Village of Schuylerville (population 1386)
Name of service/government operation: Schuylerville/Victory Board of Water Managment
Form of sharing: Built two new water plants with EFC Funding
Services affected: Drinking water for two villages
Year started: 2001
Partners: Village of Schuylerville and Village of Victory
Primary goal(s)/motivation(s): The motivation was after an Ecoli incident at the Washington Cty Fair, the DOH said Schuylerville and Victory could not longer get their drinking water from the open resevoir in the Town of Easton.
What planning process preceded the sharing? The two villages formed a committee, hired engineering and applied to EFC for funding. The Schuylerville plant was necessary, the Victory plant was not, but Victory insisted on having their abandoned plant rebuilt. The Schuylerville plant would and could have serviced both villages.
What governance structures and/or agreements are required to maintain this agreement? Intermunicipal Agreement was written June 2001 between the two villages. A water board was created. Two representatives from each village and one of the four is named chairperson. The original agreement was to alternate the lead agent responsibilities every year. The lead agent would be responsible to do the billing and collect the water rents, handle all the accounting responsibilities and any other business that would arise.
Challenges: There are daily challenges dealing with the Village of Victory Trustees (two) and the Victory reprentatives to the water board(two) and the chief water operator...his excessive spending and seemingly unlimited overtime pay....Not to mention Victory's abuse of reibursement from the water for their village employees and office equipment and on and on. It makes some in the Schuylerville government dream about hiring a national firm to run the plants. How much simpler life would be.
Benefits: Not sure there are any other than the ability to borrow from the EFC. Schuylerville pays 76% of everything and Victory 24%. Schuylerville has 50% representation and Victory has 50% representation on the board. The current powers in Victory are always against Schuylerville and a few people representing Victory make life difficult for ALL.
Impact on budget: The water board has their owm budget. Payment to the EFC and other expenses incurred by the villages are reibursed by the water with board approval.
Impact on labor: The water plants run with a chief water operator, one full time operator and one part time operator. If there are water breaks or emergency issues, the Schuylerville DPW and the Victory DPW provide labor, reimbursed by the water board funds.
Impact on service: The water services do not have direct impact on village services unless there is an emergency that would pull the DPW away from their regular duties
Key contact: Mayor of Schuylerville, John Sherman -518/695-3881 - office@villageofschuylerville.org