Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Waterline Gps Operator Website topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident raises questions on river waterline repair, GPS mapping and in-house operator; board discusses EV charger grant and website postings
Summary
Michael (Mike) Zahn pressed the Select Board on river-crossing options for a waterline, GPS mapping equipment training, whether water operations should be brought in-house, and timely posting of meeting materials.
Michael (Mike) Zahn, a member of the public, used the meeting’s public-comment period to press the board on multiple water and infrastructure issues: the scope of an upcoming river crossing waterline repair, the town’s recently purchased GPS mapping equipment, the decision to hire a private water operator rather than an in-house employee, and the timeliness of meeting materials and recordings posted on the town website.
Zahn asked whether the river-crossing work contracted to Horizons (for a culvert/river crossing at Route 5 / Maine Street) was limited to replenishing rock protection around the buried line or whether engineers had considered alternatives such as attaching a water line to a bridge or running it under a sidewalk. "Maybe they'll never wash out. Maybe they'll wash out next year," Zahn said, urging the board to "ask the engineers" to investigate alternative designs that could be more durable long term. Town staff responded that the project had been budgeted at roughly $70,000–$90,000 for protective work and that they would follow up with engineers to evaluate alternative crossing methods.
Zahn also asked about the town’s water asset-management measures: he confirmed the water asset-management plan is complete, noted the town recently acquired GPS equipment to map waterline features and said training for that equipment has not yet occurred. Town officials said the GPS gear had been received and that training would be scheduled. Another resident and commenters urged using wintertime to run mapping and GPS-location work while ground conditions permit.
On the town’s water service model, Zahn questioned whether bringing water operations back in-house had been considered. Town officials said they had evaluated the options and concluded outsourcing to a licensed company provided redundancy (multiple licensed operators) and may be more cost-effective than hiring a municipal operator, though board members agreed to provide the contract details on request.
Zahn also requested that the town post agendas, minutes and Zoom recordings more promptly; officials said meeting minutes would be posted and discussed steps to make department-level notices available on the town website and to coordinate with department social-media pages. He asked whether the town had followed up on an offer from North Country Council to inventory town assets; staff said the town did not accept that offer because engineering work had already started under the grant.
Separately, the board said it had an 80%-cost-share grant award for four electric vehicle chargers in a municipal parking lot but noted federal and other grant programs were under review and funding uncertain; the board recommended keeping the item on the warrant in case funding is finalized.
No formal board action was taken during public comment; staff committed to follow up with engineers about crossing alternatives, schedule GPS training, share the new water-operator contract for public review on request, and improve timeliness of website postings and recordings.
