to see how how it was done.
44:03 | Paul, do you remember Paul? No, no, I do not.
44:14 | Uh, Eric, I have a question. With the 15% increment, is it guaranteed to prevent the, you know, the trajectory we
44:24 | are heading or is this just some estimated you know figure that we are hoping that it will work.
44:32 | Yeah, I mean we don't know some costs right. Violia is not going to continue with this contract. We don't know what
44:42 | the costs are going to be for the next um contract operator. That's a major uh cost that we have. These are all based
44:51 | on increases that in costs that we have incurred over the last three or five years
44:59 | that those in those increase costs would just continue to increase like all costs are going up. Um the basic,
45:09 | you know, truth here is that our costs continue to go up and our income has not increased and um and so we're we're
45:17 | pretty far behind in in trying to catch up here. So, no, it's certainly not a a guarantee. A lot of these numbers are,
45:26 | you know, we we I think Mark a Matt Abraham's thought sewer disposal fees would go up 3% a
45:35 | year. Is that the real number? We don't know.
45:40 | Um but [clears throat] he's pretty sure it goes into deficit pretty deeply uh within a year.
45:47 | Oh, maybe can we wait for the new, you know, contract to be signed and we can then figure out together with them and see. Oh, no.
46:00 | I I I think I missed what you were saying.
46:03 | No, I'm saying I know we're going to get a new contractor, right? So, do we do this when the new contractor starts or
46:11 | we want to do it now? Will it make a difference? I think it would I don't know whether it would make a
46:20 | difference. Um the budget he gave us envisioned a slow steady increase that was built
46:27 | into the contract with the assuming that the new contract we get is
46:34 | going to be a step higher than we currently have. Um, and so it's just
46:41 | going to uh change that a little bit. I don't know the approach. I think I think we
46:49 | should be prepared to raise the rates in some significant fashion in the next three or four months. Um,
46:59 | and and how much that is, I think, is going to be a little bit of guesswork.
47:03 | And I think we're probably going to have to do it every year for several years to kind of stay above it. Matt's um Matt's
47:12 | prediction was a 5% increase every year for the duration of his projection. Um
47:19 | and it was it was it still resulted in that $2 million deficit over the next six or seven years.
47:30 | That tells me that 5% So I think I could I could table this
47:41 | not make a motion and we could have an offline discussion amongst you know by email and look and everybody could have
47:48 | a chance to look at that spreadsheet in the next month. come back and talk about it next month and maybe we'll have some
47:56 | um idea of what the contract is um going to be and and u try to refine that number a little bit.
48:07 | Yeah, I agree with that.
48:10 | But I think we should think about raising the um the user fee, the residential fee, the
48:17 | commercial fee, the the large uh user fee or the heavy waste fee. And we should think about raising the sewer
48:26 | tie-in fees. They haven't been increased since 2003.
48:33 | I think we need to talk to the MTA, find out what their intentions are and their schedule is for um coming offline
48:41 | because we know that they will not be a user for a year or two and they're a major
48:49 | um source of income for us and we should talk to Treehouse about their long-term plans for discharging
48:58 | additional waste to us once we with the treatment plant that can handle it.
49:06 | I agree. I agree with everything you said.
49:09 | Yeah. With treehouse in particular, they might change their plans once they know that we're going to be there for them if they decide to
49:18 | plan around producing more that needs to be disposed of.
49:24 | Yeah. And I' I'd like to know if we're going to be there for them.
49:30 | like it's right now we're just talking about major increases just to stay where we are with our treatment plant that
49:37 | isn't performing. Um and so getting a new treatment plant that is performing is a whole another level.
49:52 | So so I'm not going to make a motion.
49:53 | I'll send some information around. I don't know how many of the other commissioners besides Tom and I saw the spreadsheet with the uh with the
50:01 | projection. So, I'll make sure everybody gets a chance to look at that in the next month and I'll ask I'll ask to get
50:08 | back on the agenda next month with maybe a better plan and to know what authority we have to raise the rates.
50:17 | That's good. Thank you.
50:21 | Is there any other discussion of privilege fees? Hearing none, the next topic is mccclary engineering water system status updates.
50:34 | Robert, could we circle back? I believe Larry's on the meeting now.
50:39 | Oh, yes. Okay. [clears throat] The next topic of discussion is the Griffin Road water main extension.
50:57 | Uh Larry may speak now.
50:59 | Yeah. No, I'm Larry MC PCK. Uh I'm ready to get on with the meeting as soon as you guys are. I'm just looking for an
51:07 | update on the uh that so that the water can be put in so we can put the water line in. Uh I
51:15 | believe all the paperwork that you guys asked for was all handed in. Um Mccclure did all of the engineering for it and
51:22 | Softbridge has accepted everything. Um the plan is to put the water in in uh no later than by the end of October. Uh
51:31 | hook up all the houses. Every house is signed off uh on hooking up to the water, including all of my properties.
51:38 | Um so I believe I wasn't at the last meeting.
51:44 | my son stepped in for me and uh you guys wanted me to sign for my own
51:50 | property so we did that and the other other question was waving the fee to tie everybody in so I'm paying for it.
52:02 | Uh Sue were are all the uh properties accounted for in Griffin Road as far as you understand?
52:11 | Yeah, they weren't part of your packet.
52:14 | Y I move to wave the tie-in fees for the
52:21 | Griffin Road water main extension for all properties for which we have signed authorizations.
52:29 | Do we have a second? Second. I'll second.
52:37 | So, um, when I do that motion, I'm going to list all those properties that we have.
52:46 | Okay. Agreed.
52:50 | I do think that it is warranted to uh wave the fees given that the fees are supposed to be for the pipes that are being built privately, funded privately.
53:03 | And uh yeah, we'll be voting yes. Uh is anyone have anything else to say on the matter?
53:15 | Uh hearing none, it's time for a roll call. Mr. Gagner.
53:26 | Hi, Mr. Senzo.
53:29 | Hi, Mr. Gren. Hi, Thomas Coleman.
53:34 | Hi, Robert Coleman. Hi. Great.
53:45 | Larry, do you have any other questions?
53:48 | I do. I just want to make sure that we have the approval of the board to put the water line in. Um, I haven't heard that yet. So, just want to make sure we're all the affirmative so I can start
53:56 | scheduling things and getting plans in place to get everything uh get everything going.
54:02 | I think uh I thought the issue was waving the the tie-in fees. I didn't know we needed to approve anything.
54:12 | Vinnie or Chris? Is it your understanding that we need to prove that? Is that something
54:20 | that's already been through? Is there another process that he has to go through to get the approval to start construction?
54:28 | Chris, you want to take this?
54:31 | typically pull the application uh permit. Um you guys have all the plans and um plans and specifications. So um
54:40 | pull the application um permit with yourself and the town of Southbridge and go. Yep. We're all set with all that.
54:47 | All set with all that.
54:51 | Okay. Awesome. Um all right, guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And uh is there anything else you need me for? Well, okay.
55:00 | All right. Thank you.
55:07 | Okay. So, the uh next order of old business, McClary Engineering Water System status updates.
55:17 | Okay. Um well, there's not nothing much new to report on the um the chloromine um enhancement and putting the water
55:26 | tank online. I'm still waiting to hear back uh to get approval. Um, uh, Eric, I don't know if you were able to, uh,
55:33 | facilitate any discussions, uh, that you had some contacts with the state, um, regarding regarding a pro, um, project
55:40 | such as this where the where the chloromine, um, injector would go to supplement the, uh, storage tank.
55:49 | We have resolved our issues with issues with way
55:58 | on a similar project that we appear to have an echo.
56:11 | Okay. Continue. Is it is it mind? Yes. Yes.
56:20 | Okay. Uh, can you still hear me? Yes. Is better now.
56:27 | And so other than that, you know, just been um this status quo. Everything's
56:34 | been uh operating [snorts] as such. And um uh that extension over on City Depot
56:41 | Road has been um completed um as of today. Um, and that was that's
56:47 | to get number nine, city veo online. Um, and uh, yeah, once I get some additional information on the storage tank, I'll I'll get back to the commission on that.
57:03 | Okay. Is there any further discussion of McCclary Engineering water system status updates?
57:13 | Hearing none. Uh the next order of business is uh Vinnie's monthly uh project updates.
57:21 | Monthly project update.
57:23 | There's a few things that went on this month. There was a sewer main break on Berlingame Road. That's a force main. We
57:31 | called McLaren to handle the management of that situation.
57:36 | He had Russ Leammansky out there to do the excavation and pipe repair. and we reported the SSO to the D.
57:46 | Um the oil tank for North Main Street was ordered. Charlton Oil installed it.
57:52 | They're working on fulfilling the requirements of the permit now.
57:57 | Six City Depot Road is tying into the water system as of yesterday. So was out there digging.
58:07 | I'm sorry. I just want to recap. That was number six. Oh, hold on. I might have them mixed up. The laundry mat or the mill?
58:15 | The mill. Okay. Isn't that nine? That's six. Six.
58:23 | The mill is six. Correct. That's correct. Yeah. Is six. The laundry man is nine.
58:30 | Oh, the mill is nine.
58:33 | No, I I confused you while I said nine, but it meant six.
58:37 | Okay, thanks. to flip it upside down and not flip it upside down.
58:47 | So, the mill connected. The mill is being connected. Correct. Okay, great.
58:54 | And then Shane already gave you guys the update on what they found cameraing over there on City Depot Road. I've reached
59:01 | out to contractors who can coordinate to make the replacement if needed. And I'm still waiting to get a hold of Highway on that to see what their plans are.
59:20 | Oh, I got one more thing on here. Uh, D sent us a notification. They want to do a factf finding meeting on August 12th at 10:30.
59:29 | The factf finding meeting is for non-compliance issues and staffing.
59:35 | Violia said that they're going to be bringing their attorney. I recommended the town should bring theirs as well.
59:42 | We reached out to Andrew and he made the arrangements with the town's attorney.
59:51 | And Robert and I are planning on attending.
59:53 | Uh did you what what date? It's August 12th at 10:30 a.m.
1:00:04 | It's Wednesday. Next Wednesday, Robert. Okay.
1:00:11 | I can give you a ride if you'd like.
1:00:17 | Andy, I could have sworn that email said noon time. Is that Is that right? Um, there's been a few versions of it. It's been changed a few times.
1:00:27 | The most recent one I had was August 12th at 10 10:30. Okay. All right. Thank you.
1:00:37 | I just want to circle back to the pump station with the NIPS. I did talk to Shane and I just want to make sure that
1:00:44 | we have picture pictures and documentation to back us up, which he says he does have.
1:00:54 | Yeah. So, I have the pictures. I'll get them in an email to you. That'd be great. Thank you. Yep. On the record.
1:01:05 | All right.
1:01:05 | The meeting's at 10. The letter from the state. Yeah, I saw that.
1:01:16 | Uh, is there any further discussion of Vinnie's monthly and project updates?
1:01:24 | Those are just the big ticket items. Um, a lot of daily occurrences around the office, but nothing in particular.
1:01:34 | Okay. Uh, is there any other business unknown at time of posting?
1:01:39 | I was asked last meeting and agreed to meet with Andrew about finding space for
1:01:46 | the administrator either at the town hall or at the highway department office. He's looking
1:01:54 | into it and he'll get back to us when he talks to Nick.
1:02:05 | Okay. Is there any other business unknown at time of posting?
1:02:14 | Hearing none. Uh the next meeting will be
1:02:25 | September 2nd, Wednesday, September 2nd, 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. Uh this same link should get you there.
1:02:35 | and that's when uh we'll all be meeting again.
1:02:39 | Um just to reiterate my email that I sent and the importance of getting those
1:02:46 | signatures done ASAP, Mary Dellin has a folder of papers. They are all labeled
1:02:54 | with who needs to sign what. Um so if you could do it in the morning, um
1:03:01 | that would be wonderful. She's in the town administrator's office. Her name is Mary Dellin. And there's just several papers that need to be signed.
1:03:10 | Specifically, um the one that is allowing the mill to assess the privilege fee, they have a
1:03:18 | drop deadline that they have to have that submitted by. What time is 7:30?
1:03:26 | Uh building opens at 7:30. Okay.
1:03:30 | Did I sign that soon? We are required to be there.
1:03:33 | Eric, you did sign it. Eric and Robert signed it. So, some some papers need three signatures, some need one. So, they're all labeled.
1:03:42 | Okay.
1:03:43 | But, uh, minutes do require three signatures, and the privilege fee to be assessed has to have signed minutes that go with it.
1:04:02 | All right. So, we'll be in there tomorrow. Uh, is there a motion to uh adjourn?
1:04:15 | Wait, no. I'll make a motion to adjurnn. I second.
1:04:22 | All right.
1:04:24 | Is there any discussion? No. hearing none. Uh, Mr. Gagar.
1:04:35 | Hi. Okay. Mr. Aseno.
1:04:37 | Hi, Mr. Grten.
1:04:39 | Hi, Mr. Thomas Coleman.
1:04:41 | Hi, Mr. Robert Coleman. Hi. Awesome. Great. Thanks, guys.
1:04:47 | All right, everyone. Have a good good month and be safe. Thanks. You, too. Good night. Thank you. Goodbye.