SHARON WATER MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (WMAC)
MEETING MINUTES FOR 06/05/2003
Prepared by David Mark
Present at meeting: WMAC members Bob McGregor, Jack Sulik, Len Sekuler, Roger Thibeault, Lealdon Langley, and David Mark; prospective members Richard Mandell and Paul Lauenstein; Eric Hooper (DPW Director); and guests Cliff Towner, Alice Cheyer, and John Prendergrast
The meeting followed the agenda as follows:
1) REVIEW OF MINUTES – Minor spelling changes to the minutes were made.
ACTIONS: None
2) STATUS ON NEW WMAC MEMBERS – WMAC currently has seven official members and two members under consideration by the Board of Selectmen (BOS): Paul Lauenstein and Richard Mandell. Both Paul and Richard have been interviewed by BOS.
ACTIONS: Bob McGregor will check with Ben Puritz regarding the status of Paul’s and Richard’s membership.
3) REVIEW OF RECENT TOWN MEETING RESULTS – Len Sekuler gave a review of the status of all water related warrant articles at the most recent Town Meeting Series:
-Warrant Article 16 to further restrict outdoor watering – Both the warrant article and a proposed amendment to exempt Town of Sharon facilities from the restrictions were defeated;
- Warrant Article 17 to give rebates of to water customers - This warrant article was indefinitely postponed;
- Warrant Article 18 requiring the Town to upgrade the emergency connection to Stoughton’s system at a specific location – This warrant article was withdrawn;
- Warrant Article 19 requiring a management audit of the Water Department –This warrant article was withdrawn.
ACTIONS: None
5** changed order) REVIEW OF RECENT PACKAGE SENT TO WMAC MEMBERS – The package sent to WMAC members included “Procedures & Schedules for Controlling the Water Level in Lake Massapoag Amended April 2000”, the 1/21/03 memo “Proposed Schedule of Water Department Capital Projects”, the 4/16/03 M&E memo on hydraulic modeling/booster pump feasibility, and a Water System map showing housing lots, water main/pipe layout, and Zone 2 locations for municipal wells effecting Sharon groundwater.
Eric Hooper said that the Water Meter replacement schedule has been changed from two to three years; although this will increase overall project costs, it will decrease costs in any one year. The first section of town for meter replacement will most likely be Gavin’s Pond, which Eric thinks will be relatively easy and may only require meter head replacement. Weston & Sampson will manage the project which will include some form of public education/notification.
It was noted by Jack Sulik that the capital projects list does not include a facility for iron/manganese removal from Well#6. Eric Hooper said that the DPW was still in the process of evaluating available technologies. Jack Sulik suggested that a placeholder be put on the list so that all will be aware of the need. Eric concurred.
There was some discussion with Cliff Towner (Chairman of the Lake Management Committee) concerning the methodology discussed in the Lake Massapoag water level document. Cliff stated that he expects the water quality this summer to be rather bad (high in nutrients and algae blooms). Lealdon Langley said that he has been collecting various water quality data for the lake over the last two years, possibly including Total N, DO, and bacteria levels. He will try to get the data to Cliff and WMAC. The possibility of installing equipment to continuously monitor water levels at both gauging stations was discussed.
ACTIONS: 1)WMAC will in the future review the proposed capital projects list in the late summer and send any comments, recommendations and/or concurrence to BOS before DPW submits the list to them.
2) Lealdon Langley will look at and submit the lake water quality data he has collected.
3) Eric Hooper will look into the costs of installing continuous recorders at the two gauging stations and inform WMAC.
4** changed order) REVIEW OF M&E HYDRAULIC MODELING MEMO, DATED 4/16/2003 – As stated above, the package sent to WMAC members included the 4/16/03 M&E memo on hydraulic modeling/booster pump feasibility, and a Water System map showing lots, water main/pipe layout, and Zone 2s for municipal wells effecting Sharon groundwater. There was some discussion about the adequacy of the existing groundwater monitoring program. It was determined that this should be the topic of a future WMAC meeting.
There was some discussion of the basis of the 4/16/03 M&E memo. It was determined that there was an assumption that no additional building would occur in the HPSD area. M&E’s main conclusion was that an additional storage tank would be needed under any scenario, either in the HPSD or the LPSD. A meeting between Paul Millet of M&E, Cliff, and Eric was held on 5/8/2003. Cliff stated that at the meeting he questioned some of the variables used in the modeling, e.g. pipe sizes, and requested that M&E make some modifications. Eric Hooper says that he has the follow-up memo that comes to the same conclusions as the 4/16 memo (he will get it to Cliff and WMAC).
ACTIONS: 1) Groundwater/Lake quality will be the topic of a future meeting.
2) Eric will send a copy of the follow-up memo to Cliff and WMAC.
6) REZONING ISSUES UNDER CONSIDERATION BY PLANNING BOARD – The South Main street rezoning is proposed in an area that is a potential future water source; however, Eric says that there are high iron and manganese levels in that area so he is not optimistic that it is a good potential source.
ACTIONS: None
7) STATUS OF DATA DIRECTORY – No additional information is available.
ACTIONS: None
8) REPORT ON LAKE MANAGEMENT AND CONCOMM MEETINGS – Cliff said that WMAC member Jen Bell was an active participant at the last Lake Management Committee (LMC)meeting. Cliff stated that LMC will be requesting additional town funding to address the fanwort issue; LMC also discussed reorganization, and the reasons for the current state of the Lake.
No WMAC member attended the most recent Conservation Commission meeting, but Lealdon Langley has volunteered to represent WMAC, time permitting.
ACTIONS: none
9) HEAD COUNT FOR 6/14/2003 WATER SYTEM TOUR – Seven WMAC members indicated they would attend.
ACTIONS: Bob McGregor will check with Jen Bell to see if she will be attending.
NEW BUSINESS: Bob would like to find an SHS student to be a representative on WMAC. Richard Mandell will look into it.
Next Meeting: Thursday, July 10 @7:30PM
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