By Lauren Dorsey, Staff Writer
Last Tuesday, Woodstock residents voted to acquire the Woodstock Aqueduct Company (WAC). Now, they have to decide how to run it.
While many aspects of the WAC’s new municipal operation will be settled at Woodstock Selectboard meetings and on town meeting day, two of the biggest issues will be decided at a public vote on December 10.
The vote, which will be conducted by Australian Ballot, will be split into two articles.
One of the articles will ask whether Woodstock will undertake three capital projects to improve the operation of the WAC and bring the system back within state standards. The other will decide whether the town will acquire the Vondell property, a 358-acre parcel and water reservoir not currently used in the WAC’s normal operation.
Capital projects
Of the three capital projects included in the first article, the biggest is the proposed water distribution main replacement. In 2023, Otter Creek Engineering estimated that this project would cost around $4.5 million and take two to three years to complete. “This is the big one, and it is to go from an eight-inch to a 12-inch pipe to bring water from the tank [to] the Village.” Eric Duffy, the Woodstock Municipal Manager, told the Standard. The pipe in question runs from Cox District Road on Route 4 to the bridge by the Woodstock Recreation Center. “The replacement will, ideally, solve all the water flow issues that currently exist in the Village,” said Duffy
Presently, there is a moratorium on new water connections to the town water supply because of the system’s lack of water flow to the Village’s hydrants. “When we’ve talked to [the state] about acquiring the aqueduct, what they said is that they need to see progress towards a resolution,” said Duffy. “This is progress, doing this work to get that water flow, so it’s one of the things that is kind of required for us to run the system.”
The second capital project is the Elm Street main suspension, which will replace the temporary four-inch pipe that runs over the Elm Street bridge sidewalk with a new 12-inch water main that will hang underneath the bridge. Otter Creek Engineering estimated that this work would cost roughly $650,000 to $720,000 and take less than a year. “Elm Street is pretty straightforward,” said Duffy. “The [temporary] pipe has been there forever, so let’s find a way to get that off the sidewalk and into a place where, ideally, it’s safe from the next disaster.”
The third project will replace well #5, one of the WAC’s two functioning wells. “This well was installed in 1993 so it’s due for an upgrade to begin with, and this will allow us to quickly reach our permitted daily demand,” said Duffy. “Right now, the aqueduct reaches its permitted daily demand in about 18 hours, [but with] the well replacement we could get it in 12, which would then allow us to have more capacity in reserve.” Duffy explained that increasing the system’s capacity would improve its ability to fight big fires and its resilience in the event of equipment failures.
Vondell acquisition
The second article on the ballot will ask voters whether they want to acquire the Vondell property and water reservoir for $1.6 million. According to Duffy, the water reservoir could become a backup water source for the WAC, which the town could use today to fight catastrophic fires or, in the future, with new treatment equipment, as a source of potable water. “We don’t need it to run the water system today, but maybe in the future, it would be helpful,” said Duffy. “We don’t know what the future is gonna look like, but we’d rather own the land than someone else.”
Laura Powell, a member of the Woodstock Selectboard, explained that owning the Vondell property also has other advantages. “In addition to being an investment for the town, it could give us flexibility in the future,” said Powell. “If we wanted to subdivide some of that land and sell it off, we have the ability to do that. Owning the property also allows us to continue to preserve the recreational use of it that we currently see between the Woodstock Area Mountain Biking Association, hiking, birding, and whatever else people like to do up there. It goes beyond water functionality.”
Allocating costs
Several weeks ago, at a meeting on October 15, the Woodstock selectboard discussed how to divide the costs of the capital projects and the Vondell acquisition among Woodstock residents.
Although they didn’t vote on a particular split, the board did reach a preliminary agreement. “Tonight, we have agreed to have the Vondell property and the Route 4 pipe upgrade, if passed by the residents, paid by all parcels and, the waterway placement and Elm Street pipe, if passed by residents, paid by water users only,” said Duffy during the meeting.
Dividing the costs between users and non-users in this way would mean that roughly 40% of the total cost of the Dec. 10 vote would be borne by non-users, and 60% would be borne by users of the water system, according to Duffy. “The selectboard has also said that future infrastructure projects, including a potential $5 million tank, would be paid by just users,” said Duffy.
The board also decided to use funds from both the new local options tax, which is used to fund infrastructure projects, and the older meals and rooms local options tax, which funds the Economic Development Commission, to help with bond payments. “We agreed to [use] 30% of the new local option tax, which is roughly $60,000 a year, and 20% of the older local option tax, which would be about $75,000,” said Duffy during the meeting.
Outreach
Over the next month, the selectboard plans to continue the water outreach campaign the board began in September. In addition to running a variety of public meetings, selectboard members are planning to host another series of informal forums at local cafes, restaurants, and bars to answer questions and talk about the details of the coming vote. “We’re going to try to be everywhere like we were last time,” said Powell.
The board is also pioneering a few new ways to get the word out, including giving several tours of the Vondell property. The first of these is tentatively scheduled for this Saturday at 2 p.m. “On top of that, if people have any other ideas of what we could do for better outreach, I’d be happy to hear it,” said Duffy. “I think last month, we were pretty successful, but we know that we can always do better, so if we’re missing a location or a time or a place, we are happy to take that feedback and try to accommodate it.”