WMAC Meeting Minutes September 15, 2011
Attendees: David Crosby, Chair; Anne Carney, David Hearne, Paul Lauenstein, Len Sekuler
Guests: Eric Hooper – Superintendent, DPW
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 PM
0. The minutes of the August 18, 2011 meeting were approved with the following correction –delete the phrase “perhaps to nine per David Hearne’s proposal” in the sixth sentence of Item #4 subsection d.
1. Discussion of new water rate structures continued with Len saying that he didn’t think the idea of charging for water by incorporating census data into the billing calculation was practical. Even if the theory was fine it would be very difficult to implement. He didn’t think the census data would necessarily be very accurate about the number of people living in a house at any given time. He stated that no other utility bills are based on census data and felt household consumption should be the criteria. He felt we would open ourselves up to complaints, legal action etc.. Len felt a single rate would be preferable to a billing system based on the number of people in a house. Eric also felt there was the potential for legal action.
Eric felt that the fairest way to bill was a single rate for everyone with the exception of the really heavy users. He said those who would be impacted the most by a single rate are those who use a small amount of water and are currently being subsidized by everyone else. Len felt the way to incentivize conservation was to continue the rebate system we currently have in place.
There was consensus that a separate meter for irrigation was desirable. Eric discussed the cost of installing separate meters and said it could be paid by the individual home owners. Eric said that one drawback to this idea is that it doesn’t capture people who use sprinklers instead of automatic irrigation systems. Another drawback is that the water department just went to the homes with irrigation systems and it would be perceived as inefficient to go back again so soon. Eric also stated that the cost of installing irrigation meters would vary by the type of sprinkler system.
Eric spoke to his proposal and said that if the blocks were small enough it would keep the small user about the same. Len asked Eric what size households made up the top 10% of users. He felt that if the top 10% were mainly the large households then our billing was unfair and the single rate would be fairer. Eric displayed a number of high users and it appeared that there was considerable variation in the number of household occupants. There was much discussion about what was the fairest structure. Eric will model a single rate to see how various users are impacted. The committee needs to see the block and rate proposals before a decision can be made. The consensus was to do the meters on the irrigation systems regardless of what else is decided. .
2. Eric said that he did not have the revenue numbers for August yet. He also said that the unaccounted for water amounted to 15% (about 8 million gallons) which was considerably higher than expected. He said that he was going to pull a statistically appropriate number of water meters and send them back to Badger Meter Company, the manufacturer, for testing to see if they are working properly. Eric said there are still a number of leaks and another leak detection effort is ongoing. Water dumping back into the wells is also being looked at. Everything is being checked. The committee wants to look at what is pumped, what is metered, and what is unaccounted for on a monthly basis.
Eric stated that nitrates are up at wells 2 and 4 but they are still in the 4’s. If either goes to 5, a new plan has to be in place. He said groundwater is up but is not an issue. Sodium is high at well number 4.
Eric said the plan for snow removal at the train station parking lot near Well #4 involved using potassium chloride which is more expensive than standard sodium chloride road salt. Potassium chloride also needs a dedicated vehicle and place for storage.
Paul asked what the results were for the pump test for the proposed well. Eric said everything is on hold since the DEP is not permitting anything new.
Eric is going to e-mail his excel spreadsheet showing 9 blocks to the committee so that the members can review it prior to the next meeting. Each member will be able to work with it and try out different scenarios.
The next meeting is scheduled for either October 20th or 27th. David Crosby will get back to the committee with the date.
Adjournment at 9:42 PM.
Respectfully submitted
Anne Carney, Acting Clerk