Utility Commission - Minutes - 03/24/2026

WATERFORD UTILITY COMMISSION 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DATE:  
 
March 24, 2026 
 
PLACE:  
 
1000 Hartford Turnpike  
 
PRESIDING: 
 
Chairman Ken Kirkman 
 
MEMBERS PRESENT: 
Jerry Porter, Ryan Boyle and Ray Valentini 
 
MEMBERS ABSENT: 
Beth Sabilia 
 
ALSO PRESENT:   
J. Robert Tuneski, Board of Finance Liaison  
 
 
             Attorney Nicholas Kepple, Town Counsel 
                 
                Staff: Jill Stevens, Director of Utilities  
 
 
            Shawn Matthews, Assistant Director of Utilities 
            Amy Windle, Office Coordinator/Recording Secretary 
 
Chairman Kirkman called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm 
 
CITIZEN SESSION-             
None 
 
SECRETARY’S REPORT 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Valentini to approve the Minutes of January 13, 2025, Mr. Boyle 
seconded. 
 
VOTE 
 
The motion passed unanimously. 
 
  BILLING ADJUSTMENTS 
 
The Commission reviewed the January and February adjustments. The adjustment reports are 
kept in the office for review.  
 
 
EXPENDITURES 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Valentini to approve the January and February 2026 bill lists, Mr. 
Porter seconded. 
 
VOTE 
 
The motion passed unanimously. 
 

Waterford Utility Commission 
March 24, 2026 
2 | P a g e  
 
OLD BUSINESS 
• 
Financial Report 
The financials for January and February were reviewed.   Ms. Stevens reported that the 
Treatment Cost line in the budget will be reviewed and increased in the next proposed 
budget for FY27. 
 
• 
Collection’s Report 
Attorney Kepple reported that his staff received 40 new files for collections.  He also 
discussed reviewing the policy on Judgment accounts in a couple of months. 
 
• 
Director’s Report 
Ms. Stevens reviewed her report that provides updated information on all Utility 
Commission Capital and Operational projects currently funded. A copy of the Director’s 
Report will be attached to the minutes when posted. 
 
Mr. Matthews reviewed the Asset Management report. 
 
NEW BUSINESS 
Sewer Rate Study 
Ms. Stevens reported that Raftelis started the rate study in January and has met a few times to go over 
questions regarding data provided to them by staff.  The evaluation and analysis of the current rate 
structure is complete, Raftelis would like to present their findings and recommendations to the 
Commission at the April regular meeting. 
 
Attorney Kepple recommended that a community presentation would be beneficial to answer questions 
and received feedback from the Commission’s customer base prior to a public hearing that proposes any 
rate changes. 
 
Policy Manual Update 
 
Ms. Stevens explained that the policy manual is in need of updating.  There are policies that go back 20+ 
years and are no longer applicable to the organization.  She provided Section 9000-Bylaws, which the 
Commission needs to review and make changes.   Attorney Kepple offered his assistance in drafting new 
polices. 
 
WATER  
City of New London/Veolia Report. 
The Commission reviewed the report.  Ms. Stevens reported that drought restrictions might be possible 
in the summer based on current and projected reservoir levels. 
 
Water Agreement Working Group Update 
Ms. Stevens and Commissioner Valentini proposed a few strategies for the Commission to consider that 
would enable the group to work on the Interlocal water agreement after the disbanding of the Water 
Working Group.  A special meeting will be scheduled in April to bring the Commissioners up to speed on 
the history of past Water Agreements, especially as there are new members on the Commission.  In 

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March 24, 2026 
3 | P a g e  
 
addition, a draft report completed by Resilient Water and Land was provided for the Commission’s 
review. 
CORRESPONDENCE 
 
• 
Reimbursement Request made by 43 Miner Ave for a plumber’s bill to camera his 
private building sewer.  The resident did not contact the Utility Commission office for 
assistance to determine whether a suspected clog was located on private property or 
within the Town’s system.  The Department does have a camera truck and could have 
done the work. A root ball/obstruction was found to be within the Town’s right of way; 
one of the Utility Commission’s on call contractors removed the obstruction and 
repaired the sewer lateral within the Town’s right-of-way to correct the issue. 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Porter to deny this request based on past practices, 
seconded by Mr. Boyle. 
 
VOTE                    The motion passed unanimously. 
 
• 
Minutes from East Lyme and Old Lyme 
• 
Wright Pierce-Update on Contract One Project. 
• 
Memo from the Ethics Commission 
• 
Resilient Land & Water-Draft of Interlocal Water Agreement 
 
PLANS REVIEW –  
850 Hartford Turnpike: Crystal Mall Adaptive Reuse Plans were presented 
 
PERSONNEL 
Sewer Tech I position is still vacant.   
 
Account Receivables Clerk, the current A/R Clerk has tendered her resignation effective March 27, 2026. 
The opening was posted internally, there was one internal applicant an interview is scheduled for March 
25. 
 
Ms. Stevens proposed that the wastewater billing be outsourced to InHance, the current billing software 
vendor, for up to three months due to internal accounting controls that prohibit one employee from 
both billing and collecting payments until a suitable candidate is hired. 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Valentini to allow the wastewater billing to be outsourced to 
InHance for 3 months for up to $5,000 a month, seconded by Mr. Boyle. 
 
VOTE 
The motion passed unanimously. 
 
  
OTHER 
 
ADJOURNMENT 
 
With no further business before the Commission, the meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m. 
 
 

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March 24, 2026 
4 | P a g e  
 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Boyle to adjourn, Mr. Porter seconded. 
 
 
 
VOTE 
 
The motion passed unanimously. 
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
 
Amy Windle 
Recording Secretary 

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Waterford Utility Commission 
Director’s Report 
March 24, 2026 
             This report summarizes the Commission’s ongoing projects and operational activities as of 3/20/26 
Current Capital and Capital Non-Recurring Funded Projects 
1. Inflow and Infiltration Mitigation and Control 
FY 19 Capital Non-Recurring Expenditure Fund L.I. #20531-57685  
 
Original Appropriation: $388,303.00       Available Balance: $235,865.56 
This is an ongoing project to identify sources of Inflow and Infiltration within the Richards Grove Sewer 
Basin.  
Current Project Status: No change to this project this month. Waterford crew continues to install 
manhole dishes within the wastewater basin as time permits, flow monitoring will be conducted again 
after all manhole dishes have been installed to determine if surface runoff is the majority source of the 
inflow. Richards Grove SSES – Wright Pierce will assist with recommendations for future flow monitoring 
in the spring of 2026. 
Project Background: The Richards Grove Road Wastewater Basin Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) evaluation 
being conducted by Wright-Pierce Engineers for $27,500.00. This project consists of conducting I&I 
evaluations and a Sewer System Evaluation Study (SSES). This drainage area has been identified as one of 
the larger contributors of I&I to our Collection System. This area possesses approximately 5 miles of 8-
inch diameter gravity sewer piping and serves primarily residential users. The current flows received and 
conveyed by the Richards Grove Pump Station are greater than the capacity of the pump station, 
triggering the potential need for a capacity upgrade if the I&I sources cannot be identified and mitigated. 
The I&I mitigation and control program is an ongoing project. Our staff routinely conducts pipeline and 
manhole assessments with the use of our CCTV and Jet Rodding apparatus. Deficiencies are located, 
graded and catalogued based upon severity. Corrective repairs are typically conducted during springtime 
utilizing robotic trenchless technology. 
2. Old Norwich Road Wastewater Pump Station Rehabilitation 
There are two CNR designations totaling $1,299,369 in L.I. # 20531-57816.   
In addition, available ARPA funds have been increased to $1,341,316 per finance as of June 4, 2025. 
Original ARPA funds available were in the amount of $1,020,041. 
Current Project Status: Construction in progress.  Pump startup occurred on March 6 and removal of 
bypass pump system occurred on March 13, an all-day crew training session is scheduled for March 25, 

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2026 in anticipation of the Utility Commission taking ownership of the station on March 27th and a 
completion date of April 30, 2026 based on recent progress. 
Project Background: This project entails an upgrades needed to replace aging equipment at the Old 
Norwich Road pump station. The upgrades include the replacement of the three sewage pumps and 
associated piping and valves and the installation of a new bypass pumping connection.  Comprehensive 
upgrades will also be performed for the electrical systems including replacement of conduit and wiring 
and the electrical distribution and pump control systems.  The ventilation system will also be 
replaced.  Painting and minor architectural improvements will be performed to replace the exterior 
doors, louvers, trim and roof.  Competitive bid results for this project were received on August 10, 2023. 
The lowest bid received was from Holzner Construction in the amount of $2,113,850.00 The Notice to 
Proceed for Holzner was executed on January 16, 2024. A Contract Administration proposal from Wright- 
Pierce was executed 1/19/2024 in the amount of $55,800.00 an anticipated completion date was 
expected about November 2025, however the contractor has provided an updated final completion date 
of 2/11/2026. 
3. Control Panel Retrofit 
FY22 Capital Improvement Fund L.I. # 33122-55894 
Original Appropriation: $30,000.00       Available Balance: $0 – line closed 
Current Project Status: No change to this project in the last 30 days, this project will resume when as we 
complete the build phase on the SCADA project.  
Project Background: This project entails replacing the existing pump control panels, which are obsolete 
and unsupported with current control technology. This work will ensue upon completion of upgrades 
currently being conducted at 10 of the lift stations, which are identified within this report and are being 
funded with ARPA funds. 
 
4. Gorman-Rupp Pump Station Controls 
This is an ARPA allocation project in the amount of $163,750.00. L.I. # 23531-55013 
Current Project Status: Some progress has been made at Ridgewood Ave, after replacing the pumps in 
early December, we are installing the remaining screens and completing the electrical work in 
conjunction with the SCADA project. The station will be placed on by-pass during the day and returned to 
normal operation at night for two days to complete the remaining electrical work that requires de-
energizing of the pumps. 
Project History: To date Shore Road, Dock Road, Richards Grove Road, Old Barry Road, Quaker Hill 
Center, Oil Mill, Oswegatchie Rd and Niantic River Road stations are complete. Ridgewood Ave station, is 
the last station for this project and is nearly complete, all that remains is some work on the dry side in the 
station, this work will resume now that the safety consultant has completed his evaluations and 
additional gear has been procured.  
Project Background: Utility Commission staff is performing the installation of equipment, conduits and 
wiring. A scope of services change order was executed that directs the contractor to supply 18 cellular 
amplifiers and associated equipment in lieu of providing broadband to 5 stations. Utility Commission staff 
will be installing the amplifiers during the process of the controls upgrades. This project is ongoing. 
 
5. Pump Station Exterior Improvements 
FY22&23 Capital Improvement Fund L.I. # 33123-55895 
Original Appropriations: $ 100,000.00 (50K ea. L.I.)      Available Balance: $16,719.48 
Current Project Status: No change to this project this month. The crew continues regular exterior 
maintenance work at all the stations including landscape upkeep. We have identified four stations that 
need new roofs, and have taken precedence over a new driveway at Cross Road. Due to staffing 
shortages this project has been delayed until the summer of 2026. 

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Project History: To date under these two L.I.#s, roof replacements have occurred at Shore Road, Dock 
Road, Bolles Ct, Waterford Village, Sea Side, Niantic River Rd, Mago Pt and Evergreen Ave stations. The 
exterior siding was replaced at the Waterford Village and Bolles Ct stations. Siding repairs were 
conducted at Stoney Brook Station. A new asphalt driveway was installed at the East Neck pump station.  
 
6. Contract #1 Sewer Easement Access Project 
Capital Improvement Fund L.I. # 33123-55019 & FY26 CNR L.I. # 20531-57894  
Original Appropriation: $250,000.00 & Additional Designation: FY26 CNR $200,000  
Available Balance $285,989.63 
Current Project Status: Advanced Resources began construction on December 10, 2025, site work in 
progress, all the hand clearing and brush removal is complete, removal of the larger trees and final clean 
up remains, due to wet ground conditions after the snowmelt we anticipate the contractor will be able to 
resume work in a week or two. The project is on track to be completed on time. A task order for a not to 
exceed fee of $41,000 was received and signed on March 20, 2026 for the final design drawings and bid 
services to complete Phase 2. This will enable us to go out to bid for the remainder of the interceptor in 
the near future. We have engaged legal counsel’s assistance to obtain the two easements needed to 
complete the second phase, easement maps and descriptions are included in the scope for design with 
Wright Pierce. A construction field report is included in your packets from the February meeting. 
Project Background: Contract #1 was the Town's very first sewer construction project, which began in 
1970. This project entailed the installation of approximately 13,000 linier feet of sewer main.  A Special 
Appropriation in the amount of $250,000 for engineering services was appropriated for the Contract #1 
Sewer Main Access project in 2023. Survey work to identify the Contract #1 easement area, manholes, 
intersecting property lines, and other utilities within the easement area commenced in October of 2023 
and was completed in the spring of 2024. The final design package (drawings and specifications) to be 
used for contractor bid solicitation and construction for Phase One of the restoration project was 
approved by the Utility Commission at the November 2024 meeting. Phase one encompasses the 
southern section of the interceptor beginning at the intersection of Great Neck Road and Rope Ferry 
Road to the end of the interceptor at Evergreen Avenue Pump Station. Phase two which encompasses 
the northern section of the interceptor from Boston Post Road to Great Neck Road requires the 
acquisition of additional easements to gain access to the interceptor during restoration and for the Utility 
Commission staff in the future. Splitting the project into two Phases allows restoration work to begin 
while easements are procured, so that once Phase one is complete easements will be in place and Phase 
two can begin shortly thereafter. 
 
7. Plastic Water Service Line Replacement Program 
CNR Appropriation L.I. # 20531-57881       
Original Appropriations: $550,000.00 + $181,300.00 = $731,300.00  
Additional Designations: $200,000 total in FY24 & FY25 ($100K each year), & $500,000 in FY26 GFB 
Available Balance: $784,748.62 
Current Project Status:  The crew has begun material identification on the District 2 roads identified by 
DPW’s current paving plan. We continue to work closely with DPW to ensure we are meeting their 
pavement schedule. The crew and our equipment needs to be used to clean & camera the wastewater 
system this summer, therefore, we anticipate going out to bid for the replacement of these services this 
year at the end of the month, or first week in April with an accurate count of all services requiring 
replacement. In FY26 the DPW’s updated paving plan has identified several roads scheduled to be 
repaved, within these roads lie approximately 376 water services, of those approximately 165 may need 
to be replaced, as the material type is unconfirmed. The WUC maintenance crew completed material 
type identification on DPW’s FY26 paving program roads in District 3. We will be working on the roads 

P a g e  | 4 
 
impacted by Eversource in Quaker Hill to determine material types and plan for replacements beginning 
in early 2026, as we continue our goal to remain one full year ahead of DPW’s paving program.  
Project Background: There are approximately 7900 water services in Town, many of which are plastic and 
have exceeded their useful life resulting in unaccounted for water loss and degradation to the Town 
roads. The goal of this program is to replace the aging plastic water services with copper line prior to 
DPW paving the roads. Since the start of this cooperative project with DPW 806 water service lines have 
been investigated, of those 229 water service lines were found to be plastic and replaced totaling 5,218 
linear feet. Service line replacement costs are on average $4100 each depending upon the service line 
length and location, typically we are finding about 30 percent of the unconfirmed service material types 
are plastic and require replacement. 
8. Bartlett Corners Booster Station Decommissioning 
CNR Designation L.I. #20531-57896 
Original Appropriation: $166,950 
Current Project Status: Haley Ward’s task order for a lump sum of $22,705 was reviewed by staff and is 
awaiting signatures to begin the project. 
Project Background: In 2006, the Town constructed water system improvements that enhanced water 
pressures and fire flows to the Quaker Hill area of Waterford. Included in this project were a new 2500 
gpm capacity water booster pumping station near the intersection of Old Colchester and Old Norwich 
Roads, and a 1.5 million gallon pre-cast, pre-stressed concrete water storage tank constructed on Rogers 
Hill. From 1977 up to 2006, the Bartlett Corners Hydro-pneumatic Station served a small high service area 
on a hill in the northeast corner of Waterford consisting of approximately 20 residential customers on 
Lathrop Road, Lower Bartlett Road, Upper Bartlett Road, Pepperidge Road and South Bartlett Road.  Once 
the new Quaker Hill water system improvements were activated in 2006, the Bartlett Corners Station was 
inactivated however not fully decommissioned. In 2009 a decommissioning report was prepared which 
identified costs of $105,000 to properly decommission the station. This project has been identified within 
previous CIPs. Utilizing the Engineering News Record’s Construction Costs Index inflation factor of 1.59 
from 11/2009 to 11/2024, the current decommissioning costs estimate is $166,950.  
9. Water Tank Asset Management Program 
CNR Appropriation L.I. # 20531-57895 
Original Designation: $46,222 
Available Balance: $2,726.00 
Current Project Status: This project is complete for this year, the Commission will be updated as routine 
inspections are performed and inspection reports provided. The project will be removed from this report 
after this month. 
Project Background: The Town of Waterford owns three water storage tanks, the 750,000 gallon Fargo 
Tank, the 300,000 gallon Vauxhall tank and the 1.25 Million gallon Rogers Hill tank. In 2024 the Fargo 
Road Tank refurbishment project was completed; prior to this renovation, the Fargo Road water tank had 
its original coat of paint, which had far exceeded its useful life expectancy by approximately 10 years. This 
work was necessary to preserve the Town’s significant investment in its infrastructure and to extend the 
life of its asset. A Water Tank Management Program for these valuable assets would preserve the 
significant investment the Town has made in water storage tanks by guaranteeing routine inspections 
and maintenance of the water storage tanks does not fall behind, thus improving the reliability of the 
system. A sustainable water tank management solution also makes budgeting easier as initial repair costs 
can be spread out over a few years if necessary and all future interior and exterior renovation costs are 
included. Our intent is to initiate a funding schedule that would enroll the three water storage tanks in a 
Tank Asset Management program progressively, beginning with Fargo Road in FY26, this tank will not 
require any Upfront Renovation costs to enroll in the program, only annual Maintenance plan costs.  
 

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Sewer Development & Maintenance Fund Projects 
10. SCADA System Upgrade Design/Build 
L.I. # 24431-57766  
Approved Task Order: $147,600.00 + $19,200 change order in March: $166,800 
Current Project Status:  
The Zero Tunnel Network issues have largely been resolved, we are awaiting a change to the IP address 
scheme for the station routers due to a conflict with the RF IP addresses that was not identified by the 
Wright Pierce design team. This change, however, is not holding up deployment of Ignition. Wright 
Pierce’s build team and Jeff Robillard began configuration of the system on March 17th on site and will 
continue this work in the next two weeks. We will run both Wonderware and Ignition side by side for 
approximately two weeks to ensure all the existing radio alarms are functioning on Ignition in the same 
way as they currently function with Wonderware. Once that test is complete Wonderware will be 
decommissioned. The cellular network deployment will continue on a parallel track, but is not critical to 
the deployment of Ignition.  
Project Background: The current SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system has 
experienced multiple failures over the past several months, which has necessitated calling in the entire 
crew to canvas the pumps stations on at least one occasion while the system was brought back online; 
additionally two different software programs used to operate the system are no longer supported and 
the hardware has exceeded its useful life. The Commission has entered into a design-build contract with 
Wright Pierce, our on-call engineering firm, to replace the failing system. The new system platform will be 
Ignition, a software system found and piloted by one of our current Maintenance Operators and 
presented to the Commission over the past few years. Additionally the communication between stations 
to the maintenance shop/Municipal Complex will be accomplished over a closed zero-tunnel cellular 
network with radio redundancy. The Commission approved the proposal from Wright-Pierce for this 
project in August of 2024, the cellular network work is outside of this proposal and is being handled by 
Utility Commission staff. An amendment was discussed at the December meeting with a representative 
from Wright-Pierce and involved avoiding duplicative efforts in terms of IT infrastructure/resources that 
the Town could provide the Commission, including options for fiber connectivity, data storage, and 
virtualized hosts. A final amendment to the scope of the project was received on March 26, 2025 after 
much discussion, an addition to the scope was made to host a documentation management portal for 
ease of management for all Utility Commission documentation moving forward. The total cost for the 
change of scope is an additional $19,200 to their original approved task order and a timeline extension of 
6-8 weeks as a result of the agreed upon scope changes. The changes to the scope will net long term 
savings to the Commission over the life of the SCADA system due to the elimination of the $2,000 
monthly cost for a separate fiber internet connection which over an anticipated 7 year life of the system 
equates to a cost savings of over $150,000 in internet connection fees alone, amongst other reoccurring 
costs for data storage and back up. 
 
11. Water and Wastewater Standards and Specifications Update 
L.I. # 24431-52121 
Approved Task Order: $36,800.00 
Available Balance: $23,035.74 
Current Project Status: Two working sessions with Waterford and New London staff were held on 
12/9/25 and 1/7/26 to review the W-P draft standards and specifications provided. The final working 
session scheduled in January had to be rescheduled due to weather events twice and is now set for 
Wednesday March 25th. The results (redlines) of the working sessions will be provided to Wright Pierce to 
incorporate into the next draft of standards and specifications. We anticipate one or two more working 
sessions with New London to confirm the changes and provide any additional feedback before accepting 
the new standards and specifications to be published. 

P a g e  | 6 
 
Project Background: The current Water and Wastewater Standard and Specifications the Utility 
Commission uses are significantly outdated and require updating. This project is being cost-shared with 
the City of New London.  
Other Utility Commission Updates 
• 
Resilient Land and Water has provided a draft white paper summarizing the review of the Commission’s 
historical files, this will be included in your paper packets.   
• 
Flow metering – EST completed all the updates and installation to the flow meters used for Interlocal 
billing, an online portal is active and reports are being generated by EST to provide us with monthly flow 
data. The work completed included relocating one meter from Boston Post Road to Mago Point, installing 
a battery powered Dura-Tracker logger at Boston Post Road, installing a new area velocity sensor at 
Evergreen, adding modems and antennas on all the meters to enable communication to the Cipher 
telemetry program for data management and reporting. 
 
Respectfully Submitted, 
Jill N. Stevens 
Director of Utilities