The Town of Marion held its second quarterly meeting of the Water/Sewer Commissioners on January 28. The commissioners are made up of the Board of Selectmen: Randy Parker, Norm Hills, and John Waterman.
Considering the staggering costs the town is facing to repair, replace, upgrade, and update its antiquated water and sewer facilities and infrastructure and the massive implications of the work on the town’s financial standing and future, Waterman proposed that the commissioners have a quarterly platform to focus on these matters.
To that end, the commissioners were joined on a January 28 Zoom meeting by several town officials, including Department of Public Works Director David Willett, DPW Engineer Meghan Davis, DPW Office Manager Becky Tilden, Town Administrator Jay McGrail, Assistant Town Administrator Judy Mooney, and Town Planner Gil Hilario.
“We anticipate getting three new wells online this year. I think that’s a real good thing for the town,” said Willett, delegating to Davis, who reported on five ongoing water-related programs.
Engineering firm Tata & Howard is designing a $50,000 capital project to replace all of Marion’s fire hydrants now and in upcoming years. The project is set to go out to bid in early March, with construction to begin mid-April. The first three on the list are at 17 Dexter Road, 361 Front Street, and 639 Front Street. The contractor will supply the hydrants.
The Mill Street water main replacement project is complete. In April, the town will mill and overlay the roadway. The new hydrants are installed and online. The contractor has to remove the existing hydrants. The main trench is in the eastbound lane, so that lane will be milled and overlaid entirely. There are other spots to be repaired on the westbound lane, but that side will not receive a full mill and overlay.
Marion contracted with Tata & Howard to produce a concise reference document noting operating procedures for the Water Department that includes day-to-day operations, reporting, and regulatory compliance. This would come in handy in the event town employees are out, and the town needs to contract out work. This is in the beginning stages, and Davis said the DPW expects an agreement with Tata & Howard in the next week.
In her update on the Mary’s Pond well field rehabilitation, Davis reported having requested on the day of the meeting a “project scheduled to complete.” The contractor is presently rehabbing the existing structure, working on the interior last week and the exterior this week.
Three new wells have been installed; the existing well field of 25, 2-inch wells has been replaced by three 10 by 16-inch wells that reach down 40 to 50 feet. Mary’s Pond well field is permitted for 280,000 gallons per day. “They’ll be able to meet that capacity,” said Davis.
The new chemical-feed building serving East and West wells is at the 75-percent point in the design phase with the plan to put construction out to bid in April, aiming toward starting construction in May and completion in November. When complete, the new chemical-feed building will treat water from the East and West wells and the Mary’s Pond well field.
Davis indicated that the chemical-feed facility located at the East and West wells that also treats the water from Mary’s Pond would have a backup generator. She further stated that if the power went down, Marion would have adequate water supply without Mary’s Pond well as a source.
Willett told Parker that he believes the backup generator at the Wolf Island pump facility is permanent as opposed to portable. He added that all pumps should have backup generators and that Perry Hill is on the list. Parker suggested a portable backup generator that could be toted around on a trailer in the event any location went down due to power failure. Willett noted that the wastewater side at Wolf Island has two portable generators.
According to Davis, the three wells at Mary’s Pond and the two wells at East and West will combine to produce 790,000 gallons per day. The building has been on Marion’s capital funding project list for a few years, according to McGrail.
The commissioners also discussed where the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District fits in once Marion brings online its own water production potential.
Davis is coming up on a year as treasurer for the MRV, which is working with Tata & Howard on a plan to upgrade the filter system on its water treatment plant. A decision is expected on how to proceed by mid-February.
The MRV, which has Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Fairhaven as members, bonds its projects independently. The new filter project would be financed by extending an existing loan the MRV has out on its facility for two more years. As Davis explained, every five years, the percentage of MRV-produced water that the towns are allocated is reevaluated based on flow and operating costs. Marion, she estimated, was at 28 percent of allocation.
Waterman suggested that, once the Wolf Island plant is up and running, Marion won’t need to be a participant in the MRV Water District. Still, Parker, McGrail, and Willett reinforced the MRV’s importance as a backup source.
“I just think we have to think about these things and be smart about them,” said Waterman. “If Wolf Island turns out to be extraneous once we get all these wells up and operating— I don’t think it will be, but it sounds like a lot of the time at least— in the offseason, we wouldn’t need it, that’s all.”
Waterman and Willett agreed that the town should be opportunistic should another town need Marion’s water.
Mooney reported Marion to be at 11 percent in MRV-related operations and capital but with a flow base at 14 percent. “That number will improve, no question, but we still need to put water into that tower at Benson Brook,” said Parker, noting that the tower behind the town landfill is where MRV water is received.
The sewer report began with an update on the Creek Road station that will benefit from $4 million in funding with the state’s Coastal Resilience Grant program. Davis said the town is working on a design with Weston and Samson. The design project must conclude by June 2021, when the grant season ends. The state’s Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) supports local projects to address storm surge, flooding, erosion, and sea-level rise.
“We’re going to go hard at construction grant money because we have no way we can afford it through debt,” said McGrail.
An Infiltration/Inflow program, including installation of pipe lining, is scheduled for completion by the end of February. The contractor, Canton-based National Watermain Cleaning Company, main-line cleaned and inspected Cottage, Main, Front, Pitcher, and School Streets. The current work, estimated to be approximately 6,200 linear feet of water mains at an FY21 cost of $190,000, is to be completed by the end of February, putting Marion into Year 3 of the contract.
Waterman pointed to the proposed Heron Cove residential development, saying, “If it goes ahead, there’s going to be a big push to reduce I/I on that. [Weston and Samson] ought to start thinking about where the low-hanging fruit is to spend that money to maximize the I/I reduction…. We’re talking over a million dollars, so that would be equal to five years of I/I reduction … that we’d be able to do right away.”
McGrail said that Weston and Samson came up with a proposal for developer Ken Steen to consider as an I/I project.
The subject of wastewater infiltration and inflow once again became a talking point because it costs the town $13.80 per gallon to remove it, then it recovers 60 cents per gallon in fees. “When we do come up with a number that we know is way too low, we need to be all over it,” said Waterman.
Tilden said the commissioners could change the fees anytime they want. McGrail recommended a vote on what was presented, edited, and updated with a stipulation that the Board of Selectmen would review the rate structure. That way, it wouldn’t wait for another quarterly sewer meeting.
“The basis for the change for not permitting separate meters for irrigation was based on us interpreting the rules and regulations the way we did on Main Street and then realizing that it created a pretty massive problem for us,” said McGrail. “We’re here tonight to fix that. In hindsight, we would have handled it differently.”
Willett proposed three minor additions for the vote. One was to update the permit language from “disturbing the surface” to “street opening.” A second update recognizes that Marion is using the American Darling hydrant. The third update changes the DPW superintendent to DPW director.
The motion carried.
Davis said that the Sewer Department is also looking at establishing a document for procedures. Weston and Samson has completed its site visits to collect data and, at the time of the meeting, was analyzing the data. Davis said the DPW anticipates a draft document from the firm in early February.
Willett discussed the need to establish Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) documents for both water and sewer, noting that small groups run the plant and manage information. “I think it’s crucial to have this sort of high-level outline to operate both of the facilities and the distribution system,” he said. Waterman and Hills agreed on the necessity of documentation and procedures, not only for backup “but to make sure we’re doing it right ourselves,” said Hills.
The Wastewater Management Plan will include a Citizens Advisory Committee that Willett said he and Tilden are targeting February and March for setup.
Willett brought to the commissioners’ attention a newly installed fire hydrant on Route 6 that is out of the prescribed specification on its height due to the use of parts available in the DPW shop because the contract only provided for the labor. The result is the barrel section is roughly close to 10 inches above the maximum specified height and would be vulnerable, for instance, to a truck veering off the road.
The land, located at Mill Street off Route 6 on the other side of the sidewalk, abuts a wetland and slopes away from the road, so it would not be conducive to adding more landfill. “We shouldn’t set a bad precedent,” said Parker, who recommended the hydrant be installed “the right way.” Hills and Waterman agreed.
The commissioners voted to enter executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining and litigation. The commissioners did not return to open session.
The next quarterly meeting of the Water and Sewer Commission was not scheduled as of yet.
Marion Water/Sewer Commissioners
By Mick Colageo