If you run into Jireh Billings at his family’s general store in Woodstock, he’ll be more than happy to share some of the history of how his family has contributed to the town’s growth over the past few centuries.
“We have a sign here that says ‘Warehouse of F.H. Gillingham and Sons,’” he said recently while touring the F.H. Gillingham & Sons store in downtown Woodstock. “He built a warehouse at the Woodstock Railroad Station on the east end of town. This was in about 1886 or (188)7.”
The Billings family helped Woodstock become a regional economic hub in the 19th century.
And when the growing town needed clean water, the family started a private water company with other investors.
“So they were local businessmen, in 1880, that formed this corporation, because the town refused to start a public water system,” Billings said.
Billings manages the general store, and he's president of the Woodstock Aqueduct Company, which is one of about a dozen and a half privately run water companies in Vermont.
Most of the state’s 415 water systems are managed by public, municipal utilities.
But a handful of ski areas, including Burke Mountain and Sugarbush, as well as small systems in Rutland, Barre and Pittsfield are owned and managed by private companies.
Private companies don’t get help from FEMA after a disaster, and they can’t access USDA grants, or low-interest loans, or bonds, the way municipal systems can.
So when the raging Ottauquechee River busted through two pipes in Woodstock during the July floods, the company had to ask the state to approve an emergency $150,000 loan to patch the system back together before winter to ensure service for its 750 or so customers.
Billings said the recent storm was even worse than Irene, when a single pipe broke, and now he said the company wants to open up negotiations to have the town purchase the water system before the next storm causes another water outage.
"My hope is that we’ve raised enough attention at the moment for people to think that it is something that should be discussed. And I think that the flood may have helped with that because it brought a few things to light that people hadn’t seen before.”Jireh Billings, Woodstock Aqueduct Company
“We had two river breaks, you know, before we had one. It’s double the problem when we have two,” he said. “And so my hope is that we’ve raised enough attention at the moment for people to think that it is something that should be discussed. And I think that the flood may have helped with that because it brought a few things to light that people hadn’t seen before.”
Billings brought some things to light himself recently when he hosted a public meeting to talk about selling the water system to the town.
It's too early to talk about a price, Billings said, as the company is finishing off a state-mandated engineering report on the system, that's due at the end of this year.
But the idea of holding a town wide vote, to authorize what will likely be a multi-million dollar bond to purchase, and upgrade, the water system does have some people in Woodstock talking.
“If the town were to buy, you know, who's going to assess the actual assets?” said Peggy Fraser, who rents an apartment in downtown Woodstock. “And are there potential liabilities, and everything? Who's going to be running the show, so to speak?”
Fraser was without water for almost two weeks after the system failed in July following the floods.
"It's going to happen again, it just, the changing climate, the whole thing. Obviously, we’re concerned. It’s going to get worse. It’s going to get worse, something has to be done to improve it.”Edward Esmond, Woodstock resident
The infrastructure of the Woodstock Aqueduct Company water system has been cobbled together over the past 140 years, and some of the pipes don’t meet modern design standards.
The system could need up to $4 million in upgrades to meet the codes that regulate water pressure for fire hydrants.
And like a lot of towns in Vermont, Woodstock faces housing and development pressures — and Fraser wonders if the system can handle future growth.
“If it was once something that met the needs of the people, OK,” she said. “But I don’t see going forward how it’s going to meet the needs of the future, when it’s, in a way, not totally meeting the needs of today.”
Edward Esmond, who’s been living in Woodstock for 20 years, lost his water for almost two weeks during Tropical Storm Irene, and then again this year.
Esmond says a lot of the people he knows in Woodstock don’t want to go without water again, and he says they’re looking for answers.
“That was 11 years ago with Irene, and now this,” Esmond said. “And it’s going to happen again, it just, the changing climate, the whole thing. Obviously, we’re concerned. It’s going to get worse. It’s going to get worse, something has to be done to improve it.”
A sale would have to be approved by the Public Utility Commission, and the company says if the town doesn’t want to take the system on then it will be forced to look for a private investor to purchase the Woodstock Aqueduct Company.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or get in touch with reporter Howard Weiss-Tisman:
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