Woodfin Sanitary Water and Sewer District
Meeting of Board of Trustees
Minutes of July 17th, 2023
The meeting was called to order at 1:00 P.M. by Sarah Gassaway, Chair. In attendance: Ivo Ballentine, Vice-chair; Gordon Maybury, Secretary; Brian Goldstein, Executive Director; Jackie Bryson, MSD Representative; Joe Martin, Previous Executive Director.
Approval of the Agenda
Agenda approved by consensus.
Approval of Minutes
Motion by Gassaway to approve June 2023 minutes Ballentine seconded, motion carried unanimously.
Eblen Charities MOU Discussion
Beth Russo, Executive Director. Mrs. Russo discussed the way Eblen is formalizing relationships with partners. Residency requirement, income verification. Chair Gassaway asked to verify our service area since we have customers outside of The Town of Woodfin. Trustee Maybury asked about the 12% fee. It is to cover administrative costs, staff time, and general overhead. Chair Gassaway asked how Eblen verifies a customer is not “Double Dipping”. Eblen utilizes State databases to ensure that does not happen. Trustee Maybury asked if clients have been turned down. Beth Russo said they do if the client does not meet the criteria set forth. Customers will be allowed to apply for help once per CY. The board approved Director Goldstein to sign the MOU.
MSD Report
Ms. Bryson reported: The MSD will be electing board members at their next meeting. Trustee Maybury asked about how the project is going, and when the end date will be to allow for a tour of the facilities.
Public Comment
A resident asked about the district reservoir levels. The reservoir is completely full. The stream that feeds the reservoir is flowing. Another resident asked about growth in the Town of Woodfin if a drought happens. The District has a contract with Asheville to provide for emergency situations. Dr. Martin explained how the contract with Asheville works.
District Reports
Financial reports were discussed. Woodfin Water is running on target to come in within the budget. We have had hard spending freeze in June to prevent going over. Went through bank statements, our reserve accounts are seeing interest rising. Trustee Maybury would like to see P&L statements by month. He asked if he can see P&L statements for the previous few months. The Board would have to decide if they want it provided as part of the packet. Director Goldstein will provide P&L statements to Trustee Maybury. Applications for New Construction have slowed down. If this continues, we will see a slowdown in fees collected within 12 to 18 months. We will still look for investment opportunities in the new FY. Activity reports were discussed. Disconnect for non-payment went up in June. Calls were made to customers, yet less paid before cut off happened. AVL water usage has increased due to treatment plant filter refurbishment.
Director’s Report
- Continuing conversations with the Town of Weaverville discussing an emergency connection between the systems, and soft boundaries for water service.
- Woodfin Water has joined the NC Water Quality Association, annual dues of $845.00.
- Developing new order tracking system. This will give better tracking of outstanding orders. We are also reaching out to multiple vendors to provide quotes on most orders.
- Meeting with Miller supply to discuss an AMR system (Drive by meter reading).
- Hired new Distribution Technician Trainee/Meter Reader. Starts July 17th.
Old Business
No New Business
New Business
No New Business
Call of Board Members
Trustee Maybury asked if we had any complaints in the last month. We have not except that Asheville had a break on their end, and caused some discolored water. It was clear very quickly. We also held a Fire Hydrant demo and had the Woodfin Fire Department in attendance. Trustee Maybury also asked about request for service. As of the meeting we had two single family requests.
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 1:52 PM.