May 1990 Minutes


2013-04-20 05:07:38

 

Minutes of May 7, 1990                                           

The monthly meeting of the Jericho-Underhill Water District was held on May 7, 1990 in the basement of the United Church of Underhill. President David Damkot called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. Those present were Mr. Damkot, trustees Doug Keith and Harold Sargent, clerk Evelyn Sargent, operator Marc Maheux, Bob Hudson of the Binex Co., Stan Wilbur of Webster-Martin and Peter Hartwick a local developer.

The minutes of the last meeting on April 2, 1990 were reviewed and accepted with two clarification; paragraph 4 under d. should state that if the board requests that a water main be flushed by the Fire Department at any time other than during their scheduled flushing training or following a fire emergency we will be charged per hour for men and equipment use. However if water in the main or mains is roiled by the Fire Department unnecessarily, the Fire Department will flush the main until clear at their expense. It was also noted (for clarification) that Lee Dumas was in attendance as a customer/member of the District and not as a member of the fire department.

The treasurer's 'Cash Flow Statement' was reviewed and accepted as was the April 30, 1990 financial report of the 'Water Supply and Distribution System Improvements Project'.

The first item operator Marc Maheux mentioned during his report was the recent vandalism of the water tower. An area resident (Lavigne) reported to Mr. Damkot that the tank opening cover was up. Investigation by Marc and Dave found that someone had climbed up onto the tan broken the lock and opened the lid. The State Police were notified and although there was no obvious evidence of contamination, the system was chlorinated with sodium hypochlorite for a week following the discovery of the break-in. Marc suggested that we might consider mounting No Trespassing-signs in -the tank vicinity. The clerk will call the district's insurance company regarding this suggestion to ask if the Board is obligated to post the tank and well house vicinities. The high water use the board has noted for the past 3 months use was discussed. Marc further advised there is need to start redevelopment of the well points. It was agreed Marc will begin this within the next two weeks. The accuracy of our metered-use figure was questioned because most of our meters are greater than 18 years old and most likely are not recording accurately. Also the outside readers are not always reliable. Harold suggested that we ask our meter reader to also read the actual meters in addition to the outside in October. Meter tampering is also a possibility thus our meter reader should check for such violations during her rounds. Harold suggested that the Northeast Rural Water Association be contacted to perform a leak detection survey of the main line valves and hydrants. The board asked Marc to proceed with contacting the NeRWA. Repair of the hydrant on Raceway is scheduled for Friday afternoon May 11th. Water will be shut off from the park south on route 15 and on Raceway on May 22nd for a main valve replacement. The clerk was asked to send out a written notice advising customers of this shut-off and at the same time advising of the well field redeveloping that will be taking place and that the chlorinator will be turned on as a precautionary measure. The clerk should also advise customers of the high water losses and ask for their assistance in alerting us of any possible wet areas that could be a leak. Marc noted he will need to put in an order for more sodium fluoride crystals. Harold made the motion that the Board ask Ken Mitchell to gravel and grade the access road to well site No. 1 (1971 wells) as was discussed and postponed last fall. Doug seconded the motion and the motion carried. Harold will contact Ken regarding this work. In addressing the on-going curb stop locations directory project, Doug said they had completed four places one Saturday with it taking about. 15 minutes each, he will continue as time permits.

Final approval was given for the Authorization letter for service line repair. Copies will he made and the clerk will see that the operator is kept supplied.

Peter Hartwick advised the board of his need for a letter to the State of Vermont stating that we would have water available by August for him to proceed with his project. He remained to be advised of our problems with the new wells as it was discussed by the Board and Stan Wilbur our engineer from Webster-Martin. Dave will accommodate Peter's request with a letter, but will not be able to say when the project will be completed.

A letter from Ken Gaynor of Hydro-Group of a cost estimate to tie-in the 6 inch test well as a gravel developed, on-line production well and perform a start-stop pump test for $13,600.00 was presented for discussion. There may be grant money available from the state considering the status of our project, but we would need to match those funds with 65% local money. Harold gave the Board and engineer Stan Wilbur an article on well development which supports the contention that hydo -jetting is a suitable method of developing gravel packed wells. Hydro-Group advises that hydro-jetting will not improve the yield of the new gravel packed well. Webster-Martin is not in agreement with their contention. We will also need to address the manganese problem that we have encountered in our new well. Board consensus was that it has three options to consider. 1. Request Hydro-Group to do the hydro-jetting but make no commitment to pay for it because the Board contends that development is not complete. An engineer from Webster-Martin needs to be on site during the jetting and accept whatever yield results from this development technique. 2. Develop the 6 inch test well as a gravel developed well if it is found not to pump sand at the needed pump rate. 3. Ask Hydro-Group to install a gravel packed well near the 6 inch test well where the formation was shown to be suitable. The Board decided to proceed with the first option. Dave will draft a letter to Hydro-Group asking them to do the hydro-jetting as was suggested in the first option after reviewing this decision with the Water District's attorney.

Under new business the treasurer was asked to furnish the amount of tax the Board paid CVPS in connection with the new project before we approach the Public Service Board.

Doug contacted the Fire Department regarding the possibility of their having a numbering system for the hydrants. They do not. The Board may set up our own system as we consider hydrant painting this summer. The fence at the new site to the right of the gate needs to be repaired. There is a question whether this is the District's responsibility or the contractor's. Harold made the motion that the meter reader be asked to read the inside meters as well as the outside reader in the fall. The motion was seconded and carried.

Harold had been contacted by Mr. Brooks regarding a beaver dam down by pump house No. 1. He investigated and found the beaver dam had not been constructed on the District's property.

The bills were reviewed and signed.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 P.M.

Evelyn O. Sargent, Clerk