Shutesbury Board of Selectmen September 16, 2008 Meeting Minutes Members present: Chairman Rebecca Torres, Ralph Armstrong (arrived for Tim and Becky’s concerns at 7:27 PM) and Al Springer. Also Present: Town Administrator David C. Dann and Administrative Secretary Leslie Bracebridge. Meeting opened at 7:03 P.M. Appointments Police Chief Harding: * Becky signed the annual Community Policing grant in the amount of $11,290. * The Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s) between state police and the town regarding use of Shelburne Control will be sent to the Board of Selectmen in the near future to be signed as they have expired. * The Library Parking lot will be paved on Thursday by C & A. * Mileage or per diem request of Justin Wall during the police academy: It’s complicated. TA will ask for an interpretation of the contract from Town Counsel. It is unresolved right now. Both officers are doing very well at the academy. * New state law: For roads under 45 miles per hour, contractors will have the option of hiring a civilian versus a police officer; there is an exception for state police. An 8 hour training class will be available for civilian flag people. * The finish coat to the Leverett, Cooleyville and Prescott Roads (LCP) project will be done on September 29. The eastbound lane will be coated first, west bound on the second day. They want to keep motorists off the newly paved sections until the pavement cures. * Police will provide traffic control when the drilling rig sets up on Leverett Road for monitoring wells for the soil contamination. Becky commented that the timing on drilling the monitoring wells (discussed below) is devastating. The state does not allow cuts in state road projects for 5 years after completion. In the presence of Stantec Consulting Engineer Kevin Maloney, Board of Health Chairman William “Bill” Elliott, Licensed Site Professional Alan Weiss, Highway Superintendent Tim Hunting, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Walter Tibbetts, and town consultant Meryl Mandell, Selectmen held a discussion of actions for addressing the soil contamination at the Fire Station that was discovered during the Leverett, Cooleyville and Prescott Roads reconstruction project: * David summarized the 9/11/08 AM Select Board meeting with Mass Highway Resident Engineer Brian Bellefeuille: o Budget lines are coming on budget except for a few lines and the police details, which are never on budget in any project. At 72% completion, Brian does not expect to need the 10% contingency. The final big budget item will be the paving on the 29th. o After the paving, Carlos will leave and another crew will come in for smaller site details. o On 9/11 Selectmen voted to make a work-order change for 220 feet of guardrail, needed across from Town Farm Road and not in the original design. This request will move ahead without Kevin’s further review. o Becky inquired about the absence of a berm below the Jewish cemetery: Kevin was not involved in the development of the LCP design; those involved are no longer with Stantec except for Steve Mason who may have the answer. Kevin will review the plan for that area with Steve Mason. Becky is not necessarily looking for a change; she is just looking for an answer from Steve that he thinks the design is the best and he stands behind it. o Prescott Road at Station # 43 A lot of water is coming out near the Town Farm Road * Since the 9/11 meeting Tim has reviewed the LCP and has more concerns: 1. Near the Shields’ driveway: Station #37 plus 30 at Cooleyville Road water is coming up through the base asphalt in heavy rainstorms. Carlos feels the shoulder will have to be dug up and stone filled. Tim recommends side drainage on the south side of the road. Kevin will evaluate the site in the next day or two. Selectmen unanimously voted to write a letter to improve the drainage at station # 37 plus 30. David will write the letter tomorrow. 2. Another guardrail: from #1 Prescott Road on the south side of the road at Station # 41.5 for 325 feet. It is well below grade and cars have gone off in the past. Selectmen unanimously voted to install additional guardrail on the south side of Prescott Road for 325 feet from 1 Prescott Road. Becky read from a letter hand-delivered at the start of the meeting from Mr. Frank Rehorka concerning his property at 70 Cooleyville Road, where curb was installed across both entrances to a secondary semi-circular driveway to the property. David: The plan calls for one entrance at the original main driveway. He has one driveway entrance but he wants two more entrances to his existing circular driveway. One of the additional requested driveways has been addressed; the third will need additional review from Kevin. Reference was made to the original inquiry sheets. David will follow-up on the letter. Continuing in the presence of the above listed group, Licensed Site Professional (LSP) Alan Weiss summarized the history of the soil contamination at the fire station (42 Leverett Road) uncovered during LCP construction and a timeline of his work: * Alan was first contacted for his services in July (2008) for vapor smells in front of the fire station from an out of service underground gasoline tank uncovered during the LCP reconstruction. * No one knew the extent of the contamination. The initial response was to dig right in front of the fire station in hopes that it was a small area. * The investigatory dig was done on August 16th (due to vacation/personnel delays.) What surprised Alan that day was the strength of smell for something 30 years old, and the smell got stronger as they dug further north on the property. There was a bit of lag time to put everything in writing for the state (DEP) required IRA plan (Initial Response Action plan.) * Alan displayed a diagram of his concept that a plume is being pushed from north east to south west. His hypothesis is based on clean tap water test results from across the road (north) and slightly uphill (east) at the Holzberg-Pill (#37 Leverett Road) residence and clean tap water at the Fire Station (#42 Leverett Road) while the tap water at #50 Leverett Road (south and west) came up with detectable, though well below drinking water standards, readings for VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) A re-test of tap water from 50 Leverett Road confirmed the original sample tests. * Because 50 Leverett Road is drawing from the same well as is used at the fire station (due to a 1976 salt in groundwater concern that resulted in a town meeting vote to dig a new well at the fire station and share the water with #50 Leverett Road) Engineer Weiss concludes that the detectable VOC’s are probably due to a compromised water line to the residence. The fire station well itself is in a fine place, a distance to the south east of the soil contamination site. * Test wells will be used to find the lateral extent of the contamination and to identify an alternate method/route of piping the water to 50 Leverett Road. * In compliance with regulations, both private property owners (#37 and #50) were given their corresponding test results. * Alan’s written report states that the excavated soil was trucked as recommended. * Alan was notified within the last 5 days that the final coat of pavement will be applied at the end of the month. * While Alan had hoped that the soil contamination would get “wrapped up” with the August 16 dig, it didn’t work out that way. At this level of contamination the town is obliged to check further for ground water contamination. * The next phase involves the installation of about a dozen test borings to the north, east, south and west of the release area to perform an initial assessment of the magnitude of the lateral extent of the petroleum release. PVC groundwater monitoring wells are proposed for 6 of the borings. The borings all skirted the new roadbed. * With Dig Safe requirements the soonest the borings could be scheduled is Thurs., Sept. 25. Further discussion: * Board of Health Chairman Bill Elliott requested duplicate water samples be collected to be analyzed for nitrates; the Board of Health will provide the containers and take the samples to have the analysis done. To Alan’s inquiry, Bill will first check with his lab to confirm that nitrate testing will not be affected if low level VOC’s are present. * Meryl: If a cut is made in a road, it halves the life of the road. Is it possible to find out if there is a problem before the final paving? Can the paving be pushed forward by a week? o Alan: The level of clean-up needs to meet DEP standards and practices; the only alternative would be another “seat-of-the pants” dig. Such digs are not safe and not justifiable in terms of standards and regulations. The first “seat of the pants” dig was in hopes that the contamination would not be as big as it turned out to be. The testing information is needed before digging again. o When told that it would be preferable to bore or dig through the current base coat if it could speed up results, Alan offered to bore another hole through the pavement on the other side of the drain pipe. Not advised as a scientist or engineer. o When questioned if removal of the roadway might be a potential recommended action, Alan described allowable engineered options such as lateral piping, as “getting ‘pricey’ real quick.” He added that there are “all kinds of different methods.” All present agreed that “the best of bad alternatives” would be to drill in the road right now. Tim Hunting: A 6-inch hole in the base is not as big a problem as a 6-inch hole in the final coat. * Alan expects two days of drilling. The second day’s borings will be based on results of the first day. The lab needs 5-10 working days to produce final results. He estimates a $500 surcharge for a shorter timeline. * Alan: The water table was low during the first dig. Now, the water table is up - de-watering gets complicated. (Al Springer: “And expensive.”) * Any method needs approval by DEP Environmental Analyst Anthony Kurpaska. They generally approve any sound approach. * To the statement that the town is in a position where if there are other options, than digging out the road, the town should entertain them. Alan agreed that can be attempted. * One of the reasons we are looking at this 30 years later is because there is not a lot of “oxygenation and breathing” in the silty glacial till observed during the dig. A clay type soil is more typical to this area. * Alan: Spoke about the “risk-assessing” method. This report uses “method 1” standards. Risk assessing works by bringing the standards higher to leave more soil behind. * Meryl suggests someone talk to DEP to get their input on moving forward. * Alan responds that DEP cannot and will not change their standards. * May have to add air sampling or core samples through the floor of a structure. * Meryl summarized: 1. Call Mass Highway to put off paving for a week. 2. Do test holes in the base pavement now to and expedite sample tests. * Alan: As the LSP Alan is more concerned with addressing the abutter waterline issue than the contamination in the roadway. One impacts dollars; one impacts people. * To the concern of getting a new water line in before frost hits, Alan reassures we have 2.5 months to go before that is a problem. * Meryl: Did the actions thus far change the conditions of the water lines? Alan: doesn’t know because he does not know the exact location of the water line. Alan guesses the waterline is compromised at a coupling or somewhere that causes there to be suction into the line. * Becky: “We will keep the waterline as a priority.” * Alan will go ahead a week from Thursday with drilling. Becky will ask Mass Highway to put off paving. * Discussion of the possibility of waiting until spring to pave by “paving up” to the raised drainage structures for plows included: o Nov. 17 as the last day to pave. o Waiting to pave the road could ruin plow equipment and become expensive pretty fast. o Paving around, will puddle and freeze at night. Becky: the answer should come from Brian at Mass Highway. They need to have all the information. The test borings may not find anything and the paving can proceed. Alan is not totally convinced that we understand the full extent of the contamination. He requests an expeditious address of his invoice for his first work. Will tonight’s requests change the costs? Alan hopes to “shuffle around” the charges. The lab expedite fees could be an additional $500 to $1,000. In the presence of Lake Wyola Association President Norene Pease, Audrey and Charlie Lehane, and Thad Dabrowski, Selectmen discussed the run-off on the West side of Locks Pond Road as a follow-up on the August 14 early morning walk of the area by Selectmen and property owners. Becky asked Highway Superintendent Tim Hunting what could be addressed in the short-term? Tim: * The most important suggestion was the blocking off of Stebbins Road. Tim is not opposed to that but the Association needs to deal with: o #353 Locks Pond Road driveway gets blocked. Possible solutions would be to block off Stebbins Road below the 353 driveway of have a little parking on the road. o A resident at 11 King is opposed to blocking Stebbins Road. If you block water from somewhere, it goes somewhere else. o Audrey Lehane pointed out that they (the Lehanes) will get the same amount of water coming out at their lakefront outflow whether it comes from Stebbins Lane or somewhere else. She asks about the use of “Bio-socks” to absorb some of the run-off. o Channeling water across Stebbins Road would require a drainage easement. Audrey recommends another area to the north east. Tim responds that would still require a curb and an easement. Tim is not sure how to put curb on an existing road; it will just come up with plows. Perhaps someone with proper equipment could create a “keyway.” * The Conservation Commission says there is absolutely a problem of channeling run-off water down the west side of Locks Pond Road and into the stream. o Bill suggests doing so may require a retention basin for clean-up before it goes into the river; that may require careful engineering. There is a need to keep the water on the west side. o Tim comments that it would be a big and expensive project to re-grade the road and add retention ponds. It all takes time. o Charlie says Morse Hill is willing to negotiate a retention pond on their property. * Thad: Stebbins Road is a problem and we need to protect John Bell from being washed away. Take these as givens and work from there. We have to stop the water from entering Stebbins Road; that’s the basis to build on. Maybe re-engineer Stebbins for an incline before a decline. o Becky: The town cannot go in and re-design Stebbins Road because it is an Association Road. o Charlie suggests putting a speed bump across Stebbins. o David suggests requesting an easement of the property owner on the north east corner of where Stebbins and Locks Pond intersect. o Audrey and Charles state that there is just too much water coming down. Basically it’s the town road. Tim says there is a wicked crown on the road. It’s hard to believe it’s been washed across. * Becky: The water comes across the road in different ways. * Thad responds they can see the gravel over the road. * Ralph: Need an understanding from the property owner to turn that property into a wetland. Will they want that? Audrey thinks no. * Rip rap or a retention basin would slow the water down. * Bill: DEP issued new storm-water regulations in January 2008. The Conservation Commission would be responsible for monitoring it and would be included in the retention basin design. * Resolution includes a balance of water and sediment into the lake versus water into Sawmill River. * Tim has talked to Conservation Commission member Randy Stone: Randy is aware of the new regulation. * Bill: Audrey’s point is well taken; all the water eventually gets to the River; properly controlling the flow is the question. * Thad: Ed Severence from Northeast Environmental suggests Bio-socks absorb water. Added to absorbtion of trees and shrubs, bio-socks might work better than guiding water on hard surfaces. May be a more comprehensive approach. Biosocks can be put 3 feet off the road. They arrest as opposed to stopping water. * Becky: A $3,000,000 dollar project could deal with it. We were hopeful for shorter solutions tonight. Thad. Bio-sock is $4.50 per foot. Thad low-cost, Suggests there may be other low-cost low tech, green technology. * Ralph suggests a meeting with Northeast Environmental. * Becky thinks the town should try going after easements. * Audrey asks if culverts can be closed off. Tim doesn’t think he can block off structures that have been there a long time. * Becky: we have to have a plan to avoid ice so there are no accidents. * Tim will walk the area with the Conservation Commission. * Selectmen will look at where and how to use bio-socks. * We need estimates and costs before a meeting with Northeast Environmental. Thad says to respect and make good use of somebody’s time: maybe collect information and send a map to Northeast Environmental in advance. * Thad: There are different approaches to addressing the Association’s roads. He hasn’t found rights to road usage in the deeds yet. * Becky expressed concern that Selectmen need something to offer before people come in. * Selectmen feel they cannot take action beyond the Locks Pond Road right of way. * Tim: To put all the water on the west side of the road would be a huge project including reclaiming the surface. He doesn’t know what the problems would be. He would need a consultant to evaluate it before it is done. There’s got to be some medium ground. The east side will have to accept some water. The crown is over-sized which would require reclamation. Becky: What are the next big town road projects? Tim: West Pelham from #284 to the town line. Smith Hill has drainage problems which the Highway Dept. can do. Becky: Wonders if there is something the town can do for Locks Pond Road. Tim: The road itself is not bad. It was paved in 2001. Keeping all the water on the west would be a problem, bio-socks could help. The Highway Department can do some things. Bill: As part of the 319 project, DCR engineers looked at how the water flows down the whole hill. The immediate recommendation was to put in more retention along Lake Drive. Suggests some run-off is from Locks Pond Road and a lot is just coming off the hill and not across Locks Pond Road. Tim: The Lake Wyola Association roads drain structures that are filled up with gravel need cleaning. He offered to dig the Locks Pond Road ditches. Becky: Offered to have the Selectmen talk with the Conservation Commission for their ideas on what could be done, after the drawdown permitting is done. Tim: When asked, he roughly estimated $11,000 to reclaim that section of Locks Pond Road, coupled with repaving it could total $100,000. Topics 1. Selectmen unanimously voted to sign notices of intent and hold harmless agreements for Donna West of 50 Shore Drive, Michael Shane of 57 Shore Drive, Ray and Gail Zabit of 90 Lake Drive, Paul Beaulieu of 51 Shore Drive, David Brooks of 37 Shore Drive, Donald Lariviere of 63 Shore Drive and Robert and Haydee Lombard 45 Shore Drive. 2. Carlos will not pay the town for removal of soil at Clarks. He’ll go through the permitting and get reimbursed. Becky: If it’s our responsibility, we should just pay it. Tim: It was a pre-existing condition. Tim thinks the town would take care of it. Carlos didn’t know it was there. If it’s within the 10%. The state will pay for it. David: the good will of the town with Carlos is worth $1,000. Though the state pays, Carlos will have to do his own separate permitting and Bill of lading. Becky: either we do it and pay $1,000 or Carlos does it going through all the permitting and it costs the state $7,000 as it cost the town. Becky: as a tax payer doesn’t want to pick it up, when the state could pay. Who is responsible. Neither Brian nor Meryl know who is responsible. The state won’t pay if they don’t think they are responsible. Who is responsible for what’s under the road, including what is still under the road. Becky will call Donna on who is responsible for the soil under road. We need to track down Jeff Hendericks and let Walter talk to him. The Select Board put off making a decision on whether the town will cover the cost for removing the soil contamination. Select Board Action Items 1. Previous minutes were not reviewed. 2. Selectmen signed vendor warrants totaling $160,821.01 and payroll warrants totaling $78,799.77. New Topics 1. David reported that the curbing at the Post Office will come out. 2. Becky will email the edited response letter to Linda Hanscom to David and Leslie for signatures and mailing. Walk-Ins Cooleyville Road property owner Frank Rehorka delivered a written “formal complaint” concerning “what happened” in front of his driveway and requested an answer from the Board of Selectmen. David will follow-up on the letter. Due to the hour, Selectmen agreed that other action items could wait if the Selectmen would arrive by 6:15 PM for the remaining agenda items. Meeting adjourned at 10:17 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Leslie Bracebridge Administrative Secretary 080916 Selectboard 1