DPW Director Explains the Recent Water Line Break and How It Was Fixed
On Wednesday, February 14, Department of Public Works Director Brian Croteau talked with the Courier about the water line break and water supply issues that some Winchendon water users experienced at the beginning of this month. Mr. Croteau clarified the timing of events and explained exactly what happened, and filled in many details.
The situation was first detected on Tuesday, January 30. Mr. Croteau explained that the DPW first realized there was an issue when two homes on lower Benjamin Street lost their water service. "We worked through the process to make sure that it wasn't just those two houses," Mr. Croteau said. "We then, after that, started noticing that the tank levels were dropping drastically. So guys worked double shifts, looking for leaks, listening to hydrants, trying to find a leak that wasn't surfacing" (creating any visible signs on the ground or roadways). "We had two leaks," Mr. Croteau explained. "We had a small one on School Square which was on a two inch main that had about a 12 inch crack, and then we had another leak on River Street by Kamenstein's that never surfaced as well. It found its way to the river or found its way to the storm drains or the sewer."
Mr. Croteau said that the DPW contacted a leak detection company, who came in and worked overnight when there is much less traffic and it's easier to hear the leaks. The leak detection company found the bigger leak on River Street at about 5:30 to 6:00 a.m. on Thurday, February 1, when traffic was picking up.
"During this whole process I had been talking back and forth with Steve Neal from Fitchburg Water and also John Deline from Fitchburg Water who both have worked in the [Winchendon] system. Steve had offered to come out and assist with pinpinpointing this leak so you can get it fixed. Steve came out, he pinpointed the leak, we cut the hole, we repaired the leak. This allowed us to have our tank start recovering. Once we shut that section of town off and did the repair on it, we saw while we were repairing the leak that we were making headway on the tank. So the leak took about five hours to repair.
"We used our staff which was finishing up on the leak in School Square and then they came down and assisted on the break on River Street. We had an outside company come in and assist with digging because [the water main] was about eight feet deep."
The main on River Street is a ten-inch pipe. When the leak was exposed, the pipe was found to have a "circular crack" all the way around the pipe, a quarter-inch wide, and this crack was pushing out water at a rate of 2,400 gallons a minute or 2.4 million gallons a day. "That's why the tanks were where they were at," Mr. Croteau said.
When the leak was fixed, Mr. Croteau said, the crew went up to the pumping station on High Street and tried to reprime the pumps, but there wasn't yet enough water in the tank. "What a lot of people don't understand is those tanks, that tank on High Street goes seven feet below ground, so it's not level with the ground," Mr. Croteau explained. "So you have to build that seven feet of water up in order to get high enough in order to get the pumps primed."
The mains never actually went dry, Mr. Croteau said, but there simply wasn't enough water to push out to the houses. Much of the water through town is gravity-fed, but the houses up on the steep hill where Old Centre is and the roads surrounding it require the water to be pumped. "So Monday, late morning we got the pumps to reprime because the tanks filled enough. We had built up four feet of water on Friday night, three feet of water on Saturday night, two feet on Sunday night and we built the remainder on Monday morning in order to prime the pumps." The water plant was pumping about 720 gallons a minute during this process, Mr. Croteau said.
Mr. Croteau emphasized that "It wouldn't have been possible without the assistance from Fitchburg Water. We also had resources come in from Veolia, from Fort Devens, guys in the system over there had worked here previously. So they assisted looking for the leaks, listening to the hydrants, our staff as well as the other vendors helped to listen to all the hydrants in town to verify and find and see if we can find leaks. And that's the only way we found the leaks was through leak detection."
Winchendon has two 1.1 million gallon tanks, one on High Street and one on Elmwood Road. The town typically uses 630,000 to 700,000 gallons of water per day. There are 140 miles of water main and 360 hydrants in town.
"So it takes a little bit of time in order to listen to everything," Mr. Croteau said. "It's hard during the day with the amount of road traffic that's in Winchendon. These guys worked some long hours that week. I worked with them. At the end of the day, we found the leak, we got everybody's water restored. It's just not as fast as we would like, but it makes it difficult when the leak does not surface. At one point we did have Templeton PD and on, I believe, Thursday night they came in, they have a drone that has infrared. So we flew this through the cross country section from North Ashburnham Road to Sherbert Road where the main cuts through the woods. We were checking for any leaks over there. We really went through the system in order to find this leak."
The Courier asked what was involved in listening for a leak. "It's a skill that takes time to learn," Mr. Croteau explained. "Steve Neal's been in the business for 25 to 30 years. It's something that takes time. It's nothing that you can go take a class on, it takes time to learn. There's different hissing sounds, you can hear it hitting off the rocks. So it's knowing what you have in the ground to what noise it's making, and basically pinpointing where the leak was. Both the leak detection company and Steve from Fitchburg Water both pinpointed at the same spot. So we felt comfortable digging it. You don't want to open up a ton of main, especially on a busy road like River Street because you don't want to have a huge hole in the road. So it was pinpointed perfect, it was one hole, it was repaired."
Mr. Croteau said that a lot of the water mains in Winchendon are more than 100 years old. "They're in dire need of replacement, but it all comes down to funding. And as most of us know, the water and sewer budgets are pretty tight. So it doesn't leave much money for the replacement of pipes."
The change in the climate could also be putting more stress on the pipes, Mr. Croteau said. "The weather plays a factor because over the last five years, we've seen a drastic change in the winters in New England. So we don't have the consistent frost anymore. You have the freeze-thaw theory, which moves the ground quite a bit." If something happens to the main line from Ashburnham, Mr. Croteau said, the town has enough water in the tanks for about a day and a half.
Mr. Croteau clarified that the leak did not affect all water users. The main homes impacted were those on the hill whose water must be pumped rather than being gravity-fed. Elsewhere in town there was a slight loss of water pressure, as the water plant was continuing to pump water into the system. All users had water service restored by 1:00 p.m. on Monday, February 5.
On Sunday night, February 4, Mr. Croteau himself and Winchendon Health Agent Jim Abare went door-to-door in Benjamin Estates and Old Centre talking to residents. "I wanted to have the face to face with people to let them know exactly what was going on, and to encourage them to sign up for Code Red for future messages," Mr. Croteau said.
As a final comment, Mr. Croteau added, "I just would like to thank the outside resources that were able to respond and assist, and my staff for putting the hours in to get this rectified, so people could have drinking water."
Town Manager Presents Draft Budget for FY25 at Tri-Board Meeting
At a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and School Committee on Monday, February 12, Town Manager Bill McKinney presented a draft budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
Before the presentation began, Capital Planning Committee member Mike Barbaro explained that the town has not yet been able to close out its books and certify Free Cash, meaning that the budget is "over-cautious" at this time. "We've been waiting to find out where we are fiscally before we tried to commit town funds," he said. "As you know the town has not been able to close its books and get a firm footing on where they are fiscally so that the department heads have presented to Town Manager a request. We're just waiting to see where the town falls fiscally."
Mr. McKinney explained that the town is working with an outside consultant, Eric Kinsherf, "who's been very helpful in trying to get the books closed and answer a lot of the financial questions that the Department of Revenue had. So the Department of Revenue has given us until the end of March to get everything done. So that would be the Free Cash submission, which includes the balance sheet and then Schedule A." He assured the boards that Annual Town Meeting will not be delayed.
Beginning his presentation, Mr. McKinney said, "this is really just a first draft. I talked to all the department heads and wanted to get a sense from them of what it really costs to run the town. Without being aspirational, but what it is that they would like to see to be able to run their departments most effectively. I've been here for a little over seven months, and we have a lot of great employees in the town. A lot of great department heads who work really hard. Most of the departments, the smaller departments are one, two or three people. Then you've got the Police, Fire and DPW and of course education. And everyone, with our many talents, are trying to do more with less. And the challenge is that it's really coming up to less and less financing available."
The first slide compared the budgeted amounts for FY24 (the current Fiscal Year) and the requests for FY25. The School Department budget increased by $1,562,377. The Police Department budget increased $68,000 and Fire Department $466,967. "Some of that is due to overtime. Some of that is due to having a fourth person on the shift on each shift instead of three," Mr. McKinney said. The DPW budget increased by $228,278.
Other departments under Town Hall--Town Manager, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, Finance/Legal, IT, and Town Clerk--were grouped together for brevity. Town Manager/Board of Selectmen/Finance Committee expenses was the only decrease, going down $4,153. Finance/Legal increased $47,992. "As was mentioned, the Treasurer/Collector resigned last week," Mr. McKinney said. "And so we do have a consultant in trying to help out as well as the former Treasurer/Collector. She has been helping out as well...the salary's going to end up probably going up." To get qualified staff, salaries have to be competitive, and the town can't control what the market demands. Also, the cost of the town's financial software, and attorneys' rates are both going up.
The Building Department is looking for additional clerical help, Mr. McKinney said. The cost of the Recreation Coordinator has been added to the budget because the town doesn't know if the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation will continue to cover that cost, as they have been doing for the past year. "I wanted to make sure that that got put into the budget," Mr. McKinney said.
Insurance, retirement costs, Workers' comp, Unemployment and Medicare are all going up, Mr. McKinney said. One problem causing costs to go up is unemployment fraud. Asked if the state has put in any safeguards against that, Mr. McKinney said, "I wish they had." He went on, "When the unemployment claim is filed, it comes over to us, either the town or the school, we look to see if the person is unemployed, has been let go or resigned or whatever, or if they're still employed, and we found several that were still employed. We immediately notified through our third party vendor who notified the Department of Unemployment Assistance, and Unemployment still pays. They'll pay for several more weeks, even though we declared it to be fraud. So that's a state problem. And unfortunately, it affects a lot of cities and towns...I had an employee come and say, why did he get a W2 in the mail from Unemployment when he hadn't been unemployed? And unfortunately, he's a victim of fraud."
The total increase in expenses for FY25 is $2,934,648 (8.5 percent).
Revenue from local sources, meanwhile, are expected to increase $651,421. Although the state budget is not final, it appears that the increase in Chapter 70 funding will be a much smaller one than the year-to-year increases the town has been getting in the past. The revenue from motor vehicle excise taxes is expected to decrease. "I don't think people are buying cars as frequently as they did," Mr. McKinney said. "And you know if people keep the same car for a while, the property excise tax after the fifth year ends up just remaining flat. So we only get the bigger revenue on motor vehicle excise when people are out buying newer cars."
Water and Sewer have run deficits three of the past five years, Mr. McKinney said. The general fund has been picking up the difference, which is not fiscally responsible. The town has also been using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to cover the shortfalls. "The Department of Revenue has already contacted us saying, especially in the sewer account, you've been negative three of the past five years," Mr. McKinney said. "They are really going to be watching what we do and how we put together the budget for those accounts. Because obviously it's not good to keep going negative and and have the general fund have to cover the shortfall. And then it's also something that typically retained earnings, you would want to have some retained earnings each year. So if there's capital improvements needed, you have some funding available."
The final slide was headed, "Challenges going forward." These include a 10 percent increase in health insurance costs, amounting to $265,000; a 10 percent increase in pension contributions, amounting to $230,000; debt service on $3.5 million borrowed in the past year, with principal coming due in FY26, estimated costs of $350,000 for principal and $200,000 in interest; and Water and Sewer deficits from past years.
With the summary complete, Finance Committee member Dr. Maureen Ward asked, "You have any good news?" to wry chuckles. FinCom Chair Tom Kane said, "The current draft budget calls for about a $3 million increase in expenses and the projected revenues is $650,000 [increase]. So it leaves a quite a shortfall of $2.3 million and that doesn't count adding to the debt payments to even that out. And of course it doesn't count for several of the other items that are up in the air. So I guess my question really is, what's the strategy? Where do we go from here?"
"That's why I wanted to put this out tonight, to get the conversation started," Mr. McKinney said. "If there is no additional revenue from anywhere else, then that's going to put the town in a very, very difficult position. I want to make sure the residents are aware of what that would look like. Because when you have a lot of those fixed costs that are right off the top that take away all of the budget increase, the revenue increases, that doesn't leave much. Some of those costs also that are in there are increases in salaries that are negotiated and part of union contracts. So, it would be very difficult for the town to operate on just the revenue that's been presented tonight."
There was some discussion about the PILOT agreements for the solar fields in town, but details need to be reviewed. Another unknown potential would be revenue from cannabis businesses.
The Town Manager's presentation slides may be reviewed at
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.townofwinchendon.com%2Fsites%2Fg%2Ffiles%2Fvyhlif8401%2Ff%2Fnews%2Ffiscal_year_2025_budget_presentation_bill.pptx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK
For those who really want to drill down into the numbers, the budget spreadsheet may be seen and downloaded at https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.townofwinchendon.com%2Fsites%2Fg%2Ffiles%2Fvyhlif8401%2Ff%2Fnews%2Fdraft_fy25_budget_workbook_003.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK
The video of the Town Manager's presentation may be viewed on Winchendon TV at https://winchendon.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/60?site=1%C2%A0%C2%A0, starting at 00:33.00 on the video.
The Town Manager would welcome inspired suggestions from financially-savvy citizens. The budget is currently subject to changes as more information becomes available.
SC Member Questions Course Description in Proposed Murdock HS Curriculum
In the February 1 meeting of the Winchendon School Committee, David Fredette, the Interim Principal of Murdock High School, gave a presentation on the proposed high school Program of Studies for the 2024-2025 academic year. School Committee member Adam LeBlanc raised some questions about one of the courses listed in the program.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Ruthann Goguen introduced the topic by explaining that "a program of studies is the outline of course selections that students can pick from to meet their high school graduation requirements."
Mr. Fredette then continued, saying the Program of Studies was a "team effort. Everybody, every teacher, every staff member in the building had an opportunity to put forth things in play, courses that they felt were beneficial to our students as we look forward to next year." The program is arranged to lead naturally toward career pathways, with offerings such as personal finance, robotics, collaborative learning, and Advanced Placement coursework. "We're going to continue to look to push staff and teachers to really drilling down to what students will want and what they need as well," Mr. Fredette said.
School Committee member Anthony Findley stated that he felt all students should be required to put in some hours of community service in order to graduate. He also asked for some clarification on the Advanced Placement courses, AP exam and the contract students are asked to sign to enroll in an AP class. Mr. Fredette promised to get back to the Committee with a clarification. Mr. Findley asked a few more questions about music concerts and varsity sports coordinating their schedules, and credits for playing varsity sports, which Mr. Fredette responded to.
Committee member Adam LeBlanc then said he had a question about one of the College Prep courses, listed as offered to students in grades 11 and 12. He asked if it was a required course. Mr. Fredette explained that outside of the core English courses, everything else, such as Dystopian Literature, Women's Studies and Creative Writing are electives. Electives are not required, as the 20 credits of English (or ELA, English Language Arts) are fulfilled by the core English courses for each grade.
The course which Mr. LeBlanc brought to the Committee's attention is headed "Women's Studies - College Prep - Grades 11-12, 2.5 Credits". The complete description reads,
This semester length course aims to study women's unique literary voices as a reflection of their history, their place in society, and their role in a changing world. In this survey literature course, we will read fiction, memoirs, and poetry written by prominent women authors that take on topics of women's health care, reproductive rights, women in the workplace, domestic violence, body image, gender performativity, and sexuality/gender identity. Emphasis is on the development of critical thinking skills through a series of papers and projects that draw into question the development of differences between the sexes, the acquisition of gender roles, and the maintenance of gender stereotypes. Texts may include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Beloved, Life of the Party, "The Yellow Wallpaper," "The Story of an Hour," "I Stand Here Ironing," and "Girl." This class is an elective and does not fulfill English graduation requirements.Mr. LeBlanc said, "It's a good class. I'm not gonna lie. It has some predominant features in there, but there's one that sticks out that I don't believe should be in there and it should not be taught by the school system at all. That is the sexual gender and identity. That should not be in our school system and all that should be taught by the parents, not the school system. We can't push sexual identity or gender identity. School is supposed to be neutral. So I believe if that is a course that is being taken, that whole thing be taken out." He added, "I'm just curious on why something like that would be put into [the course]."
Mr. Fredette explained that the Women's Studies course is currently taught at Murdock and is not a new addition to the Program of Studies before the Committee. The course description has been in place for several years. He said "this is obviously a controversial topic" but they were looking at a balanced approach to and understanding of the subject, as well as "explicit and implicit biases" and other things that women struggle with through history.
Mr. LeBlanc said, "This is my first year on board. So this is my first time seeing a package like this. So would you agree or disagree that the sexual identity or sexual gender should be left on the parents and not taught in the school system to keep an unbiased approach, in your professional opinion."
Mr. Fredette responded, "In my professional opinion? I honestly feel like it's something that needs to be discussed. I think it should be discussed more at home. Do I think it is? No, I don't. But I also think that part of women's studies is to have that part of the class or have that be part of the overall understanding of suffrage and women's rights and background, I think that it's worth having parts of it, having a conversation and discussing it. But again, I think it's very difficult especially when you don't want to necessarily push any kind of agenda. We're not looking to push agendas, or but rather just making people aware what exists."
Mr. LeBlanc said, "Last question to this piece, and I promise it's not going directly at you, Mr. Fredette. Just curious about this. So with this sexual gender and identity and women's study, is it not offered to the males? And why wouldn't this class, if it's going to be staying in Murdock, be put in the Wellness and Physical Education Program under reproductive and sexual standards?"
School Committee Chair Karen Kast spoke up, emphasizing that the course is open to all students, not just females. "A lot of these poems and stories that are written in Women's Study, actually reference things that happen that may actually reference gender identity and everything else. So it's not a matter of anybody pushing their beliefs or anything else. It's a matter of, this is the study of these texts and everything. So it isn't that they're necessarily studying gender identity. These are the things that if you're reading a poetry, it may actually come up in poetry. And then yes, you may discuss it. But that doesn't mean that anybody is pushing that or anything. I agree with you, and I'm gonna go out on a limb here. I think it is up to the parents to have these discussions at home." She went on to say that perhaps the course description could be rewritten to make its focus more clear.
Mr. Fredette said the class is a literature course focusing on prominent women writers. "It's not a sexual health course, it's not a sexual identity course or anything like that."
Dr. Goguen added, "I agree with you that we should not be teaching gender identity or anything that has to do with sex education in public schools. Parents have the right to opt out. And it is a requirement by Massachusetts that parents are informed and have that right to opt out of sex ed in any way, shape, or form." She stated that she would like to look at all the instructional resources used for the course.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jonathan Landman came to the mic to say that "across the curriculum, as schools are teaching students about the world, it's a natural byproduct of that. There are times when topics are going to come up where there's controversy, where there are different points of view. And I actually think it's really important for schools to be providing students the opportunity to learn about those topics, to be able to try to understand them better to develop their own perspectives on those things. And it's important for us to make the space for that to happen. Because that's part of how we learn to be thoughtful citizens, critical thinkers, and honestly to be able to just make make sense so we understand the world that we live in." He added, "It's okay and important for schools to be giving students the opportunity to wrestle with complicated, difficult topics."
Mr. LeBlanc said, "I'm still not grasping. Just for clarification, so it's offered to the females, males can take this class, you guys are looking at literature that is written by a trans or what have you...for females. Now what about the females that go to males, are they still going to be on that course? It's not cross gender. I mean, you've got a female that's going to male and then you got a male that's going to female.
"I mean, if it's rewritten perfectly fine, but if it's the identity or gender, it's on the home. It's not on the school. It's not on the government to tell the children, Hey, you know, you're eight years old. You can decide if you want to be a girl or a boy, that's not on us. That's on the parents." He stated that he took a women's history course at Pittsburgh State that never mentioned sexual identity or gender. "Yes, you're gonna have poems written by these people. It's great. They have great literature, but we don't need to go in depth on how they became this person," he said.
After some further discussion on the nature of the course, it was agreed that Mr. Fredette, Mr. Landman and Dr. Goguen would examine the course materials and description for possible rephrasing to make it more clear, and would bring the topic back to the Committee. Ms. Kast said, "I think that there is a misconception that people are trying to push agendas that are not being pushed, and I want to be very clear that I have never once heard, especially in Winchendon, but I have yet to encounter a teacher that is trying to push any gender identity or any reproductive rights or anything like that on our students."
The discussion of the Program of Studies continued, covering questions such as financial literacy and classes aimed at students not planning to go on to college.
The entire discussion may be seen on video on Winchendon TV at https://winchendon.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/56?site=1%C2%A0%C2%A0, starting at 00:32:33 on the video.
Collector/Treasurer, Town Manager's Executive Assistant Tender Resignations
At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, February 12, Town Manager Bill McKinney was appointed Interim Collector/Treasurer. The town's Collector/Treasurer had resigned the previous week, effective as of that day, February 12.
Mr. McKinney explained, "The Treasurer/Collector resigned and so we have a consultant coming in to help out for a few hours a week. But it's not someone who we could assign the Treasurer/Collector role to as they can only be on site for a couple of days a week. So I'm going to have to take on that responsibility until we get a permanent replacement." He told the Board that the job opening should be posted in the next one or two days.
Board Vice Chair Rick Ward expressed concern about Mr. McKinney taking on the additional responsibility of Collector/Treasurer as well as being Town Manager. Mr. McKinney said he's been a municipal Collector/Treasurer, and hopefully the town will be able to hire a new person quickly.
The Town Manager's Executive Assistant, Mary Calandrella, has also put in her resignation.
Both positions have been posted on the town website, and may be viewed at https://www.townofwinchendon.com/home/pages/job-opportunities.
Ready, Set, Go! Puzzle Race at the Beals Memorial Library
Library Director Manuel King and Teen Intern Aly Suzzi invite people of all ages to sign up for the library's Jigsaw Puzzle Race on March 9!
Photo courtesy of Beals Memorial Library
How fast can you finish a jigsaw puzzle? Whether you're a puzzle pro or pastimer, all are invited to participate in the Friends of the Beals Memorial Library's Jigsaw Puzzle Race! Who can finish a puzzle the fastest? Join the fun and see if you have the pace to win the race!
On Saturday, March 9, at 11:00 a.m., teams of 2 to 4 people will race to see who can assemble a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle first. When the race is over, each team gets to take home their puzzle! This event is free and open to all ages. Sign ups are open now, so register today to participate in the action!
This event is brought to you by the Friends of the Beals Memorial Library. The Friends are a group that volunteers their time to support the Winchendon library through book sales and other special events and fundraisers and whose funds go towards library programs or the purchase of items for the library's use. They work to engage the community in raising positive public awareness through advocacy of the library.
The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon.
To learn more about the Friends of the Beals Memorial Library or to register for the Jigsaw Puzzle Race, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit bealslibrary.org.
Take the Massachusetts Statewide Digital Equity Survey!
The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) has launched the Massachusetts Statewide Digital Equity Survey to better understand the needs of Massachusetts residents when it comes to computers and internet access.
This important survey will help MBI to develop a comprehensive Digital Equity Plan for the state and ensure that all Massachusetts residents can fully experience the opportunities that come from having the access and skills to use computers and the internet in their everyday life.
It is critical that Winchendon residents respond to this survey so that our voices and perspectives can be included in the State's plans. On behalf of Town of Winchendon, we encourage you to:
PLEASE COMPLETE THE 5-MINUTE ONLINE STATEWIDE DIGITAL EQUITY SURVEY HERE:
https://mbicx.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bxTlMGFVF8KjigC
Share the link with your friends, colleagues, and community members.
Thank you for supporting this important process!
