Wellfleet Board of Water Commissioners
Town Hall Conference Room
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Present: Emily Beebe, Steven Gazzano, Co-Chairs; Lori Vanderschmidt, Dan Wexman, Jean Schaefer
Also Attending: Town Administrator Paul Sieloff, Assistant Town Administrator Rex Peterson, Town Treasurer Dawn Rickman, Town Accountant Marilyn Crary, DPW Director Mark Vincent, EPG Representatives Paul Millett & Paul Gabriel, Financial Advisors for Town of Wellfleet Matt Varnum & Jim Eldridge
Co-Chair Steve Gazzano called the meeting to order at 12:07 p.m.
Steve Gazzano led the introductions around the table and explained the roles of the Water Commissioners.
Dawn Rickman said the Town Financial Advisors from Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank needed to take part in planning the financing since the USDA loan and the State Revolving Fund (SRF) had both been granted. Mr. Eldridge said the figure the Town has to borrow against is an authorized 5.6 million. The question he posed was what the Town planned to do with the SRF.
Beebe said any conflicts between USDA and SRF has been resolved. Beebe asked if keeping the SRF open was worthwhile. The USDA loan is the best way to go, Paul Millett said. Eldridge agreed because of the low rate. Millett suggested paying off the SRF leaving the long term USDA loan solely in effect.
As soon as the USDA loan comes in, the Town will be able to pay off the loan with the bank. Dawn Rickman wanted to be assured that the money will be coming into her account. Millett said that both SRF and USDA are quick about sending in the money.
Lori Vanderschmidt asked about impact to the tax payers. As long as the Enterprise Fund is balanced, there will be no impact, Beebe said.
Gazzano summarized that the Board would submit the bills to USDA for 2.5 million dollars, paying off the two commercial loans and the SRF. From that point the bills will go to USDA to the Town to the vendor. The interest on the loans cannot be reimbursed by USDA, but the Water Enterprise Fund could cover it. Ron Koontz, Rural Development Specialist for USDA anticipates that more USDA money will be available for additional work, according to Paul Gabriel.
The next half of the meeting focused on planning. Paul Millett reviewed a menu of expansion options for the Board to consider. These included: additional small streets in the Central District; running a line down Gull Pond Rd. and up Route 6 to Briar Lane; providing service lines along the old route of pipeline; paving and sidewalk curbing in downtown; a loop connecting Kendrick Ave. by going over Taylor Hill by way of Summit Ave. to Chequessett Neck Rd.; and storm water drainage improvements. Mark Vincent added for consideration that the Whitetail Lane Area To Be Served (ATBS) line needed fire suppression and drainage.
There is $852,000 available to use without further Town Meeting approval, Millett said. He created a chart of the money flow necessary for all the proposed options, and he will provide an updated menu of the options and their costs for the Water Commissioners’ next meeting on February 2, 2010. In order to accomplish what is on the list, the Water Commissioners will need more money.
The Water Commissioners decided that the SRF door could be kept open after all and called Dawn Rickman requesting that she not move ahead with closing it. EPG will go forward seeking more USDA loans.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 2:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
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Mary Rogers, Committee Secretary Steve Gazzano, Co-Chair
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