UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
APRIL 20, 2015
Mayor Cerino called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. In attendance were Council members Liz Gross, Linda Kuiper, Samuel T. Shoge and Mauritz Stetson, Robert Sipes, Utilities Manager, Jennifer Mulligan, Town Clerk, and guests.
Mayor Cerino asked if there were any additions or corrections to the Utilities Commission meeting minutes of March 16, 2015. Mr. Stetson moved to approve the minutes as presented, was seconded by Ms. Gross and carried unanimously.
Mayor Cerino stated that cash on hand and in banks was $757,749.35 and there was $231,400.00 set aside in capital funds.
Mayor Cerino asked for a motion to pay the bills. Mr. Stetson moved to pay the bills as submitted, was seconded by Mr. Shoge and carried unanimously.
Mr. Sipes stated that the generators were received and he was coordinating with Baldwin Electric to have them installed. He said that he would have to have emergency generators on site during the installation as utility power had to be shut down to change out the transfer switches.
Mr. Sipes stated that he ordered a new truck from the State Contract.
Mr. Sipes stated that power was lost at the Lagoon four (4) times due to an ambitious osprey building a nest on the 3-phrase line. He said that power lines adjacent to the pole have been insulated to protect from further attack. Repairs had to be done due to surges from losing power and some damage was done to instrumentation to the tune of approximately $1,500.00.
Mr. Sipes stated that he had a response from MDE concerning the Hospital remediation plan but they did not address the request for a site characterization model. He said that estimated numbers were received but the maps only showed the smear zone. The plan that was presented to clean the site would really only clean the area at the monitoring wells and not the surrounding site.
Mayor Cerino stated that the Hospital has made it clear that they were going to do what was required of MDE. He said that he thought focus should be on getting MDE to address the Town’s concerns. Mr. Sipes stated that the extent of the contamination had to be addressed and what the Town was asking for was not out of the norm.
Mr. Shoge asked Mr. Sipes if he was comfortable with the procedures being passed on to the Hospital by MDE. Mr. Sipes stated that he was not comfortable as MDE’s answer was missing comment on the absence of a site characterization model, the request for decreased monitoring and the surface tension tests for the presence of Ivey-Sol.
Mr. Stetson asked if Mr. Sipes could schedule a meeting with MDE. Mr. Sipes stated that he would be happy to schedule a meeting but thought a letter would be better. Mr. Sipes stated that no public meeting has been scheduled to date.
Mayor Cerino suggested a letter from the Town’s attorney on this matter to MDE asking them to address the requested items that had not been answered to date. He said he thought all concerns should be sent to MDE.
There being no further business, Ms. Gross moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:43 p.m., was seconded by Mr. Stetson and carried unanimously.
Submitted by: Approved by:
Jennifer Mulligan Chris Cerino
Town Clerk Mayor