MINUTES
SEWER IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE
January 08, 2008
OPENING: The regular scheduled meeting of the Sewer Implementation Committee opened at 7:00 p.m. The following members were in attendance:
Nicholas Daniele, Chairman
J. Pat Ayotte, Vice Chairman
Jerry Patria
Freda Brown
Brian Pranka
Richard Grannells, DEP, was also in attendance.
The Committee members expressed their sympathy to Nicholas Daniele at the loss of his father.
MINUTES
1. Mr. Pranka made a motion to accept the minutes of 12/11/07. Ms. Brown seconded the motion and the vote of the Committee was unanimous in favor.
DISCUSSION
1. Mr. Grannells stated that a draft contract in the amount of $170,00.00 for Tighe & Bond was sent to Town Counsel. The contract is for the design, permitting and overseeing of the interceptor line in Westfield. Tighe & Bond estimated the cost of the project at 1.3 million dollars. Funding for the contract will be provided from the Westfield General Electric agreement.
2. Mr. Pranka noted that the American Inn and Wynnfield Condominiums, located across the street from one another, have failed septic systems. Mr. Pranka was of the opinion that it may be prudent to explore the possibility of a public sewer connection to the facilities. Mr. Grannells stated that the failure at Wynnfield was likely caused by the existing wet condition on the property as a lot of sand needed to be brought on site to constructing the systems. Mr. Pranka also brought an issue of sewer insurance to the Committee members. In the event property owners will need to do their own connections, they may want the security of a low cost insurance. There has been failure issues due to the deterioration of existing sewer pipes from the dwelling that may be used in the
connections. The insurance would not be mandatory, and could possibly be provided through the Town.
3. The Committee discussed an inquiry from Rob Levesque concerning plans for an elderly housing complex off of Depot Street. Mr. Levesque has made inquiries concerning connecting the development to the public sewer system. The Committee agreed that it could be possible as the location is in Phase I of the public sewer project, and there may be sufficient reserve capacity to Westfield. The complex would need to construct their own infrastructure. The Committee and/or Sewer Commissioners would need to determine how the property would be assessed for the connections. The Committee members agreed that assessing the complex .75 of an EDU for each unit would be similar in cost to installing septic systems. Mr. Grannells suggested that the EDU assessment be lower because the
Town would not have to provide piping throughout the roadways in the complex as they did throughout the areas of Town that have public sewers available. As of this meeting, Mr. Levesque has not made an appointment to officially discuss the issue.
4. Mr. Grannells cautioned the Committee members to think about how the next sewer phase will need to be constructed. It was previously through that the Town would provide the sewer lines in public roadways, and each homeowner will then have the responsibility to make their own connection. Mr. Grannells was of the opinion that allowing each homeowner to contract their own connection may lead to the installation of inadequate equipment, and or have incompetent contractors disrupt the entire system because of substandard construction. The Committee agreed that a list should be compiled of reputable drain layers and each drain layer would be mandated to have a substantial amount of insurance and or bonding to cover damages and complete an application process relaying all the mandates of the
construction. The Committee agreed that the first step would be for a time line showing the interceptor line connection, the design phase, and the construction. The first priority is to determine where the funds will come from.
As there was no further business to discuss, Mr. Ayotte made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Mr. Pranka seconded the motion and the vote of the Committee was unanimous in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Jean Nilsson, Secretary
| 
