May 10: EFUD holds annual meeting, election, $750,000 bond vote
April 17, 2023 | By Lisa ScagliottiAlthough Vermont’s Town Meeting Day happens each March, not every municipality and school district holds its annual meeting and elections then. For a variety of reasons – a big one being tradition – some continue to conduct yearly voting later in the springtime.
Waterbury’s Edward Farrar Utility District is one of those entities.
The water line scheduled for replacement connects this Water Department reservoir at the end of Blackberry Lane to the water system. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Formed in 2018 as the successor to the municipality of the Village of Waterbury, the utility district – which runs the municipal water and wastewater departments – has held its annual meeting and elections for its Board of Commissioners each May.
On April 6, the board met to set the agenda for this year’s annual meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 10. The warning outlines the business to be covered through a combination of an in-person town-meeting style meeting and a paper ballot. The ballot has three questions: two to fill seats on the district’s governing board, and one asking voters whether to authorize a 20-year $750,000 bond to replace an aging water line.
The latter involves a line on Blush Hill that connects a key reservoir in the water system at the end of Blackberry Lane to the system at a point near the Best Western Plus Hotel.
Public Works Director Bill Woodruff described the line as “1959 vintage.” It’s approximately 2,000 feet in length and it runs from the reservoir on Blackberry through the Ashford Lane/Kennedy Drive neighborhood.
A “sister” line from the same reservoir that was installed in the same era burst in 2005 and was replaced, Woodruff said. That line extends downhill and underneath Interstate 89, connecting to the water lines near Anderson Park.
Mapping the water line project. Click to enlarge the images below and see captions
Woodruff said the line from Blackberry to the Best Western has exceeded its expected lifespan. “It’s the weakest link in the system we have now,” he told the commissioners. “And it’s a critical link.”
As with other water line replacement projects in recent years, upgrading this line now with modern, plastic pipe before it fails is a prudent step, especially since this line is the last major old section in need of replacement, Woodruff noted.
The bond question is worded to leave open the possibility of the district obtaining state or federal grants to help pay for the project. If the bond is approved, Woodruff said the project has permits and he believes a contractor could be hired to get the work done this fall. Paving on Kennedy Drive and Ashford Lane is needed but would be scheduled after the water line installation is completed, most likely in 2024, he said.
Unlike town government, utility district voters do not vote on the annual budgets for the water and wastewater departments. At the EFUD board’s April 6 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved operating budgets for both departments for the coming year: $2,191,819 for the Water Department and $1,046,813 for the Sewer Department.
The board also unanimously approved rate increases for both water and sewer customers that went into effect on April 7. Municipal Manager Tom Leitz proposed increases of 15% for water rates and base charges and 17% for wastewater rates and base charges. Customers will see the new rates reflected in the next quarterly bill that they receive in May. Rates have not increased in a number of years, Leitz said. The last water rate increase, for example was nine years ago.
The annual report will contain a detailed discussion of the water and sewer department finances. Leitz told commissioners that the systems are currently under-utilized and the departments are working to recover from steps taken during the COVID-19 pandemic to cut rates for customers, particularly downtown businesses that were hard hit by shutdowns. A $150,000 allocation from the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funds has been applied to the sewer department, he said.
Important dates
In the four years since EFUD was formed, utility district elections and annual meetings have attracted very low participation. In 2022, a total of 44 ballots were cast, more than double the previous year’s tally of 21 votes. In 2019, just 16 ballots were counted. Currently, approximately 1,600 people are registered to vote in the district, according to the town clerk’s office. In the final years of Waterbury Village government, annual meeting attendance and election participation had fallen off as well with fewer than 100 ballots counted in each of the 2015-2018 annual elections.
But last fall, EFUD gained new public interest when the question came up over whether to sell the property that the district owned at 51 South Main Street to the nonprofit Downstreet Housing and Community Development to build affordable housing apartments. At a special in-person meeting in October, the upstairs room at the Main Street fire station was packed to capacity with nearly 300 EFUD voters who overwhelmingly approved the request, 208-69.
Thursday, May 4
Prior to the annual meeting, the EFUD commissioners hold an informational meeting. This year it will be on Thursday, May 4, at 7 p.m. to review annual meeting items and answer questions from the public. That session will be both in person in the Steele Community Room at the municipal offices and online via Zoom. (The link to join online is on the annual meeting warning.)
Wednesday, May 10
The annual meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10, in the Steele Community Room at the municipal offices. Only those who attend this meeting may vote on Articles 1 and 4 through 7 on the meeting warning.
Items to be acted on in person include accepting reports from the district officers and setting compensation for the district’s board members for the coming year. In recent years, the EFUD commission chair has been paid $1,450 for the year; other commission members receive $1,200; the clerk/treasurer has been paid $550.
Two articles also ask voters to authorize the board to borrow funds for up to five years for improvements to both the water and wastewater systems. Those amounts would be specified at the annual meeting for a vote.
Also at the in-person meeting, EFUD board Chair P. Howard “Skip” Flanders said a presentation is planned for the annual Wallace Community Service Award. It’s typically handed out at Waterbury’s March Town Meeting after the Select Board and EFUD officials confer. A decision was not made in time for the earlier meeting, but Flanders said it was likely to be announced at the May 10 EFUD annual meeting.
Two articles are on the EFUD Australian paper ballot. Article 2 outlines elections to fill three seats on the EFUD Board of Commissioners: two one-year terms and one three-year seat. All three incumbents are running for re-election: Lawrence “Lefty” Sayah and Natalie Sherman for the one-year seats, and Bob Finucane for the three-year term. The deadline has passed for candidates to get on the printed ballot. However, voters may write alternate names on their ballot for any of the offices.
Voters may cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the municipal offices on May 10. For those who wish to vote early, Town and EFUD Clerk Karen Petrovic said ballots are available now. They can be mailed to voters or people may vote in person at the municipal offices during regular hours, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Only registered voters living in the EFUD district may vote on utility district business. The district’s boundaries generally follow those of the former village. This map created with data from the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission is a good representation. One caveat: several parcels near the Country Club of Vermont are shaded incorrectly. Anyone unsure of whether they live in the EFUD district can contact Petrovic to check.
The annual report is being printed and copies will be available soon. The report this year is dedicated to Carla Lawrence, who retired in 2022 from her positions of clerk and treasurer for both the town of Waterbury and for EFUD. Paper copies will be in locations downtown including the town offices and Waterbury Public Library. The report also will be posted online on the EFUD section of the town website, waterburyvt.com/boards/utility.