HomeMy Public PortalAboutWater Commissioners -- 2006-05-01 MinutesBrewster Water Commissioners' Meeting May 1, 2006 page 1 oft
Meeting was called to order at 9:28 a.m. by Bill Porter, Chairman. Those present were: Walter Rowles member,
Paul V. Hicks, Superintendent and Julie A Cahoon, Administrative Supervisor.
1. VISITORS: None
2. MINUTES: April 25, 2006 minutes to be reviewed at May 9`~' meeting.
3. SUPERINTENDENT'SREPQRT:
a. Operations report:
* Paul informed the Water Commissioners of a conversation he had with a customer regarding a request
for a water service to Assessors Map 22 Lot 26-3, 30 Bluejacket Way. This property is on the corner of
Bluejacket Way and Main Street, and the water service will be coming off Main Street. A State Permit
had to be filed and there were a few problems with the filing and the time frame we have taken to deal
with the permit request. The State has now returned the permit stating that the homeowner also has to file
an indirect access permit. The customer was very upset with the length of time that the process has taken
and threatened to contact his attorney. Paul has requested Fred to have everything cleared up with the
State by the end of today.
* Due to the time and the extensive work that are needed to accomplish the filing for a State Permit, Paul
asked the Water Commissioners if they would consider that a customer with property abutting a roadway,
where it is necessary for a State Permit, be charged a $100.00 filing fee in addition to the System
Development Fee. Bud made the MOTION: `That from here fr>rward a $100.00 fee will be charged to
customers applying for a water service line when the subject property abuts a roadway where it is
necessary for a State Permit to be applied tor. 't'his is not to be part of the System Development Fee but
will be charged separately.' Bill Porter seconded the motion. PASSED unanimously.
4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a. Town Meeting issues
Paul spoke to Charlie Sumner and reviewed information with him regarding the new building request.
Selectman Ed Louis will be presenting this article. Last Thursday, April 27`h Ed came by the office to
walk around the department's grounds with Paul. Ed requested that Paul put together a bullet style
summary with what the department currently does in the existing building and what space we are
requesting. Paul did so {al ~ichn~ent 1 t3 pages}) and e-mailed it to Ed. Ed informed Paul this morning that
he would work with the provided information. Paul informed Ed that he thought that the rates would
have to be raised to cover the new building and the next well. The last water rate increase was in 1999.
At that time the rate went from $2.50 to $3.00 per thousand gallons. In 2004 there was a proposed $O.l 0
increase that was not implemented. The l 0 year Master Plan was developed in 1998. There has been
discussion regarding inclining block rates but Paul would like to postpone this for a time to allow for a
greater number of radio meters to be installed giving us a more precise reading cycle. The inclining rate
is also more volatile and risky as far as revenue goes. The Water Commissioners agreed that would not
be an issue.
Other items for the Special Town Meeting are the building design and owner project manager along with
an $8,000.00 additional overtime funding request.
The three Articles that the department is presenting were reviewed and discussed (attachment 2).
~'-: ~ Article 11/Hazardous Waste Collection Day Program. Bill Porter to read.
'.';:f"~ Article 28/ Town Bylaw Amendment for Water Betterments. Bud Rowles to read.
` ' ~ Article 30/ Water-main for Cranview Road. Bud Rowles to read.
~:5. ANTHER UNFINISHED BUSINESS: A letter dated March 24, 2006 was sent to the property
~.-~: own~at 130 Millstone Road regarding the deeded sale of the cottages on this property now addressed as
~- 140P€#hru 140E Millstone Road. The letter informed the owner that water service applications were
4~:+
~: nee for each unit. He called in reply to the letter and informed Julie that the cottages were only 3%
awe inte t deeded. At that time Julie did invite him to attend the Water Commissioners' meeting to further
°° discuss this matter. When Julie spoke to Cindy in the Town's Assessor's Department she was informed
that each cottage has a separate deed and would be charged the tax rate as such. Paul asked the Water
Commissioners to make a ruling on this matter.
MIN May 1, 2006.doc/shared/minutes
Brewster Water Commissioners' Meeting May 1, 2006 page 2 of 2
Bill Porter made the MO'T'ION: Foe the purposes of the Water Department's regulations; If t:he ']'own
Assessors assesses Real L;state Waxes separately to two or more individually owned livi-1g units on the same
property on which they stand, the Brewster Water Department will consider them a condominium. As such,
each unit must then conform t.o the current Brewster Water Department policy stated in the Regulations '~
Services p<u»phlet, ~[~his reads in pa-1: ``In the case of condominiums, each family unit in the condominium
sha11 be separately water metered unless another arrangement is approved by the Water Commissione-s, but in
any event, each family unit. will be carried as a separate account o^ the Water Department records, and will be
billed the same as any residential account." Bud Rowles seconded the motion. PASSED unanimously.
A second letter will be sent each owner and to the sales agent, Mr. Samuel Webb. Copies of this letter will
also be sent to the Town Administrator Charles Sumner, the Building Department, Planning Board and to all
of the Water Commissioners.
6. NEW BUSINESS: None
7. ANY OTHER NEW BUSINESS: None
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING:
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Tentative: Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Tentative: Tuesday, June 20, 2006
9:OOam
9:OOam
9:OOam
9:OOam
Bill Porter moved to adjourn at 10:15a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Julie A Cahoon, Administrative Supervisor
MIN May 1, 2006.doc/shared/minutes
New Water Department Operations Facility
WATER DEPRRT~IENT OFFICE GARAGE DESIGN SERL7CE.S
ARTICLE~VUr1.IBER ~, SPECL-?L TOWN~~IEETLVG, ~t'L=tY1. ?006
The Water Department building space needs known since 1998. Other projec~~ have peen
completed with higher priority.
In 1973 the department had four employees one truck and a backhoe.
• The system was comprised of one storage tank, two wells, 42 miles of water main, 1,1.0
service connections and 365 hydrants, all new.
• In 1973 the Department pumped 58,263,342 gallons of water.
Today the Department requires 12 employees, eight light vehicles of various types, five pieces of
trailer mounted equipment, a dump truck and a backhoe.
• The system includes two storage tanks, four wells in three welffie!ds and a fifth vve!I in a
fourth wellfield planned. There are three treatment facilities, 126 miles of wat°r ~~ain,
7,112 service connections and more than 1,000 hydrants.
• In 2005, the Department pumped 473,114,000 gallons of water.
Main building
The original building had one main office with two desks, a conference room, parts and materials
caged area and three garage bays.
• Today the main office has three workstations and houses all active service records.
. The original conference room now has one workstation, the main office computer
equipment, all meter reading equipment and stores all project, personnel and regulatory
compliance records.
• Half of one original garage bay was converted in 1988 for new conference space. i nis row
has three work stations and houses sampling field water analysis equipment storage, ail
system mapping and records, operational records and classified system information.
. The second half of the converted garage bay houses one wor'~station, storage racks for 600
seasonal meters, meter testing and repair area, personnel safety monitoring equipment,
staff break and lunch area and locker storage.
• Every space is maximized including storage in hallways.
• There is no space for conference with customers, engineers or personnel without displacing
one or more workers.
• There is not adequate conference space for meetings and planning, training and
emergency operations.
• There is not adequate space for personnel lockers, routine break and lunch facilities or for
emergency operations.
• There is not adequate space for personnel safety equipment.
• There is insufficient space for proper records storage and retention.
• Insufficient staff workstation locations for all Department functions.
Ne~c ops facility bullets fix TM.doc
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New Water Department Operations Facility
Two remaining garage bays house two pieces of equipment, one compressor trailed, all small
equipment, service parts, service repair tools, work shop, confined space safety equipment, tubes
and fuels, paint storage and the building emergency generator.
• Equipment storage is two tiered making access difficult.
• There is not adequate space for parts and supplies.
• There is not adequate space for equipment storage.
There is not adequate space for proper storage for paint and flammabies.
An overhead void created by creating the conference room and meter storage area is now useo' as
storage. Head height is 5' 7" and was not built for load bearing use. This now houses records
requiring permanent retention, safety equipment, system maintenance tools and stock of new
meters and meter parts.
There is insufficient space for proper records storage and retention.
Poor access to poor storage space used as last resort.
• Fumes from equipment started in the garage permeate the offices. No ad yuate
separation or ventilation of equipment and office space.
Rear Garage
A former DPW 4 bay garage on the same main street site was given to the Water Department ~r
use in 1990. This houses two vehicles and two trailers. Water service and main maintenance ?nd
repair parts, trench shoring equipment, spare tires and ladders are ~ ored here. Parts storage is
now tiered three levels high making it difficult to safely handle heavy parts. Equipment has to be
taken out of the garage to access parts.
• Poor and unsafe access to parts and supplies.
Time consuming usage of area as equipment has to be moved to access parts.
There is not adequate space for parts and supplies.
• There is not adequate space for equipment storage.
New ops facility bullets for Tbt.da: Pace Z of i
i\few Water Department Operations Facility
Storage Containers
Two 20' storage containers are also on property storing a trailer mounted pump, large pump
piping and associated equipment, road and traffic control equipment and service tubing.
This is a poor temporary solution to proper equipment storage.
. There is not adequate space for parts and supplies.
. There is not adequate space for equipment storage.
General
Most of the floor space does double or triple duty such as starf work stations and storage in
conference space and storage and equipment in office space. Most wall space is deuble s~wcked
with book cases on top of file cabinets and additional stored items on top of storage cabinets.
Virtually every space is being used to capacity.
Yard area used far water main, fill, loam and hardening is insufficient and conric~,~ with
other uses of the area property.
. Parking and equipment conflicts with recreation and Council on Aging.
Space Needs Evaluation
In 2005, a space needs evaluation of the Department was performed by AKRO Associates
Architects. The first part of the Feasibility Study evaluated current staffing and equipment, cmc~
and operations functions that take place in the building and future growth potential.
The original Department building contains 4,000 square feet of space. 1,000 square feet of
overhead dead storage was created in 1988 when one of three garage bays in the original building
was converted for office, meter storage and meter testing space. Ceiling height of the overhead
storage is S foot, seven inches. The rear 4 bay garage contains 1,920 square feet, making a tot; i
of 6,920 square feet of Department space, including the overhead dead storage. The 2005 Space
needs evaluation determined that the Department needs at least 12,000 square feet of operational
space including garage and storage.
The second part of the Feasibility Study looked at the space needed and how to create it on the
existing site. This assessment showed that there is not enough land area available for either a
practical addition or complete replacement of the buildings without changing other site uses. This
Main Street Town property area is shared with Council on Aging, Brewster Fire Department, Town
fueling facilities and the Recreation Department's ballfield, tennis and basketball tour`s. Afrer
reviewing the study recommendations, the consensus is to build a new facility at a different town
location.
New ops facility bulled for Ti~t.~ioc Pace ~ of ~
Water Department
2006 Annual Town Meeting
Article 11 /Hazardous Waste Collection Day proQr
I move that the town vote to approve article no. 1
as printed in the warrant and to transfer the sum of
$9,000.00 from the Water Revenue account for this
purpose.
~f~7T~-~lfiYlE~T-o2 3r~+~s
Water Department
2006 Annual Town Meeting
Article No, 28 /Town Bylaw Amendment for Wate~-
Betterments
I move that the town vote to approve article no. z8
as printed in the warrant.
Water Department
2006 Annual Town Meeting
Article No. 30 /Water-main for Oranview Road
I move that the town vote to approve article no. 30
as printed in the warrant and to appropriate the total
sum of $75,000.00 for this purpose, and in order to
appropriate this total sum that the town transfer the
sum of $75,000.00 from Article no. 23 Slough Road
Water-main) of the May 2001 Annual Town Meetir:g
for this purpose.
bv: ~ d o t ~dw ~o.