MAINE PUBLIC DRINKING WATER COMMISSION

 

MINUTES OF MEETING #101

May 7, 2008

 

The Maine Public Drinking Water Commission (DWC) held its 101^st meeting on May 7, 2008, at the Yarmouth Town Hall in Yarmouth, Maine.

 

Present were:

• Members: Judith Kelley – Chair, Bob MacKinnon, Tom Brennan, Harvey Chesley, George Dugovic, Dick Berry, Rebecca Laliberte, and Roger Crouse

 

• Guests: Tera Pare, Cheryl Pratt (DWP)

 

Time: Judy Kelley called the meeting to order at 9:12 a.m.

 

Thank You: 

• Judy Kelley thanked Bob MacKinnon for hosting the Drinking Water Commission meeting.
• Dick Berry made a motion, and Harvey seconded that the Drinking Water Commission extend appreciation to Ken Sonagere and Vaughn Smith, for their years of service to the Drinking Water Commission.  Judy Kelley drafted letters to both and circulated the letters to all members of the Commission to sign.

 

A.   Approval of Minutes:

o     Bob made a motion to accept the minutes of the prior meeting (Meeting #100).  Tom seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. 

 

B.   Recurring Business:

1.    AFM Fees/Collection Status:

o     Roger provided an update of the public water systems that still owe AFM fees from the 2007 billing period.  Bob recommended that the Drinking Water Program report what percentage of the total AFM fees assessed were actually collected.  Roger agreed to provide that information at next meeting and also reported that he plans to implement many of the suggestions offered from Meeting #100 in February.  Cheryl added that when DWP field inspectors email the list of public water systems scheduled for upcoming sanitary surveys, she will research the AFM status, so field inspectors may bring the subject up at their visit.

 

o     Roger reported that AFM bills are now sent to new public water systems immediately upon activation, rather than waiting until the next billing cycle.  Commission members agreed that this process would help alert systems that they are responsible for making payment in the first place.

 

2.    Program Update:

 

Staffing:

o       Roger was hired as the new Director for the Drinking Water Program.  Andy Tolman, the Drinking Water Program’s Senior Hydrologist, is the new Assistant Director.  Roger’s former position as Chief Engineer

 

is currently in the process of clearing the Department of Human Resources, so that the DWP may hire a permanent replacement.

 

Legislation:

o     LD 2073, the DEP bill prohibiting above-ground petroleum storage in wellhead protection zones, was signed into law. 

o     LD 2169 was signed into law and effectively secured that the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF) will be a state bond vote for November 2008.  This news is extremely promising, considered the struggle in the past to secure state match money, and a good part of the success may be attributed to the help of the Maine Water Utilities Association and the Maine Rural Water Association.  Dick Berry and the rest of the Commission would like to see a written explanation of how the entire funds from state and federal sources are allocated and spent.

 

C.    New Business:

                  Supplemental Budget, Section yy-1:

o            This document requires particular state agencies to find financial and    operational efficiencies to save the State $250,000.  It was stated in 3 parts...Part 1 directly referring to the Maine Drinking Water Program, was partially satisfied by having the Program fund 0.6 of a position with money granted by the Bioterrorism Act, accounting for a savings of $50,000 in the General Fund.

 

Rulemaking and Statute Changes:

o            The Drinking Water Program’s Rules Relating to Drinking Water became effective on March 12, 2008.  Changes included AFM formula changes, adoption of national NSF/ANSI construction standards, and implementation of new federal rules like the Groundwater Rule, Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule, IDSE Requirements, and Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.  System Design Capacity requirements were also adopted.

o            Tera announced that the Drinking Water Program will be looking at making changes to the Bottled Water Rules and the Cross Connection Rules.

 

Election of Officers:

o       22 M.R.S.A. § 2660-C requires that the Drinking Water Commission elect the Chair and Vice Chair.  A unanimous vote to continue Judy Kelley as chair and elect Tom Brennan as Vice – Chair followed. 

o       Dick Berry made a motion to appoint Cheryl Pratte as Secretary, and Tom Brennan seconded the motion.  It passed unanimously.

 

Staff Merit Award:

o       Four nominations have been received by Cheryl so far.  Bob, George, and Harvey agreed to serve on the Staff Merit Award Committee, to review the nominations and select a recipient.  Dick made a motion to allow the Award Committee to select a recipient, and the motion carried unanimously.  A mid-June decision is expected.

 

 

AFM Fee Formula For June 2008 Billing:

o       Roger recapped the DWC’s decisions from last spring’s meeting and distributed two scenarios remaining.  Now that the DWC has the authority to alter the Bottled Water formula, given the recently adopted rule changes.

o       Judy suggested that the Commission adopt the current scenario (Scenario #2) and explore other possibilities at a future meeting for future fiscal years.  This particular scenario will generate $9,000 more, with all public water systems that are not bottlers at the same rate as 2007. 

o       Bob made a motion, and Rebecca seconded the motion, to implement Scenario #2 for the 2008 billing season.  The motion carried unanimously.

o       Dick made a motion for the DWC to pursue efforts to remove the $30,000 statutory cap in 22 M.R.S.A. §2660-E and write a letter to notify the one public water system affected by this change, Portland Water District.  Roger noted that if the cap is successful, Portland Water District will be assessed $54,000 in AFM fees.

 

Annual Report:  

o       Judy will circulate the draft annual report to Commission members.  The Annual Report is due August 1^st.

            

Set Location, Date and Agenda Items for Next Meeting(s):

o       The next meeting will be in Augusta at Key Bank Plaza, 1^st Floor, Room 16 on September 10, 2008.  Agenda items include an overview of how the DWP funds positions and activities, legislation efforts to remove the statutory cap, and an exploration of AFM fee formulas. 

 

D. Motion to Adjourn:  The meeting adjourned at 11:08 am.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Tera R. Pare, J.D.

Maine Drinking Water Program