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WMSC
ASTEWATER ANAGEMENT TEERING OMMITTEE
Minutes of November 12, 2004
A meeting of the Wastewater Management Steering Committee was called to order at 10:00 a.m. in Meeting Room
Members Present:
A, Orleans Town Hall. Augusta McKusick (Board of Health); Anne Hodgkinson (Board of
Water Commissioners); John Hinckley (Board of Selectmen); Judith Bruce (Conservation Commission); Yoshio
Also Present:
Inomata (Finance Committee); George Meservey (Planning Director); John Hodgkinson (Citizen's
Absent:
Advisory Committee); Andree Yager; Sherman Reed; Paul O’Connor. Sims McGrath (Planning Board).
Report on thank you event for water samplers
Meservey - Over 60 people attended. Bob Duncanson gave a great presentation. Chatham is under a consent order.
Don’t stop monitoring in Orleans. Spend time looking at the data. Gussie McKusick - can the intensity of the data
collection end? George Meservey said they can be reduced as long as sentinel sites are still monitored. Gussie
McKusick said she would like Bob Duncanson to come to a Wastewater Management Steering Committee meeting
and give his presentation.
Announcements
Committee Reports
Board of Selectmen – What kind of educational timeline does the Citizen's Advisory Committee expect? Citizen's
Advisory Committee to discuss their goals and objectives.
Conservation Commission – Citizen's Advisory Committee to join Pond Coalition on education committee.
Planning Department – met with Horsley & Witten regarding growth management impacts.
Sherm Reed – there is a problem with sewer monitoring on private roads in town.
John Hodgkinson – factor in financial support from other sources. Gussie McKusick – Don’t think we should
assume there will be other financial sources at this point.
Discuss development of comprehensive wastewater plan RFP
George Meservey said he started with the RFP done by Chatham. Common understanding of what we are trying to
get from the consultant. We are spending $300,000+ on this. 5 basic phases of wastewater planning including
project administration and support. This is the scope for the consultants. Chatham did an environmental notification
form for the DEP. Has to be approved by the Cape Cod Commission. We are not under a consent order from the
state, but at some point our plan will need to be approved by DEP before you can build any facilities. Under the
Cape Cod Commission Act, it has to be approved by them because any facilities you put in is potentially a DRI so
they want to see the plan in its entirety. The needs assessment is a huge portion, it is all the background before you
get into which pipe goes where, serving whom. First you have to describe existing conditions. We have done a lot
of that through the work with Wright-Pierce. There is a lot of work describing existing conditions. This committee
has put through a nice big package on demographics, water use, seasonality, occupancy rates, and condition of septic
systems. George Meservey said he would like to pass on the RFP draft to Brian Dudley, & Ed Eichner for comment.
Development of screening alternatives – this is a public process. Need to get a public forum that works.
Development of Alternatives – need someone who is contemporary plus has a lot of experience putting things in and
seeing how they operate. Maybe an engineering firm who has done some operations as well. We need the universe
of alternatives. There are a lot of alternatives. The screening of alternatives is the next step. This involves looking
Wastewater Management Steering Committee Minutes – November 12, 2004 Page 1
at technical, environmental, legal, and financial things. Cost factors are a huge issue. After the screening of
alternatives, there is an evaluation of alternatives. Need to engage people of the town to tell us what they do and
don’t like about these ideas. Sherm – is there a success model to follow? Meservey – the DEP puts out guidelines
for developing wastewater management plans. Chatham has gotten good work out of their consultants and we can
build on what they have done. Chatham’s process is good because they are very similar to us. Chatham is the model
we are following. GMC – only the cape towns are following DEP and MEP model. Orleans is not under a consent
order.
The committee discussed the importance of having John Kelly be a part of the planning process of the
Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan.
MOTION: John HinckleyJudith Bruce
On a motion by , seconded by , the Committee voted to ask Board of
Selectmen to appoint John Kelly as ex-officio of the Wastewater Management Steering Committee during the
execution of the preparation of the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan.
VOTE: 4-0-0 The vote passed unanimously.
Gussie McKusick suggested including Brian Dudley as a contact person. Need a full-time consultant to draft the
plan up. First MEP report due out in 13 months. $125,000 general override already approved. DEP is exploring
”Adaptive Management” – try something to see if it works. John Hodgkinson said the firms should be heavy in
management as well as engineering.
The committee discussed whether it is necessary to post the 12/8 meeting on Mike Giggey’s report.
The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen C. Sharpless
Recording Secretary
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