Minutes of the Emergency Town Board Meeting held Wednesday, February 8, 2006, at 5:00 PM, at the Keene Town Hall. The following Town Board Members were present: William B. Ferebee, Supervisor, Paul R. Martin, Robert M. Biesemeyer (arrived late), Marcy Neville and Lawrence Jaques, Members of Council. Also present were: Wayne Ryan and Kirk Bassarab, AES, and Ellen Estes, Town Clerk.

The Chairman, Mr. Ferebee, called the meeting to order at 5:05 PM explaining that tonight’s meeting was an Emergency Meeting called for the purpose of discussing the proposed well drilling as a result of the October resolution to proceed and any other business pertinent to the Town.

Mr. Ferebee said that following the October resolution to proceed, the drilling of a back up well was put out to bid. He said he had provided copies of the bid sheets to the Town Board. He said that at the meeting of January 31st, the Board had some questions that he couldn’t answer and that he had invited Wayne Ryan here tonight to answer them.

Mr. Ryan began by explaining that this project began 2 years ago. He said that through the intended use plan for Water District No. 2, the District scored enough points to be eligible for loan money, but not grant money. He said the plan did not include well drilling and that was why it was being handled as a separate entity.

Mr. Martin asked to see the locations of the old wells and proposed new well.
Mr. Ryan showed him the vicinity and said that the test well will determine the exact location.

When asked, Mr. Ryan said that the Department of Health has a standard stating that a back up well is mandatory. Mr. Jaques said we didn’t have one before, and Mr. Ryan explained the situation with the old back up well going dry. He said he can’t be sure why, this was done during the last project before AES began working here. He said that Brad Caswell, a hydrologist, would be present this time to oversee the process.

When asked, Mr. Bassarab said that the 80 foot production well has a 30 horse power pump and the existing 230 foot back up well has a 40 horse power pump.
Mr. Ryan stated that the 40 horse power pump would be pulled out of the existing well and used in the new well.

There was a discussion regarding the depth of the proposed well, Mr. Ryan explained that a 400 foot well was bid on so that everyone was bidding on the same depth, he said it did not mean that they would be using 400 foot and said that the price of the well would be adjusted to the depth.

The next discussion was in regards to the drilling of the test well.
Mr. Jaques questioned whether drilling a test well could be skipped.
Mr. Ryan said that was up to the Town Board, he said he estimated the test well would cost approximately $6,000.

The next discussion was in regards to items that could be added inside the building.
Mr. Bassarab explained that the PFC panel inside does not accommodate any chart recording. He said a small unit could be added to change the functions so that it could also record data.
Mr. Biesemeyer asked how much this unit would cost.
Mr. Bassarab said he guessed probably $4 or $5, 000.

Mr. Jaques again questioned whether the decision was to go with the 6” test well or go directly to the 8” well.
Mr. Ryan said he would talk to Mr. Caswell about this.
Mr. Jaques pointed out that you could go 150 feet with the 8” well twice and still save money.
Ms. Neville asked if there is pumping done on the test well, Mr. Ryan said yes, pumping is done to find the yield per minute.
Mr. Biesemeyer and Mr. Martin both said if they were doing this with their own money they would skip the test well.
Mr. Ryan said he would talk to Mr. Caswell and let him know that the Town Board is leaning toward going straight to the 8” well.

Mr. Martin shared information with those present regarding an option using a vault with 4 shut offs for the 4 users who neighbor the proposed storage tank area, but are higher in elevation.
There was a discussion about the need for pumps and back flow preventers and whose responsibility they would be. The letter from Vinnie McClelland, on behalf of these neighbors, requested that they be supplied and maintained by the District, to date, no agreement has been signed .
It was questioned how many users in Keene Valley were above the gravity fed height. This brought up a brief discussion regarding the boundary line changes made last fall.

Any decisions regarding the well drilling was tabled until Mr. Ryan could talk to Brad Caswell. There will be further discussion at the regular meeting next week.

Mr. Ryan also said that regarding the daily operations issue, he will work up a proposal from AES to bring back to the Board.

The Board thanked Mr. Ryan and Mr. Bassarab for coming.

The next order of business was the request for information from Rose and Kiernan as to whether the Town wanted to include Terrorism Insurance on their Town Insurance coverage.

Resolution No. 70 - 06
Ms. Neville offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that the Town Board reject the offer of Terrorism Insurance Coverage and authorization be given for the Town Supervisor to sign and return the rejection form to Rose and Kiernan. This resolution was seconded by Mr. Jaques.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Yes
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

The next discussion was in regards to the transfer station.
Upon recommendation of the Board, Mr. Ferebee said he had spoken with Dick Hall, owner of the Valley Grocery, who said that the agreement for him to sell transfer station punch cards at his place of business, in exchange for free use of the dumping station, had originally been a hand shake agreement.
Mr. Ferebee informed the Board that the offer the Town Board had agreed upon, a $20.00 punch ticket each month, was not acceptable for the continuance of this service. He explained that if the Valley Grocery gives up this service, McDonough’s Valley Hardware will too, since they are not interested in picking up this slack.
Everyone seemed to be in agreement that any designated agents approved by the Town Board be allowed free use of the dumping station for the business.
The matter was tabled and it was decided that if a resolution was necessary, this issue would be discussed at next week’s meeting.

Mr. Biesemeyer left at this time, 6:26 PM.

The next discussion was in regards to whether Town Employees were required to live in the Town of Keene.
The Board felt this could not be enforced since there is no written policy.

Resolution No. 71 - 06
Mr. Jaques offered a resolution and moved its adoption. Be it resolved, that with all business having been transacted, this meeting be adjourned. This resolution was seconded by Ms. Neville.
Roll Call Vote:
Mr. Ferebee: Yes
Mr. Martin: Yes
Mr. Biesemeyer: Absent at this time
Ms. Neville: Yes
Mr. Jaques: Yes

The meeting was adjourned at 6:33 PM.

Ellen S. Estes, Town Clerk
February 9, 2006

William B. Ferebee, Supervisor
Paul R. Martin, Councilperson
Robert M. Biesemeyer, Councilperson
Marcy Neville, Councilperson
Lawrence Jaques, Councilperson