WMAC MEETING MINUTES – JULY 10, 2008

 

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

 

Others: Eric Hooper – Superintendent, DPW; Nancy Hammet – Consultant to Sharon on Water Conservation Plan; Ian Cooke – Executive Director, Neponset River Watershed Assoc (NepRWA); Nancy Fyler – town resident and staff member at NepRWA working on Sharon Water Conservation Plan.

 

  1. The minutes from the May 22, 2008 meeting were approved as amended and will be posted on the Town of Sharon website.

 

  1. Eric Hooper reviewed the procedures for selecting a contractor to prepare the Town Water Master Plan.  Bob Weeks reviewed the criteria that he had proposed to evaluate the five proposals received from potential contractors.  Interviews had been conducted with the following firms who submitted proposals:  On June 19th – Environmental Partners, Weston & Sampson, Amory Engineers; On June 26th – ESS Group Inc in conjunction with Wright-Pierce, Comprehensive Environmental Inc.

 

  1. General consensus was that Weston & Sampson and Environmental Partners submitted the best proposals.  The approach taken by Weston & Sampson to construct a dynamic framework for active management of new/changing  information in evaluating choices for our water system, among other considerations, made Weston & Sampson the top choice. The WMAC decided that Weston & Sampson will be invited to the next WMAC meeting to review the proposal and its sequence of implementation before a final selection is made.

 

  1. Nancy Hammett presented her outline for how she is assembling the Water Conservation Plan for Sharon.  She distributed a document entitled Conservation Plan Options and requested feedback from WAMC members.  Dave Crosby suggested that the WMAC needs to set a water consumption target, perhaps 65 GPCD, which is the state water conservation standard. Paul Lauenstein added that Sharon should also have goals for aggregate annual water usage and especially summer water usage that are compatible with fire safety, recreation, and healthy aquatic ecosystems. Nancy Fyler advised that she reviewed water consumption data for Sharon households, but could not make significant progress due to the limited data available.

    Concern was expressed about lack of incentive to conserve water at the Avalon Bay apartments, given that individual apartments are not sub-metered. Jack Sulik said that apartment dwellers are the most difficult residents to encourage to conserve water. This problem should be addressed in the Water Conservation Plan.

 

  1. Nancy Fyler provided an update on her efforts to promote more awareness for water conservation within the Sharon community.  A new website, http://www.sharonwater.com/ is up and running; it will be linked to the town website, which is where the WMAC and the Water Dept post their information.  The Hunter Irrigation System with built-in rain sensor is installed at the High School football field and should serve as a model for reduced water use.  Nancy hosted an information table at the Lakeside Concert the prior evening and spoke with over 10 families on water conservation initiatives in Sharon.  She has prepared a letter which will go to the 10% of households with the highest annual consumption of water to offer water audit consulting through Energy New England.  A new flyer on water conservation has been prepared which can be posted on kiosks.  There is a Water & Energy Fair scheduled for Sept 21st at the Community Center from 1-5pm which will help to promote more awareness for water and energy conservation.  School education program is set to launch in September.

 

  1. David Crosby and Eric Hooper met with the Town of Stoughton concerning the proposed emergency connection between the 2 towns.   Eric Hooper, Dave Crosby, Town Administrator Ben Puritz and Selectman Joe Roach hope to present a proposal to the Stoughton Board of Selectmen for an emergency backup connection.

  2. Eric Hooper advised that Sharon will also plan to meet with the Town of Norwood concerning a proposed emergency connection between the two towns.  Paul Millet from Environmental Partners is preparing a preliminary cost estimate for the installation of an emergency connection.

 

  1. Eric Hooper and David Crosby mentioned that the Economic Development Commission for Sharon is meeting with a consultant, Wright-Pierce, concerning the plan for the development of the center of Sharon, to include issues related to parking and waste water management.  The meeting will be held at the Community Center on Sept 16th.

 

  1. The next meeting will be Thursday, August  7th, at the Sharon Community Center at 7:30pm.