Water & Sewer Commission

Town of Mount Airy Water and Sewer Commission Meeting Minutes – January 7, 2015 Commission members in attendance: Dick Swanson, Council Liaison Bob King, Rick Blatchford and Fred Goundry. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm Minutes: Fred Goundry moved to approve the minutes of the December 3, 2014 meeting. Seconded by Bob King and approved by unanimous vote. Old Business: Stormwater Management: MDE approved Mount Airy’s request to have the Stormwater Management MS4 Phase I Permit extended to cover the Frederick County portion of Mount Airy. This will place the entire Town under one permit rather than separate permits for the Carroll and Frederick portions of Mount Airy. The benefit is that all administrative requirements including reporting the status of stormwater remediation projects will be included in one consolidated document incorporated into Carroll County’s filings with MDE. New Business: Tax Equity – Frederick County: Dick Swanson distributed the Tax Equity schedule from Frederick County detailing the FY 2012 and 2013 basis for determining the amount of financial relief provided by Frederick to the Town. The funding offsets the cost of services provided by Mount Airy otherwise covered by County tax revenues from Mount Airy residents living on the Frederick County portion of the Town. The funding covers highways, police, planning and zoning, and parks and recreation services. It does not include consideration for stormwater mitigation projects. Bob King will ask for an updated schedule for FYs 2014 and 2015. Water & Sewer Revenue History: Dick Swanson provided a schedule of water and sewer revenues from FY 2010 to FY 2014. The schedule will serve as background information during the upcoming FY 2016 budget process. Potential Water Sources: The members discussed potential ground water sources to provide for adequate water to meet future infill and redevelopment needs. The Commission agreed that a land acquisition be considered as a potential source of water. The Commission will draft a memorandum to the Town Council recommending a contingent offer to purchase the property in order to provide sufficient water to meet future development within the Town limits. W&S Reserve Funds: Rick Blatchford recommended that the Commission adopt the position that water and sewer reserve funds not be used for any purpose other than water and sewer capital projects. Although the Town Council has the legal authority to move reserves between General Funds and Water and Sewer, the current debt load and capital demands to maintain the water and sewer infrastructure require that the Town not consider using these funds for other purposes and possibly negatively impacting the financial health of the Town. Adjournment: Rick Blatchford moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Bob King and passed by unanimous vote. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm. W&S Meeting: The next W&S meeting is February 4, 2015 in Town Hall at 7:00 pm. Prepared by, Dick Swanson, Secretary