Water and Sewer 5/19/25
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Monday,
May 19, 2025
6PM – 7 PM
Minutes
Approved on: Monday, June 2, 2025
Minutes
Printable version
Web version
Town of Richmond
Meeting of Water and Sewer Commission
Minutes of May 19, 2025
Members Present: Erin Farr, Bard Hill, Jay Furr, David Sander
Members Absent: Morgan Wolaver
Staff Present: Superintendent Steve Cote; Deputy Superintendent Brad Snow; 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, Tom Astle, Becky Vigneault.
MMCTV Video: MMCTV Erin Wagg
https://youtu.be/rlg0tlviZZA?si=Q-IrHbw4BWkZM3IN
Call to Order: 6:00 pm
Welcome: Farr
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 of April 17, 2025. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Farr, Sander in favor. Motion approved.
Hill moved to approve the minutes of May 5, 2025. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Farr, Sander in favor. Motion approved.
Purchase Orders:
Hill moved to amend Purchase Order number 4754 to Champlin Associates for the water system monitoring system to an amount of $15,741.72. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Sander, Farr in favor. Motion approved.
Warrants:
Hill moved to approve the Warrants as presented. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Sander, Farr in favor. Motion approved.
Review of Draft FY26 Budget and Rates
Timestamp: 0:04
People who participated in discussion: Arneson, Furr, Hill, Farr, Cote
Arneson described the changes he has made to the budget to reflect the user rates going from 98% to 95%. This makes a $0.50 rate increase. Furr described that because two restaurants in Town are closed usage rates should be down. Cote said he has found another leak using the new water meter system. Hill wanted to know the impact on Residential accounts if the 95% option was chosen, which Arneson said would become about a 3% rise in rates. All board members present feel the 95% is prudent.
Review of agenda for Annual Meeting
Timestamp: 0:15
People who participated in discussion: Arneson, Cote, Hill, Farr
Arneson presented the draft Agenda that he is proposing for the Annual meeting. Cote and all board members encouraged including a discussion about the Confidence report, which was not on the draft Agenda. A brief discussion ensued about the order of items on the Agenda.
Consideration of setting the rate of increase for the pay grid
Timestamp: 0:20
People who participated in discussion: Arneson
Arneson said there exists a pay grid for the Water and Sewer Department employees. He uses the national consumer report to calculate the annual raise, which this year is 3% which was built into the next fiscal year’s budget.
Hill moved to increase the Water and Sewer pay grid by 3.0% for Fiscal Year 2026. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Sander, Farr in favor. Motion approved
Update on Tilden Ave Waterline Replacement Project
Timestamp: 0:22
People who participated in the discussion: Arneson, Farr, Cote
Arneson explained that one approval came in last week, which was a positive step forward. This now must go out to bid. Farr wondered if it should go out for bid now or wait until fall. Cote said not to wait until fall, because the weather is so unpredictable. Arneson will bring this back to the next meeting.
Superintendents Report
Timestamp: 0:25
People who participated in the discussion: Cote
Cote explained there are 6 water meters left to install, the last installs have been tricky, but they continue to work on it. The new water meters are working well, and he is finding leaks frequently and people are responding well.
Cote reported that we have absolutely no PFAS in our biosolids, which is good news.
Bids are in for the influent pump that needs to be replaced, so that is progressing.
He wants to start testing pH and chlorine in the water coming into the plant automatically and then put the chlorine on a dosing system which adds chlorine automatically when the analyzer gets below 0.8. To add a test for pH is about $1000 he was quoted. In the future he is hoping to do the same with fluoride.
The screw that broke two weeks ago, they were able to replace it the following Thursday, and they didn’t have to shut down and they kept taking septage. The new screw is working well. He got help from Gosselin and the Highway department to install the screw with the bucket loader.
Snow and Cote went to Fairlee last week and made some good connections. The plant is running well, and Snow is taking his test again and is studying hard to get his license. Mike is working on getting his water license.
Discuss Items for Next Agenda:
Waterline bid
Tilden Ave
Hoyt Tanner to discuss upgrade project
20-year study
Goals for next year
Community outreach ideas
Adjournment
Hill moved to adjourn. Furr seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Farr, Furr, Sander in favor. Motion approved.
Meeting adjourned at: 6:48 pm
Chat file from Zoom: None.
Agenda
Printable version
Web version
Town of Richmond Meeting of the Water and Sewer Commission
May 19, 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: us02web.zoom.us/j/89501464698
Join by Phone: +1 929 205 6099 Meeting ID: 895 0146 4698 Passcode: 686462
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 4/21/25
b. Minutes of 5/5/25
6:10 PM 4. Items for Presentation or Discussion with those present
a. Review of Draft FY26 Budget and Rates # (15 min)
b. Review of agenda for Annual Meeting # (5 min)
c. Consideration of setting the rate of increase for the pay grid* (10 min)
d. Update on Tilden Ave Waterline Replacement Project # (5 min)
e. 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