VILLAGE OF MORRISVILLE WATER AND LIGHT DEPARTMENT
March 3, 2008
MONDAY 6:00 PM
Water and Light Office
The meeting duly noticed and warned was called to order at 6:00 PM.
PRESENT: Trustees: Peter Bourne, Dana Wildes, Tim Sargent, Ed DeBor
Staff: Craig Myotte, Jim Fontaine, Penny Jones, Linda Osgood
ABSENT: Trustees: Keith Thompson
1) PUBLIC MEETING:
No members of the public were in attendance.
2) OLD BUSINESS:
Craig handed out a draft work schedule for the internal assessment of our hydro stations. This timeline can be moved up depending on the responses we get from the RFP’s. Although the Board would hate to lose late summer ’08 for repairs, if an urgent recommendation comes from the RFP’s we would be looking at working in late summer ’09. Trustee Sargent asked if the RFP’s would go to a select few or to “everyone”. Trustee DeBor feels more is better. Trustee Wildes felt the timeline needed to remain flexible. Staff currently is looking for an RFP template to use to speed up the process.
3) MANGEMENT REPORT:
Trustee Sargent stated he heard someone had a solar display in their front yard. Craig stated that he has seen the solar display at the state offices in Middlesex. It would be nice to get a display at Morrisville’s office if we could fund it with a grant.
We have barrels at Plant #1 and #2 that we have no idea what is in them except that it is hazardous waste. Exact quantity is also unknown. TCI will sample them and notify us of content and how to dispose of them. When these barrels are gone, MW&L will not have any chemicals on hand that we do not have an MSDS on.
Jim recently attended a meeting in Johnson on broadband/fiber optics. It is financially not feasible for a single, small community. However, communities are looking to collaborate together to improve the economics.
Per the Board’s request, we are now asking for deposits on water and sewer services in addition to the electric deposit we have been asking for. Penny renewed the Green River CD at the Union Bank for 3.75% for two years after getting quotes from three different banks. She is currently working on interim financing for WWTF because we must spend money before we get the RDA loan.
Craig recently met with Richard Keith (interim town administrator).
Craig also spent time looking at legal invoices from VPPSA for lobbying. He is concerned that there are no caps on spending limits. He would like to begin capping their spending in order to manage it better.
Trustee Sargent asked if Stowe Electric still wanted to leave VPPSA. Craig is unsure but knows that the Stowe Commissioners have no faith in VPPSA at this time.
We settled the Merriam insurance claim. She got a second quote that was significantly less than the first quote. We will pay any amount she incurs above the low quote to make her whole.
Jim Bradley’s attorney (Jim Mahoney) feels he is getting the run around from us. Our insurance company, Massamont, doesn’t agree and have stated that until Bradley takes action against MW&L they are not going to respond. Craig will call Mr. Mahoney and suggest that he consider preparing a settlement offer and meeting with the logger again. Craig will make it clear that MWL can not participate in settlement discussion.
Trustees reviewed AP and AR graphs. Central Dispatch changes every month due to the spot market.
Trustee Wildes pointed out that VPPSA has been saying that MW&L was long in purchased power contracts. Now we are short. What changed? Trustee Wildes asked for VPPSA to be invited to a future meeting to discuss the matter.
6) APPROVE 2008 AUDIT REPORT:
Our auditor from KBS joined by conference call to answer any questions on the audit. Reported that overall audit was good. All three departments showed a net profit of $487,000 combined. Part of the audit clarified the “ownership” of the Vt Trans Co equity purchased by VPPSA. The audit went very well and Penny did great. Trustee Wildes informed Penny that he wanted to have a conversation with VPPSA’s controller regarding the Vt Transco Co equity.
On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Sargent and unanimously approved by all present, the Board accepted the 2008 audit report.
4) APPROVE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 19, 2008:
Clarify #7 to read that any proceeds Village gets from leasing/renting/selling the Gristmill and Creamery building after transferring from Electric Department should go to Amy Wade Fund.
Clarify last paragraph of #10 from “anyone wishing to speak” to “any Trustee wishing to speak”.
On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Sargent with Trustee DeBor abstaining, the Board approved the minutes of the February 19, 2008, meeting.
5) APPROVE ANNUAL MEETING ARTICLES:
The Article giving permission for Village Trustees to talk freely for the duration of the meeting was removed. The moderator will cover the issue in his opening remarks.
Article #10 gives the Trustees authorization to approve all sewer allocations in excess of 500 gpd requested outside of the Village in lieu of holding a Special Meeting.
Article #11 asks if the village voters will accept the Gristmill/Creamery buildings from the Electric Department. The information provided to the voters on the article needs to emphasize we are removing the hurdles so we can actually do something with these buildings.
On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Sargent and unanimously approved by all present, the Board approved the Annual Meeting Articles.
7) DISCUSS VILLAGE ANNUAL MEETING TIMELINE:
There will be a general discussion at tomorrow’s Town Meeting to discuss the TSSA. There was no further discussion about Village meeting.
8) REVIEW STATUS REPORT OF WWTF PROJECT FROM FA&A:
There will be an Act 250 public hearing meeting in a few days. We’ve been told that the focus of the hearing will be about the impact of the WWTF upgrades on prime agricultural land. The meeting will be at the Charlmont Restaurant on March 5th.
9) PROJECT 10:
This project is coming in $2.8 million higher than approved by Village voters last year but is still cheaper that buying from the spot market. Craig recommended making a communication to the voters. The Board authorized Craig to communicate through whatever means he felt was appropriate.
10) OTHER BUSINESS:
Craig recently met with Howard Manosh. Craig informed Mr. Manosh that MW&L is still interested in purchasing his generator. Mr. Manosh stated that a potential buyer of the building may want to keep the generator. If circumstances change he’ll let us know.
We received the appraisal on Bugbee Springs from Tim Sullivan but Craig has not had time to review it yet.
Cassella had a sludge spill involving our sludge from the sewer plant. The accident did not occur on our premises. Cassella is taking full responsibility for the accident.
January power supply costs were up 12% above budget. VEPPI generation was very high and VELCO has started passing on the legal costs of the Lamoille County Project.
Craig asked the Trustees if there was any interest in a joint meeting with the other governing boards of other utilities. The Chairman replied that they did meet a few years ago and came to the conclusion that “we do it our way and you do it your way”. He suggested the Superintendents meet first to work out an agenda.
Oneal Demars wanted to install a sprinkler system in the Demars Building. The Town thought it would be a great opportunity to add sprinklers to the next two or three buildings as they are renovated. In order to do that, MW&L needs a hydrant to blow off air for any future line extensions to other buildings. The engineering costs alone have come in at $16,000 which is cost prohibitive. We will get another engineering quote but the experts say they have to follow all the same steps and permits for a two foot line extension as they would for a 200’ line extension.
11) EXECUTIVE SESSION:
On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Sargent and unanimously approved by all present, the Board voted to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel at 7:54 PM. On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Sargent and unanimously approved by all present, the Board voted to come out of Executive Session at 8:33 PM.
12) ADJOURNMENT:
At 8:34 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