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Town of AmherstBoard of SelectmenOctober 22, 2007
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Chairman Bruce Bowler called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. Selectmen present: George Infanti, Thomas Grella, Brad Galinson and Reed Panasiti (at 6:55 p.m.). Also present was Town Administrator Gary MacGuire and Executive Assistant Sharon Frydlo.
Fire Chief Badge Pinning Ceremony
Mr. Bowler announced that this was the second time in Amherst’s Fire Department history that they were pinning a badge on a full time Fire Chief. He introduced Chief Rick Todd, his wife Wendy and son, Matt. Mr. Bowler explained that Rick had begun his firefighting career in July 1981 in Merrimack. He was promoted to Lieutenant in February of 1989 and held this position until June 1997 when he was promoted to Captain. He was appointed Acting Chief in November 2006 and served until March of 2007 when Merrimack hired their new Chief. He also served as Assistant Emergency Management Director, and Special Deputy Forest Fire Warden for Merrimack and the State. In 1992, Rick was awarded Merrimack’s Veterans of Foreign War’s Firefighter of the Year.
The Board recessed the meeting until 7:00 p.m. in order to meet and greet guests, family and friends that attended the ceremony.
Pennichuck Water Works
Steve Densberger, Executive Vice President and Don Ware, Chief Engineer met with the Selectmen. Mr. Densberger briefly gave a history of the Company that began in 1852. They operate approximately 56 water systems with the biggest one being the core system in Greater Nashua and serve about 130,000 people with most being in Southern New Hampshire. He spoke about taking over the Amherst Village District, which they have been running since 1992 and the good relationship they had with the Town.
Mr. Densberger also told the Board about the merger with Pennichuck Water by Philadelphia Suburban that has since expired. A year later the City of Nashua filed suit to take the Company by eminent domain. He said this was not a good idea then and still isn’t. They recently finished a month of hearings with the PUC – the onus is on Nashua and the issue is “the public good”. He spoke of the various utilities they have including Pittsfield’s aqua duct. All of their employees work out of Pennichuck Water and he talked about their efficiencies. If Nashua takes Pennichuck out of the middle it will end up costing other organizations more money. They have made their argument to the PUC and the Commission will be making a decision within three months to see if it is “within the public good”. He hoped Pennichuck will be left intact as they have 103 employees.
Mr. Densberger indicated one thing that came out in the PUC testimony was when the Mayor was asked what would happen if something happened in Epping. His response was they didn’t care about Epping, their only concern was Nashua. Pennichuck has said all along that you can’t set boundaries. The case at the PUC was all about Nashua. Mr. Ware added that “save the drinking water” is what they are all about as an industry and there is continued growth in the towns. They stepped up when Atherton Common had a problem and worked with a developer for The Fells. He also spoke about the potential that is here to “serve the public good”. Pennichuck is a regional company, their focus is working with the communities in Hudson, Milford, Amherst, Bedford and Manchester in making sure what works best in getting them sources of water which was a main discussion at the PUC. They work closely with other communities to make sure this happens.
Mr. Infanti commented that from what he understood, Nashua has already talked to a private company to sub this out. Mr. Densberger explained they would contract two holding companies – one would be for operations and the other would be an oversight company, such as an engineering firm that would oversee the operating company. This seemed a bit dysfunctional, he said, having one company overseeing the other. Mr. Infanti mentioned that where Amherst was going by being a part of the District was to join forces with Nashua and was surprised this was not presented in order to make it work. The other issue, he had no proof of and an argument given, was that Pennichuck has not put money back into the systems and it needed a lot of work. Mr. Ware remarked that since he came to the Company in 1995 as Chief Engineer they had spent approximately six million dollars per year. They have a plan to, over time, replace the pipe infrastructure and stay ahead of the curve. He briefly spoke about putting pipe up a hill in Amherst to serve their customers. The have invested intelligently and wisely and continually. They have shareholders who invest money in the purchase of stock. Mr. Densberger added they have to balance out capital improvements with the shareholders’ investments. They have made improvements, have done so right along and he took issue with this when it came out in the newspaper.
Mr. Grella indicated that one thing mentioned was that the Mayor of Nashua said the satellite communities would have to fend for themselves. Mr. Densberger indicated the case is the City of Nashua v. Pennichuck Water. In the presentation the City made, he had not seen any agreements in the transcripts from the PUC hearings. Mr. Ware added that Nashua picked up all the assets for Milford, Amherst, Bedford, etc. and will operate out of the City. What came out at the trial was where the communities were going to call if they need help. Now they can call Pennichuck Water Works to get staff and him. What was being proposed is that the City of Nashua is going to own and operate this and kind of from afar. They feel very strongly that this does not make sense for the communities inside or outside of the City of Nashua.
In answer to Mr. Galinson’s questions, Mr. Densberger explained that Philadelphia Suburban was going to merge with Pennichuck with 20% of the company being owned by a French company. Philadelphia Suburban is now called Aqua American, Pennichuck has not talked to them for four years and have no agreements. Nashua said they could operate cheaper and Pennichuck has proven at the hearings they can’t. The Town receives property taxes from Pennichuck based on the infrastructure and Nashua will pay the same property tax Pennichuck does. He spoke about their investor ownership-type company. What their customer pays is the cost of an employee and they have no profit margins. Mr. Galinson indicated that it seems Nashua’s water system goes to Nashua. If this is the case, what happens if they win. Mr. Densberger explained that it was Pennichuck Water Nashua was laying claim to. Mr. Ware added it was every water system that Pennichuck owns. They serve 13 different communities and 26 different water systems.
Mr. Bowler did not think he had seen an official signature from Nashua because the claim was if Nashua took it over, they would turn a portion over to the Merrimack Valley Water District. Mr. Densberger had not seen any agreements or contracts from them. Mr. Ware advised that at any time Nashua can say they don’t have to be regulated and make a determination that they don’t have to pay taxes. One of the issues at the trial was that they hire good employees and keep reasonable rates. If this was turned over to the City, there was no turning the clock back. During the trial there were continuous changes in what the City was proposing. He mentioned that the PUC cannot regulate rates as long as the City remained within 15%.
Mr. Panasiti has seen close to 40-50% increase in water bills over the past ten years. He asked what would happen to a town like Amherst. Mr. Ware addressed the rate issue and commented that they have to comply with the Safe Drinking Act and spoke briefly about this. He also explained that what they have seen in the increases is the cost of studies, improvements to the treatment facility, the cost of operating it, the cost of bonds and electricity costs. Mr. Densberger added they also have capital improvements and typically make investments over a 2-3 year period. If the City were to buy them out, it would be a 100% debt to them. Mr. Panasiti thought the City would spend the greater amount on the Core, which would be Nashua, and the smaller communities would suffer.
Mr. Bowler remarked that the Board has had presentations before them and it was interesting that Nashua would go out and hire a consulting company. Why not maintain what Pennichuck has, he asked. Mr. Densberger explained that Veolia said they will hire most of the employees and have their own customer service organization, accounting department and do not want a CEO or CFO. Mr. Ware added that Veolia NE is out of the Brocton area and have some contracts. They will come in and hire most of the accounting staff and are a for profit company. They will go out and hire employees and make a profit to pay them. The City doesn’t want to have another group within the Public Works Water Department. Mr. Densberger mentioned that Nashua was going to have Dufresne Henry come in at $200 per hour. Pennichuck does this in-house. They get to recover those costs, but don’t tack them onto the rates. Mr. Ware explained Pennichuck retains a small engineering staff that keeps the costs in-house. They are a regional bodied utility. They need to look where the needs are and it becomes a balancing act. The communities will be best served by a regional utility.
Mr. Bowler thanked Mr. Densberger and Mr. Ware for coming in to talk to the Board.
Adopt Revision 2 Joint Loss Management Program
Mr. MacGuire reported the revised Program has been in the Selectmen’s read file. What they were seeing was basically adopted in 1995 by a previous Board as the Safety Program for the Town of Amherst. It has not been addressed in twelve years. When the Department of Labor stopped in on an inspection, they noticed it was outdated and didn’t have their new regulations. Primarily the work was pulled together by Sharon Frydlo using Primex’s self help CD and it was updated with the Department of Labor’s regulations which expanded it further. Both he and Sharon then reviewed the draft and made further changes. This should be a working document and updated several times a year. Tons of credit should be given to Sharon who pulled it together in such a short period of time, he said. He has an appointment at the Department of Labor in the middle of November and wants them to know the Town takes this seriously. They were under the direction of the Department of Labor to adopt this.
Mr. Panasiti asked about OSHA. Mr. MacGuire indicated that OSHA has control over the private sector in the State of New Hampshire not the public sector. He assumed the Administrative Rules that were listed in the 2007 Department of Labor’s update were similar. It looked like they had great intentions twelve years ago and like any basic policy manual they let it slip a bit. Mr. Infanti commented that he had spent some time looking at it that morning. He moved to adopt the revision to the Town’s Joint Loss Management Program, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Mr. Bowler thanked Gary and Sharon very much for taking this on.
Old Business
Merrimack Valley Regional Water District
Mr. Bowler indicated that the Town had received a $5000 invoice from the District – to date they have paid $15,000. Mr. Infanti was pleased to hear the other side of the story which was something the Board should have done sometime ago. He has known Steve Densberger for a long time and the explanation is not what he had understood. He thought it was a done deal that Pennichuck was selling out and Nashua was trying to protect themselves. At this time, he said he would not be willing to write another $5000 check. He did not see the benefit to the Town of Amherst any more. From what he understood, Amherst would become a more important member of the coalition and have more of a say in protecting the Town as a core member. He was not convinced that Pennichuck Water hasn’t done well for the Town. He said he was willing to go along with the status quo.
Mr. Grella felt the same as George did. He thought if the City were to end up with ownership, that the Town of Amherst and all the other satellite towns would end up at the will of Nashua’s taxpayers. The Selectmen gave them something to get started and it looks like the City of Nashua is holding all the cards. He suggested waiting until the hearings were over in hopes that an agreement is made.
Mr. Galinson said not only should they absolutely not pay the $5000, but was distressed that he was not more vocal about this when Marilyn Peterman came before them.
Mr. Panasiti voted last year to approve the $5000 based on what they were told. It was a good idea to have the other side come in. He said he was 100% sure that they will be left out. He also agreed they should hold off and not pay.
Mr. Bowler thought this would be unanimous because he voted the past two times against it. After listening to both Marilyn Peterman and Mike Scanlon people are becoming less and less involved. He remembered Jay Dinkel asking where the budget was. He wished they had Pennichuck in two years ago to get their side of the story. Mr. Infanti moved that the Board does not make the next payment of $5000 to the Merrimack Valley Regional Water District and to wait and see what the outcome is, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Other Business
CPI
Mr. MacGuire reminded the Board that they have a Police contract with a formula used for the cost of living. They also use the same formula for the rest of the Departments. The formula is the U.S. Department of Statistics for the month of September for the Northeast Urban and the Boston/Brockton/Nashua area. The NE Urban CPI is 2.4% and Brocton/Boston/Nashua is 1.5%. The contract states that these numbers should be averaged which comes to 1.95%. He requested that for the budget process and people’s COLA it be this figure at this time.
Mr. MacGuire discussed the reasons why this formula was used with the Board rather than local figures. Mr. Infanti commented that they used regional numbers to justify the COLA not just Nashua’s numbers. Mr. MacGuire also told the Selectmen that they use September because of their budgeting process and needed a point to stop the clock in order to go forward. One report goes out every month, the other every other month. Mr. Infanti moved that they do, as they have in previous years, take the CPI average of NE Urban and Brocton/Boston/Nashua of 1.95%, second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Other Business
Reports
Mr. Infanti reported they had another Master Plan session last week. As usual they were disappointed with the turn out. The Committee that has worked on it has spent a lot of time, research and money. His concern is that a report on what people would like Amherst to be in 10-15 years will be generated based on a very small amount of people’s opinions. The Chairman, who has put in hundreds of hours, will be done at the end of this year because she had made this commitment. Deirdre has done an incredible job and he did not see a lot of hands raised for someone to take her place. The Town invested a lot of money and it scared him that a report is going to be based on a small number of responses. He was not convinced everyone was going to be happy. Ms. Rogusky mentioned that they had a commitment from the contracted team to have the report within 2-3 months. She also has not had anyone step forward to coordinate the groups. She spoke about several people who had done a lot within the element group. There were people doing a lot of work but there was not a lot of input from the citizens. She did not expect to see results until March or April.
Mr. Grella reported last Saturday, the Historic District Commission had a meeting with the newly appointed Tree Warden Perry Day. Perry had pointed out that another person recommended 4-5 trees be removed on the Common and some should be replaced per the Commission. Perry will come up with a list of trees to be replaced. Some citizens may want to purchase trees in someone’s memory to replenish those that will be removed.
Mr. Galinson reported the CIP will be making a report to the Selectmen on November 19. There will be a warrant article on the ballot in March to tweak the Ordinance on impact fees. One of PMEC’s Board members Len Gerzon is spearheading a meeting with educators to come up with a curriculum program on what can be done at the Center. The Board is overseeing this meeting and the Director is part of this.
Mr. Panasiti reported there will be a Recreation Commission meeting on Tuesday. There was also a Conservation Commission meeting last week and he had nothing to report.
Mr. Bowler had nothing to report other than the SRLD will be holding a public hearing on their budget the first meeting in December.
Mr. Bowler asked if there was anything to report from Ways & Means. Ms. Rogusky indicated they were waiting to meet with the Department Heads.
Minutes
Mr. Infanti moved to approve the minutes of October 9, 2007, second by Mr. Grella amended as follows: Line 54 – Change “looked” to “looking”. Vote: Unanimous.
Mr. Infanti moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:28 p.m., second by Mr. Grella. Vote: Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon L. Frydlo
Executive Assistant