Water Department Minutes

Board of Water Commissioners 12/20/2023

Attendees: Board members- John O’Brien, Mat Morton, David Tully III. Other attendees: Paul Brinkman Pepperell Water Dept.

5:57 PM Motion made by Chair Mr. O’Brien to start the meeting; motion was seconded by Mr. Morton.

• Reviewed draft capital plan for the water department. Board members agreed the draft plan looked good. Discussion started on the chlorine system and analyzer. Mr. O’Brien asked if the analyzer could wait until FY25. Mr. Brinkman said there is no order to install one at this time from the state.  The analyzer needs to be installed to continue to chlorinate correctly. There is general agreement from the board it should not wait if it is possible and be installed before FY25. Mr. Obrien said he will discuss the funding of the analyzer with the town administrator. Mr. Tully asked if there was a lead time on the equipment and Mr. Brinkman stated there is a roughly 4-month lead time for the equipment.
•  Mr. Brinkman, discussed on going chlorination, it will need to continue, and the state will not allow it to stop. Mr. Brinkman stated he received a text from some water users that they still had strong chlorine smell in their water he offered to send someone to test their water. They didn’t ask for that to happen, it was then discussed filling the tower at 11PM to allow the chlorine to dissipate before users draw from it. Mr. Morton asked if it would fix the smell to all users. Mr. Brinkman said it will only fix those who draw from the tower, and the closer a customer is to the wells and chlorine station the stronger the smell will be.
• Discussed billing and past due balances, letters will be sent to high past due accounts.

Mr. O’Brien made motion to end; the motion was seconded by Mr. Morton. meeting adjourned 6:40 PM