The Board meets on the first and third Monday of each month. Meetings begin at 1:00 p.m. and are held in the department conference room at 65 Lafayette Ave, Littleton. Board meetings are open to the public and time is allotted for public comments at each meeting.
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The regularly scheduled business meeting of the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) Board of Commissioners (BOC) began at 1:00 p.m. on Monday,
July 15, 2024 in the LWL conference room. Present were Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner Ralph Ross, Commissioner Linda MacNeil, Chief Water Operator Kevin Sorrell, Director of Finance Lori Hogan and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the July 1, 2024 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting was reviewed. Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0
APPOINTMENTS:
Mr. James Duranty spoke with the BOC about his grandfather, Freemont Everest, and shared a newspaper article about his death due to electrocution. According to the newspaper article on August 20, 1920, Mr. Everest while responding to a tree on the lines on Saranac Street near the shoe factory, climbed the pole to remove it, he was told that the power of out, it was not, and he was electrocuted and died while still attached to the pole.
Mr. Considine stated that he could not find a record of this event/incident in LWL minutes from that period. Meetings back then did not occur on a routine basis and when a meeting was convened the minutes contained minimal detail. According to LWL minutes Mr. Everest was a working superintendent/Linemen for the LWL in circ 1910-1920.
Mr. Duranty asked that LWL acknowledge Mr. Everest’s death/incident by sponsoring a newspaper article in the local papers and placing flowers on the grave site and maybe a set of linemen hooks over the monument would be nice.
Commission Cooper stated that LWL could do something and would take the lead on this.
CUSTOMER & PUBLIC CONCERNS:
The heavy rain and flooding due to the remnants of Hurricane Beryl last week caused minimal damage to LWL services. Spot outages were reported that involved trees and branches keeping the LWL on-call crew busy all night. The longest outage lasted about 12 to 14 hours and affected customers along the North Littleton Road (NH 135) near the Dalton town line. Flood waters eroded the base of a utility pole near the intersection of NH 135 and Autumn Road. LWL customers west of Autumn Road (towards Dalton) were isolated from the system overnight as access was not possible due to the damage to the NH 135 travel way. Power was restored early the following morning once the NHDOT road crews repaired/replaced the travel way and the slope under the pole.
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. American Rivers (AR) representative contacted LWL recently regarding removing the dam on the North Branch of the Gale River. AR worked with LWL and was the lead agency to remove the South Branch Gale River Dam (off-line and not utilized since 1960’s) in 2020 and restored the river back to its natural condition. AR is a “national organization dedicated entirely to protection and restoring rivers” and the removal of antiquated dams is a major focus of their supporters and partners.
In 2022, LWL with partial grant funding provided by AR, engaged Stantec Consulting Services to perform a study of the subject dam and the associated impact(s) to LWL water supply if the dam was removed. Stantec concluded that if the dam was removed the hydraulic grade line would drop effecting the infiltration gallery flow/supply quantity. The top of the current infiltration gallery appears to be 3 to 5 feet above the natural river grade line which the river will revert to when the dam is removed likely effecting LWL demand potential.
AR referenced the 2022 Stantec report in their phone call and advise LWL that they would like to start the process of securing funding to remove the dam but need LWL to support the dam removal.
Mr. Kevin Sorrell advised the BOC that the dam has not been used by LWL since 1996 when the infiltration gallery was placed in service. LWL has had to perform several dredging operations over this period, behind the dam to remove debris to prevent flooding of LWL access road. In addition, repairs were made to the infiltration gallery due to the scour on the downstream side of the screens. The wing walls are beginning to deteriorate and will eventually require repair, and the impoundment area is full of debris again. He is in favor of removing the dam providing it does not affect our water supply as it is becoming a liability and a maintenance headache.
Commissioner MacNeil asked about the cost to LWL?
Mr. Considine stated that he did not know for sure but expects the cost to LWL would be minimal based on the other project LWL and AR work together on. AR funded the entire South Branch Dam removal and river restoration with minimal costs passed on to LWL.
Commissioner Ross asked about relocating the infiltration gallery as recommended in the Stantec report and may have to be place on US Forrest Service (USFS) property.
Mr. Considine stated that AR is aware that the gallery needed to be relocated and did not see attaining permission from the USFS and immediate concern as they are partners with AR. AR believes that funding sources may be available for this project but needs LWL buying, and to agree to proceed and if feasible, relocate the infiltration gallery and remove the dam.
There was some back-and-forth discussion regarding LWL current operations and how often the current infiltration gallery requires to be cleaned. Mr. Sorrell stated that is obvious from the scour and erosion at the tail end of the gabions that the gallery was installed too high as there is a good 4-to-5-foot drop in water and stream bed elevation headed towards the dam.
Commissioner Ross made a motion to move forward and support AR efforts to secure funding with the intention of removing the dam on the North Branch of the Gale River and restoring the river. LWL BOC will require additional information before the BOC can definitely decide whether the dam should remain or could be removed without impacting LWL water supply quantity. Seconded by Commissioner MacNeil.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
2. Mr. Sorrell discussed the recent activity and effort made by LWL personnel and supported by local contractors to replace the sand filter media in the slow sand filter (no 1) the week of July 8, 2024 (video shown). About eight 8-inches or 150 CYDs of sand were removed from the filter utilizing a combination of skid steers and convey belts. Once completed fresh sand was deposited through the access panels in the roof of the structure. Currently the filter is back on-line though it is draining to waste until the turbidity drops.
Commissioner Cooper asked about the nature and character of the new sand.
Mr. Considine stated that the sand is of a particular gradation as was determined by a pilot study conducted by UNH in 1998. The sand was specifically graded for LWL and delivered by the Holliston Sand Company of Rhode Island. A total of about 202 tons of sand was delivered to LWL in 135 – 3,000# sacks the week of June 17, 2024.
3. Mr. Sorrell stated that several other projects are on the schedule for 2024. The most important is the installation of two (2) gate valves on the 10-inch transmission main in Bethlehem Hollow. Once the valves are installed then about 200 feet of water main will be replaced. The water main in this section moved about five (5) feet during the December 2023 flooding of the Ammonoosuc River. Having the valves installed will give the LWL positive control of the situation should something happen to the water main in this section. Also a replacement of a pressure reducing valve and vault on Crane Street was also scheduled for this year.
4. Mr. Considine stated that LWL may need to relocate/remove a fire hydrant at the end of Railroad Street due to the results of a recent property survey. This appears to have had something to do with a recent town line survey and a property swap between Littleton and Bethlehem. The water main was replaced in the mid 1990’s and the hydrant installed 5 or so feet beyond the ROW line. The property owner is now taking exception to the location of the hydrant as the land is not suable within 20’ of the hydrant and he has plans for the property. Further review and discussions with the property owner is needed before LWL takes final action to whether this situation can be mutually resolved.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the board Commissioner Ross made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner MacNeil.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
The regularly scheduled Commissioner’s meeting is held twice monthly on the first and third Monday, at 1:00 p.m., in the Department’s conference room.