By STEPHEN SEITZ
Special to the Eagle Times
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — A sudden demand from the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank has forced the Village of Bellows Falls to go digging for money and delaying new water and sewer rates.
Finance Director Ronald Karvosky said outside the meeting that the bank wanted $321,000, which was supposed to have been used for upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant. The village had borrowed $521,000 for the project.
“The demand came in last month,” he said.
Karvosky detailed what had happened to the village trustees, who held their regular meeting on Tuesday.
“They called the note in unexpectedly, of which they’re going to forgive $198,000,” Karvosky told the board. “But we paid for the project with a USDA grant. We should have sent the money back then, but they didn’t know we didn’t use it.”
The original plan had been to repay the bond over 2020 and 2021, but the bank didn’t want to wait, Karnovsky said.
“They want it in a couple of weeks, or early in October,” he said.
The board wanted to know a lot more.
“We should have $198,000,” said Trustee Stefan Golec. “Where is it?”
Village President Deborah Wright said the topic in the agenda was to set the sewer rates.
“We can go back to this in a minute,” she said. “but what is the dollar figure ratepayers can expect to see when their bill goes up?”
That turned out to be $44.78, assuming an average home using an average amount of water, according to the finance office.
At that point, Trustee James McAuliffe moved to raise the rates by 25 percent. That did not sit well with other members of the board.
“We need more information,” Golec said. “We should do this at a special meeting.”
McAuliffe said the situation should be remedies as soon as possible.
“I know it’s going to be a hit,” he said, “but we should do it now.”
In the end, the motion failed. McAuliffe and Trustee Gary Lique voted in favor. Golec, Deborah Wright and Trustee Jonathan Wright voted it down.
The trustees were also going to set the water rates, decided instead to do that at a special meeting next Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 5 p.m.
Karnovsky said he’d research the issue further for the special meeting.
The board announced that there would be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the upgraded wastewater treatment plant on Sept. 29.
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