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Bristol water and sewer superintendent proposes higher on-call pay, uniform stipend; Central Street work delayed
Summary
Water/Sewer Superintendent Jeff Chartier recommended raising the on-call stipend from $125 to $200 per week and replacing weekly uniform service with a $600 annual pant stipend; he also reported Central Street sewer work is delayed to spring and that he applied for a $60,000 grant to investigate lead/galvanized service lines.
Jeff Chartier, Bristol’s Water and Sewer superintendent, presented departmental policy updates and operational reports at the Jan. 8 Select Board meeting.
Chartier proposed increasing the on-call stipend from $125 to $200 per week to remain competitive, estimating the change would cost about $1,950 annually for each of the Water and Sewer departments but could be absorbed within existing budgets. He also recommended replacing the weekly uniform service (which he said can cost up to $700 per month) with an annual $600 stipend per employee for work pants, while the Town would continue to provide T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets.
Chartier reported ongoing operational issues: the Bristol Hill ejector has required daily manual pumping because of relay failures (replacement parts on order), and the Pleasant Street Pump Station experienced a capacitor failure that was addressed by Pump Systems of Franklin, along with maintenance on the rag grinder. He said construction of the Central Street Pump House continues but that a directional drill for the sewer extension encountered obstructions, including a water main, and the sewer line extension work has been postponed until spring after engineers identified an alternate route.
Chartier said he applied for a $60,000 grant to vacuum-excavate and pothole service lines to document materials and update system mapping in order to identify lead or galvanized services; any grant award will be brought to the Board for formal acceptance. He and Town Administrator Christina Goodwin also described ongoing efforts to digitize records, integrate them into the town’s mapping software, and deploy QR codes at facilities to access manuals and records quickly.
The board discussed wording and duplication between policy documents and agreed Chartier’s on-call policy could reference standard operating procedures instead of repeating inspection tasks. The Board indicated the on-call policy could be placed on the Consent Agenda for adoption at the next meeting pending no further concerns.
The Board thanked Chartier for the updates and for work on draft policies and operations.
