Attendees: Brian Stevens, Jeff Earl, Drew Bulfer, Kevin Trout, Ann Kroll Lerner, Charlie Windisch

Location: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room

Meeting called to order at 7:05pm

1. Bill payment status: Marilyn Marshall (via email) reported 12 households are delinquent in paying the 3^rd quarter bill, and two households are delinquent in paying the 2nd and 3rd quarter bills. Delinquency notices to be sent out.
2. Financial report: We are slightly over budget at this point but not a cause for concern. The electric bills (there are two – one for the lower pump house and one for the upper reservoir house) were discussed. For the past three months the lower pump house bills are considerably higher than a year ago. The committee needs to discuss this with SOS to find out why. Earlier this year, the upper house bills were higher than expected, but this was due to issues with the pressure pumps not working properly.
3. The upcoming November meeting was discussed. The State will send a representative to observe the meeting. This is required to close out the asset management plan (AMP) that was approved. In addition, SOS is required to attend the meeting. The committee will use this opportunity to ask questions to SOS as communication with them is sometimes difficult.
4. Several households have complained about blackened filters and manganese staining. SOS is trying to “dial in” the correct chlorine levels, necessary for the greensand filter to operate correctly and filter out the manganese. A system flush is scheduled for this week which should help purge any build up. The committee also needs to understand how often manganese is tested for and the status of the chlorine addition.
5. Valve replacement. Several shut off valves need to be replaced. The outlook is next spring/early summer. (Post meeting update: Charlie has called Chris Wells to ask if we can get on his calendar for next year).

All for now. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 19 at 7pm.

Location: Deborah Rawson library meeting room.

Attendees: Drew Bulfer, Brian Stevens, Fred Lavenberg, Jeff Earl, Kevin Trout, Charlie Windisch

** There is a small tree down on the access road to the pump house. Looking for a neighborhood volunteer with a chain saw to take care of this.

** Someone dropped off a bag of garbage near the gate entrance to the pump house. If anyone is headed to the dump and wouldn’t mind taking this bag along, it would be greatly appreciated.

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm

1. The minutes from the July 2024 were approved.
2. Bill payment status: Marilynn reported (via email) there are a few households delinquent in paying the third quarter bills. She is working with them to resolve this.
3. Financials: Brian Stevens led the committee through the financial status. Expenses are running as projected, as is the expected income.
4. A new propane heater has been installed in the pump house. It’s up and running with no issues – ready for the cooler temperatures.
5. The holding tank near the pump house is due for a pump out. (This tank holds the manganese and other impurities that the greensand filter catches). Charlie to call P&P Septic to arrange to have this done.
6. Approximately six shut-off valves need to be replaced. This work will be scheduled for next year. The committee will contact Chris Wells.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm

Attendees: Brian Stevens, Fred Lavenberg, Kevin Trout, Drew Bulfer

Charlie Windisch

Meeting was called to order at 7:12pm

1. The minutes from the June meeting were approved.
2. Bill payment status: Marilyn Marshall (via email) reported that 10 households are now delinquent in paying the third quarter bill (bill were due July 1). Late notices will be sent out.
3. Financials – Brian took the committee through the spreadsheets showing income and expenses. Overall, dollars are coming in as expected and expenses are what was projected. We are in good shape financially.
4. Greensand filter maintenance – We do not have a maintenance contract in place with Culligan. The committee will discuss further with SOS and Culligan to see if this is something that should be in place. (There was a flare up in the manganese levels last September which necessitated a visit by Culligan to service the filter. More information needed).
5. Asset Management Plan – A visit in the fall will be made by the State representatives to tour our facility. No firm date yet.
6. Valve replacement – Committee will contact Chris Wells (excavator) to have this work done in the Spring of 2025.
7. Pump house heater replacement – A new propane heater is needed for the pump house. The committee did receive an estimate earlier in the year. Charlie to contact Patterson Fuels to revive this effort.

Meeting ended at 8:20pm

Attendees: Jeff Earl, Drew Bulfer, Kevin Trout.

Location: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room

Meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm.

1. Minutes from the April meeting were approved.
2. Bill payment status: No update was available at the time of the meeting. Third quarter bills are due July 1st.
3. The asset management plan completed by East Engineering has been made available on the water system page of the neighborhood website. Foothills Water System
4. Consumer Confidence Report was sent out. The Sep 2023 high levels of manganese which were rectified later in the quarter by Culligan were discussed. The committee will reach out to Culligan to get set up for regular maintenance of the green sand filter.
5. Valve replacements – Several curbstop valves need replacing. The committee will reach out to SOS to get a list of curb stops needing maintenance.
6. Clutter cleanup – Some members of the committee will ad-hoc clean up waste around the buildings. A work day will be planned for September that will involve painting the well house. The committee will reach out to the neighborhood for volunteers to participate. More details around this forthcoming.
   
   

Meeting ended at 7:40pm

Attendees: Fred Lavenberg, Brian Stevens, Jeff Earl, Drew Bulfer, Charlie Windisch.

Location: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room

Meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.

1. Minutes from the March meeting were approved.
2. Bill payment status: No update was available at the time of the meeting. Second quarter bills were due April 1st!
3. Brian reported the financial situation is excellent. We may end up spending more dollars than budgeted on repairs but our reserves are good.
4. There was a pipe leak at the reservoir building over the past weekend. Jeff Earl was able to shut off the section of pipe leaking. SOS was notified and the pipe was fixed this past Monday.
5. Asset Management Plan is complete. East Engineering has been paid, and JFD #1 has been reimbursed by the State.
6. Valve replacements – Several curbstop valves need replacing. Charlie to call Chris Wells (excavator) to see if this work can be scheduled sometime this summer.
7. Heater for the pump house – An estimate was received from Patterson. At this point, we will wait until the fall to have a new unit installed (to replace the old non-functioning unit).
8. Clutter cleanup – Both the pump house area and reservoir building have accumulated some “clutter”. The committee will organize a cleanup day in the Spring and make a run to the solid waste district to dispose of the miscellaneous waste.

Meeting ended at 7:55pm

Location: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room

Attendees: Jeff Earl, Ann Kroll-Lerner, Drew Bulfer, Kevin Trout, Brian Stevens

Meeting was called to order at 7:10pm

1. Motion to approve the minutes from the February meeting was made. The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved.
2. Bill payment status: Marilyn Marshall (via email) stated that one (1) household is currently delinquent in paying the first quarter bill. Bills for second quarter have been sent out.
3. Financials: Cash flow is good, expenses continue to be ahead of budget due to the January repairs.
4. Service line inventory: All households have had service line information reported to MSK engineering.
5. AMP program status: The JFD#1 Asset Management Plan is complete. The committee will be receiving copies from Tyler Billingsley (Engineering East). The committee will pay Engineering East for the work and engage the state to have this expense fully reimbursed.
6. Lower building heater: Meeting attendees did not know where this stands. The committee will follow up.
7. Electric bill at reservoir: Brian Stevens brought attention to the committee that the electric bill for the reservoir building has been elevated (3-4 times the usage compared to last year, and recent months). This will be investigated.
8. Cleanup day: It was brought up that there is some system refuse at both the well house, and the reservoir. The committee will organize a cleanup day to take care of this, and possibly paint the well house.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50pm.

Location: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room.

Attendees: Jeff Earl, Fred Lavenberg, Drew Bulfer, Brian Steven, Charlie Windisch

Meeting was called to order at 7:09pm

1. Motion to approve the minutes from the January meeting was made. The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved.
2. Bill payment status: Marilyn Marshall (via email) stated that five (5) households are currently delinquent in paying the first quarter bills. Late notices have been sent out. (Thanks to all who pay on time or have auto pay in place. This saves a lot of time and effort in chasing down those who pay late).
3. Service line inventory – We are currently down to four unknowns in the development (46 Foothills, 58 Foothills, 4 Westview and 10 Ridge). Per Federal requirement, the water service line for every home must be checked to insure it does not contain lead. Households can self report (take a picture and forward to Charlie Windisch) or call MSK Engineering (802 445-5085) to make an appointment for them to come to the house. (** Note – Since the meeting, 46 Foothills and 4 Westview have successfully self reported and are no longer unknowns. **)
4. Financials – Overall, the cash flow is in good shape. Expenses are running ahead of what was budgeted (mostly due to some early January repairs). Hopefully the expenses will get back in line with the budget forecast but the committee will keep an eye on it.
5. Executive session results. Discussion after the last meeting was held among the Prudential Committee regarding who is responsible for the cost incurred in fixing service line leaks. The regulations state the homeowner is responsible if the leak occurs between the curb stop and the house. The committee has upheld this view in the case of a leak at 38 Foothills.
6. JFD #1 By laws. A copy of the by laws was found; copies were distributed at the meeting. The committee agreed to continue discussions at the March meeting. (There are several areas that could use clarification).
7. AMP (asset management plan) status – The committee will get in touch with Tyler Billingsly (Engineering East) to see what is needed to finalize this report and submit to the State.
8. New propane heater at well head house – a formal quote was submitted by Paterson Fuels to replace the old worn out unit.
   

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm.

Meeting place: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room.

Attendees: Amy Saks, Jeff Pavese, Kristen Yens, James Binn, Dan Lerner, Ann Kroll Lerner, Mac Lippert, John Byer, Brian Stevens, Jeffrey Earl, Fred Lavenberg, Kevin Trout, Dan Dube, Charlie Windisch.

The meeting was called to order at 7:07 pm

1. The minutes from the December 2023 meeting were approved.
2. Bill payment status: Marilyn Marshall reported (via an earlier email that all residents have paid up through the 4^th quarter of 2023. (Note: January 2024 bills are now due!)
3. Financials – Brian Stevens discussed in detail the balance sheets for 2023 and the outlook for 2024. We have paid off the bill for the greensand filter out of existing funds, but now also have the new loan dollars from the recent bond to replenish our reserves. There will be no increase in the quarterly payments, remaining at $235 per quarter. Brian also gave a short history on the older bond (taken out to make many upgrades to our current system) and that repayment constitutes about 1/3 of our current budget. It will be paid off in 7 years. Time to think what should be done then – put the extra dollars aside for inevitable upgrades and repairs? Lower the quarterly payments? Brian’s philosophy is to maintain steady, even payments rather than have them decrease only to potentially increase them due to unanticipated events.
4. Asset Management Plan – Feedback from the Prudential Committe is due to Engineering East. This is a detailed report that completely inventories our current system and expected lifetime. Once finalized the report will be made available to all residents.
5. Service Line Inventory (SLI) – A new Federal mandate requires a determination as to the type of pipe entering each home. The goal is to insure no lead pipes were used.  MSK Engineering is working with JFD #1 to complete this inventory. Please comply if you have not completed the inventory for your home!
6. A discussion was held regarding who is responsible for repairs in the service line to the home (section of pipe from curb stop to the home). In most cases the curb stop is clearly on the homeowner’s property, thus it is the owners responsibility. We have a couple of cases where a section of the service line is not on the homeowner’s property. Committee will decide in executive session what the policy is.
7. Joining the Champlain Water District – This topic comes up every once in a while in that residents feel it will solve many of our problems. The truth is we will still have our existing infrastructure  (and it’s problems). The only thing that would change is that we would get our water from a different source. An investigation done several years ago showed it would be cost prohibitive to tap into the Champlain Water line as our neighborhood is “on the wrong side of the river (Brown’s Trace)”. There is also some question as to whether the current CWD line is adequate to support an additional 72 homes.
8. The heater in the pump house needs to be replaced. The committee will contact Patterson Fuels to see about a replacement unit.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:33 pm.  

** Answer to the trivia question – There are more than 12,000 feet of pipe in our system. This doesn’t include the service lines to the homes. That’s a fair amount of piping! **

Location: Deborah Rawson Library meeting room.

Attendees: Fred Lavenberg, Drew Bulfer, Jeff Earl, Brian Stevens, Charlie Windisch, Kevin Trout, Tyler Billingsley (East Engineering).

Meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.

1. Tyler Billingsley of East Engineering presented his draft report for the Asset Management Plan (AMP). JFD #1 decided to pursue developing this plan as the cost incurred is 100% reimbursed by the State. Tyler has compiled a complete inventory of all assets and location of curb stops, lines, etc. One advantage of having this plan is we will receive higher priority in the event additional loans are needed in the future for infrastructure repairs or upgrades. 
2. Recent leak at the well head – water was pooling at an area just below the building. Chris Wells (excavator) was called and a cracked pipe was discovered. A new section of pipe was put in.
3. Financials – Brian presented the year end financials as well as a proposed budget for 2024. No quarterly increase is projected for next year. With the greensand filter loan dollars (from earlier this year) in our account we are in a good position financially.
4. Heater needs to be replaced at well head building. The propane heater in the building reached the end of life and a new one needs to be installed. Fred to contact Patterson Fuels.
5. Service line inventory – Per new State requirement, every house in our development needs to be checked to insure there are no lead pipes bringing water from the street into the house. MSK Engineering has been tasked with completing this work. Every Foothills house received a mailing from MSK regarding this. The options are to take a picture of the line coming into the house, or call MSK to arrange for one of their engineers to visit. As of the meeting time, 16 homes had not responded. MSK to follow up with these homeowners.
6. Kevin Trout was voted in as a member of the Prudential Committee. Thanks you, Kevin for volunteering your time for this position!
7. The January 2024 meeting will serve as the Annual Meeting. The date is Tuesday, January 16, 2024, 7pm (Deborah Rawson Library meeting room).

The meeting ended at 8:11 pm

Meeting location: Deborah Rawson Library Meeting room

Attendees: Fred Lavenberg, Drew Bulfer, Jeff Earl, Brian Stevens, Charlie Windisch

Meeting was called to order at 7:10pm

1. The minutes from the October meeting were approved.

2. Bill pay status: Marilyn Marshall reported (via separate email) there are a handful of households delinquent in paying the 4^th quarter bills. Late notices have been sent out.

3. Financial picture: Brian reports we are in good shape. With the dollars from the greensand filter loan our reserves have been rebuilt. Cash flow is good.

4. Asset Management Program update: Jeff reports JFD #1 has attended the mandatory workshops. The engineer mapping out lines, valve locations and inventorying our system has completed a draft report. The report has been circulated to the Prudential Committee for review and comment. There are remaining items on the checklist that need to be addressed to complete this activity. Jeff and Drew are working on it.

5. Service line inventory (SLI) – Per State requirement, the water lines from the curb stop to each Foothills house must be checked for lead. (There are a few exceptions – homes built after 1989 do not need to be checked as the State outlawed the use of lead pipes). Each home should have received a letter from MSK Engineering explaining what needs to be done. There are two options: 1) Self report. The homeowner takes a picture of the water pipe coming into the house and sends it to MSK. 2) An appointment can be made with MSK whereby they will come to check the water line. It is expected that all water lines are copper and that nothing further will need to be done. (Questions? Contact the Prudential Committee).

6. Pumps at the reservoir: We now have the new pump installed, as well as a refurbished pump in place. (There is also a spare pump – just in case). 

7. The heater at the pump house is shot and needs to be replaced. The committee will look into getting a replacement.

8. The lower fields will be brush hogged before the snow flies.

9. 2024 budget – to be discussed at an upcoming meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm