Minutes of NVC Utilities Committee Meeting of September 12, 2003

Minutes:  (not yet approved)

Present: Committee Members D. Crofoot, R. Brockway, S. Fleming, P. Spollett (by conference call),

Absent: J. Metcalf (excused)

Also: Licensed Operator John Fancy, Village Agent William Paige, Todd Merolla

Election of a Chairman: Brockway nominated David Crofoot.  Voted unanimously

Rules of Committee Procedure

After discussion, it was unanimously agreed that a quorum would consist of a simple majority of the five committee members present either in person or by conference call.  Meetings: Friday afternoon, nine days before the regularly scheduled Overseers meeting.  Notice of meetings to be posted on Village bulletin boards by John Fancy and sent to Mike Robbins for posting on web site.  Agenda will be prepared by John Fancy; committee members should submit agenda items to him by a week before the meeting.

Citizen input: A period for input will be available at the end of the formal agenda items.  A time limit of five minutes per person will apply.

The Chairman will report the findings and actions of the committee to the Board of Overseers.

John Fancy's Report

Phase I: Pay meeting on September 9, 2003 .  The project is 85% complete.  No problems with finances.  Work remaining includes:

1. Sewer Line down Shore Road : Start early October (after S&S has finished water digging.)  Plan to finish by end of October.

2. Village Cleanup: Crew on site in a week or two.  Final sewer connections, seeding, gravel, ditches and storm drains.

3. Road Work: Paving or reconstructing of Broadway, Bay into Sea Street (with widening--3-4 feet through curve, two more catch basins).  Village has to pay for this.  John Fancy suggested Overseers consider  resurfacing upper Main St. and Lower Griffin St. with reprocessed asphalt which, when graded and rolled smooth, still looks like gravel (i.e., unpaved) but sheds water and does not erode.  This might also be applicable to part or all of Park Row.  Cost of reprocessed asphalt is less than for gravel.  Overseers should drive down into Birchcrest and see the rebuilt road’s appearance so they can make some judgment on this.

4. Final walk through end of October and punch list.

Phase II: Pre-construction meeting held on 9/10/2003 .  Sargent & Sargent plans to start on 9/22/03 on George St. at Sea St. , proceeding south on Shore Road and hopefully moving as fast as 400 feet per day.  If Town of Northport can be persuaded to commit the money to repaving Bluff Road (between Clinton and Cobe Rd. ), S&S would be willing to put a second crew at work on Bluff Road in tandem.  J. Fancy will attend 9/15/03 Selectmen's meeting to see if they will commit to this.  Shore Road should be finished and hooked up this fall.  Bluff Road would wait until spring unless Northport will commit the money for road reconstruction this fall.

In order to get better speed, S&S will grind off the entire road in area where both they and Lynch must work and the Town of Northport plans to put storm drainage-- Shore Road south of Cobe Rd.   Cost $2,000 can be moved from a Phase I account to a Phase II account.

Thru traffic will be blocked during daytime; one-lane traffic open at night.  Arrangements will be made to allow passage of school buses and emergency vehicles.

We need to make up an informational flier for households which will be affected by this project and distribute it to houses and post on the web site.

Construction storage will not be in Ruggles Park .  Will probably be up by the pump house and fire pond.

Policies & Procedures

The utilities maintain a set of policies and procedures approved by the Overseers.

John Fancy presented a draft policy for Water Meters.  Among other things, it makes it clear that if a meter cannot be installed due to the configuration of a house's plumbing, the homeowner must either do internal plumbing work to allow for inside installation or install a meter pit at his own expense.  The general lines of this policy were agreed upon by the committee and a final draft will be presented to the Overseers for approval.  Currently, a dozen houses fall into this category.

Extension of Phase I Construction Loan

John Fancy recommended a six-month extension of this loan which ran from 9/30/02 through 9/30/03 at a rate of 2.15%.   Reasons were: the wastewater project is not yet completed and monies are still not expended, our other four bonds all come due in the fall and this causes cash flow problems which would be better spread out with the six month offset.  The Committee recommends that the Overseers authorize this six-month extension.  Cost: @ $2,000. For bond counsel work (Mike Trainor-Eaton Peabody.)

Phase III and DEP Consent Decree

John Fancy recommended that the Committee and Overseers visit wastewater treatment plants of the low rate (lagoon) type and the high rate (mechanical, .e.g., Belfast ) type over the next few months in order to have a better understanding of them.  Proposal for a site visit to the Waldoboro Wastewater treatment plant on October 12 in the afternoon after the Overseers' meeting.

Proposal that an Engineer from Woodward & Curran attend the next meeting of the Utilities Committee to discuss their report and the implications for future treatment of wastewater within the Village--October 3, 2003.  John Fancy to set this up.

Citizen Comment: Todd Merolla suggested that Woodward & Curran look into oxygenation systems by TI Wastewater that might allow retrofitting of the existing plant with an       oxygenation plant built in the central part of Ruggles Park which might serve inconspicuously as the base of a bandstand gazebo.  Mr. Fancy noted that it seems to be the determination of the DEP to eventually get rid of all primary treatment plants which might make retrofitting of our current plan unwise.

Next meeting: Friday, October 3, 2003 , at 2:30 p.m. at the office in Community Hall.

Adjournment at 3:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,