WMAC Meeting Minutes 

November 15, 2012

Attendees:   Ann Carney, David Crosby – Chair, David Hearne, Paul Lauenstein, Rory McGregor – Secretary, Chris Pimental, Sarah Windman

Guests: Eric Hooper – Superintendent, DPW

1.  Minutes of the August 16 meeting were approved as amended.

2.  Articles will be solicited by Nancy Fyler, Water Conservation Coordinator for Sharon, and sent out in a quarterly newsletter that will be enclosed with water bills.  Members of WMAC are encouraged to submit ideas and article abstracts to Eric Hooper or David Crosby for consideration before writing the article.  Articles will be reviewed by Eric before being published.

3.  David Crosby gave a Power Point presentation on “The Cost of Water”.  See attachment.  He illustrated a business model that apportioned costs for the current Water Dept operating budget.  $5.87 per 1000 gallons would be required from each household in order to cover expenses.  Smaller households (1, 2, and 3 persons) using more than 55 gallons per capita day are paying below this amount.  Larger households (4 person and 4+ persons) consuming more than 55 gallons per capita day are generally paying more than this amount.

4.  The Water Dept is generating an additional $500,000 in revenue this year compared to last year due primarily to the rate increases, but also due to collection of overdue bills from the prior year.  Eric has requested that the Town Treasurer determine the amount of revenue generated by overdue collections.  This is needed in order to clearly establish the added revenue coming in from the rate increases.  An additional $600,000 per year is needed to fully fund the capital infrastructure projects in the Water Master Plan.

5.  Eric Hooper presented a proposal to increase the water rate on individual household accounts by $1 per 1000 gallons for the lowest block, 0 to 7500 gallons.  He emphasized the need to gain selectmen approval for an annual increase of some magnitude so that the town can close the gap on the added revenues needed per the Water Master Plan.

6.  Paul Lauenstein presented two proposals which would generate enough incremental revenue to finance the infrastructure projects in the Water Master Plan.  See the attached document.  The WMAC voted 6 to 1 to approve the first scenario in Paul’s proposal and increase the block rates in both winter and summer by $1.64 per 1000 gallons.  This increase will generate an additional $600,000 in revenue and bring the annual Water Dept revenue up to approximately $3.1 million. 

The WMAC voted 5 to 2 in a straw proposal to endorse the second scenario in Paul’s proposal, which increases the summer block water rates by $2 per 1000 gallons and the winter block water rates by $1 per 1000 gallons.

7.  $55,000 in principal and $16,000 in interest is our debt service for this FY.  This point of information was discussed to provide the selectmen with a minimum target for the increase in Water Dept revenue needed to prevent the financial situation from sliding backwards.

8.  At the next WMAC meeting:

a) Paul Lauenstein will address the issues of conservation and why we need to address the concept of marginal water rates.

b) We will discuss ideas for rebates (toilets, wash machines, etc.), special customer assistance and other conservation incentives.

9.  Elections for WMAC officers will be held at the next meeting.

10.  Next meeting is Thursday December 20 at the Community Center at 7:30pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Rory McGregor