Water and Sewer 4/7/25
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Monday,
April 7, 2025
6PM – 7 PM
Minutes
Approved on: Monday, April 21, 2025
Minutes
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Town of Richmond
Special Meeting of Water and Sewer Commission
Minutes of April 7, 2025
Members Present: Erin Farr, Bard Hill, Jay Furr, Morgan Wolaver, David Sander
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.
MMCTV Video: MMCTV Erin Wagg
https://youtu.be/P5h7qgDR5Rg?si=7VD7jNn77yQhHpKY
Call to Order: 6:00 pm
Welcome: Wolaver
Public Comment: None
Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None
Approval of Minutes, Warrants and Purchase Orders
Timestamp: 0:01
Minutes:
Hill moved to approve the Minutes as written on 03/17/2024. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Wolaver in favor. Farr and Sander abstain. Motion approved.
Purchase Orders:
Hill moved to approve Purchase Order number 4921 to M and T Bank for the East Main St. Waterline Loan in the amount of $25,139.95. Sander seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Sander, Farr, Furr, Wolaver in favor. Motion approved.
Hill moved to approve Purchase Order number 4923 to US Bank for the Jericho Rd. loan in the amount of $4,005.73 for water and $3,147.36 for wastewater.Sander seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Sander, Farr, Furr, Wolaver in favor. Motion approved.
Warrants:
Sander moved to approve the Warrants as presented. Hill seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Furr, Hill, Sander, Farr in favor. Motion approved.
Welcome to the new Water and Sewer Commissioner
Timestamp: 0:06
People who participated in discussion: Wolaver
Sander was welcomed back on the Water and Sewer Commission.
Consideration of approval of a water and sewer allocation for 340 Cochran Rd
Timestamp: 0:07
People who participated in discussion: Arneson, Wolaver, Cote, Hill, Sander
The owners are looking to get an allocation increase for water and sewer because they want to sell the home. The increase in allocations proposed is 80 gallons per day of water for the additional bedroom. The additional bedroom does not increase the sewer allocation for the main house. 140 gal/d of water and 140 gal/d of sewer for the basement apartment. Cote said it’s the customer’s responsibility to notify the Water and Sewer dept if they need to increase their allocations. He said for 10 years this property has had an apartment in the basement without an allocation. Cote feels moving forward this needs to be avoided. Hill wondered if a permitting review needs to happen along with Planning and Zoning review when homes are added onto or changed. Sander said to compare the properties with the Lister cards. Allocations and fixed costs are not the same, Cote added. Arneson stated that this house’s lister card shows only a 2-bedroom home.
Farr moved to approve the final water and sewer allocations for 340 Cochran Rd. for an additional 220 gallons per day of water and 140 gallons per day of sewer. Sander seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Sander, Farr, Furr, Wolaver in favor. Motion approved.
Consideration of setting a date for the Water and Sewer Commission Annual Customer Meeting
Timestamp: 0:19
People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Arneson
The date in May did not work for everyone so the meeting will be moved to June.
Consideration of recommending that the Selectboard accept the loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for Step 1 design of flood mitigation project for Wastewater Pump and Force Main
Timestamp: 0:20
People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Arneson
Hoyle Tanner is doing this study and valuable work to avoid future flooding.
Hill moved to recommend that the Selectboard accept the loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for Step 1 design of a flood mitigation project for Wastewater Pump and Force Main, noting that the loan will be paid by receipts from the Water and Wastewater Department. Sander seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Sander, Farr, Furr, Wolaver in favor. Motion approved.
Review of Draft FY26 Budget
Timestamp: 0:22
People who participated in the discussion: Wolaver, Arneson, Cote, Hill, Farr
Arneson explained that the following changes were made to the budget sheet which details the Restricted and Unrestricted Funds. He is hoping he can present rates at the next meeting in response to Farr’s question about rates. Cote explained that he wanted lab rates to be broken out separately, because lab expenses are high. Loans were changed so that it can easily be seen when the loans come due. Hill wanted to know how many of our supplies come from abroad. Cote said fluoride comes from China, which will increase those costs 34%. The polymer may go up by 10%. The wastewater pump is made in USA, in Oregon. Unrestricted and Restricted funds were changed by $15,000, and the final budget was brought down to $147,000 for the water budget and $203,000 for the Wastewater budget.
Review of water data for March 2025
Timestamp: 0:44
People who participated in the discussion: Cote
Cote said the chlorine pump is giving him some issues and they don’t make that pump or parts to it any longer. Quotes for a new pump are $1,800 up to $2,400 to replace the current one. But to change to a peristaltic pump it’s upward of $3,600 to $6,000. He can borrow a peristaltic pump for 90 days to test it, which he would like to do.
Update on Congressionally Directed Spending Request for septage receiving upgrades not being funded and submission of FY26 Request
Timestamp: 0:47
People who participated in the discussion: Arneson
Hoyle Tanner has applied for several grants but has not received any money yet because of the executive order and hold on grants.
Update on Water Meter installation
Timestamp: 0:49
People who participated in the discussion: Cote
Cote explained there are only 8 water meters left to install and its being held up due to non-responsiveness, water line sizes and meter sizes for businesses. Certain homeowners on West Main have not responded despite being an occupied building and multiple attempts to communicate with them.
Update on Tilden Ave. Bridge St. and Cochran Rd. waterline project
Timestamp: 0:55
People who participated in the discussion: Arneson
This project has been on hold and Arneson wants to construct a letter to send out inquiring about the status of this project. Wolaver suggested contacting Janet Brown’s office.
Superintendents Report
Timestamp: 0:56
People who participated in discussion: Cote
The incline screw on the press isn’t working at the moment, Cote explained, because it snapped down the center on Friday afternoon. All septage receivers have been closed recently, so he hopes to have it repaired and running again to receive septage by Tuesday.
Discuss Items for Next Agenda:
Tilden Ave project
Budget rates
Hoyle Tanner
Adjournment
Furr moved to adjourn. Hill seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Wolaver, Hill, Farr, Furr, Sander in favor. Motion approved.
Meeting adjourned at: 6:58 pm
Chat file from Zoom: None
Agenda
Printable version
Web version
Town of Richmond Meeting of the Water and Sewer Commission
April 7, 2025
Richmond Town Center Meeting Room, 3rd Floor – 203 Bridge Street, Richmond, VT
Meeting may also be joined online or by phone
Join Zoom Meeting Online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87114541618?pwd=TwTVmqeXNgm0vEGNjdACCNBwQgTkqr.1
Join by Phone: +1 929 205 6099 Meeting ID: 871 1454 1618 Passcode: 388923
Agenda
6:00 PM 1. Welcome and Public Comment
6:02 PM 2. Additions, Deletions, or Modifications to the Agenda
6:05 PM 3. Approval of Minutes, Purchase Orders, and Warrants*
a. Minutes of 3/17/25
6:10 PM 4. Items for Presentation or Discussion with those present
a. Welcome to the new Water and Sewer Commissioner (1 min)
b. Consideration of approval of a water and sewer allocation for 340 Cochran Rd.* # (5 min)
c. Consideration of setting a date for the Water and Sewer Commission Annual Customer Meeting* (1 min)
d. Consideration of recommending that the Selectboard accept the loan from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for Step 1 design of flood mitigation project for Wastewater Pump and Force Main* # (5 min)
e. Review of Draft FY26 Budget and Rates # (15 min)
f. Review of water data for March 2025 # (2 min)
g. Update on Congressionally Directed Spending Request for septage receiving upgrades not being funded and submission of FY26 Request # (2 min)
h. Update on installation of water meters (2 min)
i. Update on Tilden Ave. Bridge St. and Cochran Rd. waterline project (2 min)
j. Superintendent’s Report (10 min)
6:55 PM 5. Discuss Items for Next Agenda and Adjourn
Time is available at each meeting for public comment.
If you would like to schedule a time with the Commission or need assistance to participate in the meeting, please call
Josh Arneson, Richmond Town Manager at 434-5170 or jarneson@richmondvt.gov
Links to videos of Water and Sewer Commission meetings can be found at mtmansfieldctv.org
Documents related to this meeting can be found at: www.richmondvt.gov/documents/water-sewer-commission-meeting-documents/
*denotes action item # denotes item(s) included in packet