Minutes of the WMAC Meeting held on Thursday, November 19, 2009

Members in Attendance: Len Sekuler, Vice-Chair; David Hearne, April Singleton, Bob Weeks, Paul Lauenstein, Anne Carney;  Chair David Crosby attended telephonically.

Guests: Sharon DPW Superintendent Eric Hooper, Sharon Water Conservation Coordinator Nancy Fyler, Weston & Sampson PE’s Barbara Cook and Leah Stanton. 

The meeting was called to order at 7:45 PM by Vice-Chair Len Sekuler

The minutes of the October 22, 2009 meeting were approved as amended.

Barbara Cook and Leah Stanton discussed Weston & Sampson’s hydraulic model and pipe distribution maps that were developed to allow the DPW to view the entire water system and be able to prioritize improvements to the system.  Weston & Sampson worked with the water department and the town’s GIS department in order to catalog the assets of the water system. Characteristics of the pipes and wells that were included in the asset description were age, material, record of breaks, type of soil, whether the road type was designated by Mass Highway as  local or arterial, history of complaints in terms of fire flow, date of last paving etc.  Each category was given a weighted factor and these were used to develop a rating system.  The rating system will help the water department develop a logical improvement/replacement plan for the water system.  Much discussion followed concerning developing a 20 year capital plan. There were also questions about how to determine the degree to which a pipe is corrupted by using a flow test to see how much it is tuberculated.  There was discussion about how much parallel pipe existed within the distribution system. The model can indicate what the flow is at different points along the system to show where flow is deficient for firefighting purposes. Other categories can be added to the model and Leah Stanton explained that the firm looked at weights from other towns to try to take bias out of its rating system for Sharon.  Weston & Sampson was asked to provide a list of streets that show where there are public safety issues in terms of flow.

The agenda item concerning priorities and long range planning was deferred to the next meeting.

Eric passed out a spreadsheet showing approved budgets and actual expenditures for the fiscal years 2007 through 2009 and the proposed budgets for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. He explained that the water reserve will be gone by June 30, 2010 and a rate increase will be needed just to cover normal operating expenses. Dave Crosby explained that his most recent bill appeared to be very low and asked that this be looked into in case there are other people who are not receiving accurate bills.  Eric explained that he would give the Selectmen two budgets – one showing the budget without a rate increase and the other showing the budget with an increase. The Selectmen are planning to meet next week and make a decision on the rates.

Nancy Fyler passed out a copy of the proposed insert for the next water bill and asked that members get back to her asap.

The next meeting will take place on December 17^th.

Adjournment at 9:55PM

Respectfully submitted,

Anne M Carney