2018-06-27-CEC-ATM-rpt (Combined Report with Updates & Errata)

Browse Search

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE REPORT TO 2018 ATM(incorporating Updates&Errata) upgraded with smart signalization; it will be six of 12 after the Pleasant and Maple Street signals are completed. Water Distribution System Many of the Town's 178 miles of water mains were installed in the early 1900s and require an ongoing engineering program plan for pipe cleaning, lining, or replacement. On an annual basis, the DPW implements work for cleaning, lining, and/or replacement of unlined, inadequate, aged, and breaking water mains to improve water quality, pressure, and fire-protection capabilities, and to reduce frequency and severity of water-main breaks, as well as to minimize long lengths of pipe not fed at both ends, known as "dead ends". This work often requires excavation prior to pipe-condition analysis. Work continues to replace remaining unlined pipes, of which 2% (4 linear miles) presently fall into this category. Work will also focus on replacing aging mains or those with a higher-break history. In addition, starting in FY2020, the currently projected annual request will increase from$1 million to $2.2 million so that 1% of the Town's water-piping can be replaced each year. Using some of the funding authorized in FY2016, engineering has completed an analysis of the entire distribution network in order to prioritize work for the next phase of the improvement plan. This work has produced a model of the network, now in use by the Engineering Division. Results of this analysis have included: the establishment of specific level of service goals for all components of the water system; identification of individual water mains to reline or replace; and identification low-pressure areas in the system. This work will allow the Engineering Division to continue its best practices in the documentation of the materials, age, and break history of the Town's water mains and to use that information with ongoing material sampling (when appropriate) to determine its engineering replacement-and-rehabilitation plan. Some of the "out-year" funding in the Capital Plan is still approximate due to the difficulty of actual testing in a working water system. Unlike roads which can be analyzed visually and with easily accessible samples; water systems require more complex exploratory testing by excavation, when and where possible. In some instances work scope cannot be completely developed until preliminary exploratory work on actual site conditions has been performed. The East Massachusetts Avenue water-mains improvement work that was funded with prior authorizations is now completed. For the FY2019 request, see Article 17. Heavy equipment and trucks used by the Water Division to maintain the system are procured with Water Enterprise funds that are funded directly by water-rate payers. Where equipment is shared with the Sewer Division, the costs are shared. Hydrant System This Committee continues to encourage replacement at an accelerated rate and supports the level of funding proposed—which remains at the FY2018 level. The FY2019 funding for hydrant replacement continues to be evenly divided between the General Fund and the Water Enterprise Fund. For further system information and the FY2019 funding request, see Article 16(a). Wastewater System The sanitary-sewer system (34 miles of trunk lines; 119 miles of street lines), like the water-distribution system, has sections that date back to the early 1900s. Due to age-related deterioration, some sections are susceptible to stonnwater inflow and groundwater infiltration which increases the total flow to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) treatment system, resulting in increased charges to the Town, and causing overloading of parts of the system, with the potential to spread waterborne disease. Engineering has an ongoing program of investigating, evaluating, replacing and repairing sections of the system. This work had been partially funded by the MWRA Infiltration/Inflow (I/I) Local Financial Assistance Program, which provides grant and interest-free loan funding for member communities; however, at this point the Town has drawn all of its allocation in that Program. For further system information and the FY2019 funding request, see Article 18(a). The system has 10 sewage-pumping stations that need continual maintenance and periodic upgrading— which the Sewer Division has been doing. In July 2013, the engineering firm Wright-Pierce performed a detailed survey of the pump stations, generating a 20-year repair/replacement plan for them. This year's request is consistent with those findings. (See Article 18(b).) 23