TOWN OF SOMERS

WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY

P. O. Box 308

Somers, Connecticut 06071

WPCA MEETING MINUTES

11/18/03; 7:30 p.m.

Town Hall

I. CALL TO ORDER:

Chairman Jim Botellio called the meeting to order at 7:31 p.m. Members present were:

Jim Botellio; Steve Getman; Jim Faust; George VanTasel and Dan Fraro. Also present was Town Sanitarian, Steve Jacobs.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 10/7/03

George VanTasel made a motion to approve the 10/7/03 minutes, as written. This motion was seconded by Dan Fraro and unanimously approved by the Authority.

III. MAIN STREET - PROPOSED AGE RESTRICTED HOUSING; J. Lipton

Steve Jacobs said Mike Mocko did not have a lot of time to work on this proposed project this month. Mocko estimates a 15 to 20% increase for design and inspection up to about $38,275 and it would cost about $375,000 for construction.

Jeff Lipton's development would require the use of 1 1/2 beds - this would require him to put in the two beds - which is something he really does not want to do. He would like the Town to pick up the tab for the 1/2 bed that he doesn't need for his project.

Steve Jacobs sent a letter to the DEP requesting their permission for increased flow from the sewer plant stating that the Town had received a request for an ARH development to hook up to public sewers.

The Town would like to maintain the sewer flow allotment for the Mill.

If we do not keep the allotment for the Mill, there is not much that can be done with the mill buildings. A developer is interested in buying the Mill and we would have the 17,000 gpd that would be needed. Ward Engineering is interested in doing the engineering work for the plant expansion. An engineering study will be required to double check the flows. Brophy and Ahern still own the Mill.

Jim Botellio said if the Town takes over the Mill, the cost of sewer system expansion should be borne by the developer.

George VanTasel said the developer could put the seed money up for the other half bed until the Mill renovation is completed. Possibly the Town could grant a tax break for the first year.

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Jim Botellio said the Authority should meet with the Selectmen to get their views on the Mill

development.

Steve Jacobs said the place to start is to have an engineered plan of the proposed expansion. Then we will have some hard numbers to work with. Steve will contact Town Attorney Carl Landolina to draft up an engineering agreement.

The Authority will move forward with Lipton's proposal. George VanTasel made a motion that

an engineering agreement should be drawn up by the Town Attorney as the first step for the proposed ARH project. Jim Faust seconded the motion which was unanimously approved by the Authority.

Steve Getman asked if the State has the authority to require Somers to put in a larger sewer plant to accommodate Town expansion. Expansion of the present sewer system should be kept to a minimum.

Steve Jacobs said there could be a decrease in sewer user charges by adding 200 more units to the sewer system.

Jim Botellio said the Town has already voted that they do not want a town-wide sewer system. Most of the population prefer to keep their individual septic systems.

Also, expansion of the sewer plant could require additional part-time or an increase in the Sewer

Plant Attendant's hours.

IV. Connecticut DOC - PCE Mitigation Update:

Steve Jacobs reviewed the quarterly report from the DOC. The effluent PCE levels continue to drop. Deep ground recovery level has reached 88 parts per billion and DVD levels have been in the 900's. This has come down from the 2000 - 3000 levels.

Not much change in the perimeter monitoring of the residential wells.

Fuss & O'Neill's contract has been increased from $500,000 to $700,000. Overall cost of the project is $6,021,000.

Wood Construction did a permanent well abandonment at 48 Rye Hill Circle. There are only (5)

homes using their own wells with a filter system.

Treatment of the laundry area as well as the SWIA area is continuing. This has broken down the

PCE contamination into byproducts. HRC injection seems to be working well.

Jim Faust remarked that the laundry area is no longer being fed with PCE. Jim Botellio said the source has been stopped at the overburden area.

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Steve Jacobs said the hydrogen release compound is now being used all over the State for remediation.

V. WPCA 2004 Meeting Dates:

The Authority reviewed the proposed WPCA 2004 regular meeting dates. George VanTasel

made a motion to approve these dates as presented; seconded by George VanTasel and unanimously approved by the Authority.

VI. Correspondence/Audience Participation:

Steve Jacobs reviewed Billing System Operator Connie McKenna's report with the Authority. In the past month, $44,000.000 was collected in sewer user and assessment fees. There was one bill at 24 Scitico Road that had to be corrected. The property owners at 555 Main Street

are not keeping up with their agreed payment plan. Jim Botellio will review this situation with Connie McKenna.

91 Hickory Hill Drive would like to be released from their maintenance agreement and maintain their own system. George VanTasel made a motion to approve the release of the maintenance agreement at 91 Hickory Hill Drive; seconded by Jim Faust and unanimously approved by the Authority.

Test results were received from the water sample taken at Wrights Brook. The ecoli level was 65 - which is well below the standard for surface water.

Notice of a draft regulation from the State regarding aquifer protection. There is a wellhead for Connecticut Water off Field Road. Existing industrial companies will probably not be able to expand.

Received a notice from John Hankins of Fuss & O'Neill about a new compound that treats metals in the ground. This could be useful for remediation of the site on Springfield Road that is contaminated with cadmium. There is a person interested in purchasing the property and doing the remediation himself.

Testing of a property on Dillenback Road indicates that the MTB levels have gone down.

Memo from the Treasurer's Office regarding CIP projects for future years. With the State Health Grant, we have not needed to request CIP funding.

Memo from Town Clerk Ann Logan requesting that all Commissions put their agendas and minutes on the Town Website.

Steve Jacobs said that Connie McKenna is doing a good job with the sewer and water billing and suggested that her performance warrants a bonus. The Authority has awarded bonuses to the

previous Blling System Operator. After a discussion, it was the consensus of the Authority to revisit the question of a bonus after the February, 2004 water billing.

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Patrice Carson, Christine Lloyd and Steve Jacobs requested that they be allowed to attend a GIS

conference; but the Selectmen said only one person could attend.

Steve Jacobs attended a DOH meeting where they are trying to get legislation passed to have all

towns join a health district or name a full-time Director of Health. They are talking about eliminating about (40) Directors of Health and are pushing the State to regionalize public health.

This action would not be good for small towns that would end up subsidizing the larger towns. It

would be good for handling State or National crisis situations. Joining a health district would not

benefit a small town such as Somers. Permit costs would be much higher and the service turn-around time would increase appreciably.

Steve met with the DOC on 10/22/03. They have a whole new crew in charge of remediation. They

are E-mailing water use reports and are also working on the replacement of the sewer lines from the prison into Enfield. With only a few people left to hook up to public water in the Rye Hill area, they are looking at a "drop-dead date" for water hook-up.

Another meeting with DOT on drainage problems on Hall Hill Road and Blue Ridge Drive. The

new culverts have rip-rap left in the channel which is backing up the water in that area. Definitely

needs some maintenance. The State should be partially responsible for the clean-up of that road bed and a clean-up of the stream.

The WPCA agreed to pay off the water hydrant fees to Hazardville Water Company. The money was supposed to be escrowed and put aside. Jim Botellio will check with the Treasurer's Office.

We also agreed to pay for the maintenance on the Scitico Pump Station but we are questioning the formula for the percentage that Somers is supposed to be responsible for and Hazardville Water has refused to discuss this matter with us. The Town Attorney has agreed to contact HWC to see if they will tell us the ratio of payment.

VII. BILLS:

McCalister-Bicknell $34.29

Journal Inquirer $94.44

Ben Meadows Co. $175.36

Ace Hardware $9.56

Avery Septic (cleaning tanks at Plant) $3975.00

Skip's Septic (cleaning MR tanks) $3992.52

Skip's Septic (updated (8) tanks) $1000.00

George VanTasel made a motion to approve payment of the bills; seconded by Steve Getman and unanimously approved by the Authority.

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VIII. ADJOURNMENT:

Motion to adjourn made by George VanTasel; seconded by Steve Getman and unanimously approved by the Authority. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dan Fraro, Secretary

Connie Carenzo, Recording Secretary

MINUTES ARE NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL APPROVAL AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING.