Village voters needed for May 12 Edward Farrar Utility District business

May 3, 2021  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

UPDATE: This story was updated on May 7.

The annual report for the Edward Farrar Utility District this year dedicates its cover to those who lived at 51 S. Main St., most recently the Waterbury Town Offices until Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Photo courtesy of EFUD.

Residents of Waterbury village who live in the Edward Farrar Utility District have an election coming up for the district’s annual meeting on Wednesday, May 12. 

The water and sewer district’s board of commissioners held a sparsely attended online informational session Tuesday evening but plenty of information is available for those who would like to take part and understand the ballot’s articles.

The district was created in 2018 and encompasses the former Village of Waterbury municipality. Its main functions are to operate the water and wastewater systems and a five-member board of commissioners is elected to oversee its business. 

At the informational meeting, Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk commended the commissioners for their decisions in 2020 to suspend payments and interest calculations on Urban Development Action Grant Loans that the district oversees as well as suspensions for some water and sewer service payments during the pandemic. The loan measures will remain in effect through 2021, he noted.

Shepeluk said he has received many thanks from homeowners and businesses for whom the savings were significant. In some cases, businesses are taking advantage of the interest holiday to pay down their principle owed, he said, noting an example with Waterbury Sports which recently paid off its loan a year and a half early. “We were among the first municipalities in the state to put money back into the pockets of taxpayers,” Shelpeluk said.

The ballot for the May 12 vote asks voters to approve compensation for commissioners, requests for borrowing for water and sewer department functions, and a budget for the general property management fund that formerly was a village government fund. The $20,150 budget contains $10,000 for repairs to the old pump house at Rusty Parker Memorial Park which is used as a performance space for concerts and events in the park. Another $5,000 will pay for a report on the history of 51 S. Main St., the former municipal offices building, according to the annual report.

The district’s commissioners adopt the actual water and sewer department budgets with voters approving amounts to be borrowed. The $1.2 million water department budget is up about $130,000 from last year; of that $85,000 will be spent on engineering of a water line extension along Route 100 for about a half mile south from Howard Avenue. The line will improve fire protection in the area and allow for additional connections, according to district manager Bill Shepeluk’s report. Voters are asked to approve borrowing up to $500,000 for the water department which could be used for this line construction.

The main sewer department project is a replacement line on Lower Stowe Street to tie into Main Street. That work estimated at $115,00 is under way and follows the replacement of a water line last fall in the same area. Borrowing $250,000 for the sewer department will cover this project cost, according to the district’s report.

Three commissioner seats will be on the ballot with familiar names of former village trustees Lawrence Sayah and Natalie Sherman who are running unopposed for re-election to one-year terms; P. Howard “Skip” Flanders is seeking another three-year term.

On May 12, voters will be able to vote in person by Australian ballot at the municipal offices from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They may also request an absentee ballot to vote early by contacting the Waterbury Town Clerk’s office by phone 244-8447 or email to clawrence@waterburyvt.com. 

Utility district annual meetings and elections have been sparsely attended as was the case with village annual meetings previously. In 2020 fewer than 20 voters participated in the election. Minutes show commissioners were elected with 16 and 17 votes. Town Clerk Carla Lawrence said approximately 1,600 village residents are registered to vote and eligible to participate in the district’s annual election. 

The annual report is dedicated to the families who once lived in the historic Marsh Wells Crossett House, formerly the home at 51 South Main Street that housed the municipal offices until Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. Flooding led to a fuel spill in the building’s basement and other damage that left the structure unusable following the disaster. Built around 1815-20, the home was deconstructed in 2019 and the vacant lot has been available for public parking during the Main Street construction project. 

The annual report’s cover has four historic photos of the building from 1895 through 1955. The report’s dedication contains background on the families who lived there before it became Waterbury’s town hall. It also details the demolition that resulted in 70% of the material being either reused or recycled. 

The utility district has since contracted with a consultant at Heritage Building in Huntington to prepare a report on the history of the building and property to be shared with the Waterbury Historical Society for a future program to present to the community. 

More information including the district’s annual report, as well as the warning and ballot for May 12, are online at waterburyvt.com/boards/utility. Hard copies of the annual report are also available at the municipal offices.