Utility Commission - Minutes - 09/29/2026

WATERFORD UTILITY COMMISSION 
Special Meeting 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DATE:  
 
September 29, 2026 
 
PLACE:  
 
1000 Hartford Turnpike  
 
PRESIDING: 
 
Chairman Ken Kirkman 
 
MEMBERS PRESENT: 
Jerry Porter, Beth Sabilia, Ray Valentini and Ryan Boyle 
 
MEMBERS ABSENT: 
None 
 
ALSO PRESENT:                Attorney Nicholas Kepple, Town Counsel,  
Robert Tuneski, Board of Finance Liaison 
 
 
  
      Staff:  
Jill Stevens, Director of Utilities  
 
 
            Shawn Matthews, Assistant Director of Utilities 
             Brianne Beauchamp, Accounts Receivable Clerk/Recording Secretary 
              
 
Chairman Kirkman called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm 
 
CITIZEN SESSION-    None         
 
 
SECRETARY’S REPORT 
 
MOTION 
Made by Ms. Sabilia to approve the Meeting Minutes of September 2, 2026,  
Mr. Porter seconded. 
 
VOTE 
4-1-0, Mr. Boyle abstained 
 
BILLING ADJUSTMENTS 
 
The Commission reviewed the September adjustments. The adjustment reports are kept in the 
office for review.  
 
 
EXPENDITURES 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Valentini to approve the September 2026 bill lists, Ms. Sabilia 
seconded. 
 
VOTE 
 
The motion passed unanimously. 

Waterford Utility Commission 
September 29, 2026 
2 | P a g e 
 
OLD BUSINESS 
• 
Financial Report 
The financial reports for July were reviewed. August and potentially September will be 
presented at the next meeting. 
 
• 
Collection’s Report 
Attorney Kepple requested that we come back to the collections report. A resident is 
very unhappy with the commission and Atty. Kepple’s collections practices. She believes 
Atty. Kepple is violating the law. Due to the conflict and creditability between the 
resident and Atty. Kepple, Atty. Kepple has requested that the Commission retain 
outside counsel to represent both the Commission and Atty Kepple on this matter. Atty 
Kepple spoke with Atty Aimee Siefert, of Lahan and King, who practices as a long time 
collection and foreclosure lawyer to gauge interest, Atty Siefert is willing to take on the 
matter.  
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Boyle to authorize Atty Kepple to retain Atty. Siefert to 
represent the Commission and Atty Kepple regarding this resident’s 
complaint, Mr. Valentini seconded. 
 
VOTE 
The motion passed unanimously. 
 
 
• 
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. 
 
• 
Rate Study Update 
There was discussion regarding the upcoming RTM meeting regarding the proposed rate 
increase. 
 
Ms. Sabilia left the meeting at 6:57 PM 
 
 
NEW BUSINESS 
 
20 Tiffany Ave 
Deedy Construction petitioned the Commission to pay an invoice for a repair completed at 20 Tiffany 
Ave. as the resident refuses to engage and submit payment to Deedy Construction for the service they 
provided back in June.  
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Porter, for the Utility Commission to pay the $6,115.00 
invoice as requested by Deedy Construction, provided Deedy 
Construction sign an indemnification and hold harmless agreement.  Mr. 
Valentini seconded. 
VOTE 
The motion passed. 2-0-1, Mr. Boyle opposed.  

Waterford Utility Commission 
September 29, 2026 
3 | P a g e 
 
INTERLOCAL WATER AGREEMENT UPDATE 
Mr. Valentini provided an update regarding the draft Report and Recommendations surrounding the 
Capital Requirements Surrounding the Potential Renewal of the Waterford/New London Interlocal 
Water Agreement. Staff, legal counsel, and Mr. Valentini will meet again on October 14th to review 
suggested edits to the draft report in preparation for delivery at the October 27th Commission meeting. 
 
 
CORRESPONDENCE 
 
• 
East Lyme August 19th Sewer Capacity Sub Committee Minutes 
• 
East Lyme August 25th WPCA Minutes 
 
PLANS REVIEW –  
Mr. Matthews reviewed plans prepared for the following capital projects: 
 
• 
Bartlett Corners Booster Station Decommissioning Plans and Specifications 
o Plans and Specifications are ready to be submitted to Purchasing to create the bid 
packae  
• 
Contract 1 – Phase 2 Sewer Easement Access Clearing plans  
o Plans and Specifications are currently with Purchasing to create the bid package 
 
PERSONNEL 
Sewer Tech I position is still vacant.  Ms. Stevens reported the updated job description for the Utility 
System Specialist, which replaces the existing Compliance Enforcement Tech job description, was been 
approved by Personnel Review Board. The position was posted internally to 1303 members the week of 
September 21st and received no internal applicants. The position was posted to the public on September 
28th. 
  
OTHER 
 
ADJOURNMENT 
 
With no further business before the Commission, the meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m. 
 
 
 
MOTION 
Made by Mr. Boyle to adjourn, Mr. Valentini seconded. 
 
 
 
VOTE 
 
The motion passed unanimously. 
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
 
Brianne Beauchamp 
 
Recording Secretary 

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Waterford Utility Commission 
Director’s Report 
September 22, 2026 
             This report summarizes the Commission’s ongoing projects and operational activities as of 9/17/26 
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: $219,841.56 
This is an ongoing project to identify sources of Inflow and Infiltration within the Waterford Wastewater 
Collection and Conveyance System 
Current Project Status: A meeting is scheduled for 9/21/26 to go over Arcadis’s findings and schedule site 
visits. 
 
 
 

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Next steps for the project are to conducting a site visit and meeting with existing Town employees to 
understand problem areas for the Town and incorporate our findings into a prioritization plan which is 
anticipated to be held in mid-September. We have reviewed the historical I/I reports and are preparing 
data for a comprehensive comparison with previous flow data. The project is on a schedule with the plan 
being to submit a drafted report of our findings and recommendations by the end of September.  
Project Background: 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. 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 & FY27 CNR $100,000 
Available Balance $242,958.66  
 
Current Project Status:  Contract One Phase Two design: Received comments from Town Environmental 
Planner. Discussed comments with Town to prepare the final drawings and specifications.   
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. Contract #1, 
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 
2 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 allowed restoration 
work to begin while easements are procured. 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. A kickoff 
meeting was held on April 10th for phase two. 
 
 

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3. 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, & 
$100,000 CNR FY27 
Available Balance: $693,070.72 (plus $100,000 designated as of July 1, 2027) 
Current Project Status:  Rope Ferry Road is scheduled to have a new wearing/friction course laid in the 
Spring of 2027 by CTDOT, we are working on a bid package to bring in a contractor to replace the plastic 
water services within the state ROW ahead of this project. Utility Commission staff will continue to work 
with DPW to complete plastic water service line replacements in advance of DPW’s paving plan, service 
line material identification efforts will continue all year as time permits.  
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 lines prior to 
DPW paving the roads. 
4. Bartlett Corners Booster Station Decommissioning 
CNR Designation L.I. #20531-57896 
Original Appropriation: $166,950 
Available Balance: $156,950 
Current Project Status: Haley Ward provided staff with preliminary plans, technical specifications and a 
budget estimate, staff reviewed the submittal and has asked for clarification on a couple budget items in 
the estimate on 9/9/2026, we await Haley Ward’s response. 
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. 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.  
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: The driveway at Old Barry Road is in need of repair, it’s unlikely to survive 
another season of plowing; we have asked our on-call contractor to complete this work for us, which will 
use the balance of this line. This work is scheduled for September. 
 
6. Water Tank Asset Management Program 
CNR Appropriation L.I. # 20531-57026 
Original Designation: FY27 $45,671.00 
Current Project Status: No updates since the 9/2 report. A request to appropriate the FY27 designated 
funds was approved at the June 30, 2026 BOS special meeting, the July 15, 2026 BOF meeting and the 
August 3, 2026 RTM meeting. 
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 

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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 preserves 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.  
7. 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: No change from July report. The upgraded pump station is in operation and 
substantially complete as of March 27, 2026. No operational issues to report.  Some items for Contractor 
to still address on punch list. Additional work has been approved in wet well to replace existing switches 
for motors.  Contractor indicated materials will take into September to receive and work can be 
completed in couple days once material received.    
Project Background: This project entails an upgrade 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. 
8. Control Panel Retrofit 
FY22 Capital Improvement Fund L.I. # 33122-55894 
Original Appropriation: $30,000.00       Available Balance: $0 – line closed 
Current Project Status: This project was completed this month as the stations were worked on for the 
private cellular network for SCADA. 
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. 
 
9. 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: No updates since early May. 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 & cellular network deployment. 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. This work requires the use of the Vac 
truck that had been tied up on the plastic water service project which is now complete for the season. 
The truck continues to be used to clean a few of the big stations wet wells and all of the smaller stations 
wet wells before we can resume this project. 
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. 
 

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Sewer Development & Maintenance Fund Projects 
10. 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: Wright Pierce is working on 90% submittal documents and has received 
comments from staff. They are preparing details (drawings) in ACAD and finalizing specifications, we 
expect to have them in late September or early October for review. We anticipate a final workshop with 
Wright Pierce, Waterford, and New London to confirm the changes made by Wright Pierce and provide 
any additional feedback before accepting the new standards and specifications to be published. 
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. Three working sessions with Waterford and New London staff were held on 
12/9/25 and 1/7/26 & 3/25/26 to review the W-P draft standards and specifications provided 
 
 
Respectfully Submitted, 
Jill N. Stevens 
Director of Utilities