New water line, Waterworks study among meeting topics

May 14, 2026  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Waterbury’s Edward Farrar Utility District’s election on Wednesday attracted the best turnout in 15 years as 176 voters cast ballots and re-elected three incumbent district commissioners.

Voting took place all day at the municipal offices, with the results announced towards the end of the district’s evening annual in-person business meeting.

In the three-way race for two one-year terms on the Board of Commissioners, incumbents Rick Weston and Natalie Sherman received the most votes: Weston with 118, and Sherman with 114. Challenger Valerie Rogers, running for the first time, garnered 68 votes. The election featured the first contest for the district board since 2011, and candidates even campaigned with signs posted throughout the downtown in the past two weeks.

A three-year seat was also on the ballot. Incumbent Robert Finucane was unopposed for that position; he received 129 votes.

District Clerk Karen Petrovic reported that 176 of the district’s 1,566 eligible voters participated in the election, amounting to a turnout of 11.2%.

Commission Chair P. Howard “Skip” Flanders thanked Rogers, who was in the audience, for running and contributing to increasing interest in the election.

Rogers thanked all who participated. “That’s a huge amount of voters, which shows that people are very interested in EFUD, and I congratulate the elected commissioners,” she said.

A niche in local governance

The utility district, referred to as EFUD for short, covers just a portion of Waterbury’s territory, including the downtown, lower Blush Hill neighborhoods, and the Route 100 corridor north of Interstate 89. It mainly includes the areas on the municipal water and wastewater systems, which the district operates.

The district was created in 2018 after the former Waterbury village municipality, which ran those systems, was dissolved. Its annual budget comes from user fees from customers on the water and wastewater systems, along with state and federal grants for infrastructure projects. The district’s board also oversees a revolving loan fund that it inherited from the former village government and created from federal funding that helped launch the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plant development in the mid-1980s.

Given its niche in the community, EFUD meetings and annual elections typically attract just a small number of voters. Since its formation, six of the seven regular elections have seen fewer than 50 people participate.

One exception was the October 2022 special vote to approve the sale of the property at 51 South Main Street to Downstreet Housing and Community Development in Barre to build a 26-unit affordable housing complex.

The property belonged to the former village municipality, and it was the site of the former municipal office and village police department. The building was badly damaged in 2011 by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene, and it was later demolished. Downstreet purchased the property for $138,000 in early 2025 and began construction on the apartment complex, which is nearly completed now. An open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony are being planned for June 3.

Saluting Tuscany’s service

*The EFUD 2025 annual report is dedicated to longtime municipal employee Alec Tuscany. Its cover photo by Gordon Miller was taken in 2013. Photo by Gordon Miller*

In addition to the election on Wednesday, the evening in-person annual meeting was attended by 12 district residents.

Flanders moderated the meeting, beginning with a tribute to longtime municipal employee Alec Tuscany whose first role was town and village manager in 1975. A lifelong Waterbury resident and noted local historian, Flanders said Tuscany is the only individual who has served as both municipal manager and as a select board member.

Tuscany left the manager position after two years to establish a career as a professional civil engineer. He eventually returned to Waterbury and resumed local service. He became Waterbury’s public works director in 2000 and retired from that job in 2015. Today, he continues his longtime role as staff engineer part-time.

The EFUD annual report for 2025 has a 2013 photo of Tuscany on its cover and a page-long dedication inside. It recounts both Tuscany’s service to the community as well as his military service from enrolling in Army ROTC as a University of Vermont student to his commission in the Army Corps of Engineers to the Vermont National Guard. Tuscany’s military service included several overseas deployments to Panama, Macedonia and Israel, according to the account.

Longtime municipal staffer, engineer Alec Tuscany, and his wife Jane (center), are honored at the EFUD annual meeting along with interim EFUD Manager Bill Woodruff (left) and EFUD Chair Skip Flanders (right). Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Tuscany thanked the board for the recognition, recalling how his experience grew from when he took his first job with the municipalities at age 26. “I knew nothing about being a town manager. I learned quickly. I had some great mentors,” he said, noting that Rusty Parker chaired the Waterbury Select Board at the time in addition to being general manager at WDEV radio stations.

Other positions Tuscany has held include lister and recreation committee member. He’s currently Waterbury’s representative to the Mad River Resource Management District that oversees local solid waste and recycling programs.

In reflecting on his career, Tuscany said he enjoys serving on boards and meeting people. He called Waterbury a great place to live. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed – mostly – every job I’ve had,” he said.

New water line project begins

Meeting business included approving annual compensation for the district’s leaders. On a voice vote, attendees approved paying the district clerk/treasurer $3,000, the commission chair $2,000, and each of the other four board members $1,500.

A second voice vote gave the board approval to borrow up to $200,000 to pay for replacing the roof on the water treatment plant building in the coming year.

Using a slide presentation, Flanders reviewed district highlights from the past year and looked ahead to key initiatives the district is working on this year.

The district’s major project is a water line expansion in Waterbury Center. The East Wind Project is named after the 28-unit mobile home park east of Vermont Route 100 that it will connect to the municipal water system. The EFUD board last week approved the construction contract award for the .72-mile water line to J.A. McDonald for $1,160,498. McDonald was the low bid among five, and it came in $459,000 under the construction cost estimate. The total project cost, including design, engineering and administration is $1.99 million.

The line will allow the mobile home park to discontinue using a private well with poor water quality, Flanders noted. Once connected to the EFUD system, the park may also be able to add another one or two mobile homes. The line also will improve fire protection along the Route 100 corridor between Guptil Road and Airstrip Way, Flanders said.

EFUD received a federal grant of $2,240,000 and a state grant of $592,600 for the project. District officials say they are looking to potentially expand the project, which is designed to end at Route 100 near East Wind Drive, across from a retail and commercial area. The district’s report credited former district manager Tom Leitz for securing the grant funds to cover the project costs, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Work is starting on the project now and is expected to be completed this fall.

New customers interested in connecting to the line would pay for their connections, district officials said.

Other votes, topics covered

EFUD Commission Chair P. Howard "Skip" Flanders (standing) addresses the annual meeting on May 13. Seated left to right: Commissioners Rick Weston, Natalie Sherman, Cindy Parks, Robert Finucane, Interim EFUD Manager Bill Woodruff, Clerk Karen Petrovic. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Other updates included:

Budget breakdowns for water and sewer departments. The Water Department budget of $1,337,024 is down 3.6% from last year. The Sewer Department budget of $996,776 is up 11%, just over $100,000 from last year. Asked about water and sewer rates for the coming year, Flanders said commissioners have not planned for any rate increases at this time.
The district on April 30 finalized the first labor agreement with its workers. In early 2025, employees of both the town and the utility district joined the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees labor union. A contract with town employees was approved earlier this year.
The district appointed an ethics officer to comply with new state requirements. Waterbury Justice of the Peace James Adams was named to the role. The officer would handle any ethics complaints regarding district officials or employees.
District employees have completed cross-training so that all staff are now certified to work at both the water and wastewater plants.
Interim District Manager Bill Woodruff noted that the district received a $93,000 state grant to design and permit a project to protect a wastewater line that crosses the Thatcher Brook in two places near Stowe Street. The pipe is vulnerable during high-water events, he noted. The district will seek grant funding for construction on the project that will include stabilizing the streambank, he said.

Waterworks planning continues

Flanders recapped recent work to assess the natural resources of the district’s roughly 400-acre Waterworks property that straddles the Waterbury-Stowe town line and serves as a key source of fresh water for the district. Trails in the undeveloped forested area have been closed due to unauthorized trail-building that peaked last summer. The property is popular among local residents who use it for recreation such as hiking, hunting and cross-country skiing. Increased mountain biking and new trails prompted concerns about erosion and pollution that could impact water resources.

In addition to holding two public information sessions, the district has worked with a University of Vermont graduate student program to gather data. The student group made a presentation to the EFUD Commission last week and will be sending a report with its findings, Flanders said. The commission also aims to hold one more public session to gather input as it looks to draft a land-use policy for the Waterworks this year, he said.

Overseeing business loans

The annual report and Flanders’ presentation touched on the Urban Development Action Grant revolving loan fund, which currently has 11 loans out totaling just over $1 million. The fund has an additional $834,000 in reserve that could be loaned out to local businesses.

Meeting attendees asked questions about the loan process and the committee that reviews applications to make recommendations to the EFUD board. Rogers asked whether the review committee’s meetings are open to the public. Flanders said they are, but the panel has not had an application – or a meeting – in the past year.

Rogers suggested that the district share more details about the loan process and management – such as delinquencies and payments – in the annual report. She noted that information about the committee is not posted on the district’s website.

Flanders thanked her for the suggestion and said the district’s management transition has impacted some aspects of information-sharing.

“I know why,” Rogers said. “I don’t want it to be a new culture of ‘nobody cares,’” she said. “We care.”

“Good point,” Flanders replied.

Along those lines, resident Gary Dillon asked about the largest outstanding loan, $586,000 to the Ice Center. “At what point will they start to reimburse the fund?” he asked.

“September 2027,” replied Commissioner Finucane, explaining that payments from the nonprofit operator of the ice rink were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that benefit was extended by five years in 2022. “We’re going to be contacting them and will ask them if they expect any mercy in the future, they need to come in and show they can make a going business out of it.”

Options for EFUD’s future

Flanders and the commission also thanked Woodruff, Waterbury’s Public Works Director, who stepped up in January to take on the interim roles as both municipal manager and EFUD manager after the resignation of Tom Leitz, who had served in those positions since 2022.

The Waterbury Select Board is leading the process to recruit and hire a new town manager. EFUD and town officials still need to determine whether the new hire will continue in both roles or if EFUD will look to hire a separate part-time manager.

Rogers pressed commissioners about how those management functions would be handled going forward. Flanders replied that after early discussions with the Select Board, no final decision has been made.

Several meeting attendees asked EFUD commissioners about a related measure that was approved at the 2025 annual meeting but not completed in the past year. EFUD voters last year authorized district leaders to commission a study to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of operating the utility district as its own municipal entity versus making it a department within Waterbury’s town government.

A request for proposals was drafted last year, but it was never moved forward as district leaders focused on other issues, Flanders noted, including union negotiations and the manager transition.

Resident Tom Gloor said he believes getting feedback from an independent review is important to guide the district’s future as the community grows. “My confidence is not there that this got the priority that it should have gotten,” he said. “It disturbs me. We have a democracy here. We take a vote. We executed what the ratepayers said we were going to do, and we didn’t do it. … can we establish a timeline and stick to it so we’re not here next year saying we didn’t get to it?”

The commissioners acknowledged that the study is unfinished business.

“Yes. At our next meeting, we will do that,” Flanders replied.

Commissioner Sherman said the board needs to return to that project to issue the request for proposals with a goal of having the evaluation completed. “We need to get restarted,” she said.

The EFUD annual report is available in paper copies at the town office and online. It contains reports from the commissioners and district manager, budget details, and descriptions of the district’s various recent efforts and ongoing projects.

Wednesday’s meeting was recorded by ORCA Media and will be posted online under Waterbury Municipal Meetings.

EFUD voters cast 176 ballots, re-elect commissioners