THE MARCH 25, 2021 MEETING MINUTES ARE POSTED BELOW. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE TWO LINKS/ATTACHMENTS PROVIDED AFTER THE MINUTES
Link to meeting minutes –> WPCA 3-25-2021 Meeting Minutes
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OLSBA – WPCA
MEETING MINUTES
When: March 25, 2021 7:30PM
Where: Virtual Meeting via Zoom/Teleconference
The meeting was called to order at 7:34pm by Joe Halloran, WPCA Chairman.
WPCA members present: Joe Halloran, Al Roy, Dede DeRosa, Patrick Burns, John Cunningham, Matt Merritt (ex-officio). Absent: Tom Annuilli, Bob Palazzo.
In addition, approximately 30 OLS residents were on the call.
Meeting Minutes
A motion was made by Patrick Burns to accept the minutes of the February 25, 2021 WPCA meeting. Dede DeRosa seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Tom Annuilli was unable to attend the meeting. The monthly balance sheet was briefly reviewed by Joe Halloran and is attached to these minutes.
Shared Infrastructure Update – Pump House and Force Main
The bid package was submitted to DEEP on 2/5/2021. On 3/12/2021 78 comments were returned from DEEP and F&O subsequently provided responses to all comments. DEEP also requested that a Pump House checklist be completed. The responses and the checklist were posted on our website as attachments to this month’s agenda.
Old Colony is managing a reserve fund on behalf of the three beaches and Soundview to pay for shared expenses. With Soundview’s intention to join the cost sharing agreement a payment of $66K was received. Expenses have recently exceeded the reserve balance and each beach has been requested to provide $15,000 to the reserve. Joe requested that the WPCA approve adding $15,000 to the Shared Infrastructure Reserve Fund. Dede DeRosa made a motion to approve the addition of $15,000 to the fund, John Cunningham seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
Construction bids will be made available electronically through a web service for contractors and advertised in publications such as the New London Day.
The three beaches periodically review our legal representation. We have been using Shipman & Goodwin for negotiations on Inter-Municipal Agreements and Robinson & Cole as our Bond counsel. After considering options, a recommendation has been made to consolidate our support with Shipman & Goodwin in order to streamline communication and reduce costs. Al Roy made a motion to appoint Shipman & Goodwin as Bond Counsel and to sign the Clean Water Fund Construction Bond, Dede DeRosa seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
We are still anticipating a late-August/early-September start on the Rt. 156 shared infrastructure work.
Old Lyme Shores Sewer Project Update
The bid documents were sent to DEEP on 2/25/2021. The WPCA is awaiting their response. Links to the project plans and specifications were posted to the website on 3/1/2021. Residents are encouraged to look at the plot plans for their property contained in the “Restoration Drawings” file. If there are any questions or concerns with the location of the sewer “stub” location, please send an email to Dede DeRosa at dderosa518@gmail.com. The WPCA will coordinate follow up with F&O and provide additional guidance to homeowners on resolving issues.
Wells
There are 80 wells in Old Lyme Shores, With sewers and public water available year-round, the State of CT would prefer that all wells are abandoned and is working to provide financial incentives to homeowners for connection to CT Water and well abandonment. For those individuals retaining their well, the Dept. of Health has agreed to DEEP requirements for protection of wells including upgraded sewer pipes, well testing, and back flow preventers. Last year we surveyed well owners regarding retaining wells or not. This year, we will need to secure commitments from each homeowner regarding their approach. Our funding application was approved by the Dept. of Health and was sent on for review by PURA.
Website Update
Al Roy provided an update on the project to enhance the oldlymeshores.org website. The website is being regularly updated with new WPCA documents and links. Our longer term strategy is to build out a well organized/comprehensive document inventory which will require some website restructuring. The intent is make all documentation related to the WPCA efforts available to residents.
Correspondence
Dede DeRosa provided an overview of the nine emails received from residents prior to the meeting. The emails and WPCA responses are contained in the attachment to these minutes. We will be putting together an Issues Log to ensure appropriate follow up and will be updating our “Frequently Asked Questions” to include questions of general interest. Please continue to submit questions to Dede at dderosa518@gmail.com.
Resident Comments
Patrick Burns noted that there are pebbles and debris on the streets following the completion of the CT Water Company work and asked whether we could look into street sweeping. Matt Merritt agreed to look into this.
Kathy Olsen asked about the ownership of the recently purchased property at 73 Portand Ave. Joe Halloran responded that the owners are the members of the Cost Sharing Agreement (CSA), currently OLS, Old Colony and Miami. Soundview will also join this agreement. This is not taxable property, and insurance expenses will be shared by all parties in the CSA.
Barbara Beal thanked the BOG and WPCA for the work being done on behalf of OLS.
Matt Merritt noted that the gate at the top of Brightwater was damaged by the contractors last fall and they will be repairing.
Kathi Stickley had a follow up question on the re-paving of Rt. 156. Joe Halloran explained that the State had planned to pave 156 from Rocky Neck to the Saybrook Bridge. We have been working hard to accelerate and coordinate sewer work on 156 so that we can take advantage of the State repaving rather than pay for it ourselves. Right now we expect to complete the sewer work in time for the State to repave next year assuming sewer work can begin late summer/early fall as currently planned.
Jack Reynolds asked whether the budget would be updated with Amendments #2 and #6. Joe commented that estimates had been included in previous budget estimates and that we would certainly be updating all projections with the most current cost estimates as we get bid responses this spring.
Al Roy made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Dede seconded the motion.
The meeting adjourned at 8:46pm.
PLEASE NOTE: THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED WPCA MEETING WILL BE HELD THURSDAY APRIL 22, 2021 AT 7:30PM VIA ZOOM. THE AGENDA AND ZOOM LOGIN INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED ON oldlymeshores.org DURING THE WEEK PRIOR TO THE MEETING.
Link to March Correspondence Q&A. —–> WPCA March Correspondence
Link to Balance Sheet —->. WPCA February 2021 Balance Sheet