Provincetown Water and Sewer Board Meeting of May 17, 2001

The May 17^th meeting of The Provincetown Water and Sewer Board was called to order by Chairman Jim Buckingham at 5:06 P.M. Also present were Board Members, Lucille Plante, and Jeffery Mansfield, Provincetown Water Superintendent Craig Wiegand and The Chairman of The Truro Board of Health Gary Palmer were also in attendance.

The first subject on the agenda was that of the approval of the minutes. Because of unforeseen circumstances, the Recording Secretary was not able to submit a s4et of minutes for the April 26^th meeting, therefore, The Board moved on to the second item on the agenda.

The second Item on the agenda was a request for a water hook up for John Rays of 8 Holland Road. After a brief explanation of the situation, a motion was made by Jeffery Mansfield and seconded by Lucille Plante. The motion was then carried with a three to zero vote.

The third Item on the agenda was a request by Vincent Cantone of 660 Shore Road for a reduction in water service. It was explained to The Board by both Gary Palmer Truro’s Chairman of The Board of Health and Provincetown’s Water Superintendent Craig Wiegand, that because Mr. Cantone was reducing the number of living units on the property, that the water usage would decrease. After the explanation to The Board, a motion was made by Jeffery Mansfield to approve the reduction in water service, which was then seconded by Lucille Plante. The motion was unanimously carried three to zero.

The next item on the agenda was that of Edward Malone and his appearance before The Board to appeal The Board’s decision to deny the splitting of his water bill. After a short discussion, a motion was made by Lucille Plante to table this matter until Mr. Malone appears before The Board at his request, which was then seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion was passed three to zero.

The next subject on the agenda was the update from Water Superintendent, Craig Wiegand. Craig Wiegand began his update by telling The Board that in the week before the meeting, that The Water Department went to Leominster to receive two awards from The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The first Award was for “MOST IMPROVED WATER SYSTEM IN THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS”, and the other Award was for being in the top ten 10% percent in performance in the year 2000.

The next subject on the agenda was that of the hearing for Marianne Hinkel. Craig Wiegand explained that a hearing for Marianne Hinkel would take place at some point in The Judge Welsh Room at 9:30 A.M. pertaining to a lawsuit. Mr. Wiegand told The Board that he would find out when the hearing would take place. He also told The Board that he would find out whether this would be dealt with by either Town Manager Keith Bergman or through Town Counsel. The Board then proceeded to move back to the fourth item on the agenda because Edward Malone and Michael Diamond had made their appearance.

Mr. Malone appeared before The Board to express his concerns about the way that The Water Department was billing the residents of Provincetown who lived in town year round. He explained to The Members of The Board that he was not only concerned for those property owners who were and are advocates for affordable housing, but also for those owners who rented to those with higher incomes. Both Mr. Michael Diamond and Mr. Malone explained their concerns showing charts of both affordable housing and regular renters in order to explain the cost factor as well as the economic affects to the property owners as well as the renters. Mr. Malone, Water Superintendent Craig Wiegand, Michael Diamond, and The Members of The Board discussed numerous points and concerns at length. After the lengthy discussion, The Board decided to discuss the problem in more detail at a later date so that more information could be gathered to come to a resolution that would be fair to everyone.

The final item on the agenda was that of other business. Chairman Jim Buckingham first acknowledged the winners of the poster and essay contests. He announced all of the names of the winners in each contest and then commended all of the students and teachers for their participation. Mr. Buckingham then commended The Water Department for the job they were doing with their efforts to improve both water service and conservation. She explained to The Board that Metcalfe and Eddy presented The C.A.C. proposals for both a vacuum pumping system and a grinding pumping system. She then explained that the vacuum system was recommended for Provincetown and the various reasons why. Lucille Plante then stated that The C.A.C. had to get through the Design phase and that they were about two weeks from signing a contract. Mr. Buckingham asked Lucille Plante if she was happy with the vacuum system, to which she replied “Absolutely.” Jeffery Mansfield then asked Craig Wiegand for an update on the personnel in The Water Department. Mr. Wiegand explained that Cathy Meads felt that she was being overloaded with paperwork and that the job description was not what she was led to believe. Mr. Wiegand explained to The Board that the Town had until 4 o’clock of the 18^th of May to respond to Ms. Mead’s grievance. Mr. Wiegand told The Board that the Town might offer Ms. Meads a raise in pay. He also stated that the secretary for The D.P.W. was overwhelmed and that a third secretary might be necessary for easing the workload of both departments. The final topic in other business was that of The Boards responsibilities in terms of administration, powers, and policy making. After a lengthy discussion, both The Board and Mr. Wiegand determined that The Board would invite Town Manager, Keith Bergman to help The Board define its duties and responsibilities. The Board would invite D.O.R. The next meeting was then scheduled for June 28, 2001 at 5:00 P.M. A motion was made by Lucille Plante to adjourn which was seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion was passed three to zero.