Provincetown Water and Sewer Board Meeting of June 28, 2001

The June 28^th 2001 meeting of The Provincetown Water and Sewer Board was called to order by Chairman, Jim Buckingham at 5:08 P.M. Present were: Board Members, Chairman Jim Buckingham, Jeffery Mansfield, and Lucille Plante. Also present were: Provincetown Water Superintendent Craig Wiegand, and Secretary of The Water Department, Cathy Meads.

The First Item on the agenda was the approval of the Minutes for both the meeting of April 26^th and May 17^th. A motion was made by Lucille Plante and seconded by Jeffery Mansfield to approve the minutes for the meeting of April 26^th. The motion was unanimously carried three to zero. Upon reading the minutes for the meeting of May 17^th, Chairman Jim Buckingham amended the minutes by changing Michael Diamond to Michael Bunn. Lucille Plante explained to The Board that Metcalfe and Eddy presented the C.A.C. with proposals for a Vacuum Pumping System and a Grinding Pumping System. The final change was made by Chairman Jim Buckingham. Instead of Town Counsel, someone from The D.O.R. Department of Revenue would come before The Board to explain the workings of The Enterprise Fund. (NOTE: The Amended minutes follow at the end of these minutes for your approval. (END OF NOTE) A motion was then made by Lucille Plante to approve the minutes for the May 17^th meeting as amended. The motion was passed by a three to zero vote.

The second item on the agenda was the abatement applications. Each applicant was taken in numerical order in ascending order beginning with Case Number 106. On Account Number 106, the applicant was requesting an abatement for a leak. The client was filing the request under the Hardship. Under the New Regulations, abatements could not be granted. Water Superintendent Craig Wiegand offered a suggestion to The Board, that if any applicant was denied, they could then appear before The Board to explain their cases so that they could justify their claims and possibly have The Board reverse it’s decision. The point that abatements could not be given for just a leak was strongly emphasized. The Board determined that applicants who had been denied were to come and plead their cases of any denied abatement. After a short discussion, a motion was made by Lucille Plante to deny Account Number 106’s request for an abatement which was then seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion passed three to zero. The next request discussed was for Account Number 4201. Mr. Wiegand explained that the applicant came in to request an abatement the day before the meeting of The Water and Sewer Board. He also explained that the pipes were frozen and that the applicant was not present on the property. A motion was then made by Lucille Plante to deny the request for the abatement on Account 4201 which was then seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. After a brief discussion, the motion passed three to nothing. The next request for an abatement was for Account Number 4212. Mr. Wiegand explained that the applicant did not know about the leak until the meter was read and that the meter was in a pit. After a brief discussion, a motion was made by Lucille Plante to deny the request of Account Number 4212. The motion was then seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. After a short discussion, the motion to deny was passed unanimously three to zero. The next request for an abatement was on Account Number 4809. Craig Wiegand explained that the applicants had two leaks and that when the leaks were brought to their attention, the applicants could not believe that they’d used as much water as they were charged for using. A motion to deny was made by Lucille Plante and seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion passed three to nothing. The next account discussed was Account 5211. Craig Wiegand explained to The Board that The Water Department had found leaks on both sides of the meter, and the applicant was filing a request for an abatement because they felt that they shouldn’t have to pay for both sides of the meter, or the full amount of the bill. After a short discussion, a motion was made by Lucille Plante and seconded by Jeffery Mansfield to deny the request for an abatement of Account Number 5211. The motion was unanimously carried three to zero. The next account discussed was Account Number 8012. Mr. Wiegand told The Board that the property owner’s water usage was consistent in 1997/98/99 and 2000. He explained that there was a jump from 5000 gallons up to 38,000 gallons which would be difficult for the elderly property owner to afford all at once, and that both he and other Water Department staff investigated all possible explanations for the sudden jump in water usage. He then told The Board of his suspicions of someone using the client’s water thus causing the jump in the bill. After a lengthy discussion, Lucille Plante made a motion to table the discussion of Account 8012 until the next meeting. The motion was then seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion was then passed by a three to zero vote. The five remaining accounts were discussed as a block and were after a brief discussion, approved for abatements. A motion to approve these abatements was made by Lucille Plante to approve the abatement requests and seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion was then carried by a three to zero vote.

The next item on the agenda was The Water Superintendents Update. Craig Wiegand told The Board that the meter reading process had gone smoothly with only a couple of minor problems. Mr. Wiegand also told The Board that he thought that there was a trend in that people were taking steps to monitor and watch their water usage, and that because of this, the efforts to conserve water were on the upswing. Craig Wiegand then told The Board that the water system was running well and that The Department was ready for peak season. He explained to The Board that the well fields were being rotated in their usage and that any one of the fields would be run anywhere from around fourteen to eighteen hours at a stretch and then would be switched to one of the other two. He explained that because of the rotation of the use of the well fields, the system would be able to run twenty-four hours a day. Mr. Wiegand also told The Board that The Department was looking at the monitoring wells in the well fields and that The Water Department was applying for both for three Water Protection Grants and two Water Source Protection Grants for $45,000 forty-five thousand dollars each. He then explained that one of the Water Resource Protection Grants would be used for putting in monitoring wells up at the Air Force Base and the other would be for removing the oil tanks from the above ground well fields. One of the three Well Protection grants would be used to put protective fencing around the pumping stations. The third grant would then be used with the Town of Truro in order to protect the well fields.

The next topic discussed was the Local Comprehensive Plan. After a discussion of some length, The Board decided to hold a workshop on July 12, 2001 to define The Local Comprehensive Plan. It was at this time, that the next meeting of The Water and Sewer Board was scheduled for July 19, 2001 at 5:00 P.M.

The final item on the agenda was that of other business. Topics discussed were the invitation to The Town Manager to the meeting of July 19, to assist The Board in defining it’s duties, powers, and responsibilities, the flushing of the water system, having Craig Wiegand write a column in The Banner about the conservation effort and the work of The Provincetown Water Department. A suggestion was then made by Lucille Plante to have Mr. Wiegand write a column in The Banner about the work of the Water Department and other information about everything from the environment to what is happening in The Water Department. Also discussed, was having a joint meeting of The Water and Sewer Board and The Waste Water Implementation Citizens Advisory Committee. Lucille Plante then made a motion stating that The Water and Sewer Board would not be opposed to having a joint meeting with The Waste Water Implementation Citizens Advisory Committee which was then seconded by Jeffery Mansfield. The motion carried unanimously three to zero. The Enterprise Fund was also briefly discussed. Jeffery Mansfield then made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:43 P.M. which was seconded by Lucille Plante. The motion was carried with a three to zero vote.