Spring Leak Hunting

We’re leak hunting again folks, and this one is likely a home. As the last hard freezing nights ended a bit over a week ago, we noticed an uptick in total water usage for the park. We’re probably looking for a garden hose bibb or a partially broken half inch pipe in a home. The roughly 3k gallons of extra usage is about half of what we would notice with a full hose bibb break.

Please walk the perimeter of your homes and look for soaked spots or running water. The sooner we can get this identified, the better off we’ll be when we have another, perhaps larger break. We need to stay two steps away from dangerous system conditions instead of one. Please give PMA a call to let us know if you find a leak.

Thanks,
Ops.

Possible water interruption Thursday morning

We’re investigating a water service interruption on Thursday morning. It’s not a leak this time, but something is wrong with the service connection preventing flow to the home. Regardless, we may need to shut the system down for a repair. If so, we’ll be required to send out the usual boil water notice. We’ll keep this site updated with the latest info and property management will send emails to all addresses they have.

Thanks,
-Ops

Leak Repairs Underway

We’re getting started about 8:30AM. If we have to shut the system down to make the repair, we’ll be under a boil water notice, so we’ll keep it down for some hours to aid in recovery.

UPDATE: We’ve had to shut the system down. Some leaks are small enough we can do it “live”, but not this one. We would like to have pressure restored by 3PM.

UPDATE #2: Pressure has already been restored. Beware of the usual discoloration and crud. Let your cold water run a minute or two to clear it, but no longer please.

-Ops

Water Leak Located

We’ve got a water leak on the service line to 221 Hemlock. Our repair crew will be here at 7AM tomorrow morning to get this patched up. Hopefully we’ve recovered enough water into the reservoir to handle this. Please continue to conserve water. Sunday is our heaviest use day of the week, and it’s going to be difficult for the system to keep up.

-Ops

Good news.

We’ve made some adjustments that have increased output on one of our wells. We’re optimistic that this will keep us from having to truck in water. In the mean time, keep up the conservation for a couple days until the tank is good and full, and the wells have a bit of a rest. We still need to identify leaks that are not of the usual nature (i.e. small water features in the road or your lawn).

o Walk the perimeters of your homes. Look for ice flows from leaks.
o Check those toilets for leaks and replace flappers if needed.
o Don’t run water to keep pipes from freezing. Get heating cable and insulation.

We’ll still be working with VT Rural Water on leak detection next week, so expect people looking around for curb stops (the valves that turn water on to your homes).

— Ops

Water System Problems, Call to Conserve

Although our equipment is improving, a combination of several issues has us at the limit.

We’ve yet to identify a likely leak(s) in the system costing us a good bit of water (thousands of gallons) a day. Add to that some underproduction from the well we have a new pump in, well blending ratio issues and heavy consumption, and we’re running a deficit that’s going to run us out of fresh water.

It’s critical we idenify any leaks in homes. People running water to prevent line freezes or leaking toilets are known large consumers of water. They also contribute to filling up our septic systems.

  • Please check your toilets for leaking flaps and replace them if necessary. It’s not a difficult job.
  • Please DON’T run water to keep pipes from freezing. Check and update your heating cable and insulation wrap instead.
  • Please take a walk around your homes. Look for flowing water or ice formation. It may not be visible due to heavy snow cover, but a walking inspection might reveal a problem.

If our storage tank runs out of water, we’ll have to shut down the system for a day to recharge it. That will buy us perhaps a week and a half before it happens again. We might need to do this weekly if we can’t get these issues under control. We might also have to deliver water to the storage tank, but that costs hundreds of dollars a load and is unsustainable. If we shut down, we’ll be under a boil water notice for quite some time — similar to when our storage tank was destroyed during hurricane Irene.

Please do what you can to help us find and solve all issues. We’ll be working with our water service company, well technicians and leak detectors from VT Rural Water. We will be entering lots to test and look for leaks, but you’ll need to check your own homes.

— SGC.coop Board

Main Well, So Far, So Good

It’s been 48 hours since we had our main well pulled and rewired to repair electrical shorts. We’ve not experienced any further trips due to breaker overloads.

In a related note: This was the second time we’ve sent a broadcast email asking for reduced water usage to help keep things under control. I’m afraid both times produced no measurable difference in water usage. We’ll need to find another way to notify residents that something is happening and we need help with it.

Thanks,
SGC Board and Operations Committee

Main Well Down

We’ve lost our main well pump/controller for the time being. This provides about 2/3 of the water we get into our storage tank. We’ve contacted our pump company for assistance, but we have no estimate yet on when this will be resolved.

While we have this worked on, it’s CRITICAL to reduce water usage. We’ve asked PMA to send a broadcast email stressing this.

We’ll update this site with additional info as we receive it.

Evening update:

We pulled the well out after detecting a short to ground on some pump wiring.

We found warn though wiring in many spots that look like this:

The entire length as been replaced with some heavily sheathed cable. We’re not yet sure this will solve the problem, so we have a pump and motor on standby.

Thanks for your patients and conserving water until we can resolve this. When our largest well goes down, it stresses our smaller well and throws off our chemical levels, so expect a bit of elivated chlorine for the next day. We’ll up date you on further details here.

Thanks,
Operations

Monthly Board Meeting (January)

Monthly Board Meeting
St. George Community Co-op
Board Meeting Agenda
January 18th, 2021 from 6PM to 8PM

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • CDI
    • Operations
  • Old Business
    • Northwest Septic Project
    • Mailbox Disposal Field “C” Repair
  • New Business
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session
  • Adjournment

Disposal field repairs this week

We’re having some repair work done on the disposal fields behind the mailboxes this week. This should fix flow problems from one of our main wastewater disposal systems. These issues preexisted our ownership of the park. We recently had an issue corrected where the abandoned ‘A’ field was leaching effluent instead of delivering it to the distribution beweeen the active ‘C’ and ‘B’ fields. As part of the distribution repair, we’re having the system legs redone to assure maximum usability and clear tree root intrusion into the system. This is one of our largest system, and 27 homes depend on its proper function. This work is not related to the failed system along Birch at the nortwestern edge of the park.

Water systems update

We’re just finishing up a repair to another small leak at our favoite spot. It’s a brittle system, but this time we did not need to depressurize, so we’re all set.

We’re also having an issue with our main well. Either because of the high usage from a leak (possible leaks) or simply a controller failure, the system has been taxed to near its maximum for a few days now. We’re asking everyone to conserve water for a few days. We’ll keep you posted on repair efforts.

UPDATE:
Our main well is operating again, and the system will be recovering. A couple of days of light usage on the water will help keep the pumps from working overtime and the wells from being taxed, so go easy and we’ll keep an eye on things.

Remember, we’re our own little municipality here. All our well water also goes back out into the septic systems, so the less we use, the less stress on the disposal fields. In the end, it saves us all money in repairs and replacement.

Thanks,
SGC Board

Water leak repair, Monday, Dec. 21st

We’ll be addressing a water leak at the south end of the park on Monday afternoon. As usual, if we can effect repairs without depressurizing the system, we will make every effort to do so. If we do need to shut the system down, we’ll issue the usual boil water notice as required by state regulations.

We’ll post updates here, at the bulletin board, and by direct email from property management.

Thanks,
SGC Board

Monthly Board Meeting (December)

Monthly Board Meeting
St. George Community Co-op
Board Meeting Agenda

December 21st, 2020 from 6PM to 8PM

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • CDI
    • Operations
  • Old Business
    • Northwest Septic Project
  • New Business
    • Mailbox Disposal Field “C” Repair
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session (if needed)
  • Adjournment

Water Leak…

The joys of old infrastructre strike again:

Water leak near 429 Hemlock

No word yet if we’ll need to shut the system down to repair it. We’ll keep updating this page and send email via Property Management if necessary.

— SGCC Board

Monthly Board Meeting (November)

Monthly Board Meeting

St. George Community Co-op
Board Meeting Agenda
November 16th, 2020 from 6PM to 8PM

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • Operations
  • Old Business
    • Northwest Septic Project
  • New Business
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session (if needed)
  • Adjournment

Due to the state’s request to limit gatherings, we’ll be running the meeting online.  Members that wish to participate may call into the following number and remain for all but executive session. Please see the bulletin board near the mailboxes for dial-in info.

Monthly Board Meeting (October)

Monthly Board Meeting
St. George Community Co-op
Board Meeting Agenda
October 19th, 2020 from 6PM to 8PM

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Executive Session
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • Operations
  • Old Business
    • Newsletter
    • Northwest Septic Project
  • New Business
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session (if needed)
  • Adjournment

We’ll be meeting at the Little Red Schoolhouse in the town center.

Thank you,
SGCC Board of Directors

Monthly Board Meeting

Monthly Board Meeting
St. George Community Co-op
Board Meeting Agenda
September 21st, 2020 from 6PM to 8PM, Hybrid

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • Operations
  • Old Business
  • New Business
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session
  • Adjournment

Due to the pandemic we’ll be holding the meeting partially online and partially in
person at the little red schoolhouse. For information on joining us for the public
portion of the meeting, please see the community bulletin board near the
mailboxes. You may join by telephone using the number provided and meeting ID
given. Please remember that these are intended for members only, but we’ll try to
accommodate under the circumstances. Should issues arise, we will end the
public portion of the meeting.

NOTICE: Water Leak

We have received a report of a water leak near a curb stop on Hemlock, toward the intersection with Chestnut. We have notified Pillsbury Excavating who will be responding within a couple of hours. We don’t know yet if he will be able to make the repair without turning off the water, but this area is favorable to doing so as it’s near the end of the upper loop and high in the system. There may be an interruption to the water service. More information to follow.

UPDATE: It is a minor leak and the repair will be made on Monday when our contractor would be available. We don’t know yet what time the contractor will be here on Monday. You should be prepared for a possible interruption to the water service. We will update as we get more information.

Monthly Board Meeting

St. George Community Co-op Board Meeting Agenda
August 25th, 2020 from 6PM to 8PM, Online

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • Operations
  • Break (5 min)
  • Old Business
    • Annual membership meeting
  • New Business
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session
  • Adjournment

Due to the pandemic and lack of physical access to our usual venue at the schoolhouse, we’ve been hosting monthly board meetings online. For information on joining us for the public portion of the meeting, please see the community bulletin board near the mailboxes. You may join by telephone using the number provided and meeting ID given. Please remember that these are intended for members only, but we’ll try to accommodate under the circumstances. Should issues arise, we will end the public portion of the meeting.

Thank you,
SGCC Board of Directors

Board Meeting

St. George Community Co-op
Board Meeting Agenda
August 6th, 2019 from 6PM to 8PM, Online

  1. Call to Order
  2. Approval of the Agenda
  3. Discuss and Decide on:
    1. All remaining details for the annual membership meeting including meeting location, notification mailing details, absentee ballots, nominations, etc. 
  4. Old Business as needed
  5. Executive Session
  6. Adjournment

Due to the pandemic and lack of physical access to our usual venue at the schoolhouse, we’ve been hosting monthly board meetings online. For information on joining us for the public portion of the meeting, please see the community bulletin board near the mailboxes. You may join by computer or mobile device using the RingCentral client software, or by telephone using the number provided and meeting ID given. Please remember that these are intended for members only, but we’ll try to accommodate under the circumstances. Should issues arise, we will end the public portion of the meeting.

Thank you,
SGCC Board of Directors

Monthy Board Meeting

St. George Community Co-op Board Meeting Agenda
July 20th, 2020 from 6PM to 8PM, Online

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of the Agenda
  • Approval of the Minutes
  • Special Request
    • CVOEO’s MHP Outreach Program
  • Reports
    • Property Manager
    • Finance
    • Membership
    • Rules
    • Operations
  • Break (5 min)
  • Old Business
    • Annual membership meeting
    • Composting
  • New Business
  • Open Forum
  • Executive Session
  • Adjournment

Due to the pandemic and lack of physical access to our usual venue at the schoolhouse, we’ve been hosting monthly board meetings online. For information on joining us for the public portion of the meeting, please see the community bulletin board near the mailboxes. You may join by computer or mobile device using the RingCentral client software, or by telephone using the number provided and meeting ID given. Please remember that these are intended for members only, but we’ll try to accommodate under the circumstances. Should issues arise, we will end the public portion of the meeting.

Thank you,
SGCC Board of Directors

Water Leak, Repair Complete

Repairs have been completed on the leak, and we didn’t need to depressurize the system! There’s a bit of follow-up to complete once the heavy rains have passed and the fix settles a bit, but no need to boil water. Special thanks (as always) to Todd Pillsbury Excavating for their prompt response and great service!

Notice of Water Leak

We have a small leak near 256 Hemlock. Out vendor will be on site around 7AM on Saturday morning for repairs. We hope to have it fixed without depressurizing the system, but as always, be prepared for a boil water notice if we have to drain the system.

Special Board Meeting, Capital Improvement Budget

St. George Community Co-op Board Meeting Agenda
July 9th, 2020 @ Virtual from  6:30 PM to 7:30 PM

6:00  Call to order, confirm quorum, approve agenda                   3 min
6:03  Discuss Draft CIP Budget                                                            57 min
Make changes as necessary
Vote on finalized budget for presentation to members
7:30 Adjourn Meeting

Boil water notice lifted, again…

We’ve just been notified that all biologic testing as come back negative. The boil warning is lifted.

This has been happening a lot lately, but as leaks are found we have them fixed, fast. We also comply with all federal, state and local regulations so as not to jeopardize our operations status and cost us considerably more.

Possible Interruption to Water Service

A water leak was discovered at 7861 RTE 2A on June 7th. Our contractor will be arriving sometime Monday June 8th to repair the line. It is quite probable that the water service to the community will have to be shut down for a short time during the repair. We apologize for the inconvenience and will update you as soon as we can.

Boil Water Notice Lifted!

Our water service operator has notified us that our biologic samples sent in for testing after the water line repair are all clear. The boil water notice is lifted.

Thanks for bearing with us while the repair and restart of the system was completed. We’ll need to depressureize the system for most line breaks due to the limited number of valves that would normally allow us to isolate various areas of the system. Each time the system is depressurized, we’re required to test and prove that no contamination has occured.

Water Outage and Boil Water Notice

We’ve had to depressurize the water system this afternoon as part of a repair on the south end of the park. We’ll be distributing a printed BOIL WATER notice. Once the system is back up, our water operator will take a sample to the state for biologic testing. Due to current circumstances, they estimate it will take until Tuesday to get an all clear at the earliest.

We’ll update the blog with more info as we receive it.

We took the opportunity to do the annual line flushing to minimize disruption in the days ahead.

Well House Maintenance Schedule

Dear SGCC Neighbors,
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays there will be routine maintenance work at the Well House.  This maintenance will occur between 1 PM and 2 PM.  It is possible that you will lose pressure or water during that time.
This will be an ongoing maintenance practice until some minor upgrade to equipment occurs.
Thank you for your patience.
Board of Directors

Tax and Rent Changes

Dear St. George homeowner,

We write to tell you about the upcoming change to how the town bills for property taxes. 

When residents own their mobile-home park as a cooperative, state law requires the town to bill us homeowners directly for the property taxes instead of billing the park as a company. 

This allows homeowners to pay less in taxes if they qualify for Vermont’s Property Tax Credit. Most park residents will qualify for it. (See below for more information.)

What Is Changing

  1. From now on the Town will bill each of us for 1/120th of the property taxes for the park. 

The town bills residents twice a year, in October and April, so we all need to get ready to pay those bills twice a year.

  1. To keep residents’ expenses flat, lot rents will go down starting with April rents. 

STARTING APRIL 1, 2020,

  • MEMBER LOT RENTS WILL DROP TO $420 A MONTH; 
  • NONMEMBER LOT RENTS WILL DROP TO $445 A MONTH. 

Q: What is the math for the lot rent reduction?

A: It is based on the 2019 property tax bills of $50,911.62. (There is a bill for the park itself and one for the 2A leachfield.) Divided by 120 lots that comes to $425/year per lot, or $35/month. So the board is reducing lot rents by that amount.

Q: How much will my new tax bill be?

A: That depends on two things:

  1. The tax amounts that the state sets this year, and 
  2. Whether you file for the Vermont Property Tax Credit (“income sensitivity”).

The state usually announces new tax rates in June. We don’t know if the pandemic will delay that this year.

We encourage everyone to see if they should file for the Property Tax Credit. To do it you must also file the Homestead Declaration. You can learn more on the Department of Taxes website https://tax.vermont.gov/individuals, or call the department at 866/828-2865 (toll-free).

Water Outage

The water system is currently offline. We’re unsure of when it first began, but likely early Saturday morning. We’ve contacted our water service company for assistance.

We’ll update this post when we have additional info.

UPDATE: 1:15PM – The system issue initially seemed to have been an electrical one, but we’ve found a pressure sensor line to be plugged/frozen. Some pressure is returning to the system, but that is likely to be only temporary as we work to isolate the problem. Special thanks to Clyde Bovat for assisting us and lending his years of experience with this system.

Water Outage

We had a failure in the water system sometime around 8AM this morning. One of the pumps was found not working and we contacted our water service provider. Park operations volunteers and SOS reps worked to bring the system back online. Property Management was informed, allowing them to answer resident questions should they call.

Service was restored shortly before 10AM. During the process it was determined that another of our flow meters is malfunctioning. We’ll be working on sourcing a replacement and scheduling installation.

Pumphouse electrical work complete

We’ve replaced the old service panel that had some melted contacts due to the overloading of a couple circuits with a new panel. This new panel and breaker setup gives us more capacity and improves safety. Thanks for bearing with us while this work was completed!

Water Disruption, Sunday Evening

Our water system experienced a brief outage on Sunday evening. We’re working with our water service provider to identify the root cause and how we’ll remediate it.

There seems to be an issue with part of the pressure tank that maintains the ratio of air to water in the resulting in the tank filling completely with water.

Special thanks to our neighbors and ops volunteers John and Wayne for working with Lance from SoS and staying on top of this to keep our systems running!