VILLAGE OF MORRISVILLE WATER AND LIGHT DEPARTMENT

February 17, 2009

TUESDAY 6:00 PM

Water and Light Office

The meeting duly noticed and warned was called to order at 6:00 PM.

PRESENT:

Trustees: Dana Wildes, Tim Sargent, and Peter Bourne.

Staff: Craig Myotte, Jim Fontaine, Linda Osgood

ABSENT: Trustee Thompson and Trustee DeBor

1) PUBLIC MEETING:

No members of the public were present.

2) CURRENT PRIORITY PROJECTS:

Craig briefly updated the Board on the status of the current priority projects.

3) MANAGEMENT REPORT:

Trustee Sargent asked for an explanation of what a weep-line is. Staff originally wanted to install weep lines on our side of water meters so customers would not be charged for water used to keep a distribution line from freezing. However that would require a second back-flow preventer. Staff decided to determine how much a weep line uses, install them on the customer’s side of the meter, and credit the customer for the water used for the weep line.

Both gates at Plant #2 have been installed. The actuators have also been installed and operated. We have installed a stainless steel tube with a water gauge inside to transmit the water level to the pond controller. Blow & Cote is hoping to begin cleaning up the site soon and we hope to be on-line next week. The new gates will not help control the frazzle ice that clogs them very quickly.

The audit was completed last week and the written report will be available by the end of the month.

Craig has a meeting tomorrow with Eric Werner of Hardwick Electric in regards to practical consolidation of equipment and/or personnel. Craig was pleased to say the Planning Commission was able to zero in on the necessary changes needed to satisfy the Act 250 permit conditions. Craig reported the CVPS loss adjustment will be administratively burdensome because CVPS is crediting us through a load adjustment (power bills) instead of just writing a check.

4) APPROVE MINTUES OF MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 2, 2009:

On a motion by Trustee Sargent, seconded by Trustee Bourne and approved by all present, the Board approved the minutes of the February 2, 2009, regular meeting.

5) UPDATE ON WWTF PROJECT:

All the roofs and interior sheet rocking are done. Interior painting is beginning. Equipment is starting to arrive. Most of the siding is done on most of the buildings. The drawings are being revised for SCADA purposes. The project is approximately 1½ months behind schedule but Keymont is still looking at an online date of December 2009.

6) UPDATE ON WATER METER PROJECT:

Ninety meters were scheduled to be installed last week. Jim knows that at least 40 were done. We have 340 meters installed to-date. Only one crew is working this week and 30 meters are scheduled to be installed. They are scheduling a lot of the 2” meters (mostly in schools) for next week during school vacation. Ten radio transmitters are giving us problems so far. April 24^th is the 90% completion date and approximately 700 meters should be installed by that time. Right now, we statistically have enough meters installed to provide data for new rate designs.

7) DISCUSS ANNUAL MEETING MATERIALS:

Article #5 (line of credit) does not have to be warned every year. However, the Trustees would like to raise the amount of the line of credit to $500,000. They also did not want the line of credit limited to just capital improvements. It would be converted to long-term only if the funds were used for a capital project. Trustee Bourne asked if we had ever needed the full $300,000 before. If we have not, he questioned why we needed the increase. The Chairman pointed out that our cushion fund (Green River) is not available anymore. The $500,000 would cover the two years it takes for a rate case to go into effect. The Board also reviewed Craig’s draft Manager’s Report and the draft Trustees’ Report. They suggested mentioning in both reports our hydro study to promote green energy.

8) OTHER BUSINESS:

The Board reviewed a draft of the goals for 2009.

The latest edition of the News & Citizen included an article that the Trustees are now accepting applications for the Amy Wade Fund. Craig stated that a portion of the amount granted last year was not spent. Chairman Wildes suggested that awards made and not spent should go back into the principal and not be re-awarded as the only way to grow the principal. Trustee Bourne feels that all grants not used should be re-awarded. Trustee Sargent liked both ideas. On a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Sargent and approved by all present, the Board agreed that any Amy Wade Fund Grants not spent should be returned to the Fund and that 50% should go back into the principal and 50% should go into present funds available. Trustee Bourne stated that if Copley Country Club can give us the golf tournament dates ahead of time, we could do a bill stuffer to help promote it. Craig will get date.

MWL’s SQRP filing requires the Trustees to review the SQRP data once per year. Our SQRP is under all base-line targets. On average our customers experienced one outage in 2008 with the average duration of 1.6 hours. We missed most of the large storms that hit the state in 2008 and we completed 29 miles of right-of-way clearing.

The Vermont River Conservancy stated that they need to have a special appraisal done on Zackwoods in order to get federal funding and that special appraisal costs $5,000. Do we want to give them a vague price range so they can initiate their $5,000 appraisal and then go with the lower appraisal amount? The Chairman pointed out that VRC can get funds from other places besides the State. If they need more money for their appraisal, they can get it from another party. Trustee Bourne suggested we let them appraise the property at their own cost, give us a dollar figure, and let MW&L either accept or reject. The Chairman agreed and asked if they have a “special appraisal” of a similar property that we could look at. Trustee Bourne emphasized that the easiest way to liquidate an asset is to convert it into a viable project.

Jim suggested that HL Turner knows there are things that will come into our relicensing process. Let them recommend where we need to be proactive towards relicensing. Craig will contact other utilities that recently relicensed. The Chairman stated that Lyndonville will have some thoughts to offer.

In regards to KRI goals, Trustee Sargent wants to know if demand is dropping because of the economy or conservation. The Chairman said it was probably the economy but should be cyclical.

Trustee Sargent still wants to see an electric, water, and wastewater rate comparison with other utilities. He also wondered with the movement for residences to disconnect from the power grid with co-generation, should we have a dedicated staff member to work with homeowners to try to keep them as customers. Or could our staff help install co-generation systems?

9) EXECUTIVE SESSION:

At 7:40 PM, on a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Sargent and approved by all present, the Board went into Executive Session to discuss contractual issues.

At 7:55 PM, on a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Sargent and approved by all present, the Board came out of Executive Session.

12) ADJOURNMENT:

At 7:55 PM, on a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Sargent and approved by all present, the Board adjourned the meeting.

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Tim Sargent, Clerk