VILLAGE OF MORRISVILLE WATER AND LIGHT DEPARTMENT

February 4, 2008

MONDAY 6:00 PM

Water and Light Office

The meeting duly noticed and warned was called to order at 6:02 PM.

PRESENT:

Trustees: Peter Bourne, Dana Wildes, Tim Sargent, Ed DeBor, Keith Thompson

Staff: Craig Myotte, Jim Fontaine, Penny Jones, Linda Osgood

1) PUBLIC MEETING:

No members of the public were present.

2) OLD BUSINESS:

The Trustees want to lead the charge on energy efficiency and green resource investments for our customers and discussed the best way to proceed. The Trustees agreed that the first priority is to make our own hydro generation as efficient as possible and discussed using the Green River interest funds. Trustee DeBor suggested forming a subcommittee investigate options and report back to the full Board. The Board agreed to form a subcommittee (with volunteers Trustee Sargent, Jim and Craig) to develop some recommendations by the Annual Meeting.

3) MANGEMENT REPORT:

MEAV (Municipal Electric Association of Vermont) has concerns about the proposed Act 79 (Governor Douglas’ E-Innitiative) that is pushing for communication towers on utility poles. MW&L already has two in place because Adelphia/Comcast could not get DRB approval for a separate pole for the installation.

A Certificate of Public Good (CPG) has been issued for solar net metering on Vanesse Road. This makes the fourth net metering CPG that has been issued on MW&L’s system (Kogan, Tomlinson and Keith are all wind projects). The Trustees discussed concerns that net-metering customers will not be paying their fair share of our cost to deliver them power 24/7 regardless of whether they use it or not. They asked staff to examine this equity issue during our next rate case.

The Chairman asked if there was a long-term solution to the icing problems at the hydro plants. Jim advised that they will discuss the issue with the team that will be designing the new headgates and racks.

A safety assessment was conducted for all three generating plants. There were over 200 violations noted in the report. Trustee Wildes asked if any violations were significant, life-threatening items. Jim replied that a few violations were lack of barriers but none were life-threatening. He plans to have Project Worksafe conduct an assessment after we have made all the changes we can.

Penny reminded the Board to look for their W2’s in their packets. The Auditors will be here on Monday and plan to have a report for the first meeting in March for Board approval. As the Board must approve the report at that meeting in order to make print deadline for the Annual Meeting, Penny urged the Trustees to contact her immediately with any questions or concerns.

Per State rules, the Trustees must review the SQRP filing. MW&L met all standards for 2007 except for the number of bills found inaccurate. Fortunately, that is not a field that results in a fine. Penny is currently looking at the flag parameters on meter reading to see if they are at the right level.

The Trustees noted that sewer accounts receivable was growing. Trustee Wildes asked for updated financials but Penny reported they are not ready yet.

Craig is trying to bring to closure the energy loss dispute between MW&L and CVPS. The DPS has expressed an interest in mediating, if necessary. Their initial read of the date indicates that MW&L’s position is correct.

The GMP transmission line purchase has been muddied due to the Lamoille County Project settlement but should be resolvable as this will be a critical element to MW&L.

Trustee Wildes reflected on a recent conference call with RDA which included a discussion that MW&L could get a 2.2% loan. He recalled reading that both the South Burlington’s project and the Mallett’s Bay project were receiving RDA loans in the 2% range. He questions why those projects got the lower loan rate and MW&L did not. Staff will look into the matter.

Developers do not feel that Rule 5.500 governing the interconnection of generators was fair to them because is forces a developer to conduct a system impact study that costs a minimum of $10,000. They have asked the DPS’s to hold workshops to discuss the matter.

Trustee Sargent asked if there were any results from the Lamoille County Energy Committee. Craig replied there has only been one meeting so far. He feels the dialogue will be good.

4) APPROVE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD JANUARY 21, 2008:

On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Thompson, the Board approved the minutes of the January 21, 2008, meeting. Trustee Sargent abstained.

5) APPROVE LIEN ON MUNCHY’S:

On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Thompson and unanimously approved, the Board approved the lien on the Munchy’s property located at 387 Brooklyn Street in the amount of $8,793.39.

6) APPROVE LIEN ON JUST-IN-TIME:

As this property is actually owned by H.A. Manosh, the lien of $9,688.18 would be on his property for water and sewer charges to his tenant, Just-In-Time. The Board asked how this total got so high and what Staff did to try to collect from the tenant. Penny explained the steps taken and stated Mr. Manosh was copied on lien notices sent out in July and October 2007. The tenant entered into a repayment schedule with this Department but stopped making payments altogether in October.

On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Sargent and unanimously approved, the Board went into Executive Session at 7:05 PM to discuss legal issues.

On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Thompson and unanimously approved, the Board came out of Executive Session at 7:15 PM.

The Chairman stated that MW&L must place a lien on Manosh’s property. He also asked for clarification on company policy for delinquent electric, water, and sewer accounts. On a motion by Trustee DeBor, seconded by Trustee Sargent, the Board approved a lien on the 65 Northgate Plaza property owned by Howard Manosh for water & sewer services provided to his tenant, Just-In-Time, in the amount of $9,688.18. Trustee Wildes abstained.

7) DISCUSS VILLAGE ANNUAL MEETING TIMELINE AND ARTICLES:

Craig asked the Board to review his draft of the Trustees’ Report and his draft of the Manager’s Report. The Trustees already have permission to sell any excess MW&L property with the exception of the 18 acres behind the former Union Carbide. The Chairman asked for a legal opinion on how to transfer ownership from the Electric Department to the Water Department by the next regular meeting.

Trustee DeBor pointed out that in the Trustees’ Report, there is no mention that we did not get the level of funding from RDA as promised. Trustee Thompson pointed out a typo in the Manager’s Report. Craig will ask Mary Ann Wilson to take the lead on writing a draft of the dedication to Wilber Patton and Adrian West.

Trustee Thompson asked if anyone else was alarmed by the lack of interest in the Village meeting. The Chairman pointed out that turnout was better than it used to be.

8) REVIEW STATUS REPORT OF WWTF PROJECT FROM FA&A:

There is a potential property ownership issue. The RDA requires a certified title to the WWTF. Richard Sargent cannot certify yet because it is unclear if we have title to the property that part of the plant sits on. Jim will continue to investigate this matter.

Most municipalities in Vermont keep water and sewer in the owner’s name. It is Jim’s recommendation that we meter the water service for the entire building. If the owner wants submetering, MW&L will provide them at the same time as installation of the main meter. The Chairman reminded Jim that landlords need to give 90-days notice of rent changes, which this would be because this would force the landlords to collect the water and sewer through rent. Trustee DeBor stated that if we are going to be installing new meters and still plan on billing every month, we need radio-transmitted meter readings.

9) PROPERTY MANAGEMENT:

Deferred to a future meeting.

10) OTHER BUSINESS:

Trustee Wildes would like to see a listing of sewer allocation for the past five years and how many actually signed up. He wants to know where we stand for existing capacity.

Craig is meeting with Senator Sanders’ representative (Jeffrey Munger) to talk about issues for the community. In addition, their will be a presentation from NUVAC of an innovative biological agent for the WWTF.

Morristown Planning Commission is meeting tomorrow night at 7PM for Act 250 application discussions. Craig is planning on attending to listen to the discussion on MW&L’s WWTF Act 250 filing.

11) EXECUTIVE SESSION:

On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Thompson and unanimously approved, the Board went into Executive Session at 8:00 PM to discuss personnel matters. The Trustees came out of executive session at 8:30 PM

12) ADJOURNMENT:

At 8:30 PM, on a motion by Trustee DeBor, seconded by Trustee Sargent and unanimously approved, the Board adjourned the meeting.

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Dana Wildes, Clerk