Jericho Underhill Water District

Board of Trustees’ Annual Report

P.O. Box 174 Underhill, Vermont 05489 

October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025

 

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.

 

The 2024 Annual Meeting was held at the Underhill United Church on October 6, 2024.  Marc Maheux was elected moderator and guided the meeting through all warned sixteen articles.  Joe O’Brien 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 Foresberg, who has served a number of years as delinquent bill collector, was reelected. Auditors Vicki Milton, Harland Blodgett, and Bill VanDeVenter were also reelected.

 

Brian Picotte completed his second year as our Assistant Operator.  Brian provided excellent day to day service and smooth operations.  Our licensed operator was Simon Operations Systems from Waterbury. Trustees consisted of Joseph P. O’Brien, President from Underhill, and Trustee Tanner Palmer of Jericho, and Trustee Steve Jennings from Underhill.  Marc Maheux managed our website and was available for valued consultations. Nancy Benson was also our local fluoride tester

 

 

Some highlights of the fiscal year:

 

·         Hydrants were flushed two times during the fiscal year. We flushed in October and then again in April.  Flushing moves any mineral sediment out of the main supply lines.  Sometimes customers may see cloudy water during or after the flushing. Running home service lines for three to five minutes usually clears up the cloudiness.

·         The district added one new service to a home on Harvest Run and discontinued one line on Dumas Rd. 

·         Vermont Lead/Cooper replacement survey and data was completed.  The survey resulted on no homes needing galvanized service line replacement.

·         Repairs for the year were minimal.  We replaced a transducer (measures and controls depth of water in Maple Ridge cistern) along with improvements to our chlorine pump. A radio control unit that communicates with the two main tanks was replaced.

·         The Mill Development received permits for Phase One that includes construction of apartments in the former mill and houses on the southeast side of the property.  Infrastructure work is planned for this fall.

·         A State conducted Sanitary Survey was held in January.  There were five areas that needed addressing: hatch access on Maple Ridge tank, Operation and Maintenance manual updates, Maple Ridge cistern leak, low pressure issues from cistern and scheduled tank inspections. All issues were resolved or clarified except for continued work on the O & M manual and the leak issue at the cistern to be worked on this fall.

·         The district has been communicating with developers and engineers working on the Harvest Crossing housing project.  An allocation has been approved for nine units behind the United Church.

·         Site improvements were completed at both the pump house/control building off River Road and our storage building on Vermont Farmhouse Rd. Culvert replacement and driveway, and parking lot leveling with crushed stone made better access for deliveries and location for a needed storage container at the control building. Roadway access to the storage building included lining part of the access with crushed stone and clearing vegetation around the storage building and brush hogging the access roadway. A 40x10 shipping container was installed at the control building.  Many items will be moved from the control building into the container. 

·         A major leak occurred in the main along Route 15 in early June that required 10 hours of work and water shut off along Route 15. 

·         Work in progress includes repairs to the storage building. Roof work, jacking up and leveling building and painting are on the list. Replacement and repair of two hydrants is planned when a contractor is available in October.
 

 

Trustees recommended a 3% increase in rates for the 2025-26 budget year. The base rate will be $57.95 per quarter and use rate will be $6.12 This has been a very successful 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