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Trustees Meeting 9/11/17

  • Monday, September 11, 2017
    7 PM – 9 PM

Village Trustees

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SWANTON VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

SWANTON VILLAGE MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

120 FIRST STREET

SWANTON, VT 05488

REGULAR MEETING &

PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL HEARING

Monday, September 11, 2017

7:00 PM

PRESENT: Neal Speer, Village President; Chris Leach, Trustee; Adam Paxman, Trustee; Eugene LaBombard, Trustee; Reginald Beliveau, Village Manager; Lynn Paradis, Assistant Village Manager; Dianne Day, Village Clerk; Suzanne Washburn, Tony Russo, Elisabeth Nance and  Ch. 16.

Unless otherwise noted, all motions carried unanimously.

1.      Call to Order:

Neal Speer, Village President, welcomed all to the Regular Board of Trustees meeting and Public Informational Hearing and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. He asked all those present to join him in a Moment of Silence to remember the 9/11 victims. He then introduced the Board of Trustees and administration.

2.      Agenda Review:

None.

3.      Approve and Accept Minutes from Monday, August 28, 2017:

Chris Leach made the motion to approve and accept Minutes from Monday, August 28, 2017 as presented. Adam Paxman seconded. Discussion: None. Motion carried.

4.      Approve and Accept Village Warrants through September 8, 2017:

Adam Paxman made the motion to approve and accept Village Warrants through September 8, 2017 as presented. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Discussion: Eugene LaBombard asked about the HTE invoice for $459,720. Reg Beliveau stated that was for the rubber bag. Motion carried.

5.      Informational Meeting & Public Hearing – Rubber Bag Bond Vote on 9/19/17:

Reg Beliveau, Village Manager, presented the Board and public with a power point presentation on the rubber bag dam. He showed a video of when the bag failed because of a tear in it. He also showed how they did a slow release and said it was too dangerous to put someone inside the bag to try and fix the tear. He said right now they are having an issue with silt getting into the intake structure. Suzanne Washburn asked if there was any way to hold the silt back and Reg said no there wasn’t. This is some of the information he provided the Board with in his presentation:

Background:

  • Original Bridgestone rubber Dam was installed in the early 1990s as part of the hydro plant upgrades and sits on top of a 15’ concrete dam.
  • Life of the dam was estimated to be 25 years.
  • It is 220’ feet long, 15’ in diameter.
  • This brings the total dam height to 30 feet, or an operating height of 190’ above sea level.
  • Bridgestone notified the Village around 2010 that it was no longer manufacturing rubber dams.
  • Swanton’s management began researching other potential manufacturing companies in expectation of a replacement being needed in the near future (expected 2018).

June 14, 2017:

  • On the afternoon of June 14th the on duty hydro operator noticed that one of the blowers that keeps the dam inflated kicked off.
  • The blower was reset and blower #2 came on but the air pressure kept dropping.
  • A visual inspection of the dam revealed a tear causing the air to release on the east side of the dam.
  • Management decided that making a repair from the inside of the dam was too dangerous, and no possible repair could be done from the outside of the bladder.
  • The Village activated the EAP and notified Federal, State and local agencies.
  • A slow release of the air pressure to the dam was initiated and downstream was monitored by emergency personnel.

Plant Operations:

  • In the aftermath of the dam deflation, 15 feet of dam height is gone along with the impoundment.
  • The plant was not designed nor constructed to run efficiently with only a 15 foot dam (175 asl).
  • The plant is experiencing operational issues generating with only 15 feet of water. The problems are sludge, silt, and trash racks are plugging causing loss generation.

Next Steps:

  • Management and the Board of Trustees needed to work fast to get the new dam ordered because the manufacturing of it is over 6 months long.
  • Installation needs to happen before the weather gets too cold and the rubber becomes less pliable.
  • Steps could be taken to “heat” the area with a tent, but that would increase the costs dramatically.
  • The manufacturer has committed to a 3 month manufacturing time.
  • The selected contractor will be on site the end of September to prepare for the new dam.
  • The dam is expected to arrive in the middle of October.
  • Installation is expected to be finished by the middle of November.

Financial Impact:

  • Without the 15’ rubber dam, the monetary impact for the first year alone would be a minimum of $275,000, which in normal circumstances would cause a rate increase.
  • That amount is estimated to increase each year with a cumulative impact thru 2024, the year of the FERC license renewal of $1.8 million dollars. Over the life of the rubber dam, the impact is estimated to be $5.7 million dollars.
  • The new rubber dam has a life expectancy of 25 years.
  • The project costs are $2.2 million dollars.
  • The bond would be paid back over 25 years, $88,000 in principal per year plus interest.
  • Total debt service per year would be approximately $152,000.
  • The debt service (loan payback) would not impact the rates.

What Are We Doing to Keep Rates Level:

  • Swanton is 100% renewable so we were able to get out of some renewable purchase power requirements, saving over $150 thousand dollars per year.
  • The hydro facility is in the process of being taken out of the power market beginning in October 2017.
  • That means an estimated potential $1 million dollar reduction in purchase power per year.
  • Going forward we would be considered as “behind the meter” which means we will use the generation to offset our electric load.

The Future:

  • We are seeing an increase of solar in the service territory.

Suzanne Washburn asked if the Village had put any money away for this rubber bag. Lynn stated they are not allowed to do that and said they need to take out debt service. Tony Russo asked if there would be any State issues on the replacement of the bag. Reg said not so far and said everything is going good with the Agency of Natural Resources and the Army Corps. He said they are hoping this bond vote is approved and that the bag is installed before spring run-off. He said the Public Service Board has approved their 108 filing and now the Village needs the taxpayers to approve this. Eugene LaBombard stated that the Village was in the process of replacing this bag, this leak just moved it up. Lynn said the Village lost out on this wet summer and lost generation because of that. Neal Speer also wanted to mention that this rubber bag is cheaper than the original bag. The Board of Trustees encouraged all to come out and vote yes and show their support for this new rubber bag.

6.      Any Other Necessary Business:

None.

7.      Public Comment:

None.

8.      Executive Session to Discuss Legal Matters:

Adam Paxman made the motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss Legal Matters at 8:00 p.m. Eugene LaBombard seconded. Motion carried.

Chris Leach made the motion to exit Executive Session at 8:57 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. Motion carried.

ACTION TAKEN: None.

9.      Adjournment:

Chris Leach made the motion to adjourn the Regular Board of the Trustees meeting and Public Informational Meeting at 8:57 p.m. Adam Paxman seconded. There being no further business at hand, Neal Speer, Village President, adjourned the meeting at 8:57 p.m. Motion carried.

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Neal Speer, Village President                           Date

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Dianne Day, Village Clerk                               Date