Category Archives: Water & Sewer

Water & sewer charging

Errin Chapin asked if the commercial and residential water and sewer rates were the same, and I did not know and had to get the answer from Mike Sullivan, which turned out to be interesting –


Pete & Errin, The water charge is based on usage, with a tiered rate structure. There is a minimum charge for any usage up to 10,000 gals., so anyone using less than 10,000 gallons of water during the six month billing period is charged for 10,000 gallons of water. Then there are increasing water usage rates for 10,000 to 35,000 gals., 35,000 to 70,000 gals. and over 70,000 gals. The rates for each of these is printed on the water bill that is sent out. Commercial water users are billed using the same rate structure as residential users, so for water, the do not pay a higher rate. For sewer charges, commercial uses do pay a higher rate, but in a round about way. A residential user is billed for sewerage based on 75% of water usage. The theory behind that is residential customers do not put all of the water they use into the sewer system, It is assumed that some of the water they use is for watering lawn or gardens, washing cars, filling swimming pools, etc. Commercial sewer uses, however, are bill based on 100% of water usage. It is assumed that all of the water they use goes into the sewer system for collection and treatment. This results in commercial users paying a 25% premium for sewer services. Unlike water, there is no tiered rate structure; only one rate for sewer services, The reason for basing sewer rates on water consumption is that sewerage unlike water, is not metered. Hope that answers Errin’s question.  Mike


Water ban declared

TOWN OF MEDFIELD

WATER BAN

EFFECTIVE MAY 28, 2015

The Town of Medfield entered into a Water Ban effective May 28, 2015.

The water ban requirements are the following: NO outdoor watering between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and evening watering is allowed on an odd/even basis only.   Any questions, please contact the Medfield Water Dept. at 508-906-3004 or Ken Feeney, DPW Superintendent, at 508-906-3002.

W&S 2014 Gantt

Last post contained the the 2013 budget time line from the W&S Board’s budget planning document created last year.  Here is the current year’s version.

20141218_W_S_Cap_Plan_Gantt

W&S budget discipline

The Water & Sewer Board has crafted an incredibly detailed Budget Planning and Rate Setting Process document (copy attached).  The selectmen met with W&S last night to assist them in getting their process back on track.  The selectmen also last night charged the W&S Board with both

  1. the financial oversight of the W&S departments, and
  2. making the policy decisions for W&S, just as the selectmen do for the town as a whole.

This is the chart from the Water & Sewer Board’s Budget Planning and Rate Setting Process document that shows the separate steps required to ultimately get to both a budget and rates.

20141218-130817 W&S Budget Planning and Rate Setting Process

It would be an admirable town goal to have such a well documented and detailed planning process for all town budgets.

The W&S Board also has created an even more sophisticated and incredibly detailed model that they now use for planning purposes, in which all possible W&S variables can be entered and manipulated in order to plan for the future of its budgets and rates, assuming a multitude of various scenarios.  They call it the Tool, and it is now in its third year of being used.

It would be an admirable town goal to have such a detailed planning Tool for all town budgets.

Bonds written at 2.577%

Medfield, MA $7,200,000 General Obligation Bonds Net 2.577%

Georgia Colivas, Town Treasurer, received competitive bids from bond underwriters on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, for a $7,200,000, 20-year bond issue. UBS Financial Services Inc. was the winning bidder on the Bonds with an average interest rate of 2.577%. The Town received a total of 10 bids. Bond proceeds will be used to finance land acquisition and water main replacement projects.

Prior to the sale Moody’s Investors Service, a municipal bond credit rating agency, assigned a rating of ‘Aa1’ to the Bonds. The rating agency cited the Town’s sound financial position with healthy reserve levels, stable tax base with strong wealth levels, and history of voter approvals for overrides and exclusions of Proposition 2 ½ as positive credit factors.

The bids for the Bonds were accepted at the offices of the Town’s Financial Advisor, First Southwest Company, at 54 Canal Street in Boston, Massachusetts.


These bonds finance the purchase of the Red Gate Farm property and teh construction of the new water tower at the MSH and the new water main along Hospital Road.

 

 

Ed Hinkley retired

Edward Hinkley was born, raised, and educated in Medfield, and then Ed worked for the DPW, for almost fifty years when he retired last week from his positions as foreman in the Water Department and tree warden.  The DPW held a retirement party for Ed a week ago, at which he collected numerous citations, and a neat looking lamp made out of a water valve with a hard hat for a shade.

I met Ed when as a new selectman he lead the then Board of Selectmen to perambulate the bounds of the town, which turned out to involve visiting the granite markers that delineate the actual town boundaries.  As we left the Town House, Ed first taught me the short cut from the town hall parking lot out to Rte 109, and then amazed me when he lead us to a myriad of granite markers, most standing the the middle of woods.  My immediate reaction at the time was that those markers were so remotely sited that Ed was probably the only person who knew where all those markers were actually located.  At Ed’s retirement party, Selectman DeSorgher mentioned that while walking the Medfield State Hospital grounds with Ed, Ed had told someone to find the water valve they were seeking behind some brush, and sure enough that is where it was.

Ed has a detailed and encyclopedic knowledge of the infrastructure details of the Town of Medfield, and the town will be poorer for his departure.

Town of Medfield owes Ed Hinkley a huge thank you for fifty years of service.  We wish him well on his visit to Yellowstone.

Water tower status

Email from Kris yesterday afternoon (a copy of the email appears below) on the status of completing the water tower land deal with the state.

It looks like:

  • the terms of the Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) between the town and the state have been agreed upon
  • the LDA can therefore can be signed next Tuesday at the meeting of the Board of Selectmen, and
  • that the town will actually own the land by mid-September.

The town needs to acquire title to the land as soon as possible so that the work on the new water tower and water main along Hospital Road can be completed without interruption (and concomitant greater cost).  I was told that the state will not allow that work to proceed on state property until we own the land, so we just cannot do some of the work until after the land has been deeded to the Town of Medfield.


I heard earlier this afternoon that DCAMM and the Town’s Attorney have reached an agreement on the Water Tower LDA. We are in the process of finalizing the copy for the BOS to sign on Tuesday. We have set up a tentative date to close on 9/18.

 

Kristine Trierweiler

Assistant Town Administrator

$3.3m. cost for new water tower

The three bids that were received for the new water tower next to the old water tower at the former Medfield State Hospital site were opened on Wednesday, and reported to the Water & Sewer Board last night.  Per the emails from the town’s consulting engineer and Mike Sullivan, copies appear below, the low bid was $3,064,933  The other two bids were $3.286m. and $3.67m.


Bid tabulation for state hospital water tower attached for your information. Bids were opened at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday. Water & Sewer Board is meeting tonight (7:00 p.m., Warrant Committee room) to review bids and receive recommendations from its engineer/consultant, Environmental Partners. Please do not post this until Water & Sewer Board has had a chance to review. Thanks Mike

 

From: “Paul C. Millett”
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 8:52 PM
Subject: Bid Tabulation – Medfield Hospital Tank Replacement – 8-20-14.pdf

Folks:
Favorable bids were received this afternoon.

The apparent low bid of just over $3m was from Phoenix Fabricators. The engineer’s estimate was $3.3M.

 

I will bring a summary to tomorrow evening’s meeting and an overall total project budget update.

Water tower legislation

While I was reviewing the other statutes cited in the MSH purchase legislation, I looked around for other legislation naming Medfield, and came across the water tower legislation, below –


2014

Jump to:

Chapter 69 AN ACT DIRECTING THE DIVISION OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE TO CONVEY CERTAIN PARCELS OF LAND IN THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD TO THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD

     Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
     SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws, chapter 180 of the acts of 2002, chapter 269 of the acts of 2008 or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall convey to the town of Medfield, primarily for the purpose of the Medfield public water supply system, for no or nominal consideration, all of the commonwealth’s right, title and interest in the water tower and in the parcel of land on which the water tower is located at the former Medfield State Hospital, as approximately shown on the “Town of Medfield’s Board of Water and Sewerage Concept Plan” dated July 18, 2013, a copy of which is on file with the division, together with a strip of land 25 feet wide for access, egress and utilities extending from Hospital road to said parcel of land as approximately shown on the plan.  The exact boundaries of the parcel and strip shall be surveyed by a registered land surveyor prior to conveyance.   If the parcel and strip cease to be used for the purposes set forth in this section, title shall revert to the commonwealth.
SECTION 2.  (a) Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws, chapter 180 of the acts of 2002, chapter 269 of the acts of 2008 or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall convey to the town of Medfield, primarily for the maintenance or improvement of the Medfield public water supply system, for no or nominal consideration, all of the commonwealth’s right, title and interest in those parcels of land known as the tubular well fields, as more particularly described in subsection (b), and shall transfer to the town of Medfield such rights of way or easements for utilities now existing and extending from the tubular well field to the Medfield State Hospital property line as more particularly described in subsection (c), and shall grant to the town of Medfield an easement for subsurface utilities, not less than 25 feet wide centered on the water main pipeline, extending from the former Medfield State Hospital property line to the parcel described in section 1, as more particularly described in subsection (d).
(b)  The parcels of land shall consist of:
(i)  a certain parcel of land described in a deed from Sybil Hutson to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in book 1891, page 319 and shown on a plan entitled “Plan of the so called Hutson 17 Acre Lot, Medfield, Massachusetts, M.D. Place, October 29, 1929”, recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds as plan 424 of 1930;
(ii)  certain parcels of land described as Parcels A, B and C in a certain order of taking recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in book 4567, pages 627, 628 and 629, consisting of 4.472 acres as shown on a plan entitled “Plan of Land, Medfield-Mass, Scale 1”-60’, Nov. 29, 1968, L.W.DeCelle Surveyors, Inc. 285 Union St., Randolph”, recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in plan book 225, plan 9-1969; and
(iii)  a certain parcel of land located between lots 86 and 87 as shown on a plan recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in plan book 221, plan 980 of 1966.
(c)  The existing rights of way and easements are described as follows:
(i)  the commonwealth’s right to construct, lay, maintain, operate, repair and remove a water pipe line and power pole line granted by deed recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds at book 1895, page 410 and as shown on a plan entitled “Plan showing location right of way for water pipe and pole lines conveyed to Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Sybil Hutson, Medfield, Mass., J.J. Van Valkenburgh C.E., Framingham, Mass., Scale 1 inch-100 feet, December 1929” and recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds as plan 517 of 1930;
(ii)  the commonwealth’s right and easement to construct, lay, maintain, operate, repair and remove a water pipe line and power pole line, as shown on a plan entitled “Plan Showing Location Right of Way for Water Pipe and Pole Lines Conveyed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Hannah Lovell, Medfield, Mass., J.J. Van Valkenburgh, C.E., Framingham, Mass., Scale 1 inch equals 100 feet, December 1929”, such easement being conveyed to the commonwealth by deed and recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in book 1916, page 7;
(iii)  the commonwealth’s right to construct, lay, maintain, operate, repair and remove a water pipe line and power pole line as shown on a plan entitled “Plan showing location right of way for water pipe and pole lines conveyed to Commonwealth of Massachusetts by John Hinkley, Medfield Mass., J.J. Van Valkenburgh C.E., Framingham, MA, Scale 1 inch – 100 feet, December 1929”, conveyed to the commonwealth by deed and recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in book 1895, pages 411 and 412;
(iv)  the commonwealth’s right to construct, lay, maintain, operate, repair and remove a water pipe line and power pole line, as shown on a plan entitled “Plan showing location right of way for water pipe and pole lines Conveyed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Robert and Abbie McCullough, Medfield, Mass., J.J. Van Valkenburgh, C.E., Framingham, Mass., Scale 1 inch equals 100 feet, December 1929, and conveyed to the commonwealth by deed and recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in book 1898, pages 228 and 229; and
(v)  the commonwealth’s right and easement to construct, lay, maintain, operate, repair  and remove a water pipe line and power pole line, as shown on a plan entitled “Plan Showing Location Right of Way for Water Pipe and Pole Lines Conveyed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Agnes V. Cepaul, Medfield, Mass., J.J. Van Valkenburgh, C.E., Framingham, Mass., Scale 1 inch equals 100 feet, December 1929”, such easement being conveyed by deed to the commonwealth and recorded in the Norfolk county registry of deeds in book 1895, page 408.
(d)  A new easement and right of way, as approximately shown on the Town of Medfield’s Board of Water and Sewerage Concept Plan described in section 1, the exact boundaries of which shall be surveyed by a registered land surveyor prior to conveyance.
(e)  Any deed conveying the parcels described in this section shall reserve to the commonwealth the right of way to Harding street, fully shown on a plan entitled, “Plan Showing Location Right of Way for Travel Conveyed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Sybil Hutson, Medfield Mass., J.J. Van Valkenburgh, C.E., Framingham, Mass. Scale – 1 inch = 100 feet”, December, 1929, recorded in Norfolk county registry of deeds as plan 425 of 1930.
(f)  If any parcel or easements ceases to be used for the purposes set forth in this section, title to such parcel or easement shall revert to the commonwealth.
SECTION 3.  The town of Medfield shall be responsible for all costs of the transactions authorized in sections 1 and 2 including, but not limited to, surveys, plans, recording fees and any other expenses relating to any such transfer, as shall be considered necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance.

Approved, April 9, 2014.

Water ban

Errin Chapin asked me a question about water ban issues, to which I did not know the answers, and so I asked Mike Sullivan to respond – Mike gave a great explanation –


Subject: RE: Water question

Errin & Pete, If we stopped supplying water to the Dover Sherborn schools tomorrow, we would still be under a water ban. The conditions for determining a water ban are set the the Division of Environmental Protection (DEP), a state agency When the flow in the Charles River at the Dover metering station falls below a certain level we must declare a water ban. We have plenty of water, in part, because over the years we purchased land to protect our water supply. The problem is that the state views the Charles River as one river system and bases it decisions on the entire Charles River basin. The communities that did little to protect their water supply and allowed wide-scale development are treated the same or in many cases better than the communities that acted to protect their water supply. The state views Medfield residential water customers as “water hogs” because our average daily residential water consumption is greater than 65 gallons/person. The Water Department has to submit a plan to show how it will reduce residential water consumption until it falls below the 65 gallon/person/per day level. I believe the national average is about 90 gallons’/person/day and New England is considered one of the water-richest areas of the country. But that doesn’t matter to DEP and to the local watershed associations; they want consumption to go down to 50 gallons/person/day. Commercial, industrial, educational and recreational water consumption is excluded from that calculation, so it doesn’t matter whether the Dover Sherborn schools are getting water from Medfield’s water supply. The water ban is in place and will stay in place as long as the river flow is below a certain level. I could go on at length about how unfair the DEP water regulations are, but it wouldn’t change things a bit.

One additional point, the Dover Sherborn schools are treated as a commercial customer and so they pay a higher rate for their water than Medfield residential customers. The Water & Sewer Commissioners are always looking for ways to raise revenues to pay for the capital improvements that we need to make to keep the system adequate. While not a huge revenue generator, the Dover Sherborn schools do contribute to the revenue stream and help somewhat to reduce the water rate increases.

Mike Sullivan


From: “Osler L. Peterson”
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2014 9:40 AM
To: “Errin Chapin”
Subject: RE: Water question

Errin,

I am embarrassed to say that is an issue about which I know little, so I will copy Mike Sullivan on my reply and ask him to let you know why the water to DSHS has been handled the way it has in the past and his plans for the future.

Best,
Pete
—– Original Message —–
From: Errin Chapin
To: “PETERSON | Law – Osler \”Pete\” Peterson”
Sent: 7/09/2014 4:29PM
Subject: Water question

Good afternoon!

I was wondering why we continue to sell Dover Sherborn high school water when we ourselves in the town are consistently faced with summer water bans.  Do you think that that issue should be readdressed on a yearly basis? Once our town absorbs the 40b complex and the state hospital development, I would think that selling water to Dover would cease altogether.  We do not have an unlimited water supply.

Is this something that needs to be addressed at  town meeting? And if so, how do we get that on the docket?

Thanks!

Happy July!

Errin