VILLAGE OF MORRISVILLE WATER AND LIGHT DEPARTMENT
December 17, 2007
MONDAY 6:00 PM
Water and Light Office
The meeting duly noticed and warned was called to order at 6:45 PM[1].
MEMBERS PRESENT: Trustees: Bourne, Sargent, Thompson, Wildes, DeBor
Staff: Craig Myotte, Jim Fontaine, Penny Jones, Linda Osgood
1) PUBLIC MEETING:
No members of the public were in attendance.
2) OLD BUSINESS:
Old Business discussion was deferred to the next meeting.
3) MANAGEMENT REPORT:
Crews have been inside working on inventory.
The Trustees asked what the maximum output of our own hydro generation. The combined units are rated for 4.7 MW but Jim has never seen them produce that much. He believes that 2.5 MW is more realistic. Purchased power prices are very high right now so we are generating as much as we can, including Green River.
The Board signed the loan for Truck #12.
We received approval of phase one of our rate case today to be implemented on January 1, 2008.
Staff found five customers attached to WWTF but not being billed for it. We have contacted them and they will be back-billed for that service for a total of $6,000/year. Trustee Wildes asked what our policy would be going forward for water and sewer arrears. Penny has not worked on that yet but we may have to make the owners of properties be responsible for the water and sewer charges of their tenants by separating the water & sewer charges from the electric charges and send the electric bill to the tenant and the water & sewer bill to the owner.
Trustee Wildes asked, in the case of Genesis Eldercare, if someone buys the facility do they have to reapply for sewer allocation. Craig was not certain and stated it may just be a matter of paying the difference between the old sewer allocation fee and what the new one would be. The Chairman directed staff to look at Stowe’s policy. The Chairman asked that we keep on the Agenda how other utilities handle water & sewer.
Trustee Wildes asked that when we renew CD’s to keep in mind that of the four banks in town only one, the Union Bank, was truly a local bank and he would rather see our investments kept locally. The Chairman stated there was a fine line between going with the best rates and staying loyal and local.
Jim reviewed the circumstances regarding a complaint received from Mr. Kenneth Schramm concerning the servicing of his sewer service line by Hartigan. Staff has received several telephone calls. We have informed Mr. Schramm that we don’t want to get into the middle of the dispute and Mr. Schramm stated that the issue is between him and Hartigan. Staff will monitor the situation. Trustee Sargent recommended keeping very good records of all communication with customers.
Lamoille County Project (115 KV line to Stowe) settlement discussions continue.
Craig is holding off on pursuing the CVPS line loss issue so it won’t complicate the Lamoille County Project negotiations.
4) APPROVE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD DECEMBER 3, 2007:
On a motion by Trustee Sargent, seconded by Trustee Wildes and unanimously approved, the Board approved the minutes of the meeting held December 3, 2007.
5) DISCUSS DECEMBER 17TH TSSA MEETING WITH SELECTBOARD:
The Selectboard agreed unanimously on the TSSA boundary as proposed by the Trustees. The Planning Commission meets tomorrow and may not agree. Craig is planning on attending that meeting. Trustee DeBor pointed out that the TSSA boundary that was agreed on tonight was not written in stone. Trustee Wildes stated he was pleased with the dialogue that occurred with the Selectboard this evening. The Chairman finished by stating that the Planning Commission still has final say on what gets built where. The TSSA just gives the option to connect to sewer.
6) REVIEW DRAFT 2008 CAPITAL AND EXPENSE BUDGET:
The Board discussed the draft 2008 budget materials. The Board asked staff to provide additional information regarding the large increases in purchased power costs and a breakdown in employee expenses. In addition, the Trustees asked questions about the contract with Earthtech. Penny pointed out that the budgets are showing a proposed rate increase for water of 5% and sewer of 25% for reference as requested by Trustees at the previous meeting. Trustee Wildes suggested an increase of 15% for a more gradual approach to the next rate increase. The Trustees discussed strategies for communicating expected rate increase to the customers. Jim pointed out that any proposed water rate design changes will be up in the air until meters are installed, which he is trying to get out to bid in January. The new meters will be installed in 2008. We’ll need one year’s data before establishing true costs.
7) REVIEW DECEMBER 3RD STATUS REPORT OF WWTF PROJECT FROM FA&A:
There was a 60% completion meeting with the State on December 7th. FA&A did an excellent job. The building we recently revamped is not up to code but is a non-critical component. There were a couple of issue at the headworks that we weren’t going to touch. The furnace in one building is fairly new so we are keeping that one. The State purchased the Oneal property and the Bohanan property. The Burnor property still has not been acquired.
8) OTHER BUSINESS:
The Board reviewed the schedule of proposed meetings in 2008. Project assignments were tabled until a future meeting. The equity purchase has progressed smoothly so far with VPPSA picking up the balance.
9) EXECUTIVE SESSION:
On a motion by Trustee Sargent, seconded by Trustee Wildes and unanimously approved, the Board went into Executive Session at 8:01PM to discuss contracts.
10) ADJOURNMENT:
At 8:18 PM, on a motion by Wildes, seconded by Sargent and unanimously approved, the Board adjourned the meeting.
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Dana Wildes, Clerk
[1] The Trustee meeting start time was delayed due to an overrun of time at a prior meeting at the TEGU building with the Selectboard.