From nancgulley at gmail.com Mon Nov 14 17:47:33 2016 From: nancgulley at gmail.com (Nancy Gulley) Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:47:33 -0500 Subject: [Board-2017] Fwd: Preliminary Review of Underwood Water System Study In-Reply-To: <8B6C78C956574D5FA0CC6779BF04291A@OwnerPC> References: <8B6C78C956574D5FA0CC6779BF04291A@OwnerPC> Message-ID: Thought I would continue to send info on the water problem in New Castle. This is something that could put an enormous amount of stress on our finances. Nanc ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Date: Monday, November 14, 2016 Subject: Preliminary Review of Underwood Water System Study To: Dennis Dinsmore , Jeff Reilly < reillyjeff at gmail.com>, Laura Ludes , Andrew Moore < amtmoore at comcast.net>, Nancy Gulley , Len Seagren < laseagren at comcast.net>, Rita Fusco , Sugden Murphy < Mickseadog at gmail.com>, Sara , Dave McCArdle < dnmc at comcast.net>, Irene Bush , Craig Strehl < Cfstrehl at sbcglobal.net>, VJ Strehl , Sandra Bisset < bissetconsulting at comcast.net>, Paul Hamblett , Jane Finn , John Small , Teddy Golter < teddyg at comcast.net>, Nancy Borden , Peter Rice < mayorduckshead at comcast.net>, Bob Rais , Jim Zuckerman < james_zuckerman at hms.harvard.edu>, Ann , William Smith , Jim Munton , Jim Rini , Terri Golter , Grant Drumheller , Bill Cronin < bill.cronin at quickservicesllc.com>, Reggie Whitehouse , Sam Asano , Andy Schulte , Barbara Moore , Rich Ferdinand , Bill Duncan Some of us have read and discussed the Executive Summary of the recent study by Underwood Engineering of the New Castle Water System. Selected highlights and some preliminary interpretations follow: 1. The present system has woefully deficient capacity to provide proper fire fighting water a. The largest gap between current flow rates and ISO Needed Fire Flows (gallons per minute) exists in the area of highest risk – downtown large structures and closely spaced historic district homes; Wild Rose Lane and Wentworth Road on the Portsmouth side are also very high risk areas b. The fragile Odiorne water supply pipeline is currently inoperable, to mitigate leaks, so that current water flows in some areas would therefore be overstated in the study 2. Possible Solutions will likely cost around $9 million: a. New 12 inch diameter pipe in a loop from Portsmouth to-around New Castle, or b. 140 feet high water tower with four hours of supply to entire island of New Castle Note: It will be important to know if the recommended 12” pipes are based on current levels of water consumption and fire fighting demand, or for projected increases over the next 30 – 50 years, particularly if older homes are replaced with larger structures and/or residents install an increasing number of sprinkler systems. These are important considerations, because actual fire fighting flow rates are the total flow capacity minus operational flows (household uses for showers, laundry, dishwashing, et al), which fluctuate during the day and night, demands being higher during the early morning and early evening. 3. New Castle depends upon Portsmouth for water supply, as well as their willingness to act and their bond underwriting capacity for water infrastructure a. Our New Castle Select Board will soon meet with Portsmouth officials to explore the feasibility, timing and enthusiasm for different courses of action b. Funding may be available with 50 – 70 year bond duration, appropriate for subject infrastructure (reduced tax impact from a longer amortization period) c. Interest rates are likely to rise, perhaps strongly and quickly, such that interest costs could be reduced by earlier, decisive action Note: the conveyance of the New Castle Water District to Portsmouth has been mentioned on many occasions by the Select Board. Some believe that such a step should be considered only after system upgrades have been accomplished, to avoid the possible risk of further delays (due to New Castle possibly being a lower budgetary priority in City of Portsmouth deliberations). 4. Underwood presented a five year project to complete the installation of the 12” pipe system a. Five equipment set ups and takedowns might be more expensive than get-it-done-in-one complete loop operation b. The above highest risk area would not be addressed until the third of five annual projects, if and once approved c. There are many aspects to this project and likely many public opinions to be considered, all consuming time (these include financing, respective New Castle and Portsmouth responsibilities, timetables, et al) d. One could describe a process schedule for “consider-approve-fund-install” that required 7-9 years - before safe levels of fire fighting water would be available to protect residents, firefighters, homes and historic identity 5. The Select Board has the desire and responsibility to do the right thing to avoid a repeat of the Tarbell “game changer” fire a. They next meet on Monday, November 21 at 7 pm in New Castle Town Hall b. We should attend, ask questions, and encourage them to undertake an effort to solve the problem sooner rather than later - Get approval at 2017 Town Annual Meeting for the entire amount to minimize interest costs, while securing 50 – 70 year bonds - Raise funds to complete the project in one year instead of five years c. If the essential 12 inch upgrade will be stretched out for too long a period, interim steps must be explicitly defined to reduce the risks in highest risk areas? We have a voice. Let’s help! Peter Tarlton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: