Finance Committee & Board of Supervisors Meeting Minutes- 4/10/2025

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Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD)

Brattleboro, Vermont

Finance Committee & Board of Supervisors Meeting

Via Zoom and In-person

Draft Minutes of April 10, 2025

 

Members Present: (In-person & Zoom)

Chair: Michelle Cherrier, Dummerston; Stanley Noga, Jr, Brookline; Dan Baliotti, Dover; Stephan Chait, Halifax (alternate); Doris Knetchel, Newfane; Dan Toomey, Putney; Jim Damato, Readsboro; Irvin Stowell, Townshend; Sandra Rulewich, Vernon; Jim Pinkerton, Vernon (alternate); Merrill Mundell, Wilmington

Members Absent: Amanda Ellis-Thurber, Brattleboro; Stephen Dotson, Brattleboro (alternate) (per Bob Spencer); Doug Wellman, Brookline (alternate); Dave Eastman, Guilford; Kevin Stine, Dover (alternate); Lewis Sumner, Halifax; Kate Ullman, Jamaica; Jessical Pollack, Jamaica (alternate); Ellen Dudley, Marlboro; Carla Meskill, Marlboro (alternate); Rickey Harrington, Somerset; Kent Young, Stratton; Liz Spector, Wardsboro; Lou Bordeaux, Westminster

WSWMD Staff Present: Robert Spencer, Executive Director; Vicki Hayes, Finance Manager & HR Administrator; Peter Gaskill, Programs Coordinator; Alex Lacy, Outreach Coordinator; Anita Grant, Office Manager & Operations Liaison/District Clerk

Other Guests: None

As a quorum was present, Michelle called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM

  1. Roll Call of Supervisors: Anita performed a roll call of supervisors present. (10 towns, 11 supervisors)
  2. Changes or Additions to the Agenda: None
  3. Annual Reorganization:

Introduction of New Supervisors: None were in attendance.

  • Election of Officers:

Chair: Irv made the motion to re-elect Michelle Cherrier of Dummerston as BOS Chair, Dan Toomey seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Vice Chair: Jim made the motion to elect Dan Toomey of Putney as interim vice chair until someone else filled the position, Doris seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer: No election was made for Treasurer at this time.

District Clerk: Michelle made the motion to re-elect Anita Grant as District Clerk, Merrill seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

  • Reestablish Executive Board: Once a vice chair is elected, the Executive Board will be reestablished. The following supervisors are currently on the Executive Board: Michelle Cherrier (BOS Chair), Merrill Mundell (FC Chair), Dan Toomey (Interim Vice Chair, Policy & Personnel Chair).
  • Confirm Appointment of Committee Members: Current members of the Finance Committee include Merrill Mundell, Michelle Cherrier, Sandra Rulewich, Liz Spector, and Jim Damato. A chair will be chosen at the May FC meeting. The Policy & Personnel Committee includes Dan Toomey (Chair), Michelle Cherrier, and Jim Damato.
  • Designation of Meeting Places, Dates, and Times: Jim made the motion to approve, and Doris seconded that the designated meeting place would be the WSWMD offices at 327 Old Ferry Rd, Brattleboro, and virtually via Zoom; all the ten months of BOS meetings (every month except July & February) at 6 PM. The motion passed unanimously.
  • Designation of Check Signers: The following supervisors will be designated check signers: Michelle Cherrier, Sandra Rulewich, and Dan Toomey.
  • Designation of Official Newspapers: Jim made the motion to approve that the Commons and the Deerfield Valley News will remain as the district’s official newspapers, Dan Ballioti seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
  • Confirm Warning/Posting Locations: Jim made a motion to confirm the warning/posting locations as the WSWMD office, the Vernon town office, and the Brattleboro town office, and the district’s website at windhamsolidwaste.org. Irv seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
  1.   Approval of Finance Committee Minutes- March 2025

Merrill made the motion to accept the minutes as written from March 2025, seconded by Sandra, and the motion was carried with one abstention.     

  1. Approval of Board of Supervisors Meeting Minutes- March 2025:

Stephan Chait pointed out that Lewis Sumner was not listed as absent in March, and Anita will amend the minutes.

Jim made the motion to approve the amended Board of Supervisors minutes from March 2025, Doris seconded, and the motion was carried with one abstention. 

  1. Approval of Check Register- March 2025:

Jim made the motion to approve the March 2025 Check Register, Merrill seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously. 

  1. Approval of Financial Statement- March 2025: Vicki reported that the Compost Facility Expansion (CFE) expenses were incorporated into the financial statement for March. March finished with a $99,000 deficit; however, revenues are running 6% over budget, and expenses are on track at 74% of budget. She reported that the district is still waiting for $150,000 from the USDA grant, and that the solar RECs ($20,000) and the solar lease ($30,000), along with the May access sticker sales, would help to offset the deficit.

Merrill made the motion to approve the Financial Statement from March 2025, Doris seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. 

  1. Explore Financing Options for a New Roll-off Truck: Vicki and Bob reported that they met with M&T Bank about municipal funding programs. Vicki informed the board that the capital plan included $220,000 to purchase a new truck by the end of FY 26. Due to rising costs and uncertainty in the market, they researched alternatives in case the purchase exceeded the amount allocated. None of the programs would incur long-term debt; all the programs were based on the solvency of WSWMD and would require payback within twelve months. Vicki insisted that the purchase is in the infancy stage, and if she could prevent any borrowing, she would. 
  1. Discuss Grand Opening for Compost Facility Expansion (CFE): Bob informed the board that the Grand Opening/Open House for the Compost Facility Expansion would take place on Thursday, May 8, at 3 PM before the May BOS meeting. Friday, May 9, 2025, was designated as a rain date. Bob will be inviting the press as well as local legislators, the vendors involved in the project, and is encouraging the board members to attend.
  1. Programs Coordinator’s Report:
  • Peter has been researching that WSWMD separates mixed paper from the single stream recycling and bales it on-site. He is also looking into programs to recycle milk cartons as well as aseptic containers to minimize contamination in the compost, as well as recycling, as there are no current programs for recycling these.
  • He also reported that he is sending an RFP (request for proposals) to three different facilities for mattress recycling. It has yet to be determined if WSWMD will break down mattresses on site, but he wants to counter the $ 40-plus charge effective July 1 by disposing of mattresses with Casella. Currently, Casella is charging $10 each, plus the weight.
  1. Outreach Coordinator’s Report:
  • Alex reported that she is working closely with area schools and promoting her “Where is Away?” video that describes the journey of trash, recycling, and compost once they leave the transfer station. She also uses these visits to meet with facility directors to assist with the recycling and composting programs and satisfy the Solid Waste Implementation Plan (SWIP) requirements.
  • She informed the board that a location was secured for the USDA pilot “hub” for residential food scrap collection in Guilford at the Guilford Central School. This grant pilot had been put on hold due to a location issue. Alex is confident that the pilot will be successful in Guilford, although it is closer to the transfer station than other towns.
  • Bob and Alex will be making a presentation to the VT Southern Board of Realtors on April 24 to offer more outreach and education in the attempt to have streamlined offerings for new residents, as well as getting the realtors on board with waste management practices in Windham County.
  • Alex will be hosting two Spring Backyard Composting Workshop sessions on Thursday, April 17, from 3 PM to 5 PM in the Compost Demonstration Area. On 4/17, Tom Geider from the USDA Wildlife Services will be on hand to discuss bear prevention, rodent prevention, and how the state responds to bear sightings. The second workshop will be Saturday, April 19, from 1 PM to 3 PM.
  • Alex will also be on hand at the Halifax Community Hall on 5/3/25 at 10 AM, to meet with residents and help with recycling and composting questions.
  1. Executive Director’s Report:
  • Bob reported that the compost facility is running as expected with all four zones operating at full capacity.
  • He reported that dead chickens from Hubbard LLC in Walpole are incorporating nicely into the composting process, and WSWMD has been accepting weekly loads since March 12. He also reported that the most recent delivery had been incorporated into the pile inside the fabric building to test the decomposition process.
  • Jeff Nugent of the Windham Regional Commission had provided WSWMD with an updated service map for 2025. Bob pointed out that Vernon no longer has curbside service, and the new map includes each town’s population from the 2020 census. Bob explained the four levels of solid waste service District towns provide: no services, 24/7 recycling roll-offs, transfer stations, and curbside trash and recycling.
  • Compost marketing: Bob showed the new signs he had made for the distributors of Brattlegrow Compost to display at their locations. He also mentioned that there were radio and print ads running to promote the distributors for the spring compost market.
  • VORS (VT Organics & Recycling Summit): Bob mentioned that he would be presenting with Brian Jerose of Agrilab Technologies at the VORS conference in Randolph, VT on Wednesday, April 30th. This is the 19th year of the summit, hosted by CAV (Compost Association of VT), and he and Alex would be attending. He encouraged interested board members to register at WSWMD’s expense.
  • Bob reported that draft RFBs (Requests for Bids) have been sent to the ten towns with expired contracts for transfer station and recycling drop-off services with the intent to coordinate procurement of new contracts and entice bids from more than one company. Bob and Peter are offering to assist the towns with a review of the proposals.
  1. Executive Session: None
  2. Other Business: Michelle happily reported that she saw on the website that the WSWMD Swap Shop was reopening on Saturday, April 12. She also mentioned that the Finance Committee would need to meet in May to discuss the organizational structure.
  1. Next Meeting: Thursday, May 8th @ 5 PM following the Grand Opening of the Compost Facility
  2. Adjournment: Jim motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Sandra, and the meeting adjourned at 7:31 PM.

 

Minutes prepared by,

 

Anita Grant, Office Manager & Operations Liaison/District Clerk