Water and Sewer 7/21/25

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Water and Sewer Minutes 07-21-25 208 KB

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Town of Richmond

Meeting of Water and Sewer Commission

Minutes of July 21, 2025

Members Present: Bard Hill, Jay Furr, David Sander, Morgan Wolaver

Members Absent: Erin Farr

Staff Present: Superintendent Steve Cote; Town Manager Josh Arneson; Deputy Town Manager Duncan Wardwell

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

MMCTV Video: MMCTV Erin Wagg
https://youtu.be/9K5CMZZXSkE?si=McsxlgcCiNWfUdMw

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

Minutes:

Hill moved to approve the minutes of July 7th, 2025. Furr seconded.

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

July 14^th Minutes will be approved at next meeting.
 

Purchase Orders: None

Warrants:

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

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

Items for Presentation or Discussion with those present

Recognition of new one year terms for all Commission members
Timestamp: 0:02

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Arneson

Arneson reviewed that the Selectboard appointed Jay Furr, David Sander, and Bard Hill to serve on the Water & Sewer Commission.

Consideration of rescheduling the August 4, 2025 meeting to August 11, 2025
Timestamp: 0:04

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Hill, Sander

Hill moved to reschedule the August 4 Water & Sewer Commission meeting to August 11 at same time 6-7 PM. Sander seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Sander, Wolaver in favor. Motion approved.
 

Consideration of appointing two Commissioners to work with the Superintendent, Town Manager, and Hoyle Tanner on bond repayment options
Timestamp: 0:05

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

Morgan Wolaver and Bard Hill agreed to work on this.

Consideration of accepting the trailer reserve balance from Chittenden Solid Waste District
Timestamp: 0:12

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Cote, Hill, Arneson, Sander

Cote reviewed that the Chittenden Solid Waste District disposes of biosolids. Casella started operating a biosolids composting facility with CSWD facilitating the disposal. CSWD started a replacement trailer fund and Cote thinks we should keep that in the reserve as there are rumblings of Casella getting of solids disposal. Hill stated that they are spending a lot of money on known costs so they should not take some money for something that might not happen.  Arneson suggested putting the money in a Restricted fund for capital repair, with the Wastewater Capital providing the most number of options.

Sander moved to accept the funds from the CSWD Trailer Reserve Fund and to place those funds into the Restricted Wastewater Capital funds. Hill seconded.
Roll Call Vote: Hill, Furr, Sander, Wolaver in favor. Motion approved.

Summary of meeting to discuss Tilden Ave., Bridge St., and Cochran Rd. Waterline Replacement Project and discussion of next steps
Timestamp: 0:23

https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Water_Sewer_Commission/Meetings/2025/07/4e___006-27_Richmond_Tilden-Bridge-Cochran_Water_Imp_PLANS_2022-12-14REV1.pdf

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Arneson, Hill 

Arneson reviewed that they need to communicate with the 22 people that need easements. Cote suggested that they could go door-to-door to mark it out with paint and give them an easement in person rather than just a letter. Hill stated that Tilden Ave doesn’t have enough space for all the properties that exist, so it is important to be cautious where things are going according to landmarks and survey posts. Arneson stated that in order to get funding from the State they require clean easements going forward.

Consideration of recommending that the Selectboard accept a loan for the Tilden Ave., Bridge St., and Cochran Rd. Waterline Replacement Project
Timestamp: 0:32

https://www.richmondvt.gov/fileadmin/files/Water_Sewer_Commission/Meetings/2025/07/4f_RF3-487-3.0_Richmond_Loan_Agreement_Signed_by_VBB.pdf

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Arneson, Cote, Sander, Furr

Sander moved to recommend that the Selectboard accept the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan for the Tilden Ave., Bridge St., and Cochran Rd. Waterline Replacement Project which provides 50% forgiveness on up to $1.9M in funds borrowed. Furr seconded.

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

Superintendent’s Report

Timestamp: 0:41

People who participated in discussion: Wolaver, Cote, Hill

Cote reported that the Wastewater plant is experiencing some problems with the controls for two filter tanks. Cote reviewed that they cleaned the digester out and took out 25 tons of solid because the aeration is not mixing right. They put out quotes to three different companies for the digester.

Cote stated that the Water plant has been running good and they are building a new water control panel with a little over $1,000 to have the pH added to the unit. The expensive stuff like chlorine and fluoride analyzers will be added down the road.

Discuss Items for Next Agenda:

-Bond repayment options
-20-year upgrade
-Easements

Adjournment

Furr moved to adjourn. Sander seconded.

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

Meeting adjourned at: 6:57 pm

Chat file from Zoom: None