LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD) Board of Commissioners wish to share information regarding the Annual District Meeting and Fiscal Year 2021 Special District Meeting scheduled for next Monday.
The Annual District Meeting will be held on Monday, May 10, at 6 p.m., at Lynnfield High School, 275 Essex St. The Special District Meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. The rain date will be Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at the same times.
The District meeting is open to the public. Residents are asked to check in upon their arrival. Only residents who live within the district and were registered to vote 20 days before the Meeting, will be allowed to vote in the District Election, Annual Meeting and Special Meeting. The meeting will be moderated by Town Moderator Joseph Markey.
The District will require all voters to adhere to all state and local guidelines regarding masking and social distancing during the meetings. Residents will be asked to sit 6 feet apart and must wear a mask.
District Elections
The Annual District Meeting will begin with elections for Commissioner, Clerk and Treasurer.
Commissioner Joseph Maney stands unopposed for a second term. Tim Doyle is unopposed for a term as District Clerk. James Alexander, a Lynnfield fire captain and District Treasurer for 21 years, will be challenged by Shannan Gilmartin Cuddy, an attorney and former accountant who specializes in tax law. All candidates have submitted letters of intent, which may be found here.
Annual District Meeting Agenda
During the Annual District Meeting, the Board of Commissioners will propose the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Annual Operating Budget. The Lynnfield Center Water District’s FY22 runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.
Among various items, the budget includes:
- Salaries and indirect costs of employees (including health care and post-employment and retirement benefits).
- Costs for materials and supplies, equipment, utilities, contractual expenditures and the cost for chemicals and testing as they apply to treatment.
- Debt and interest on prior capital expenditures; regulatory payments to the DEP and EPA-mandated tasks; and ongoing professional services and contract services.
The Annual Meeting contains articles that address compliance with EPA compliance with Risk & Resilience, preparation for natural disasters and Emergency Response Plan; compliance with changes to sampling as required by the DEP Lead & Copper Rule and DEP PFAS testing requirements; existing customer account meter upgrades; the purchase of equipment; and the upgrade of pump and motor equipment to gain energy efficiency and conservation. The meeting will also fund cleaning and rehabilitation of the Knoll Road and Wing Road Tanks, recommendations that came from Tank Inspections conducted in the late Fall of 2019. That contract was recently bid and opened. Information on it can be found here.
Lastly, the Annual District Meeting also will take up the District’s Capital Program, which is designed to address ongoing issues with water quality and supply.
In Article 18, ratepayers will be asked to approve borrowing and spending on several projects.
One project would create a connection with the Town of Wakefield water system at Main Street and Bay State Road. The connection with Wakefield could add up to 250 gallons per minute of Massachusetts Water Resources Authority water to the District’s capacity, improving flow and water pressure. This would supplement existing supply by nearly 25 percent.
Another project calls for building a greensand filter treatment plant at the Glen Drive station. Greensand filtering is a proven technology being used at the District’s Phillips Road plant and throughout New England.
The new plant will improve consistency in water quality for certain areas of the District. These recurring issues are most often caused by excess iron and manganese occurring naturally in groundwater. The plant also will give the District the ability to similarly treat water from the Main Street Pump Station in the future should the need arise, bringing the town’s treatment efforts to 100 percent.
If approved by the District meeting, construction will begin in 2021, with anticipated completion in 2023.
The programming also includes all costs associated with becoming members of the MWRA. The MWRA will charge the District $1.5 million to $1.6 million to join, and $250,000 to $350,000 for permitting. This initiation fee is traditionally calculated into their rate structure over initial years of membership.
The entire Capital Program is estimated to cost $9.8 million.
Article 19 asks for approval to sign a 20-year agreement with the Town of Wakefield to connect water systems.
Ratepayers will find more information and presentations about the Capital Program on the Capital Improvement Project homepage.
Fiscal Year 2021 Special District Meeting
The Fiscal Year 2021 Special District Meeting will address supplementing the existing FY21 budget to compensate for unanticipated expenditures.
Ratepayers will be asked to continue funding the Capital Stabilization Fund created in June of 2020 for future capital projects and will be asked to create a parallel General Stabilization Fund pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 5B for the funding of any unforeseen daily operational issue which may arise and needs to be undertaken by the District.
Warrants for the Annual and Special Meetings may be found here.
Questions can be directed to the Clerk of the District by calling 781-334-3901.