WMAC MEETING MINUTES – JANUARY 15, 2009

 

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

 

Others:  Eric Hooper – Superintendent, DPW; Ann Carney – Resident; Ian Cooke – Executive Director, Neponset River Watershed Association

 

1.  The minutes from the WMAC meeting on December 11, 2008 were approved.

 

2.  Eric Hooper reported that Sharon’s water system is performing without issue.  Water demand continues to show a steady decline which he illustrated with a graph; the one exception was an undetected leak under North Main Street caused an increase in water pumping.  Possible causes for the decline include lawn watering restrictions, home renovations involving low flow toilets and water efficient washing machines, aggressive detection and repair of water system leaks, increased water rates, and education initiatives to promote water conservation practices.

 

3.  Eric Hooper met with the town of Norwood concerning the potential emergency water connection.  The location will be at Tiot Street and involves the construction of a push pump facility to deliver water to the Sharon system.  Weston and Sampson will serve as the consultant to produce the technical evaluation and estimated budget for the connection.  The pipe will be sized sufficiently to allow, if ever necessary, for a permanent hookup between Sharon and Norwood with capacity to deliver supplementary MWRA water to meet Sharon’s future demand.  An estimate of the cost of this emergency connection will be included in Weston & Sampson’s Master Water Plan for Sharon.

 

4.  Eric Hooper advised that Woodard & Curran will submit a proposal for borings at Well #2 (Farnham Road) to test for nitrates.

 

5.  Eric Hooper will schedule ESS to attend the next WMAC meeting and present recommendations for potential new well sites.

 

6.  Dave Hearne advocated that the Water Department exercise its rights as an Enterprise Business to accelerate some of the critical projects on the capital plan (asbestos cement pipe replacement, for example, which Bob Weeks voiced concern for and felt warranted attention as soon as possible), borrowing funds as necessary to finance the work since rates are extremely attractive.  Dave also requested that an Annual Capital Reserve line item be established in the operating budget; the amount is to be determined.  Dave will follow up on this thought with Eric Hooper and Bill Fowler, the town accountant to discuss the account structure.

 

7.  The Conservation Subcommittee will review rebate rates for washing machines and toilets and make recommendations for changes, if necessary.  All new construction in Sharon requires installation of water efficient devices.

 

8.  Paul Lauenstein presented the water conservation budget.  After much discussion the WMAC voted 5-1-0 to recommend that the Selectmen approve $25K for Program Management (continuation of the contract with NepRWA with Nancy Fyler as the Conservation Coordinator), $25K for rebates for washing machines and toilets, and $5K for the water bill inserts.   Bob Weeks emphasized that the water consumption data should be put on each consumer’s bill once all the meters are installed, thereby eliminating the need for the water bill inserts in future.  The WMAC agreed to defer initiatives on the rain gardens and xeriscape projects until a future year.

 

9.  The next meeting will be on February 12th.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Rory McGregor

Secretary