LWSC head looks to be reappointed

LYNN – Veteran Water and Sewer Commissioner Frank Zipper’s bid to extend his tenure comes as the commission is seeking state and federal approval to complete its most ambitious project.Zipper, to date, is the only applicant for a City Council-appointed seat on the five-member commission. The Lynn Shore Drive resident’s term expired in June and the council is slated to fill the vacancy on Aug. 12.Anyone interested in serving on the commission should submit a resume to the council clerk’s office in City Hall by Aug. 7.Zipper and fellow commissioners Wayne Lozzi, Scott McPherson, Walter Proodian and William Trahant, Sr. meet monthly in the commission’s 400 Parkland Ave. offices.Zipper’s commission tenure parallels the changing political outlook on the now multi-decade effort to create separate storm and sewer pipe networks beneath Lynn streets.He was first appointed commissioner in 1984 and resigned in June 1996 as former Mayor Patrick J. McManus and former City Council President Salvy Migliaccio moved to secure seats on the commission.McManus wanted to forge a private-public pact with a major water treatment firm to reduce water and sewer rates. Zipper, in announcing his resignation, vowed to not “be part of this political takeover.”He returned to the commission in 2002 with the blessing of then-Council President James Cowdell who subsequently took a seat on the commission in order to straighten out differences between commissioners and former sewer contractor USFilter.USFilter’s subsequent firing in 2004 saddled the commission with the task of completing the storm and sewer pipe project before 2009, when a federal mandate for ending partial sewage discharges into the ocean is imposed.A relatively small amount of work is underway through the end of the summer on Chestnut, Bowler and other streets. Larger scale projects are tentatively planned for West Lynn and downtown.Water and Sewer officials want permission to discharge up to four times a year. They won’t get a response to that request until state and federal officials review the cost impact on ratepayers of doing additional storm and sewer work.Beginning as early as next week, state and federal analysts will review financial impact information provided by the commission. They will focus in particular on how storm-sewer project plans affect water and sewer rates.”We are looking at if user charges are less than 1 percent of household income. Our goal is to sit down and talk to them (Water and Sewer) in mid-fall,” said Environmental Protection Agency spokesman George Harding.