Water and Sewer 1/6/25

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Water and Sewer Minutes 01-06-25 194 KB

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Town of Richmond
Meeting of Water and Sewer Commission

Minutes of January 6, 2025

Members Present: Lisa Miller, Jay Furr, Erin Farr, Bard Hill, Morgan Wolaver
 

Members Absent: None

Staff Present:  Superintendent Steve Cote; Town Manager Josh Arneson; Assistant to the Town Manager Duncan Wardwell; Admin Assistant Linn Caroleo.

Others Present: The meeting was recorded for MMCTV Erin Wagg, Sander, Wood.

MMCTV Video: MMCTV Erin Wagg

https://youtu.be/dFG2rgqPjYI?si=Tr4ZXXaAGuWxMvjy

Call to Order:  6:00 pm
 

Welcome: Wolaver

Public Comment:  None

Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: 
 

Hill mentioned he has a comment on the Town Report for Water and Sewer, which Arneson said he could add to the Agenda.

Approval of Minutes, Warrants and Purchase Orders

Timestamp: 0:01

Minutes:

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver

Furr moved to approve the Minutes as written on 12/16/2024. Hill seconded.

Roll Call Vote: Wolaver, Hill, Furr, Miller, Farr in favor. Motion approved.

Purchase Orders:  None

Warrants:

Hill moved to approve the Warrants as presented. Farr seconded.

Roll Call Vote: Wolaver, Hill, Furr, Miller, Farr in favor. Motion approved.

Items for Presentation or Discussion with those present

Hill made a comment that he feels it’s unclear from reading the Town Report that Water and Sewer is under the Water and Sewer Commission not under the jurisdiction of the Selectboard, similarly that the Library is under the trustees for the Library. He wishes it to be clearer that the Water and Sewer Commission is in charge and not the Selectboard. He is specifically talking about page 60 in the report.

Consideration of amendments to the “Policy For Providing Water And Wastewater Service To Future Public Or Private Land Development Projects Or Properties
Timestamp: 0:05
 

https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Water_Sewer_Commission/Meetings/2025/01/4a_Public_Private_System_Policy__v2__DRAFT_1-6-25.pdf

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Arneson, Furr, Cote, Hill, Miller

Arneson reported that he reached out to Planning and Zoning regarding the word minor in Section 3 under Water meters, connections of the policy. Oborne suggested using the word “pertinent” rather than minor, to make it clear that “the secondary structure is something that belongs to or goes with” the main structure and is less important. Furr concurred that the wording makes it clearer that the secondary structure is not another residence. Cote said this makes it clear that it’s more cost beneficial to owner, developer or builders to put in another curb stop and meter at the start of construction. Hill wondered about ADUs. Miller asked if an ADU had to be attached, to which everyone replied that an ADU does not have to be attached any longer.

Furr moved to approve the amendments to the “Policy For Providing Water And Wastewater Service To Future Public Or Private Land Development Projects Or Properties.” Miller seconded.

Roll Call Vote: Wolaver, Hill, Furr, Miller, Farr in favor. Motion approved.

Discussion of the addition of fluoride to the drinking water
Timestamp: 0:14

https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Water_Sewer_Commission/Meetings/2025/01/4b_Fluoride_References.pdf

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Cote, Farr, Arneson, Hill, Furr

Wolaver stated this is an initial discussion. Arneson explained that we are part of the Vermont Department of Health where we add 0.4 up to 0.7 to our drinking water. He warned that if it were voted to take Richmond out of the program, dentists and in particular pediatric dentists would need to prescribe fluoride. Farr said that her experience with her children when fluoride was not being added to the water was a plethora of cavities. She reiterated how important it is to notify people if the fluoride supplementation goes away. Cote explained that the only supplier for fluoride systems is in China, and it’s uncertain how much the tariffs will increase with the new administration. He ordered an extra bag in December, and it had already increased in price to $400 per bag, $100 more than previously. Hill suggested that this be put out for a vote at the annual Town Meeting. He continued that evidence has shown that overdosing fluoride in older people is not helpful. Arneson wondered how many bags Cote used last year, which he replied 6, 5 he bought, and one was given to him by the State. Wolaver wondered about bringing in experts or representatives from the State to talk about the pros and cons of fluoride supplementation. Farr wondered if the schools’ water should be supplemented. Cote expanded upon other districts and said that the Champlain Water District has hired two chemists to keep their water chemistry an exact straight line and fluoride at exactly 0.7. Cote continued that the biggest benefactors are the kids who attend Richmond schools who get fluoride through the water at school.

Discussion of feedback regarding progress on Water and Sewer action items in the Town Plan
Timestamp: 0:29

https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Water_Sewer_Commission/Meetings/2025/01/4c_Town_Plan_Implementation_PAC_input__1___1__-_WS_12-23-24.pdf

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Cote, Arneson

Arneson is asking for feedback from committees on what has been completed or not regarding the New Town Plan which is being updated for 2026. Wolaver wanted clarification about the term “partial review of storm water connections,” which Cote answered that most people in Town don’t have sub pumps connected to their wastewater. But he added that when it rains the volume at the plant increases and that could be infiltration. He continued that the Dwyer’s septic is connected to a line that dumps into the system in the vault where the water comes across from the pump station, it is recommended that when the house changes ownership to say to the new owners that their sewer line must be rerouted to Bridge St. Cote would like to have that pipe blocked off.

Superintendent’s Report
Timestamp: 0:41

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Cote

Cote would like to have a water audit done once the new water meters are installed.

January will be a big month for water meter installation, they replaced 5 meters just today. 20 are scheduled for this week and 15 more for next week. Some residents who have meters in crawl spaces will have to wait until Spring. They found a customer who started using 200 gallons per hour every hour starting on November 16, so they called the owner who traced the meter to one of his rental apartments and the very next day the water usage was back to normal. Cote says they never would have caught such over usage had it not been for the new meter system.

Cote continued that the plant is doing really well and no big repairs have been done during the holidays. Once more water meters have been installed, he wants to start working on the curb stops in Town. He estimates that about 70% of the curb stops are easily accessible and in working order, but others have been plowed over, sheared off or are broken or filled up, which is what he aims to rectify.

Furr asked about the 20-year study, which Cote replied is almost wrapped up. Cote is eager to try and cut some expenses that are non-essential in his mind. He particularly mentioned the $400 screen he installed that protects the influent pump that needs to be cleaned daily, but he feels is essential, saves money and protects the pumps.

Review of December 2024 water data

Timestamp: 0:51

https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Water_Sewer_Commission/Meetings/2025/01/4e_Monthly_Water_Report_December_2024.pdf

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Cote

Cote described that the report this time is displaying actual numbers without rounding. He shows that the fluoride numbers were 0.8575 last month and thus the fluoride pump has been turned down a bit. He continued that they recently took the Chlorine pump apart and cleaned it, which has helped bring the numbers for Chlorine down, but they are still tweaking that a bit.

Discuss Items for Next Agenda:

Farr stated she wanted to hear about the tank, to which Arneson replied that he has the engineers report which he forwarded to our attorneys, so there is some movement on this.

She thinks they should talk more about fluoride

Adjournment

Farr moved to adjourn. Miller seconded.

Roll Call Vote: Wolaver, Hill, Farr, Furr, Miller in favor. Motion approved.

Meeting adjourned at: 6:57 pm

Chat file from Zoom:  None