HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-07 Infrastructure Committee Minutes1
Infrastructure Committee Minutes
December 7, 2021
ATTENDEES
Councilors: Rick Fournier, Clare Davitt, Gretchen Shaefer, Susan Hawes, Johnathan Sprague, Dina
Yacoubagha
Staff: John Theriault, Amanda Smith, Debbie Laurie
AGENDA
1.Council Resolve: Essex Street Culvert Grant Application
John outlined that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had requests for
applications for available grant funds for road-stream crossing upgrades that were due by
November 19, 2021 that Staff already submitted.
The existing culvert measured 6 feet wide by 3 feet tall open bottomed culvert constructed of
dry-stacked stone and reinforced concrete.
City Staff drafted a conceptual plan to replace the culvert with a 10-foot wide by 5-foot tall
concrete box culvert along with other roadway at an estimated cost of $250,000.00. The grant
application requested a 50% match of $125,000.00 to be budgeted from the Stormwater Utility
Fund in FY23. Construction would take place in 2023.
Vote: Motion made and seconded, unanimously.
2.Discussion: Dillingham Street Parked Vehicles
John informed the Committee Dillingham Street is a dead end street that is about 24 feet in
width and about 940 feet long located off Main Street near the Hampden Town Line. The street
provides access to about 27 residential properties. When vehicles park on both sides of the
street, it leaves only a narrow area for vehicles to navigate.
City Staff planned to contact the property owners along Dillingham Street to request that they
attend a meeting to discuss.
Vote: Discussion Only, Committee favorable Staff move forward with a meeting.
3.Discussion: Sewer Rates
The Water Quality Department and the Engineering Department have been in discussions with
EPA and DEP concerning the City's Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) to reduce combined sewer
overflows (CSO's) within the City's sanitary collection system. The LTCP is the document
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developed as part of the City Consent Decree with EPA and DEP to develop future projects to
address CSOs. The first major project within the LTCP is the Davis Brook CSO Storage Tank.
Every five years the City is required to provide an update to the LTCP to illustrate the progress
being made on the plan.
As a part of the City's update submitted this past summer, the City requested additional time to
monitor how the Davis Brook Storage Tank, once on line, impacts the collection system and the
number of future CSO's. This monitoring would allow the city to gain additional information to
better design future LTCP projects.
The EPA required that they City and our Consultant (AECOM) complete further analysis for a
future separation project to be completed during the requested monitoring period. They have
also requested that the City provide a seven-year plan for sewer rates that address the future
increases in cost that will be necessary to support increased operation and maintenance costs
as well additional cost for the future required CSO projects. Where sewer rate increases are
dependent on the Council support each year, City Staff does not think it is appropriate to
provide EPA with a seven-year plan that may or may not be approved by a future City Council.
City Staff does believe it appropriate to inform the current Council that increases in sewer fees
are likely due to general increases in costs for the plant operation and maintenance of our
collection system as well as potential future CSO projects. In the past seven years, the Council
has approved an average increase to sewer rates of 2.3%. It is likely that staff will recommend
similar increases in the next seven years to support the proposed work required of us by EPA
and DEP.
Vote: Discussion Only, Committee in favor of year to year basis.
Meeting adjourned