VILLAGE OF MORRISVILLE WATER AND LIGHT DEPARTMENT
May 18, 2009
MONDAY 6:00 PM
Water and Light Office
The meeting duly noticed and warned was called to order at 6:00 PM.
PRESENT:
Trustees: Tim Sargent, Peter Bourne, and Dana Wildes
Staff: Craig Myotte, Jim Fontaine, Penny Jones, Linda Osgood
ABSENT: Trustee DeBor
1) PUBLIC MEETING:
No members of the public were present.
2) CURRENT PRIORITY PROJECTS:
Craig updated the Board on the status of the current
priority projects.
3) MANAGEMENT REPORT:
Jim discussed recent outages (April 27 and May 7) caused
by broken insulators. Trustee Bourne verified that infrared imaging would have
caught these broken insulators. On May 11th a transformer in Sub #4
failed completely. It is an oddball size so there is no replacement. It
contains PCBs and needs to be removed from the substation and disposed of.
Fortunately, Sub #2 has spare capacity to take the load because the reversal
would not have held (Sub #4 carrying Sub #2).
The transformer probably failed due to age, not lack of maintenance.
There has been no contact with John Bornemann so the 1200
unit at Plant #2 is still down. The
water line on Goodell Avenue is finished.
Hartigan has been vactoring and running cameras in sewer mains. We now have some good targets. Thanks to John Tilton for getting a video
tape of all sewer mains. We have one
2-man crew working for VEC in Grand Isle and South Hero. Looks like it could last until October. We are leaving our bucket truck there and
traveling with a pick up.
Penny has been working on the RDA loan that closes out
soon. The short-term note expires so
Penny asked the Board to sign a two month extension request. On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by
Trustee Bourne and approved by all present, the Board signed the request to
extend the RDA note for two months.
Penny is discussing interest rates with the Bond
Bank. Currently, we are not getting any
interest income and Penny would like to move some funds around if she can be certain
of the security.
Craig had a good meeting with the VP of operations at
VEC, Jeff Wright. He also asked the
Trustee to thank Dave Halquist for the work in the islands if they get a
chance. We have not had a response from
our letter to David Ring. The time
commitment for Economic Stimulus for electric projects is becoming so big that
VPPSA is looking at hiring outside help.
4) APPROVE MINTUES OF MEETING HELD MAY 4, 2009:
On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Bourne and approved by all present, the Board approved the minutes of the May 4, 2009, informational and regular meeting.
5) APPROVE LIENS:
Item tabled until the next regular meeting.
6) UPDATE OF WWTF/WATER METER PROJECT:
The UV will be started tomorrow. They will start filling the SBR with river water next week. They plan to run river water for two weeks for a shake-down. Then there will be operator training. A full test of the SBR is on June 18th. June 29th they plan to take the old unit offline and start pumping it out. They are still on target for a December 2009 completion date.
Trying to get the last 200 non-responsive customers scheduled for water meters. We have asked Ti-Sales for a list of everything they think that MW&L is responsible for. May 24th was the due date however there is a reasonable chance of getting the project completed by the end of June. The Board is pleased with the RDA waiver on meter pits for mobile homes and are pleased that we are collecting water usage date. Penny was unsure if we are still on track for a January 1st rate change. It won’t be perfect at first and we must anticipate a drop in usage once the meters go into effect.
7) REVIEW POWER SUPPLY COSTS FOR 1ST QUARTER:
VPPSA is showing a $56,792 variance for the 1st quarter 2009. VPPSA provides detailed variance data but Craig had to manipulate the data to put it in a usable format. The Board reviewed the format and made suggestions for changes.
8) DISCUSS POWER SUPPLY STRATEGY:
The Trustees had a general discussion on power supply strategy. Trustee Bourne verified that a portion of our portfolio would need to be new renewable and that we have not covered it yet. In general the Trustees support investing in projects on our system as opposed to projects off from our system proposed by VPPSA. The Trustees support partnering with customers to meet our green resource requirements and investing dollars into our hydro. Jim questioned if MW&L would get green credits from a customer’s co-generation system if MW&L was not some type of co-owner. Trustee Bourne directed staff to find out if MW&L has to be a co-owner to get green credits from a customer’s system.
9) OTHER BUSINESS:
After DPS review, they have dropped our electric rate increase request to 5.08% which we have agreed to in order to avoid the time and expense of an investigation/hearing. Trustee
Wildes would like to go on record as NOT agreeing with the DPS analysis of our rate case. The DPS wants utilities to invest in green energy but won’t allow utilities to save money for it because they want utilities to bond for such projects.
The bond vote for the Maple Street project did not pass. General feedback was no one really understood why we needed the bond vote, not realizing that in order to get stimulus funds you must bond for the entire project even though we have the ability to pay for our half of the project. Trustee Wildes suggested putting it on the agenda for the next Annual Meeting and be better prepared to defend it. Had the vote taken place at a regular meeting that allowed discussion, it may have passed. The Board then directed staff to NOT do anything further on a possible article for the next Annual Meeting until we see what the final price tag on the new reservoir is.
The Board reviewed the proposed article for a Special Meeting on June 22, 2009, to purchase the Patnoe land inside the wellhead protection area. The Board agreed to move their regular meeting on June 15th to June 22nd.
Trustee Thompson submitted a letter of resignation to the Board effective immediately. On a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Wildes and approved by all present, the Board regretfully accepted the resignation of Keith Thompson as a Village Trustee. The Board has the authority to appoint a replacement to serve until the next Annual Meeting, at which the Village will appoint someone for the rest of the term (2012).
Jim is trying to get Economic Stimulus funds for the WWTF Rehabilitation Contract #4. However the original contract does not meet ARRA criteria for a contract. We increased the budget for Bid Contractor by $3800 up to $50,000 to meet the requirement of a person on site for the duration of the project. It is a 90-day project that originally was slated at $352,000 and is now at $435,000. We have $345,000 of bond money but we will get 50% of the $435,000. This project will need to be awarded by June 1st. Trustee Wildes asked if we were certain to receive funding. We are because we are one of only four projects that are ready to go. Jim also mentioned that the Board has the authority to bond for up to $75,000 without another vote. On a motion by Trustee Wildes, seconded by Trustee Bourne and approved by all present, the Board authorized staff to apply for $435,000 in financial assistance from economic stimulus funds for the WWTF Rehabilitation Contract #4.
10) EXECUTIVE SESSION:
At 7:42 PM, on a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Wildes and approved by all present, the Board went into Executive Session to discuss contracts.
At 8:20 PM, on a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by
Trustee Wildes and approved by all present, the Board came out of Executive
Session.
11) ADJOURNMENT:
At 8:20 PM, on a motion by Trustee Bourne, seconded by Trustee Wildes and approved by all present, the Board adjourned the meeting.
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Peter Bourne, Acting Clerk