Town of South Hero
Wastewater Committee
Minutes of a Meeting on
Present:, Rich Goggin, Nate Hayward, Bob Krebs, Peter Zamore, Greta Brunswick, Lynnette
Claudon, Achouak Arfaoui, Shane Mullen, Steve LaRosa, Joan Falcao, Bob Firovid
The meeting was called to order at 4:40 pm.
On motion by Nate and second by Rich, the minutes of the March 9, 2026 meeting were
approved.
The wetlands delineation map prepared by Fitzgerald Environmental was reviewed. The
committee discussed the locations of possible development, and the location of the old farm road
that connects lots 5-7, including potential uses of that land.
The committee then reviewed the draft wastewater capacity analysis prepared by Weston
& Sampson. It indicates that there is a potential wastewater capacity of 6800 gallons per day
(GPD) or 10,600 GPD if there is pretreatment. The analysis suggests that the permitted
wastewater mounds be reconfigured so that the town’s mounds are adjacent to each other and
one long mound could be constructed. Steve suggested that we ask CIDER and the owner of lot 2
to swap mounds with the town, in order to permit this configuration. The analysis also
recommends that the north-south mound of the two proposed mounds identified in Otter Creek’s
report be used.
The committee then discussed the status of funding. The town is likely to receive a grant
of $150,000 to be used to develop preliminary alternative designs for the project along with cost
estimates. In addition, the town has been nominated to receive a $1 million earmark from
Senator Welch’s office and the committee intends to apply for a NBRC grant on the order of $1
million in the next round of applications in the spring.
Because a substantial aspect of the project design involves the collection system, the
committee discussed the need to obtain information concerning the location, type and needs of
potential wastewater system users. One significant factor is whether the wastewater project
service area should be limited to the Lavin property, or also serve the existing homes and
businesses in the Route 2/village area. Peter reviewed the significantly increased cost of serving
the village, due to the need to work around the existing utility infrastructure and to drill under
Route 2, as described in the Otter Creek report. He also described the additional revenues from
Lavin parcel development due to land sales and property tax revenues. Further, he discussed the
fact that some portion of Route 2 properties may not want wastewater service, since an early
wastewater committee survey indicated that over half of the respondents indicated that their
existing systems were adequate. Finally, he referred to the recent Lavin vision project
workshop, where there was widespread support for development on the Lavin project, in addition
to green space, recreation/community facilities and trails. As a result, the committee decided to
recommend that the selectboard decide that the project should prioritize service to the Lavin
parcel.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:40, with no further discussion or action.
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting. All motions
were unanimous unless otherwise indicated.