Finance Committee - 09/04/2019 Page 7
Mr. Kohalmi
Well the treatment plant is designed to handle probably 95% to 99% of the storms. But we seem to getting a
10 year storm about every year. Part of the problem is just the drainage infrastructure, the pipes and the catch
basins are inadequate. So this plan, this is a long-term plan that is going to partly help to solve that as well.
But what the EPA cares more about are discharges into the Nashua and the Merrimack Rivers. So more than
anything this plan is going to clean that up or trying to eliminate any kind of dirty discharge from getting into the
rivers. This is a long-term plan; this is a plan we will be using probably for the next 10 to 20 years to upgrade
pipes, catch basins. It is a significant contract but we need a comprehensive plan to do it right, 5, 10, 20 years
from now we will be relying on this document.
Alderman Klee
May I? And | agree with you and | am glad to see we are going to have a plan and so on. | Know even over by
where your residence is Mr. Mayor, | have gotten some people that have called and complained about the
overflow of that type of thing. | know that even some of our drainage areas that we have, we have 2 and 3
catch basins close together and because of the land tilts, after a while there totally inadequate, there is no
water even going into them. They are just draining right by them and so on. Will this plan look into any of
those types of — the drainage the catch basins at all? Or is this straight off the CSO?
Mr. Kohalmi
We have a plan we called CMOM and that plan is more geared towards the maintenance and operation of the
pipes and the catch basins. That plan is fairly new; we received it about a year ago. So we are just taking first
steps to implement that.
Alderman Klee
| won't belabor, thank you so much, appreciate it.
MOTION CARRIED
From: Dan Kooken, Purchasing Manager
Re: Digester Gas Tank Coating Project
MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN TO ACCEPT, PLACE ON FILE AND AWARD THE CONTRACT TO JB
SAFETY, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $136,400. FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE IN DEPARTMENT 169
WASTEWATER
ON THE QUESTION
Mayor Donchess
Maybe you could provide an explanation?
Bill Keating, Wastewater Project Engineer
Sure, my name is Bill Keating | am the Wastewater Engineer for the Wastewater Department. We have a
digester gas tank which stores gas from the digester during the decomposition of the solid material; generates
gas, methane gas primarily. We want to feed that into, we are in the process of upgrading the Energy
Recovery Facility and it will feed into two gas digesters when they are installed. So this is just one part of the
big overall upgrade of the whole anaerobic digesting system. The gas tank is 20 years old and it has a lot of
rust both inside and outside it. Right now it is down, it is not being used because we are upgrading the Energy
Recovery Facility. So it is a perfect time to get inside and paint it, recoat it inside and outside so it lasts
another 20 years or more.
