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Select Board approves multiple sewer/water abatements, tables large Billings Farm barn request pending review
Summary
The Woodstock Select Board approved a series of sewer and water-billing abatements and account corrections, accepted staff recommendations for several properties, and tabled a large dairy/barn abatement for Billings Farm until the water department verifies usage calculations.
The Select Board approved a block of sewer and water abatements and account corrections after presentations by Finance Director Robert Dennimore and colleagues. For 213 Butternut Lane the board moved the customer from the family flat rate to a double billing rate; the motion passed with no opposition.
Staff provided detailed analysis for Billings Farm, estimating roughly "About 4,000, 4,000 cubic feet of sewage, and that's just from cleaning the milk system," and proposed either a special rate tied to measured usage or moving to a flat rate comparable to actual usage. The board approved small-dollar abatements for some Billings Farm accounts but tabled the larger barn/dairy abatement to allow water-department staff to review the methodology and confirm the estimate. Other approved adjustments included prorating new-connection bills and fixing duplicate-account charges for condo and multi-connection properties; the board discussed consistency when reducing connection counts for mixed-use buildings and noted any change could affect next year’s rate-setting.
The finance director noted some accounts had not been read by the aqueduct and encouraged upgrades to radio-frequency readers to avoid future disputes. The board also discussed a proposal to mail an annual status card with each bill to reduce future misclassification of households and to pursue grant funding for additional meters.
