Marblehead League of Women Voters Observer Corps
Observer Corps Reports are provided by volunteers from the Marblehead League of Women Voters. To learn more about the League and its activities, see my.lwv.org/massachusetts/marblehead.
BOARD: Water & Sewer Commission
DATE: June 6
LWVM OBSERVER: Steven Levy
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: F. Carlton Siegel, chair; Gregory Bates, Thomas Carroll,
Thomas L. Murray.
STAFF PRESENT: Amy McHugh, superintendent; Dianne Rodgers, office manager; and Bethany Spangler, assistant superintendent via Zoom
The meeting started at 7 p.m. The minutes from April 4, 2023, and May 5, 2023, were approved.
Superintendent Report for Water
Contract 185, Loring Avenue, is essentially done. New water main installed and in service. Contractor is working on landscaping and fencing.
Superintendent Report for Sewer
- Repair on Elm Street due to a pipe settling, excavation went from 7 feet in depth to 17 feet.
- The Re-Sump Project is an effort to locate private sump pumps connections to the sanitary sewer system and have the homeowner fix the problem. Sump-pump water can overwhelm the sanitary sewer system during storm events. More than 400 sump pumps were found connected to the sanitary sewer system during the ’80s. Records do not confirm if these connections were removed. Through Re-Sump FY24 effort will be made to investigate those connections and confirm they have been removed from the sanitary system.
- Contract 183, Green Street Pump Station Rehabilitation: Work to start mid-June.
- Sewer regulations review: South Essex Sewerage District has updated its regulations. Marblehead will need to review and update to be in compliance with SESD Regulations.
Superintendent Report for Admin
Accounts receivable update: Nine customers got collection letters with accounts overdue by 270 days, and warnings with door tags were delivered to those customers with accounts overdue by 180 days.
Report on Massachusetts Water Authority
- MWRA loan update: MWRA loaned $3,059,400 for the Humphrey Street project, which was closed out, and the earlier loan for $2,200,000 for the Tedesco Street was also closed out. The projects were completed under budget by $771,300, which can be applied to future eligible projects. The Loring Avenue project will be submitted for approval of this remaining funding.
- The commission decided not to apply for additional loan appropriation at this time.
Report on South Essex Sewer District
- Infiltration and Inflow project: There are funds available for a sewer lining project in the SESD budget. The commission opted to hold prior to issuing use of these funds until the awards for Congressional Directed Funding were known. Funding should be awarded to winning projects mid-July.
- Contract 188: ABC (Asphalt, Brick and Concrete) Material Processing Contract was publicly bid and awarded to N. Granese and Sons for materials processing at $599,000.
- Contract 185: Loring Transmission Water Main Replacement change orders 1, 2 and 3 were approved.
- GIS field technician appointment was made. Duties will include maintaining and operating the GIS (Geographic Information System). Samuel Lippmann, the appointee, has an industrial engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
- Rate study public hearing and July regular commission meeting were set for June 26.
- The meeting ended at 9:50 p.m.