SHARON WATER MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (WMAC)
MEETING MINUTES FOR 08/05/2003
Prepared by David Mark
Present at meeting: WMAC members Bob McGregor, Jack Sulik, Roger Thibeault, Lealdon Langley, and David Mark; prospective members Richard Mandell and Mike Birschbach; Eric Hooper (DPW Director); and guests David Grasfield (BOS), Chuck Goodman (Finance Committee), Cliff Towner (Lake Mgt. Committee), Greg Meister (Cons. Agent), and Kathy Roth (ConCom)
The meeting followed the agenda as follows:
1) REVIEW OF MINUTES – Minor modifications were made to the draft minutes and they were approved.
ACTIONS: None
2) STATUS ON WMAC MEMBERSHIP – WMAC currently has seven official members and two openings. Roger Thibeault has officially resigned but is reconsidering; if he resigns, there will be three openings. Jennifer Bell may also be resigning. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) has interviewed Paul Lauenstein and Richard Mandell, and will be interviewing Mike Birschbach on 8/26/03.
ACTIONS: Bob McGregor will remind the BOS of the importance of filling WMAC openings.
3) REVIEW OF BOOSTER PUMP ALTERNATIVES – Metcalf & Eddy’s (M&E’s) 6/16/03 technical memo represents the third evaluation of booster pump options in lieu of a new storage tank. All three M&E evaluations resulted in their conclusion that a booster pump alone will not be adequate to resolve pressure problems that would occur during peak flow and maximum fire event. Without a storage tank, the maximum flow event would require pumping capabilities for bringing in the equivalent of 2 MGD (for a 4 hour period) from outside water sources such as MWRA or Bluestone. There was discussion of whether the comparison of outside water sources versus a new storage tank were made on the same basis. A suggestion was made to compile M&E’s previous evaluations and reports on
this issue and water system modeling into one document.
ACTIONS: Eric Hooper will have M&E compile/incorporate booster pump evaluations into 2nd Draft of Hydraulic Model Report.
5** changed order) REVIEW OF WOODARD & CURRAN (W&C) FINDINGS ON NITRATE/MICROPARTICULATE LEVELS IN TOWN WATER – Bob Chapelle and Kerry Parsons of W&C discussed their findings on two issues: nitrate concentrations at Well #2 and micro particulate concentrations at Well#7. Nitrate concentrations at Wellfield#2 have been increasing but are still below MA DEP action level of 5 ppm; Nitrate levels are also increasing win Well#3. Wellfield#2 consists of 9 wells flowing to a central pump station. There are no apparent nitrate sources near the well field. There is data from 1992 and 1998 indicating that nitrate concentrations increase with hardness levels and depth; and that groundwater hardness appears to increase with depth. This would indicate that nitrates are
coming from groundwater source(s) and not surface water sources. W&C recommends taking one set of groundwater samples from each of the individual wells in Wells #2 and 3 to analyze for nitrates.
Micro particulates found in Well#7 would indicate surface water contamination according to W&C. However, W&C had expert Michelle Eisenstein review Well#7 test results and she determined that improper sampling/analysis may have invalidated the results. She also suggested that the lack of variety of microorganisms in the previous samples would not be characteristic of surface water and that a form of algae found in the sample would be more representative of organisms found in water pipes. Additional sampling of Well#7 was performed on 7/28/03; Results should be available in late August 2003.
W&C’s new source evaluation is on hold. They looked at Sharon Memorial Park; however, the cemetery is afraid of losing their irrigation rights by dealing with the Town and they are not interested in discussing the matter further at this time.
ACTIONS: W&C will develop a cost proposal for additional nitrate sampling of Wells#2 and 3 and submit it to Sharon DPW.
4** changed order) REVIEW OF 7/24/03 DPW MEMO ON WATER SYSTEM SCENARIOS – It was determined that discussion on this issue should be postponed until after M&E revises its Hydraulic Model Report.
ACTIONS: None.
6) WMAC STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE – There is no news on this item; WMAC may have a student representative once school begins.
ACTIONS: None
7) NEW/OTHER BUSINESS – Lealdon Langley transferred web links for STREAMSTATS and USGS stream flow reports to George Bailey..
ACTIONS: None
Next Meeting: Thursday, September 4th @7:30PM
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