By Beth David, Editor
Fairhaven Superintendent of Public Works Vinnie Furtado remotely attended the Select Board’s meeting on Monday, 2/6/23, to explain the reasons for the periodic dirty water in town and how the town is planning to fix the problem.
Mr. Furtado explained that Fairhaven gets its water from the Mattapoisett Water District, comprised of Fairhaven, Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester. The treatment plant is in Mattapoisett. The district was formed in 2004.
The plant treats the water with filters that have “exceeded” their life span, said Mr. Furtado. Although they are able to filter the water in normal flow situations, they are overwhelmed when there is any amount of “turbulence” in the system.
Those filters are not longer available, so the district needs to conduct an upgrade to the system. All the towns have agreed to pay for the upgrade, he said, and they hope to get construction started this year.
Until the system is upgraded, he said, the town will have periodic problems. One stop-gap measure is to use “uni-directional flushing,” said Mr. Furtado. The town has secured the funding to do that.
“It’s almost like a backwash,” he said.
Now, the town just opens the hydrant as a “reactive measure” to flush it when there is a problem, but that does not get all the sediment out
On Sunday, a contractor working for the City of New Bedford on Pope’s Island drove a piling through a water line. The cold weather also caused a water line on Pope’s Island to rupture causing dirty water to backflush into Fairhaven in the center and behind the high school.
“And that caused the turbulence and we had dirty water,” said Mr. Furtado.
He also told the board that there were 40 burst pipes in homes over the weekend during the brutal below zero temperatures, adding “insult to injury,” he said.
“These aren’t normal things,” said Mr. Furtado, and coupled with the current filtration system, it causes the sediment to rise.
“We’re moving forward with the upgrade,” said Mr. Furtado. The state approved it, the towns approved it.
SB member Leon Correy asked about the impact of leaving the water running to stop the pipes from freezing. Mr. Furtado said it was negligible; the first 750 gallons costs two dollars.
“I want my two dollars back,” said Mr. Correy.
He asked if there is some way the BPW can waive some part of the bill for people who had burst pipes or have to leave their water running.
Mr. Furtado said he would bring it up with the board.
SB member Keith Silvia asked if the town could get its water from New Bedford until the system is upgraded.
Mr. Furtado said it was possible, but he was hesitant to do that because New Bedford treats its water with a combination of chlorine and ammonia. He said people with certain medical conditions, and people with aquariums would have to take special precautions.
SB member Charles Murphy asked what people can do if they have dirty water.
Mr. Furtado said the public works department has iron-out at the office. He is also working on a presentation that they can post on the website that explains what people can do.
Anyone with dirty water can call the BPW office, 508-979-4030, for more information.
The SB also heard from Jessica Fidalgo of the Belonging Committee asking the board to approve a proclamation for Dr. Jibreel Khazan, who was one of the students who participated in a civil rights student sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. Dr. Khazan lives in New Bedford.
“Everybody should meet him,” said Ms. Fidalgo, adding she was trying to get him to come to Fairhaven for a Belonging Committee event.
“I didn’t realize he was right in New bedford,” said Ms. Fidalgo. “He’s a huge part of the civil rights movement.”
The board approved the proclamation, which read in part:
The board also voted to approve Town Administrator Angie Lopes Ellison’s hiring of Bruce Webb as the Conservation/Sustainability Agent
Mr. Webb told the board he worked in the private sector for the last 3 1/2 years, on the “other side” of the table.
“It’s nice to be on the town size,” he said, to protect the resources of the town and allow people to do what they need to do with their properties.
SB member Bob Espindola said he wanted to make sure that Mr. Webb understood that sustainability was an important part of the job.
Mr. Webb said he had some experience with sustainability, but it was limited. He told the board that it is not a field you get into without thinking about sustainability.
In another matter, the board rescinded the executive session minutes policy because it was in conflict with state’s Open Records Law. The policy restricted how the minutes could be accessed by the public even when “released.”
Executive session minutes are not automatically released to the public the way other meeting minutes are. The board reviews executive session minutes and they are supposed to be released to the public after the matter has been resolved.
The policy required that the minutes only be in hard copy and that a record of everyone requesting them be kept on file. The policy expressly prohibited releasing minutes in digital format.
Ms. Ellison told the board that once the minutes are released, they are a public record and need to be treated the same way as all other public records. She said the state encourages digital copies.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a temporary street closure policy that will allow block parties
• Approved a Recreation Center rate increase
• Approved the ambulance fee collection policy, which will be available on the town’s website
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Click here to download the 2/9/23 issue: 02-09-23 MillieBDay
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