TOWN OF SOMERS
WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL AUTHORITY
P. O. Box 308
Somers,
Connecticut 06071
WPCA MEETING
MINUTES
Tuesday, May 3,
2005
7:30 p.m.
Downstairs
Conference Room
I. CALL
TO ORDER:
Vice-Chairman Charles Colby called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Members present were: Charles Colby; Steve Getman; George VanTasel and Jim Faust. Also present was Sanitarian Steve Jacobs.
II. Approval of Minutes: April 5, 2005
George VanTasel made a motion to approve the 4/5/05 minutes as written; seconded by Steve Getman and unanimously approved by the Authority.
III. Somersville
WPCF - Expansion Update:
No new information was available as the engineer, Mike Mocko, was not in attendance.
George VanTasel made a motion to add Gingras Development to the agenda; seconded by Steve Getman and unanimously approved by the Authority.
IV. Gingras
Development:
Jerry Gingras and Tom Carenzo are the new developers of the Age Restricted Housing (ARH) project off Shaker Road, formerly owned by Jeff Lipton. They presented a plot plan of their proposed development. All units have 50' frontage and will be a mix of several different types of housing. The project is called Somers Village and will consist of approximately 80 housing units with two to three bedrooms each. They had questions about the sewer plant expansion.
Steve Jacobs said that their ARH development would have to split the sewer plant expansion with the Somersville Mill. The DEP has designated 110 gallons per bedroom and the total gallons estimated for the facility would be 97,400 gpd. Using this figure with each home having at least two or three bedrooms, total gallons needed for their complex would be 22,000 gallons or one and one-third of the two new sand beds at the plant.
WPCA Minutes
5/3/05
Page 2
In the Lipton agreement, it was stated that he would pay $2,500 per unit as it was developed, which would cover his share of the expansion.
Jerry Gingras asked what the town's obligation was to the Mill. The property has been going steadily downhill for over a decade with no signs of developing the property. He said their project is about ready to go with construction beginning this year.
Members of the Authority suggested contacting the DEP and asking them to lower the standard from 110 gallons per bedroom. Because of the nature of the development with residents being 55 and over, water usage could be estimated at a lesser amount. The Authority also felt that the developers should set up a meeting with the Board of Selectmen to clarify the town's position with the Mill. Have the engineer for the ARH
development come up with numbers that would substantiate lowering the number of gallons per unit per day. Also the town could require that water-saving appliances and toilets are used in this development.
Steve Jacobs said about 35% of the ARH units could be handled by gravity feed sewer. The remaining units would have to be serviced by a pump station. Have your engineer check the numbers to see what the pitch will be, and call Steve Jacobs to discuss the pitch of the land and the number of pumped units required.
First Selectman David Pinney, who joined the meeting, said the Mill project shows some sign of life and 100 condominium units are still planned. The town still wants the mill capacity held in abeyance. He talked about the flood issues at the mill and said an engineer is needed to evaluate these issues. There is a possibility that a larger company may take over the mill and its development. The town lost the DOT grant for rebuilding the bridge to redirect the water flow. We are looking at other ways to divert the flow or to convince the DOT that the bridge rebuilding is the only way to go. The town is committed to support the renovation of the mill at this time.
V. Sewer/Water
Billing:
a. Collection Update:
Steve Jacobs reported that they are down to six delinquent accounts which have all been liened. Two accounts are long-term delinquents. For this fiscal year, we have collected $58,300 for sewers and $34,400 for water accounts.
b. Delinquent Accounts:
Steve sent a certified letter to a delinquent account on 24 Hall Hill Road. The owner came in with a $1,000 payment the next week. Hopefully, he will continue to make these large payments until the delinquency is paid. Otherwise the account will go to a collection agency and then foreclosure. Two other accounts have already been referred to a collection agency.
WPCA Minutes
5/3/05
Page 3
c. Billing System Operator:
Steve Jacobs is still handling the billing system. He has taught some of the system to Shirley Taylor, the secretary in Land Use. According to David Pinney, Shirley has indicated her willingness to learn the billing system and until additional staff is brought into Land Use, Shirley will learn the billing system. At present, the Board of Selectmen is working on determining the duties of another clerical person in the Land Use Department.
VI. Health
Department Regionalization:
Steve Jacobs reported that the proposed legislation requiring all towns to have a full-time Director of Health or join a health district made it through the House but did not make it through the appropriations committee for the State. Some small towns have banded together to stop this legislation. The Board of Selectmen is trying to evaluate the alternatives to joining a health district. The Board met with Bill Blitz, head of the local health district, and Pamela Kilbey-Fox of CT. Dept. of Public Health along with Steve Jacobs, Sanitarian, and Jim Botellio, Chairman of the WPCA to discuss some of the advantages of being in a health district. Perhaps another session is necessary with all of the WPCA members and representatives from the DPH as well as Bill Blitz to go over
some of the issues and ramifications of being in a health district. The Board of Selectmen will look into setting this meeting up in the near future. It was noted that it costs $40,000 to join the district. Somers would have two members out of twenty-two total on the Board. There are (46) towns with part-time health directors.
VII. Correspondence/Audience
Participation:
Steve Jacobs reported that the WPCA budget verification was received from the Town Treasurer. The amount requested for clerical billing was eliminated.
Received Malcolm-Pirnie's quarterly report. Contamination levels have remained the same in the Rye Hill Circle area.
Received new rate from Hazardville Water for inch/foot charges - an increase of 14.89%.
We had a pump station malfunction which caused a discharge of 1,000 gallons of raw sewage. Frank Smith Company came in and did the necessary repairs. Scoring of the panel indicated it could have been a lightning strike. We are keeping track of all the bills and if it gets up to $2,500, we could make an insurance claim.
WPCA Minutes
5/3/05
Page 4
VIII. Bills:
DEP (permit fee) $1,597.50
Journal Inquirer (re: 166 Main St.) $94.44
New England Balance $98.00
Millipore Chemicals $58.39
Astro Chemical $442.70
Avery Septic $70.00
HACH $45.40
Ace Hardware $7.00
Ferguson Waterworks $323.40
George VanTasel made a motion to pay the bills; seconded by Steve Getman and unanimously approved by the Authority.
IX. ADJOURNMENT:
Motion to adjourn made by George VanTasel; seconded by Steve Getman and unanimously approved. 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.