Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD)
Brattleboro, Vermont
Board of Supervisors Meeting
Via Zoom and In-person
Minutes of August 10, 2023
Members Present: (In-person & Zoom)
Chair: Michelle Cherrier, Dummerston; Dan Towler, Brookline; Lewis Sumner, Halifax; Stephan Chait, Halifax (alternate); Doris Knechtel, Newfane; Dan Toomey, Putney; Jim Damato, Readsboro; Irvin Stowell, Townshend; Sandra Rulewich, Vernon; Kevin Hughes, Westminster; Merrill Mundell, Wilmington
Members Absent:
Vice Chair: Patrick Moreland, Brattleboro; Michael Becker, Guilford; Jessica Pollack, Jamaica; Stillman Vonderhorst, Marlboro; Bob Matte, Readsboro; Rickey Harrington, Somerset; Kent Young, Stratton; Wardsboro: Vacant
WSWMD Staff Present: Robert Spencer, Executive Director; John Fay, Programs & Operations Manager; Vicki Hayes, Finance & Office Manager; Anita Grant, Administrative & Operations Assistant, District Clerk
Michelle called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
- Roll call of Supervisors: Anita performed a roll call.
- Changes and/or Additions to the Agenda: None
- Rich Earth Institute Update- Kimberlee Nace, Abe Noe-Hayes, Jamina Shupeck
Rich Earth Institute (REI), who has a long-term lease with WSWMD for use of the metal building and concrete pad, introduced their new executive director, Jamina Shupeck, and they put on a presentation about their urine recycling research projects. Research is funded by a variety of agencies including the National Science Foundation. Proprietary urine pasteurization and concentration technology they have developed is now being marketed by a new company, Brightwater Tools, and several units have been sold to communities on Cape Cod, marketed in European countries, and also to universities conducting research on recycling of urine. Bob said that WSWMD has been working with REI on a grant application to evaluate the manufacturing of nitrogen-enhanced compost.
- Approval of Minutes from June 2023:
Irv informed the Board that his name was listed as absent in June, however, he attended by phone and must have missed the roll call. The minutes will be amended to reflect his attendance.
A motion to approve the minutes from June 2023 was made by Lewis, seconded by Dan Toomey, and the motion was carried.
- Approval of Check Registers for June & July 2023:
Bob reported that the July payment to Brattleboro Savings & Loan was the last payment on the John Deere 644K Loader, and that would free up about $3,000 per month in cash flow.
Dan Toomey asked about check # 29928 (on the June check register) to Tarrant, Gillies & Shems- asking if that was the completion of the legal fees regarding the CFE, Bob explained that was just one invoice and that the billing is incomplete at this point.
A motion to approve the Check Register for both June & July 2023 was made by Merrill, seconded by Doris, and the motion was carried.
- Approval of Financial Statements for June & July 2023:
June 2023: Vicki reported that FY 23 ended strong, finishing 19% ahead of budgeted revenue and 10% over expenses with hauling being the major contributor. The district finished with a surplus of $64,692.75. A question was asked about renewable energy credits and how the transformer being offline would affect the REC payment. Vicki indicated that the payment would not be in until the 2nd quarter of FY 24, but since the outage was only weeks vs. months, she did not think that the reduction would be noticeable.
July 2023: Vicki indicated that July is a strong month, with the increased tip fees, FY 22 USDA grant money, and 4% ahead of budgeted revenue, the month finished with a surplus of $37,881. She also reported that M&T Bank was now paying interest on the sweep account, an average of $600 a month. Vicki is still concerned about hauling costs and a discussion centered around the part-time truck driver, and the foreman with his CDL to help ease the hauling burden.
A motion to approve the Financial Statements for both June and July 2023 was made by Merrill, Doris seconded, and the motion was carried.
- FY 23 Budget Surplus Allocation:
After some discussion at the Finance Committee meeting, Michelle recommended that the Board allocate the FY 23 Budget Surplus of $64,692.75 following the Finance Committee’s suggestion to split it evenly between the FY 25 Facility Capital Plan as well as to the Compost Facility Expansion.
Jim made a motion to allocate the FY 23 Budget Surplus of $64,692.75 as follows: $32, 346.37 to the CFE, and the remaining $32,346.38 to the Facility Capital Plan. Merrill seconded, and the motion was carried.
- Consider Increasing from $5,000 to $7,500 as the Dollar Amount Requiring Two Signatures on a Check:
Since it was discussed in length in the Finance Committee meeting, the board was informed that there were no issues with increasing the amount. The BOS did not have any additional discussion regarding this subject.
A motion to increase the dollar amount from $5,000 to $7,500 as the minimum requirement for a check to have two signatures was made by Jim, Dan Toomey seconded, and the motion was carried unanimously.
- LED Lighting Upgrade:
Bob reported that King’s Electric, in conjunction with Efficiency VT, had performed an LED lighting upgrade in the office building, swap building, pole barn and scale house in late June. The project cost over $11,000 and with rebates from Efficiency VT, the entire project cost the District just under $3,000 to complete.
- Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP):
Bob let the board know that WSWMD has applied for the MERP energy assessment audit that is for municipalities’ buildings and grounds, indicating that he applied for the most thorough assessment, and the District has qualified for energy-saving updates (100% financed for up to $500,000). Bob will report more once the inspection is complete, the MERP committee is scheduling the inspections at this point. He also let the board know that WSWMD was awarded the $4,000 educational grant from MERP and that the money was already received.
- Comparison of Solid Waste District Fees:
Bob shared a spreadsheet prepared by Teresa Kuczynski of Addison County Solid Waste District for the Vermont Solid Waste District Managers Association showing the various fees charged by 10 districts. Bob highlighted the fact that WSWMD is the only district that does not charge a “District Fee” (or “Surcharge”) per ton of trash and C&D that’s generated within the District. The average surcharge is $24 per ton and if WSWMD were to impose a similar surcharge on its member towns that would generate about $624,000 of revenue per year. Jim said that he and most board members are not in favor of having a surcharge.
- Program Manager’s Report:
- USDA Outreach Grants: John reported that the last USDA Grant ended June 30, 2023. He also let the board know that the District was awarded a $59,000 USDA Grant that would start on October 1, 2023, and run until September 30, 2024, and that Alex Lacy was returning to work the full scope of the grant for an average of 12 hours per week.
- VLCT Safety Risks: John relayed that Wade Masure of VLCT, WSWMD’s insurance company, did a facility walk-through in May 2023 and identified 10 items to be corrected for risk reduction. All of the high-priority items were completed, Wade did a walk-through on 8/9/23 and gave his approval.
- John will be conducting transfer station surveys with customers recycling and composting, about an hour a week, to gauge the average user’s utilization of the facility and assist and educate residents at the same time.
- John informed the board that the Closed Loop Partnership test for compostable plastics had been completed, and WSWMD was awarded $11,000 to participate in the test. John and Vicki did an analysis and concluded that $6,500 was spent on labor alone for the project. Once John has some data to share on the test results, he will make it available.
- Battery safety kits that were presented to the board in May are currently being distributed to the transfer stations within the District. VT Department of Environmental Conservation had used WSWMD as a drop-off point for other waste districts as well.
- Executive Director’s Report:
- Bob reported that he had cooked for a staff cookout earlier in the day, another team-building endeavor.
- The District has placed an ad for a part-time temporary transfer station employee since a full-time employee would be out for two months for a knee replacement.
- Bob reported that the Swap Shop recently acquired a 40-foot storage trailer from WSWMD for additional storage on-site. He also recapped the improvements made over the past two years including gutters, catch basins, grading to drains, and safety painting of the step into the Swap building and around the electrical panels. He also mentioned that some of the volunteers had remained the same for over 30 years.
- Compost Facility Expansion (CFE) Update: The project has secured a zoning permit from Brattleboro, a state permit for a medium size compost facility, and a stormwater construction permit. An amended stormwater permit is being applied for, and once that is received the Act 250 permit will be amended, completing the required permits. Three RFPs will be going out for the fabric building, the aeration and heat recovery system, and the site work, for construction to start in April 2024.
- Bob is working with the engineers hoping to abandon the gas collection system as the system is not generating enough methane to keep the flares running. He also indicated that the piping system interferes with the mowing of the solar array.
- VLCT sent a representative to conduct a building value assessment.
- The auditors were on-site in late July to conduct the FY 23 audit of the books. The audit went well, Vicki made sure they were well-prepared, and it costs the District about $10,000 a year to conduct it.
- Executive Session (if needed): None
- Next Meeting: Thursday, September 14, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
- Other Business: None
- Adjournment: Jim made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Irv seconded, and the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM
Minutes prepared by,
Anita Grant
Administrative & Operations Assistant, District Clerk