Wednesday, March 28, 2012

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FUNDING

Article 10 on the warrant for the 2012 Annual Town Meeting again requests funding for a stormwater management program.  The purpose of this article is to comply with the required elements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Last year, Town Meeting approved borrowing $400,000 for this program, but it was defeated at Town Election. Since then, we have taken steps to significantly reduce this amount by limiting its provisions to the minimum area of Town (the “urbanized area”) required by federal law. The requested amount now is $160,000.

Also, we have done a significant amount of the required mapping of the drainage systems within the urbanized area in-house. We also plan to continue the in-house mapping and supplement it with the purchase of a GPS unit to allow us to map the drainage system in areas where we do not possess paper maps as well as to help improve the accuracy of the maps. And finally, the Assessor’s Office was able to use a different state program to update the Assessor’s Maps (which was originally part of this program) at no cost to the Town.

The funding will be used for a number of projects. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

•    Mapping -- The existing Town-owned stormwater management system (i.e. catch basins, manholes, culverts, detention basins, leaching galleys, etc.) will be mapped in Geographic Information System format.
•    Inspections -- All elements of the Town system will be inspected to determine its condition and to identify possible illicit discharges.
•    Sampling -- The water discharged from all outfalls will be sampled in both dry and wet conditions. This will help determine where additional treatment or system upgrades are necessary.
•    Pollution Prevention -- A stormwater pollution prevention plan will be prepared for all regulated Town facilities including the Police and Fire Stations, CMD Garage, Town Hall, and Library.
•    Operation and Maintenance -- An operation and maintenance plan for the stormwater system will be developed.
•    Phosphorus Management -- Phosphorus has become a pollutant of increasing concern because it encourages excessive plant growth and results in an imbalance in surface water ecosystems. A plan to address phosphorus discharges will be prepared.
•    Identify Grants -- Grants may be available to help offset the costs of the program and/or to fund improvements to the stormwater management system. Such grants will be identified as part of the program.

·       Public Information – At a minimum, at least two brochures or flyers per year for five years must be prepared and distributed to the public explaining various aspects of the stormwater management program, including what individuals can do to minimize its impacts.


It should be noted that the contracted amount is a maximum and that charges will be billed on a time and materials basis. We will continue to do as much as possible in-house in order to keep these costs to a minimum.

Protection of both surface and groundwater resources is critical to the future of Sherborn, and has therefore always been a high priority. Last year, Town Meeting approved a new stormwater management bylaw. This program is the next step in our ongoing effort to protect these resources.

Monday, March 12, 2012

MORE ENERGY INITIATIVES!

Sherborn is continuing its efforts to pursue energy efficiency as well as renewable and alternative energy. Last year, we participated in a regional solicitation through Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) for an energy services company. The Request for Qualifications resulted in 8 very good proposals. After an intensive evaluation process, the firm of Ameresco, based in Framingham, was selected.

The program consists of two phases. The first phase is to conduct "investment grade audits" of Town buildings. This process involves reviewing energy bills, occupancy patterns and conducting a comprehensive physical examination of Town buildings. The result is a list of recommended physical improvements, including the cost of the improvements and an estimate of the the energy cost savings that will result. As a result of this solicitation, we are able to get the audits done for 4.5 cents per square foot.

The second phase, which is optional, allows us to contract with Ameresco to implement a package of some or all of the recommended improvements. The contract would include a guarantee by Ameresco of a certain level of savings that will result. The cost of the improvements would then be paid for using the resulting savings. The Town can choose to use its normal bonding capacity to finance the improvements, enter into a lease purchase agreement or other mechanism, but whatever is chosen will be backed by the guaranteed savings.Since we have funding from our Green Communities grant, we can fold that funding into the program to enhance the level of capital improvements we can make through this program. Conversely, if we decide not to pursue a contract with Ameresco, we still have the series of improvements that we are funding with our grant.

Another effort, which is actually part of our Green Communities grant, is the installation of a "Big Belly" solar trash compactor. The unit was delivered to the Community Maintenance and Development recently and will shortly be installed near the concession stand at Jameson Fields. In addition to using solar energy to compact the trash, it also can send an automatic email when it is nearing capacity to indicate that it will soon need to be emptied. Thus, the compacting reduces the number of trips needed to empty it and the email notification further ensures that trips are not made needlessly when the unit is not nearly full.

Third, in a program similar to the ESCO solicitation, we have indicated our interest in working with MAPC again on a regional solicitation to develop a solar photovoltaic facility at our landfill site. Joining with other Towns in a regional solicitation is likely to generate more interest and a more beneficial  proposal than going it alone. We also have indicated an interest in a regional solicitation for the purchase of LED street lights, though no decision has yet been made on whether to pursue that.