The Marion Finance Committee held its final department interview for the FY23 budget season on March 9, taking on the Department of Public Works.
The DPW covers a lot of ground between water, sewer and highway, but Director Nathaniel Munafo’s more complex challenges come on the sewer side, where projects large and small add up in a town with an aging infrastructure and plans for dramatic residential growth.
One of the more subtle issues is the future of sewer among approximately 450 homes in the town’s sewer-user area that have grinder pumps. The homes are located in three specific locations off Converse, Dexter Beach and North Marion and are dealing with failing grinder pumps that were installed during a time when Munafo says that gravity pumps were more expensive.
Residential pump repair will see a proposed increase from $60,000 budgeted for FY22 to $80,000 for FY23. The town is responsible for the maintenance of grinder pumps, which are largely outdated and at this point more cost effective to replace rather than repair.
FinCom Chairman Shay Assad asked how many pumps fail on an annual basis. Munafo estimates between 40 and 50 fail per year. In FY21, reported Munafo, the $60,000 pump-repair line item was overspent by $9,228. As of December 31, 2021, the same line item was on track to be overspent by $20,000.
“That’s how we came up with this number for FY23, to at least match what we’re doing right now,” said Munafo.
Select Board member John Waterman said the town is trying to come up with a policy that will get the town out from under an increasing cost.
“We’re looking at a number of options to recouping our costs in the short term,” said Town Administrator Jay McGrail, who confirmed that the item will be on the next agenda of the Water/Sewer Commission.
Waterman said there was a mismatch between the financing (via 30-year betterments) and the average 15-year life of the grinder pumps. FinCom member Peter Winters said that home sales should pay off betterments and free the town of further obligation in those cases.
A grinder-pump core costs approximately $3,000, but a full installation costs between $8,000 and $10,000, according to Munafo.
Waterman believes a pump station might be built for the cost of 48 grinder pump installations.
Sewer engineering will see a $10,000 increase (from $30,000 to $40,000) in preparation for NPDES permit renewal and grant applications. The permit that governs how the sewer system discharges is up for renewal.
Munafo said a federal BRIC grant application for $10,000 would result in the hire of the Woods Hole Group to help write the grant application for the Environmental Protection Agency. If procured, the grant would offset 75 percent of the construction for the Front Street pumping station.
Under the proposed budget, Marion’s property maintenance line would increase by $3,500 (over 32 percent) due to a flat-roof maintenance agreement for the WPCF/DPW office. This is a Hazard Mitigation Plan priority and is recommended by the Facilities Department in the wake of leaks through the 15-year, flat rubber roof.
“In other years we’ve kind of put that off in the contract-services line,” something Munafo said could no longer occur.
Munafo proposes $60,000 in FY23 sewer testing, a $14,000 or 30 percent increase over the $46,000 budgeted for FY22. Additional testing, he said, is tied to administrative orders to test for nitrogen after the lagoon project is wrapped up in May. Testing in the lagoon will increase from a quarterly to a monthly basis.
“It’s very complicated, a lot of hard work goes into what is being done up there,” said committee member Fred Mock, who spoke about birdwatching with his father 40 years ago at the Wastewater Treatment Plant site, noting that at the time there were only the “sewage ponds.”
Other notable budget increases on the sewer side include $7,000 to repair motor vehicles, a 100- percent increase over the $3,500 that was budgeted in FY22; current FY22 spending (as of March 9) is $4,581.61.
“We’ve doubled that line. The reason we’ve done that is the two sewer vehicles we have at the moment are both fairly old, and we’ve been seeing significant increases in the cost of repairing the vehicles,” said Munafo. “We’re seeing that in the Water Division’s vehicles … but we’re also seeing significant increases from the motor-vehicle companies in how quickly they’re able to respond both for parts and for new vehicles.
“The two F-550’s that the Highway Dept. purchased last year … we don’t even have a production date as we sit here at the moment. … We want to make sure we have enough money to keep these trucks on the road.”
Munafo’s PowerPoint presentation on the Water Division budget included current FY22 spending at $6,160.20 and counting, almost all of which was earmarked for Truck No. 12. A capital request to replace that truck could take over a year to be realized, according to the report.
Alternate committee member Ann M. Iannuzzi was impressed with the amount of information that DPW employee Becky Tilden shared in the process.
Proposed water-system repairs include: an increase from $20,000 budgeted for FY22 to $50,000 for FY23. Munafo explained it as a net reduction of $35,000 because the increase takes the place of a $50,000 Hydrant Replacement capital item, while $15,000 was taken out of Well Exploration to help offset the line item.
McGrail opened the meeting by summarizing revised budget information including lower-debt numbers from Bristol Aggie. He also noted that the Tri-Towns came to an agreement to support Old Rochester Regional High School’s outdoor-track repair project. A $125,000 assessment has been added to Marion’s budget proposal to reflect that, and McGrail said the town was only tweaks away from achieving a balanced budget “fully loaded” and getting ready to present as the final budget.
The Finance Committee was scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss its FY23 budget overview and make recommendations to the Select Board. The next meeting of the committee has not been scheduled.
Marion Finance Committee
By Mick Colageo