2024 Annual Report
Jericho Underhill Water District Board of Trustees’ Annual Report
P.O. Box 174 Underhill, Vermont 05489
October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024
The 2023-24 Annual Meeting was held at the Underhill United Church on October 3, 2023. Marc Maheux was elected moderator and guided the meeting through all warned sixteen articles. Steve Jennings of Underhill was reelected as a trustee for a three-year term. Attendees reelected Nancy Benson to both the treasure and clerk’s positions. Andy Forsberg, who has served a number of years as delinquent bill collector, was reelected. Auditors Vicki Milton, Harland Blodgett, and Bill VanDeVenter were also reelected.
Simon Operation Systems of Waterbury, VT continued to be the licensed and certified chief operator of our system. Brian Picotte of Underhill completed his first year as our Assistant Operator. Brian provided excellent day to day service and smooth operations. The other Trustees consisted of Joseph P. O’Brien, President from Underhill, and Tanner Palmer of Jericho, Trustee from Jericho Trustee and Steve Jennings from Underhill. Marc Maheux managed our website and was available for valued consultations. Nancy Benson took over the fluoride testing from Helen Miller who was our local fluoride tester for over 49 years. We are very grateful for her dedication over these years.
The Jericho-Underhill Water District provided drinking water and fire hydrant access to 300+ residential and business connections representing an estimated 900 people within the District. During the past year drinking water supplied to the District averaged about 40,000 gallons per day. Water delivered to District customers this year was of high quality and adequate quantity and met all State and Federal requirements.
Some highlights of the fiscal year:
- The district continues to add customers. Trustees approved water allocation for thirteen new customers. These allocations were for future homes on River Road, Harvest Run and Harvest Crossing. Allocation is a term used to give approval for individual customer usage and indicates that the Jericho Underhill Water District has the capacity to supply needed water to each unit based on how many bedrooms in each unit.
- Some major repairs this year included a new exhaust system and tuning of the control building generator, digital control units’ repair at Maple Ridge tank and cistern. We also replace the transducer in the Maple Ridge cistern that regulates the tan’s water level. Replacement of the Chlorine analyzer pressure regulator is also planned.
- A major leak in the Raceway Road main line was discovered in mid August. Residential taps on the main had rusted. The main line was directly under the road. We were fortunate to have the expertise of Simon Operating Systems staff, Marc Maheux and excavator operator, Chris Wells, of Underhill in making the quick repairs.
- The district participated in the Federally required Lead and Copper Line Inventory. The engineering company, TruePani, conducted the inventory that included review of all main lines and secondary lines, our history of materials used in distributing water, and customer service lines. The survey concluded that the district does not use any lead pipes and no customer lines were found to use lead pipes.
- Flushing of main lines was completed in October of 2023 and May of 2024. A considerable amount of water was used by the Underhill Jericho Fire Department when the fought two major fires, one in Underhill and one in Jericho. Hydrants were used on Park Street and Dumas Road. This use added to flushing of mineral sediment in distribution lines,
Trustees recommended a three percent increase in the usage rate for the 2023-24 budget year. The increase was voted on and approved at the annual meeting. The base rate remained the same as the previous year of $56.94 per quarter. This has been a very successful financial year in providing safe and quality water that has met all State and Federal standards. The Trustees wish to thank our employees and contractors for their work this past year.
Joseph P. O'Brien, President
Tanner Palmer, Trustee
Stephen Jennings, Trustee