WMAC MEETING MINUTES – March 6, 2008

Attendees: David Crosby – Chair; Rory McGregor – Secretary; David Hearne; Paul Lauenstein; Bob Weeks

Also present: Sharon DPW Superintendent Eric Hooper, Nancy Hammett, and Nancy Fyler

1. Minutes

The amended minutes for the Feb. 7, 2008 WMAC meeting were approved unanimously.

2. Water Conservation Grant

Former Mystic River Watershed Association Executive Director Nancy Hammett, an economist by training with an MBA, introduced herself to members of the WMAC. She explained that she has been retained by the Neponset River Watershed Association (NepRWA) as administrator of a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) water conservation grant  to prepare a water conservation plan for Sharon, which she expects to complete by early May. Nancy explained that she plans to review and summarize past reports, consult with other Town boards, committees and officials, and recommend water use goals for the Town. She will depend on the WMAC to function as a steering committee and sounding board, and suggest other people in Sharon with whom she should confer.

Ms. Hammett explained that the plan is expected to have the following components:

         • water conservation plan

         • curriculum in schools

         • outreach to community groups

         • outreach to vendors of plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems

         • retrofitting high traffic/high visibility sites as demonstrations

         • public service announcements and a web site

         • irrigation system performance standards

The plan will analyze the water impacts of various growth scenarios, providing a range of demand trajectories. Drought contingencies and an action plan will be provided. The possibility of importing supplementary MWRA water will also be discussed.

Ms. Hammett pointed out that although a lawn watering ban can be imposed on short notice, an integrated water conservation program is not something that can be turned on quickly, but requires sustained effort over years.

Nancy Fyler, a Sharon teacher with marketing experience, has been selected by NepRWA to serve as Sharon Water Conservation Coordinator on a 20-hour per week basis for one year.

3. Water Master Plan

Eric Hooper unloaded a large carton full of old master plans, consulting reports and studies. He said that it is not practical to reproduce all the old reports for each WMAC member, but WMAC members could check them out at the DPW.

Paul Lauenstein requested that at least the report on emergency backup by Watermark Environmental be copied and distributed to WMAC members. Eric Hooper agreed to do that.

Eric Hooper stated that Sharon needs a new water master plan. He cited two reasons:

         • more efficient water usage in Sharon because of:

                   - lawn watering restrictions

                   - leak repairs

                   - replacement of inefficient toilets associated with bathroom renovations

         • Sharon is approaching full build-out

                   - new developments are much larger and denser than single-home subdivisions

                   - these large, concentrated developments will alter flow in Sharon’s water mains

                   - new developments will be more water-efficient than older homes

Eric Hooper said the original master plan and subsequent master plan updates based projected water usage on 90 gallons per person per day. He said that 75 gallons per person per day might be a more appropriate forecasting assumption, given water conservation measures and more efficient water fixtures.

Paul Lauenstein disputed the need for a water master plan. In addition to being expensive, he said that embarking on a 12-month process of developing a new master plan would effectively freeze progress on overdue improvements such as a new well, emergency backup, and the radio meter system installation. He said Sharon already possesses a sophisticated hydraulic model that can be used to evaluate the impact of large developments on Sharon’s water main infrastructure, and the Water Department has retained Paul Millett of Environmental Partners to review developers’ plans. He added that Peter O’Cain’s spreadsheet estimating the water requirements of each new development coming to Sharon, MAPC population projections for the town, and estimates of future water use efficiency to be provided by the new water conservation plan, should make it possible to accurately predict future water requirements for Sharon without a master plan.

Paul Lauenstein, referring to the large pile of consulting reports provided by Eric Hooper, commented that there is already a considerable body of knowledge on each topic mentioned in the draft scope for the proposed new master plan. He said WMAC members ought to review existing materials prior to passing judgment on whether to spend large sums of money on new studies of the same topics.

Nancy Hammett suggested a compromise, which she called a phased approach. She suggested prioritizing the topics in the draft master plan scope, selecting the most needed topics for immediate review by an outside consultant, and deferring less urgent topics for review at a later date.

The committee voted unanimously in favor of this approach. This will be a topic of discussion at the next WMAC meeting.

4. Radio Meter Installation Update

Eric Hooper informed the committee that he has altered the budget to provide the Finance Committee with the option of accelerating installation of the radio meter system.

Referring to an article in a recent newsletter from the Badger Meter Company, Paul Lauenstein asked why the Sharon Water Department has only installed a few hundred radio meters in the 20 months since receiving the go-ahead on the project, while Easton installed all of their 7,100 radio meter readers in just two years. He commented that the article said Easton had already saved 18 million gallons of water thanks to the leak detection capability of the system.

Eric Hooper responded that the Easton Water Department had more employees than Sharon, and they had been ordered by the Easton Finance Committee to dedicate all their manpower to installation of the system until it was completely installed. He added that Easton had to resort to sending out estimated water bills rather than bills based on actual meter reads in order to expedite the installation process.

5. Water Conservation

Paul Lauenstein distributed a brochure entitled Massachusetts Fresh Water produced by The Nature Conservancy. This document describes the state’s precious water resources and the fragile ecosystems that depend them. It warns of the risks to these invaluable environmental assets posed by the loss of approximately 40 acres per day to development, and proposes measures to protect what is left of them.

Paul Lauenstein distributed a letter from Sharon’s Acting Superintendent of Schools Dr. Barbara Dunham indicating that the school system would be interested in implementing at least some of the measures recommended by the water audits conducted by Energy New England. He added that he had received a phone call from Ken Wertz, Supervisor of maintenance and Operations for the School Department, and discussed several practical, low-cost measures such as retrofitting dual-flush handles on flushometer toilets and capturing rainwater from the expansive roofs to irrigate ballfields. Paul Lauenstein  said 9.5 million gallons per year of rain falls on the roofs of the five public schools, which exceeds the 8 million gallons used in the five public schools in 2007.

Paul Lauenstein distributed literature from the EPA’s new WaterSense program. He explained that the WaterSense program is seeking partners to help raise awareness of the WaterSense logo as a symbol of water-efficient plumbing fixtures to help consumers identify water-efficient fixtures that also provide superior performance. In the case of Municipal Water Departments, this can be accomplished by printing the logo and a brief explanation of what it means on various materials such as water bill inserts, consumer confidence reports, etc. He added that the Massachusetts Water Works Association, of which Sharon is a member, is already a WaterSense partner. Nancy Hammett added that the New England state which recruits the most WaterSense partners will receive substantial assistance from EPA to promote water conservation within the state.

Paul Lauenstein moved that the WMAC recommend that Sharon Water Department become a Water Sense partner. Other members indicated that they needed more time to think it over. The motion failed.

Paul Lauenstein handed out a script for a public service announcement very similar to the one he created in early 2007 providing feedback on the community-wide reduction in water usage in 2006, and thanking the community for saving water.  He proposed to work with newly hired water conservation coordinator Nancy Fyler to create another public service announcement to update the public on water usage in 2007. He moved to recommend this course of action to the Selectmen. David Hearne seconded this motion.

Prior to bringing Paul Lauenstein’s motion to a vote, Chairman Crosby moved to table his proposal pending completion of Nancy Hammett’s water conservation plan. David Hearne seconded Chairman Crosby’s motion, which passed by a vote of four in favor, one opposed.

6. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, April 3rd at Town Hall, lower level hearing room, at 7:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Lauenstein