Water and Sewer Committee Minutes 7-9-2021

Water and Sewer Committee Minutes 7-9-2021

RUTLAND TOWN SELECT BOARD

WATER AND SEWER COMMITTEE MEETING

FRIDAY JULY 9^th, 2021

The Water and Sewer Committee of the Rutland Town Select Board met at 10:15 AM on Friday July 9th at the Rutland Town Municipal Town Hall. Present was Board Chair Mary Ashcroft, Board Clerk Joe Denardo, Board Member Don Chioffi, Town Lister Howard Burgess and Administrative Assistant Bill Sweet. Mark Foley joined the meeting as a member of the public. There was a conference call line with a publicly accessible and warned phone number in use.

• Mark Foley was present and discussed a recent water bill he received for his property at 280 Seward Road.
  • Mr. Foley presented a copy of his quarterly water bill from the City of Rutland which was $5591.31. The largest portion of this bill was from the standby water charge of $5335.14. The standby water is for the sprinkler system.
  • The standby water rate for Town users is $.148 per square foot. The rate for City users is $.0435.
  • Mr. Foley did not receive any notice that he was aware of about a rate change.
  • Mr. Chioffi commented on his frustration on the situation town users are in in terms of the rates the city sets without input from the town.
  • Mr. Foley presented a summary of Rutland City water bills over the last 9 years which totaled over $200,000 which are largely for standby.
  •  The committee will discuss this topic with our Town Counsel to see if any remedy can be found.
• The committee discussed the stormwater discharge issue at the Graphic Edge.
  1. A letter was sent to them requesting documentation they had said they had granting them permission to discharge stormwater into our sanitary sewer system.
  2. A letter from Ronquil in Carroll, IA asked future correspondence to be sent to them.
  3. The requested documentation was not provided. They requested additional time to create a plan with an environmental engineer for a solution. No timeline was provided.
  4. The matter will be referred to our Town Counsel for help on finding a resolution.
• The committee discussed a letter sent to Attorney Rodney McPhee, the local counsel for Juster Associates, owners of the property The Home Depot Plaza is on. At an earlier water and sewer committee meeting it was determined that a sewer discharge allocation existed for the plaza, but it was not clear how the mater allocation was divided between the businesses on the property. The letter dated May 20^th, 2021, requesting an allocation break down. No reply has been received.
  1. A follow up letter will be sent.
• The committee reviewed a letter sent to PETCO on May 14^th, 2021. This was a second request sent to them in regard to their sewer discharge allocation. Their 2020 usage was higher than their allocation and a request to apply for an increase was sent. No reply or follow up has been received.
  1. After some discussion, the committee will seek the advice of town counsel on whether we should start the enforcement section of the ordinance.
• The committee reviewed a letter sent to Alderman’s Toyota. Their usage for the 3 properties at 33 Seward Road has again exceeded their allocation. After the first letter was sent, Phil Alderman reached out and said he was going to check with the City of Rutland to ensure the readings were correct. He has not followed up since. A second letter was sent, and still no follow up. This will be added to the list for Town Counsel.
• The committee discussed the letters sent to The Ground Round. Two letters have been sent. One for exceeding the sewer discharge allocation and the other for follow up on their maintenance agreement. There has been no follow up on either request after two sets of letters have been sent.
  7. A developer reached out to us to ask about permitting for a new project there. The property may be sold, and a car wash may be built. The developer was told to call our Road Commissioner to discuss the infrastructure, and specifically the pipe that runs under Route 7.
• The committee discussed extending the Post Road water line. We have not heard back from Robert Clark yet on the feasibility of this.
• Discussed creating a water connection application, per our water ordinance. A draft will be created using the guidelines listed for review at a future meeting. The main purpose is to ensure the town is aware of all connections in the town.
• The Committee discussed the water and sewer billing by the City of Rutland. We recently received an O&M check for the last quarter. As in the past it was for accounts that were current and did not include the total O&M due to the town. It is not known if the Town will be reimbursed interest on our balance due. This will be added to the discussion with our Town Counsel.
  1. Mr. Chioffi commented on the difference in the relationship between the Town of West Rutland and Rutland Town versus the City of Rutland and Rutland Town. West Rutland views our Town as a partner and the city does not.
• Discussed the issue of stand-by water charges. This will be discussed with our Town Counsel.
  1. The Fire District rates are substantially lower than Rutland City and West Rutland does not charge for stand by water at all.

The meeting adjourned at 11:43 AM

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet