April 22, 2008

By Kenneth J. Souza

A special meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen and Water/Sewer Commissioners was called to order on Tuesday, April 22 at 7:00 pm in the Marion Town House by Chairman Roger Blanchette. Also present were Selectman Jonathan Henry, Selectman Andrew Jeffrey, Town Administrator Paul Dawson, and Secretary Helene Craver.

The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss the recently-released evaluation report from Camp, Dresser and McKee (CDM) Inc. which the town commissioned on the capacity and available load and flows at its Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The board met with Department of Public Works (DPW) Superintendent Rob Zora and CDM representative William C. McConnell to review and digest the report.

"I think there's a lot of numbers (in the report), but I think at the end of the report there are some conclusions to start the discussion," Mr. McConnell said. "These are the key findings."

"I've read the report a couple of times ... and what I've gathered out of it is, yes, we have some sewer connections available but we can't use them until we resolve the infiltration and inflow (I&I) problem," Chairman Blanchette said.

"As of today there are the equivalent of 393 household connections available which translates to about 68,000 gallons per day," Mr. McConnell said. "The plant can handle it with a relatively small amount of modifications to the control systems. Right now you've been running slightly higher than your daily permit (allowance) ... and adding more (capacity) is something that would need to be addressed."

"I guess it seems that I&I was an issue and then other (issues) came into play and now I&I seems to be the major problem," Selectman Jeffrey said. "I guess my question is: how much I&I do we have to get rid of, if you will, before we can really start adding more sewer connections?"

"If you connect 272 (homes), you're going to reach the 68,000 gallon-per-day limit," Mr. McConnell said. "I don't think there's anything from stopping you from connecting (more sewer users) right now. But the infiltration issue is one of concern because although it hasn't triggered any action from (the state) as of yet, it could."

Selectman Jeffrey noted that the current Village Loop sewer expansion and repair project was designed to eliminate much of the town's I&I problems.

"The measured infiltration coming into the system (through leaks) which are going to be repaired through the Village Loop project is about 61,000 gallons per day ... so it would almost make up for the 68,000 (capacity)," Mr. McConnell agreed. "But that's not a concrete number. My my best guess estimate (for additional plant capacity) would be closer to 30,000 gallons per day -- or about 120 connections."

Chairman Blanchette said he has heard ongoing "rumors" that many residents have connected their sump pumps into the town's sewer system that has created much of the additional I&I problems for the town.

"It's common knowledge that the sewer system in the village is an elaborate French drain," agreed Board of Health Chairman Albin Johnson. "That's where most of the I&I problem comes from."

"We don't have many storm drains in town, and that's part of the problem," Selectman Henry added. "It's just a matter of physics -- when we get a lot of rainfall, the water has to go somewhere."

"I also think you're estimating a little high based on what I know," said Chairman Blanchette. "When people are putting their sump pump water into those pipes, unless that's corrected we are going to be hitting our head against a tree. But I think (Selectman Henry's) right - we need to make changes to our stormwater system."

Selectman Jeffrey said the board also needs to address the 121 so-called "grandfathered" sewer connections which are a first priority when the town's longtime moratorium on new sewer connections is eventually lifted.

"Those 121 connections are going to happen if we give any kind of leeway to additional (sewer) connections," he said.

As for the suggestion that the town needs to better monitor and clamp down on the rumored sump pumps tied into the sewer system, DPW Superintendent Rob Zora said it would have to come under the purview of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

"There are laws and regulations governing stormwater management," Mr. Zora said. "And you get into legal areas when you try to go onto someone's private property."

"Even the Board of Health is very restricted as to being able to enter (private property) when there's a serious health issue," Mr. Johnson added. "Even then you just can't break the door down."

"Tonight was sort of informational ... but I can see if we don't put a game plan together fairly quickly, this could go on for six months and we'll still be talking about it," Selectman Jeffrey said. "I think (Mr. Zora) and (Mr. McConnell) should meet and address these concerns. The purpose of this report was to see how many additional sewer connections are available. So now how do we tackle this?"

"If we're going to look at drainage issues, I think we should do it now before we go further with the sewer system," Mr. Zora said.

"If you went to DEP and say you want to increase your allowable discharge, they could easily say we like your report very much but do it quicker," Mr. McConnell said. "You might want to meet with them and discuss a timetable."

"If you bring DEP in, they're going to pull up the record and note we've been exceeding (our limit)," Mr. Zora said. "We did the study for $60,000 and we're doing the Village Loop project, so they've left us alone. If we didn't do anything, we'd be hit with a consent order."

Having been involved with town sewer issues for the past 12 years, Finance Committee (FinCom) member A. Lee Hayes noted that DPW Superintendent has continually warned about the I&I problem. "(Mr. Zora has said fix the I&I ... but we took our eye off the ball somewhere along the line," he said.

Former Selectman David Pierce suggested the board reform and reactivate the Sewer Subcommittee to assist in reviewing the CDM report and offer suggestions on how to proceed.

As for the previously-mentioned "grandfathered" connections, Board of Health Chairman Albin Johnson urged the board to keep some of the health-risk areas in town high on the priority list. "We hoped you wouldn't consider these additional connections 'extra,'" he said. "There are several areas around town where connections are imperative. There are houses with failed septic systems which are costing, on average, $25,000 to $30,000 to replace ... and these new systems are necessarily (better)."

In other matters, the board:

* Approved a proclamation declaring Marion Arbor Day 2008.

* Appointed Selectman Henry as the board's representative to the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) and also as the representative to the Joint Transportation and Planning Group (JTPG).

* Signed and approved the Special Town Meeting warrant for Tuesday, May 20, 2008.

There being no further matters to come before the board, they unanimously voted to adjourn for the evening at 8:06 pm.

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