June 7, 2010
MONDAY 6:00 PM
Water and Light Office
The meeting duly noticed and warned was called to order at 6:00 PM.
PRESENT: Trustees: Ed DeBor, Wallace Reeve, Dana Wildes (arrived late) and Tim Sargent
Staff: Craig Myotte, Jim Fontaine, Penny Jones and Linda Osgood
ABSENT: Trustees Bourne
1) PUBLIC MEETING:
No members of the public were present.
2) CURRENT PRIORITY PROJECTS:
The Board reviewed the list of current priority.
3) MANAGEMENT REPORT:
Voltage conversion on Randolph Road is completed which reduces the exposure to Copley Hospital. Crews are assisting Stowe Electric to rebuild a three-phase line and are also performing some transmission work for WEC.
The new signs at Zackwoods have already been vandalized. Even though the flashboards were out for most of the month, we met the hydro generation goal for May because were able to run Green River. We had budgeted zero generation for July through December for repairs that are now postponed. Therefore we will see a positive variance against budget for 2010.
Craig & Jim met with FA&A to review the punch list of items remaining to be done at the WWTF. Keymont is still incurring a $750/day penalty. Paving and site work are the two biggest issues remaining. Design work for the headworks is beginning. There is a 23-24 week lead time for the equipment so FA&A is looking at getting the foundations and site work done first.
Pressure reducing valves (in pits) were installed at Well #3 and in front of the Armory. The final one will be installed here on Elmore Street tomorrow. Natgun is ready to begin pouring the foundation of the storage tank. The access road has been torn up but Jim has been in contact with the landowners. The Richmond Street job was awarded to Affordable Earthworks.
Staff is working on activating the water meters in the billing system and there will be a bill stuffer with the first bill. Five accounts need fixing so far. We are prorating the customer charges so the first bill will be much smaller than usual and will prompt many calls from customers. Many customers are unhappy with the sewer rates but the rates are in line with rates charged by other communities.
Penny is working with Poulos insurance to change agents. VPPSA Central Dispatch charges are down. The sewer financial numbers are not good through March. The Board noted that operations are not paying debt service which is not a viable model. Penny pointed out that we adjusted usage to account for conservation but we still did not have a full year’s usage to work with. We also did not have the Country Club’s usage. Penny stated we may have to revisit the water/sewer rate structure in another year or so.
Electric is looking good for the first quarter of 2010. It is not clear yet if an electric rate increase in 2010 will be necessary. The Trustees want Management to make sure that if we DO NOT have a rate increase, we need to positively emphasize this through the media.
United Water contacted High Mowers to see how to make our sludge usable as fertilizer on foods for human consumption. United Water already has several successful sludge composting facilities. Craig also toured Johnson’s sludge composting facility and sees a huge opportunity.
Craig looked at a waiver filing with FERC for HQ deliveries. A gap in the ISO-NE market rules cost the State of Vermont $1 million for the month of May. The Hydro Quebec Participants asked FERC to review and override the deficiency in the Market Rules. Craig has asked VPPSA to review the wheeling true-up for 2009. Their calculations show that we owe $25,000.
Trustee Wildes arrived at this time.
4) APPROVE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD MAY 17, 2010:
The Chairman asked that the last paragraph on the last page be stricken from the record. On a motion by Trustee Sargent, seconded by Trustee Reeve and approved by all present, the Board approved the amended minutes of the May 17, 2010, regular meeting.
5) APPROVE IBEW CONTRACT FOR JUNE 1, 2010 TO MAY 31, 2011:
On a motion by Trustee Reeve, seconded by Trustee Sargent and approved by all present, the Board approved the IBEW contract for June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011.
6) APPROVE REVISED AMY WADE POLICY:
On a motion by Trustee Sargent, seconded by Trustee Reeve and approved by all present, the Board approved the revised Amy Wade Policy as presented.
7) DISCUSS POWER SUPPLY ISSUES:
The update on Project 10 as of May 24th is that both units are running at rated capacity. There are still a few small issues to resolve.
VPPSA intends to analyze the details of the proposed HQ contract which contains very complex formulas. The timing of the contract approval is unknown at this time. The Board reviewed a graph showing our annual capacity entitlement with anticipated need. Craig reminded the Board that repairing/upgrading our own generation would not affect capacity as much as energy. The Chairman questions why VPPSA still shows an upward load growth of 15% when our load growth has been flat. Craig stated he would look in to the matter.
For our hydro projects, Craig would like to concentrate on the generator for the Green River bypass first using funds from the Zackwoods sale. The design-work can be accomplished in 2010 with actual work scheduled for 2011. The Cady’s Falls hydro improvements would be designed in 2011 and constructed in 2012. Finally, the Morrisville hydro improvements would be designed in 2012 and constructed in 2013. This allows all the improvements to be completed before we file our new license application in 2013.
8) DISCUSS SEWER ORDINANCES:
The Trustees discussed several issues related to the draft sewer ordinances. The discussion included MW&L expanding the sewer system, how to handle the cost of sewer line extensions requested by developers. The Trustee agreed we need to come up with a plan of how and where to expand public sewer within the SSMA. The Trustees discussed ownership options.
The Trustees discussed incentives, allocations and cost recovery.
9) OTHER BUSINESS:
Craig feels the planned improvements for the LRSWMD transfer facility on Trombley Hill look good but has some concerns about liability. Trustee Wildes stated he would like a presentation by LRSWMD and would like to see a copy of their financials two weeks prior.
We have several customers asking for special consideration on water/sewer billing. The issue being sewer billing is based upon water consumption. The water use concerns are irrigation, watering lawns, filling pools, washing cars, and other business applications where water used is not being processed at the WWTF. The Board instructed Staff to look into sewer meters on a case-by-case customer for large commercial users.
Functional consolidation has stalled as we are chasing relatively small savings and losing track of the big picture. Craig would rather focus his attention on a bigger review of purchased power. We received the PSB ruling on the Belanger billing error. PSB ruled in our favor in denying Belanger’s claim. He may still get a lawyer but he will sign a repayment agreement.
Jim discussed the Union Street project with the Trustees. In anticipation of replacing the Union Street sewer line, a survey of the street was conducted uncovering many T-intersections (water) and not enough room for sanitary separation between existing water and proposed sewer. If we replace both the water and sewer lines, we can keep them in the road ROW and keep the 10’ required separation. Jim would like to use $50,000 to do the water at the same time or abandon the street completely and move onto the next one. As replacing just the sewer will require total repavement, Jim recommends doing the water at the same time. The Trustees discussed other project options. The Chairman instructed Staff to come up with another project to compare to Union Street but he feels we should do both the water and sewer on Union Street.
Kevin Fitzgerald met with Trustee Sargent and Jim for a site visit of the Gristmill/Creamery.
In regards to forming an LLC for hydro projects, the Chairman has spoken with various Boards in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. He wonders if this is the right way to do it. Jim also questions if this LLC could get municipal status.
10) EXECUTIVE SESSION:
None.
11) ADJOURNMENT:
At 8:32 PM, on a motion by Trustee Sargent, seconded by Trustee Reeve and approved by all present, the Board adjourned the meeting.
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Wallace Reeve, Clerk