Town of Bennington 1998 Annual Report

A new computerized inventory/job costing program was installed to the Towns main frame. This program allows us to inventory and assign costs to repair parts, equipment use and labor costs. The program will be used for private billings as well as in-house assessments and a budget building tool.

Our Staff joined forces with the Water Department Staff to put on a demonstration for Career Development Center Students. Our presentation included sewer line repair, sewer pipe tapping, safety protocols and a demonstration of our sewer televising system. This type of interaction proves to be beneficial for all of us who are involved. The Career Development Center Students get a first hand look at up to date construction, maintenance and safety practices and our operators prepare a technical lesson plan to present to the students.

Due to mild weather conditions in late January we were able to contract to build a new cold storage building. The building consists of 5 bays and is 20 feet by 60 feet and provides storage for expensive equipment and repair parts.

Our operators received formal training on subjects such as Basic Wastewater Operations, Anaerobic Digestion, Laboratory Techniques and Computer Training. The entire Staff took part in annual First Aid/CPR, Electrical Safety, Lockout/Tagout and Confined Space Safety Programs which were set up by our Plant Safety Committee.

Department Supervisors attended two Quality Management Seminars. The first focused on project management. The course work included Job Costing and preparing budgets (with an emphasis in eliminating waste and duplication). The next was titled "Train the Trainer". Eight in-house Staff people with the help of Deb Mackin of New Directions set up four training modules. The modules included Quality Overview, Team Building, Meeting Skills and Problem Solving. The four modules were presented to the entire Town Staff over a six month period.

At the Spring Meeting of the Green Mountain Water Environment Association, Chief Operator George LeBlanc for received the Green Mountain Water Environment Association Operator Excellency Award. This award is given annually to a Vermont State Operator who has shown a continued dedication to the wastewater field.

The first spring project undertaken was the total replacement of the sanitary sewer main on Warn Street and the adjacent main on Bradford Street. This work included replacement of 600 feet of 8" PVC and three new precast manholes along with 12 new service connections.

The second project consisted of televising and assessing 2400 feet of 6" clay tile sewer main and associated facilities on Main Street East of Gage Street. The data gathered will be used to assess future budget impacts.

Wastewater Operators teamed with the Career Development Center Students to construct a new sewer line at Willow Park. This sewer service will accommodate many future events at the Park, one being the Annual Bennington Car Show Concession Stand.

Hard work paid off for two operators who were able to upgrade their level of State Certification over the past year. Congratulations to Ron Bull and Jon D'Amour for achieving a higher level of certification.

Our ongoing upgrade of RBC drive units continued. The extremely labor intensive process of cleaning eight, twenty-two foot long, eight feet in diameter shafts of media is a monumental task. Once this task was completed, new mechanical drive units were purchased and installed. We should complete this process in 1999.

An intense two day training seminar was held at the Treatment Facility in November to address the issue of Confined Space Rescue. This course was the suggestion of Wastewater and Water Staff. Employees felt that we should take a more active roll with Confined Space Rescues since we were more familiar with the hazards associated with such spaces. The training was split between class room and actual hands on training exercises. Additional training and equipment will be necessary to assist the team in becoming a functional Confined Space Rescue Team.

Respectfully submitted,
Terrance A. Morse, Water Resources Superintendent