Informational Sewer Meeting
10/14/10
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM.
Board members present were Supervisor Boisen, Councilman Wrisley,
Councilman LaForest, Councilman Sayward and Councilwoman LaPine.
Also present was Audrey Hoskins, Town Clerk.
Visitors present were Jim Dougan, AES Northeast, Sally Johnson, Grace Drummond, Jim Morse, Donna Sonnett, Mac Mac Devitt, Tom Duca and Ted Cornell.
Jim Dougan gave an update on the sewer project. The sewer main contractor is very visible in Town. They have come up Main Street and part way up Church Street. They are working on School Street now. If the weather holds they will be working on Beggs Point and Orchard Street. Most septic systems will remain undisturbed for the moment. Some lateral work is being done now. The other
six contractors are working at the plant site. There is a meeting scheduled to discuss the blasting needed at the ECHO parking lot. Since Essex is in the historic district there are specific guidelines for the blasting. Any structures with in 500 feet of the blast site must have an independent preblast survey. An independent engineering firm will be conducting the survey. This information will be given to the Town and AES before any blasting is done. At the wastewater treatment plant the walls for the control building are up and being back filled. The structural steel that supports the floor slab is in place. The plant work is going very smoothly.
Councilman LaForest asked if the road by Loy Kempster’s home is a temporary road. Jim Dougan said it is a temporary road and will be filled in and allowed to go back to its natural state.
Councilman LaForest asked about the generator at the water plant and Jim Dougan said there is an amendment for the Board to approve tonight on that subject. Jim Dougan said they were going to get one of the funding agencies
to sign off on the amendment because it involves the water plant so that the Town can get reimbursed for the engineering services involving the sewer portion. Jim said he asked the contractor to give a credit to remove the Beggs Park sewer building, I have not told them not to build the building but I wanted to know what it is worth. There was further discussion about not co mingling sewer and water funds in regards to the placement and use of the generator.
Councilman Sayward asked if there were plans for repaving this fall. Jim Dougan went over the repairs that would be done to the roads this fall and then what would happen to the roads in the spring.
Donna Sonnett said she understands that everyone is concerned about blasting
And possible damage to their property. She feels that vibrations form the jack hammering is a serious concern also. She was getting tremendous vibrations and echoing in the basement. Donna asked if homeowners could tie their sump pumps into the sewer line. The answer was no.
David Hislop asked about the blasting at the Echo Parking lot. Jim Dougan said the blasting would be in one location there. The blasting will be monitored by an independent company. There will be notification when the blasting will take place. The condition of the parking lot was discussed and how it will be cleaned up and repaired. The archeological survey was discussed and the survey determined there were no significant findings.
Sally Johnson asked if the only blasting was going to take place at the parking lot. Jim Dougan said this is the only blasting scheduled so far. Sheehan are going to be using the vermeil machine rather than blasting.
Manholes were discussed and there will be 70 in the Town for the sewer project.
Sally Johnson said that the dump trucks are tearing up the road into the quarry across from Champ Watch. Jim Dougan said he will have this checked out.
Mac Mc Devit thanked the Board for considering another site at Beggs Park for the generator. If this plan dose not work is there a plan B. Jim Dougan felt that the amendment would be approved and hoped they could go ahead with this plan.
Easement issues were discussed. We have received more signed easements. We have signed easements for the area we are currently working on. Supervisor Boisen said there are three properties that may need to go through eminent domain.
Jim Dougan said that EFC should be sending payment to the Town very soon. Supervisor Boisen said she had spoken with EFC and we should be receiving payment a week from today.
Councilman LaForest asked for a billing statement from the lawyers. Supervisor Boisen said she would ask to have that sent to the Town.
Councilman Sayward asked what kind of deal did we had to make to get the
reimbursement. Supervisor Boisen said you ( the Board) all got documentation from EFC saying sign this form saying all your easements are in place and filed with the County. We could not sign the form for the reasons discussed. EFC would not pay on properties without proper signed easements. The certificate they provide was amended to say all work that has been done was in public right of ways or on properties where signed easements are in place. The engineers have signed it, the attorneys have signed it and our lawyer believes the Supervisor should also sign it. Supervisor Boisen kept calling EFC for updates on the payment and finally EFC called back and said yes they would accept the signed document. Payment will be made if everything else is in place by next Thursday.
The Pataki fund was discussed. Out of the bills sent to the fund that could have been paid only $40,000+ is eligible. The Pataki grant does not pay for construction. Supervisor Boisen found out that the contract for the Pataki grant
can be amended but this will take eight weeks. We will work closely with Jim Dougan and get the contract amended so that we can utilize the Pataki money.
The money from EFC will come by direct deposit to the Town. Once we receive the money we can pay the contractors.
Tom Ducca asked if the roads will be completely repaved at the end of the project. Jim Dougan said it will not be brand new road from one side to the other.
The areas where work has been done will be repaired.
Jim Morse pointed out there is a problem with two inch shut off that is inoperable.
The top is bent off. It is on the loop that comes from by Charlie Goff’s. The
Water superintendent needs to be notified and get it fixed before the sewer work starts in that location. Jim said that Sheehan’s crew and AES did a real good job on the water line break in front of Phoebe Sweats house. They stayed late
and worked on fixing the problem which was not there responsibility.
The sewer meeting adjourned at 7:20 PM
Respectfully submitted Audrey Hoskins, Town Clerk