Wednesday, November 11, 2009
8:00 a.m.
The meeting was called to order at 8:02 a.m. by Ed Demko. Those in attendance included Commissioners Demko and Spath, Jim Dow, Greg McCune, and Selectman Laura Burns
South Sewer District:
• Laura Burns:
o Proposal comes from Board of Selectmen’s office and property owners in the area
o Possibility of office development in office park that would be beneficial to the town, a medical office building – goal to increase tax base to lower taxes paid by individuals
o Issues: operating on very tight timeline – six months at most, have to tell them if permitting can be done relative to water & sewer
o MRWA: sewering would have to go through Weymouth; MWRA has indicated willingness to do this
o Would like to do study to see what would be involved; Comprehensive Wastewater Treatment Study covered a bit but not enough to meet needs of MWRA
o CDM contract $50k: developers are putting in $20k, Planning Board is putting in $10k, asking Sewer Commission to put in $10k and Board of Health to put in $10k. Important for town to have voice in project.
• Ed:
o Asked about mitigation from developers.
o Spoke of getting stimulus money from government for extending sewer to industrial park
• Jim: Long-term liability and responsibility to this department.
• Jim: Michael is supportive of this extension and study thereof
• Andrew: Suggested that any additional cost be picked up by developer.
• Motion made by Ed: To appropriate $10,000 towards study of development of South Sewer District/ Industrial Park study. Seconded by Andrew. Unanimous vote.
WRSD grinder pump conversion and ownership transfer:
• Jim:
o Have three bids, two within $250 of each other. Brite-Lite got job, Williams Electric was second, MNC Electric of Braintree was third.
o Brite-Lite has insurance and bond and is ready to start
o 61 installations required at prevailing wage – seemed to estimate 3 to 5 hours per unit
o Brite-Lite has done work before
o Will be like Cohasset communication boxes and everything will be on outside of houses, easier for residents
o Still need about 40 to 50 PVC handles to pull pumps at about $17 each
o Used last spare pump at 10 Chestnut St. two weeks ago and would like to buy another pump to have if needed (approximately $1200)
o After turnover pumps will become responsibility of homeowner. Jim would like to give them a list of contractors familiar with repairing pumps.
o DEP said HSC is not responsible for pumps after ten years. It is now twelve years since installation of original pumps. Every resident signed contract saying they would be responsible for pumps after town’s responsibility ended.
o Hand delivered letters will inform residents. Discussion of wording for letter followed.
o August 16, 1998 was first day of flow through West Corner
o May be 15 to 20 houses that have never had a service call. Majority have had problems over time, mostly depending on care of usage.
o Letter is a courtesy; sign-off is not necessary but will be done when letter is delivered.
o Easements will be dissolved when homeowners become owners of pumps.
o There will be a significant savings to HSC when pumps belong to owners.
o Copy of letter to be sent to property owners will be circulated to commissioners before it is distributed.
North Street sewer main break:
• Jim:
o A coupling around pipe was installed over 22 years ago. Crack in pipe that coupling was covering gave way. Pipe was put in 1956.
o Called at 12:45 on Monday. Larry & Ed in area and were sent to site. Sink hole in front of Talbots. Digging commenced and break location found between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. Gas main in trench with sewer main and electrical. By 8 a.m. Tuesday morning job was done. Temporary patch will be replaced in spring. A full-width patch will be required. So far bills are under $20k. Trench was twelve feet deep.
FOG (Fats, Oils, and Grease) program:
• Everything looks fine.
• MWRA recognizes the program as one of the best they’ve seen
• HSC regulation is in line with MWRA requirements: 300 parts per million Now following State guidelines.
• Need to get a letter to all restaurants letting them know that there is a program in place and that program will be enforced going back to February 1st.
• List of restaurants is available from 1985. Locations are the pretty much the same even if name of business has changed.
• Give restaurants a 60 to 90-day window to comply. Will give them enough time to get work done. Units will cost $4000 to $5000.
• Do another sweep of restaurants when program is in place to work with business on problems
• Log is printed out to be kept at restaurant locations to be signed off by agencies inspecting
• Copies of maintenance reports need to be supplied to HSC
• HSC will be point department within the town with other departments taking part as appropriate
• In best interest of restaurants to keep rates low
• Unit by Talbots is an odor control unit that draws air from wetwell and pipe on North St. to keep it odor free.
• Hard to judge how well it is working.
• West corner is matter of keeping up with grease trap. Application there is not right for the environment, a lot of condensation. Discussion followed regarding other options for treatment.
• Contact has been made with new head of sewer department in Cohasset
• New meter in Cohasset is hard to get accurate reading from because Hingham and Hull are on either sides of the street. Should help pinpoint to some degree what is happening, spikes in flow, etc.
• Not aware of what is in long-term agreement relative to replacement of meter flow pump.
• Now 343 connections from Cohasset and 164 connections from Hingham.
• Cohasset has a treatment plant.
• Treatment plant will not be necessary in South Hingham if connect to MWRA through Weymouth
Discussion of working relationship with CDM.
Discussion of expansion in South Hingham if project discussed earlier in meeting takes place.
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Ed and seconded by Andrew. Unanimous vote.
.
This summary does not include every item discussed by the Board, nor the full extent of the discussions. The full meeting is available on tope in the Commission Office.