Fairfax Town Water & Sewer

[mkr]

I have been asked to post this:

Fairfax Town Water & Sewer users:

I have been to a few Select Board meetings and
have seen some of the financial numbers for this department. I am begging all users to call into every one of the people listed below to get the Budget and well as all
financial information for this department into the Town report. Do you know this department is in a large deficit???

You as users should have the right to see the financial information.
You as users should be aware of the financial issues regarding this department..
We as users need to be informed.
Do you want your rates to go up? I know I do not.

NON-USERS ---As a regular tax payer in Fairfax you also should know this financial information.
The financial stability of this department may effect your tax bill!! If this department cannot pay its bills it will fall back on the tax payers of Fairfax..PLEASE CALL.

PLEASE PLEASE CALL ALL THESE PEOPLE AND LET THEM KNOW..YOU AS USERS /TOWN TAX PAYERS WANT THAT INFORMATION IN THE TOWN REPORT:

We need 3 Select Board members to get this information voted in:
Tom:Cell: 318-7392
Ann: Home: 849-6605
Chris: Home: 849-2758
Randy: Home: 849-6304
Dave Home: 802-849-2382
Select board assistant: Stacy Wells: 802-849-6111 x 7
Department manager: Amy Sears 802-849-6111 x 6

Thank You,

Terry

[RidgeRunner]

I finally had the time to sit down with the Town Budget last night and look over things.  I looked at the utilities section and was shocked to see that they are running around 19,000 to $21,000 in the red. (There are two different figures and I could not determine which one was correct.)  I also read that the town is responsible for this debt as the town secured the bond for The Utilities Department.  So somehow/somewhere we are taking money from the town to cover down on the debt of the Utilities Dept.  Can anyone give me insight into why Water and Sewer is running in the red?  What is being done to correct this? I looked for some kind of report from the Utilities Dept to explain this but other than accounting numbers I couldn't find anything.  I thought each division had to submit something but maybe I am wrong there.

On top of this I have seen on the LCATV coverage of the Town Meetings discussion about a possible conflict of interest between a Board member who is the head of the Dept and also serving on the Select Board.  There was some discussion that he was approving his own funding request.  If this is the case than some form of checks and balance needs to be put into place  for his sake to protect his name as well as the protect the financial well being of the town.  Maybe the situation is not as bleak as I am seeing but there are certainly some red flags here that should be looked at.

[mkr]

All good questions and I have the exact same concerns.  Town Meeting is an excellent day to ask those questions this Saturday!

[nhibbard]

Couple of points.

Even though a department is running a deficit in any given year, it does not mean the town is paying for the loss. They may be working into previous surpluses.

Some on the current select board were mindful of a conflict and during items that involve the water department, the member that is also employed by the town department gives chairmanship to another member. Another member is also reviewing invoices to remove any conflicts with approval of those invoices.

[nhibbard]

I'm more interested in the backup well that is being explored to prep for town growth. We can't grow without more water and I know that they are actively working hard to find more sources. But why would this be a backup. If our current wells fail, we have nothing, if we find a backup well that can support being just that, we still don't create more supply, we just create a backup. Once you use a backup for production, it's no longer a backup.

However, if we find a new well that works and use that in production, we're in the same position we are now, just being able to provide water to expand. Expansion means the ability to add more commercial rental property in town which will help share the capital cost of the system in general. Adding single family homes will not have the net affect of adding 10+ unit buildings. The ordinances should also be updated to match what larger systems like Burlington and Winooski are doing to handle more commercial customers.

Lets do away with the come in and visit my meter once a month and get wireless meters. This was presented and allows one person to drive around and quickly read all the meters. No more post cards, no more visits when you're not home to view the meter, no more estimates, more reliable information for the department in a more timely manner.

The department should be looking at their quarterly billings and knowing that they are behind in revenue from quarter to quarter. With new meters, they could go monthly. Meter usage numbers are a great way to see when problems occur, not all causes of water waste are leaks, some are equipment failures.

[RidgeRunner]

Has the water dept been running in surplus previous years?  Why are we running in the red now? What changed?

Also taking from a surplus to cover debt still means something is wrong unless the surplus is an accounting issue that links to the current debt.  I just want to know what the deal is and what's being done to fix it.

[nhibbard]

They said they saw lower usage in the town report. My questions would be:

1. are leaks considered lost sales and booked as such
2. would spending money into the system save on leaks by knowing more quickly when they occur
3. would monthly billings put the department in a better position to know sales figures (postage would increase in this case)
4. is there a full capital plan to make sure replacements are done on a schedule to avoid leaks and loss (even if something is working fine, timely replacement prior to break can save long term money due to depreciating productivity. I also realize that some older equipment is a lot more solid than newer high tech products)
5. was the rate increase too low (i'm a tax payer and a user)
6. do we need a back as much as we need more supply (supply lowers cost but adds no reliability, backup increases cost but adds reliability)

[Stand Alone Defense]

The Water Department has or had surplus funds to cover losses from the years they ran a surplus.  These funds from what I understand have covered the deficit already and the Water/Sewer Dept is back in the black as of now.  Remember that the Board minus Randy Devine wanted to explore a new well which ran around $10,000, I also believe the sewer pump had to be fixed which was pricey.  This is why things went into the red.... **** happens and unexpected costs do occur.  Like I said though reserve funds were used to cover this deficit and as far as I know the Department is not in the red any longer.

 
Also last time I knew there was about $7,000 owed by people who have not paid for water and sewer.  That is a huge amount!! I find it funny that some of the people in this town that are always talking trash about the water/sewer department, are either on the nonpayment hit list or have the same last name as someone on it.  Sometimes it is worth looking into things and making a phone call!!  Not just taking a pissed off user or user's family members word for it.

Also just so you know, whether you agree or not the water department is a separate department of the town.  I would not be surprised if water department issues were not allowed to be discussed at town meeting tomorrow.  The proper place to discuss your issues would be at a selectboard meeting not at town meeting.  I could be wrong though that is just how I understand the rules of town meeting. 

[David Shea]

Josh,
I am not sure where you are getting your information finacial's of the water department?  In my two year tenure on the board I have not once seen you at a select board meeting, nor have I ever seen a public records request with your name, requesting information.  It troubles me that you know the names of water users who have not paid their water bill.  When the the topic of water delinquencies come up the select board uses account numbers and not user's names.

You are correct in stating that the selectboard authorized the spending of money to drill 3 wells this past summer.  The cost of the first two wells was approx 19,000.00.  The second well drilled at the former Milton Bradley plant yielded 32 GPM.   At the recommendation of Randy a third well was drilled on Wheezy's Way at a cost of appox $9500.00.  This well yielded approx 34 GPM.  Before either of these wells can be connected to the water system they need to undergo a 72 hour pump test, to verify that the water taken from these wells does not interfere with other wells in the area and is of good quality.  The last quote the town was given for this service to test one well was approx 22,000.00.

The selectboard can only make decision to spend money with a quorum of votes, that is 3 or more votes yes.  When you get the chance please review the Lake Champlain Public Access TV taping of meetings or the minutes of the selectboard meeting.  Drilling of wells was achieved by a majority of the board.  If this was not the case the wells would not have been drilled.

As for your comments on reserve funds, the reserve funds that the department had came from one of two sources.  In 2007 Green Mountain Senior living came on line and paid 55,000 for water connect fees.  Monies were also earned when the town forest on Fletcher road was logged, I do not know the amount for that project.  I do not have the town report for that year.  Both of these revenue sources have been depleted.  Approx 29,000.00 was spent on drilling wells this year, that does not make up for the fact that the additional surplus's have been depleted since 2007 for various operational cost deficits.

The current water system as it is now governed does not have capacity to add new users.  ( Currently the department is compiling unit usage data to see if demand is significantly lower than the states require allocation amounts.  This data will be submitted to the State of Vermont, if the demand is very different from the states mandate, the state can grant 10-20% of the daily pumping from the current well as new allocations.  This could amount to 4000 - 8000 gallons of water that could be sold.  By using the data the department connects already and analyzing it the town could add several new users without spending any money on drilling.)  Once new users are added the department can collect connection fees.  Until that departmental spending needs to equal or be less than monthly billing.

You mention well drilling as being a major expense, yes you are correct.  Can you find the line item in either of the departments budgets showing the expense for drilling the wells?  Can you also find the line item for revenue source by which the drilling was paid?  Deposit vs expense = 0.  The majority of municipal departments have a capital plan that set money aside for large projects like water drilling or a new fire truck.

Before I came on the board, I didn't realize that the Water Department and sewer department both fall under the utility department.  Each of them generate revenue separately and accrue dept separately.  Both department have a shared checkbook.  The sewer department on the whole is in ok standing, however this particular year a $56,000.00 equipment reserve fund was deposited in the operational checkbook.  This bond was money set aside to pay for major equipment failures.  Since this money was deposited much of it has been spent in anticipation of 1st quarter water  / sewer revenues and has been supporting operations.  If there is a major equipment failure like a pump, lift station computer ect the department will be challenged to pay for it now that this money is no longer in reserve.  This sewer plant and equipment was build in 1980 and is now over 33 years old.  In addition to paying for plant repairs for both departments, the sewer department needs to clean the lagoons as regular maintenance.  The cost of this maintenance is not budgeted for on a yearly basis.  The lagoons are cleaned on a rotating basis and the cost to clean one lagoon is approx 18,000.00.  Since money is not saved each year for this expense out of user fees, reserve funds have been depleted to pay for maintenance.

Since the selectboard is oversees the utility department just as we do the recreation department, fire department, emergency management, constable, ect  and is not directed by an independent commission, the towns people have every right to ask any question they want at town meeting.

This is all I have time for now, but would be happy to speak with you directly sometime.  I think you have my phone number or can access it.....

The Water Department has or had surplus funds to cover losses from the years they ran a surplus.  These funds from what I understand have covered the deficit already and the Water/Sewer Dept is back in the black as of now.  Remember that the Board minus Randy Devine wanted to explore a new well which ran around $10,000, I also believe the sewer pump had to be fixed which was pricey.  This is why things went into the red.... **** happens and unexpected costs do occur.  Like I said though reserve funds were used to cover this deficit and as far as I know the Department is not in the red any longer.

 
Also last time I knew there was about $7,000 owed by people who have not paid for water and sewer.  That is a huge amount!! I find it funny that some of the people in this town that are always talking trash about the water/sewer department, are either on the nonpayment hit list or have the same last name as someone on it.  Sometimes it is worth looking into things and making a phone call!!  Not just taking a pissed off user or user's family members word for it.

Also just so you know, whether you agree or not the water department is a separate department of the town.  I would not be surprised if water department issues were not allowed to be discussed at town meeting tomorrow.  The proper place to discuss your issues would be at a selectboard meeting not at town meeting.  I could be wrong though that is just how I understand the rules of town meeting. 

Sin

[nhibbard]

I think you'd find that $7,000 in receivables for the number of accounts is not that much. I also find it interesting that you would know the last names of those who owe money as there are only 9 people in the town that would know that. I'm also aware that one of those people doesn't feel comfortable talking about other persons accounts. That would create a further problem. Utility companies are held to a different standard regarding the privacy of user accounts.

I'm not sure what it means to call it a separate department. The obligations are still that of the town. It's not the same but Burlington Telecom was a separate department of the City of Burlington, that didn't mean anything other than different management team for that division. The Fire Department is a separate department and they still have to get funded. If it were a stand alone business with no recourse on the town as a whole that would be a different story.

Every year gets it's topic, this just happens to be the topic of the year.

[trussell]

David, why was the money used for logging the town forest used for the water department?  The two projects have nothing to do with each other.  Shouldn't that land- and it's resources- be used for the greater public good and not limited to the users of the water system?  I was on the Recreation Advisory Board at that time and it was explained to us that the funds were not going to be used for the water department and instead would be used for development purposes of the 100-acre wood property.  Is this not correct?

[katrinaantonovich]

Trevor -
I need to double check what the town is holding in my accounts, but as I understand it all the recreation money from the 100 acre wood is still in the 100 acre wood fund. The money david is referring to came from town land on fletcher road.. correct me if I'm wrong anyone.
Katrina

[David Shea]

Good question Trevor.  Katrina is correct he town owns two pieces of woodland that I am aware of.  One parcel is the 100 acre woods in North Fairfax, the other parcel is on Fletcher Road just past Claude Rainvilles' Farm on the rh side of the road as you travel toward Fletcher.  The money I am funds I am referring to came from the Fletcher Rd parcel.

[trussell]

Thanks both for the clarification!!

[rod anode]

trevor your such a trouble maker