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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of light comm 01302008 TOWN ~fft/VfD ~. RKS OFFICE 1l1iJJ MAR - 5 P 2: 55 Present: Chairman David McCarter; Vice Chairman George Dentino; CONW~'J.Sf~ Amoruso; Commissioner Sandra Levine; Clerk Ann Baldwin; Director Gary Eab1~:~~TTS Ann Langille; Engineer Chris Cox; Staff Accountant Ken Thomson; Office Manager Laurie Anderson; Line Foreman Gary D' Ambra; Financial Assistant Jacqueline Lee and Town Manager John D' Agostino Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting January 30, 2008 Light Commissioners Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Capital Work Plan - July 2008 to June 2009 Engineer Cox completed his presentation of the MMED Capital Work Plan for July 2008 to June 2009 which he had begun at the January 23 meeting. He resumed taking questions from the Board. Clerk Baldwin asked that if the two trucks that were being replaced had only 60,000 to 70,000 miles on them, couldn't their replacement be delayed. She wondered if they were currently requiring maintenance. Line Foreman D' Ambra answered that MMED was putting significant money into them now. He said that the plan was to replace two trucks now and two more next year in order to avoid having to replace all four at once. Commissioner Amoruso asked if MMED had taken into consideration the work that will need to be done on School Street across from the new mall when arriving at a figure for unanticipated expenses. Engineer Cox answered that they did take work at the Mansfield Marketplace into consideration. Director Babin added that MMED allocated manhours to do the work in the budget. Commissioner Levine questioned the computer purchase of $30,000. She wondered if the Town GIS could help out with this or if MMED's hardware and software were too different. Director Babin said that MMED does work closely with the GIS department and that they do have licenses for using the GIS software. He explained that the $30,000 was for capital equipment such as computer hardware for the billing system and the SCADA system. Vice Chairman Dentino asked how MMED accounts for unforeseen projects. Engineer Cox said that it is normal work that's not planned but must be done on an as-needed basis. Line Foreman D' Ambra said that an example of an unforeseen project was open wire replacement where MMED had an unexpected incident with three geese flying into the wires. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the office equipment for $25,000. Director Babin answered that the money has been allocated for the continuation of renovations in the office area but that he believed the amount could be reduced somewhat. Vice Chairman Dentino wondered what kind of renovations were pending, as he had heard nothing about any renovations for the office. Director Babin explained that MMED wanted to expand the office area as he thought the four Financial Assistants were grouped too closely together in the current office area. Vice Chairman Dentino stated that he was aware of only three people in the outer office and asked what would become of the empty office when the fourth person was moved out to the front area. Director Babin said that the Office Manager's office would be vacated and utilized for file cabinets. The Office Manager would then occupy the existing area where the fourth Financial Assistant now sits. Vice Chairman Dentino stated that with the economy the way it is, he did not see a need for this. He inquired as to whether there were any formal plans for this project. Director Babin answered that MMED did have plans. Vice Chairman Dentino said that he had met that day with Line Foreman D' Ambra and Engineer Cox to review the capital projects. He believed that every single one of the projects to some extent had dual responsibility for both the Light Department and the developer/owner, especially in regards to the transformers. He believes it's time for the Selectmen to give some accountability to the people and thinks they need to spend more time collecting revenues. Director Babin then thanked Vice Chairman Dentino for taking the time to come to the Light Department twice to go over the budget and become familiar with the work that MMED was proposing. Vice Chairman Dentino said he appreciated MMED staff taking the time to see him. Vice Chairman Dentino wondered why MMED is spending time and money doing pole inspections so that they can tell Verizon which of their poles are bad. Director Babin agreed that MMED should not be doing Verizon's job but said that MMED was pro-active with its maintenance because Verizon is not. He pointed out that there could be a dangerous situation involved and Verizon is not reliable but that MMED could ask them to replace specific poles based on the survey. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned why two trucks with approximately 60,000 to 70,000 miles on each were being replaced. He doesn't understand why MMED would be trading in two vehicles with such low mileage. He suggested that a 100,000 mile warrantee coverage should be purchased in the future. He also wanted to know why the Town garage doesn't work on MMED's trucks. Director Babin said that the Town garage is not equipped to take care of many of MMED's vehicles that feature hydraulics. Line Foreman D' Ambra then explained that On-Site Lubrication comes to MMED's garage and goes through all of the vehicles all at once, which is a cost savings for MMED and a very efficient way to perform regularly scheduled maintenance. Town Manager D' Agostino added that the DPW would be unable to service all of the Light Department's trucks. Commissioner Levine asked if MMED ever solicits bids on foreign vehicles. Director Babin answered no, that the Light Department supports Americans buy American and that MMED tries to support American industries. Vice Chairman Dentino inquired about the tractor and mower requested in the budget and asked who at MMED would be responsible for cutting the grass. Line Foreman D' Ambra responded that it is the Station Operator and it is within their job description to perform maintenance of grounds. Vice Chairman Dentino doesn't believe MMED should be utilizing a bargaining unit person and believes it should be outsourced. He doesn't think it is cost effective to maintain the equipment and it would be easier to hire someone else who owns their own equipment. Director Babin said he thought doing it within the department was a more efficient use of labor and a more cost effective way to get the work done. Motion: To approve the MMED Capital Work Plan for July 2008 to June 2009 (Amoruso/Baldwin) Passes 5/0 Motion: To approve the minutes from the December 10 Light Commissioners meeting (Amoruso/Baldwin) Passes 5/0 Financial Results for December 2007- Director Babin asked that MMED Staff Accountant Ken Thomson join him to review the financial statements for December 2007. Director Babin reported a net operating income year-to-date through December 2007 of $597,458 and a net income year-to-date of negative $588,960. He said that the remaining balance in the Calpine Rate Stabilization fund as of the end of December was $3,009,081. He stated that MMED's operating cash position through December 2007 was $2,624,540. Energy sales for December 2007 increased 13.6% from December 2006 while year-to-date energy sales were up 4.7% from FY07. Director Babin also reported that MMED's depreciation fund balance was at $3,404,472, up from $2,437,350 in December 2006. Commissioner Amoruso questioned the percentage change in kilowatthour sales for commercial accounts as it seemed so high. Director Babin said that he would get back to Commissioner Amoruso about that but that his guess would be that it was due to the new mall. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the 56.5% transmission expense increase on the profit and loss statement. Staff Accountant Thomson said there were several items that accounted for the increase, including a major accounting adjustment made by the auditors. Vice Chairman Dentino asked about the 87.5% change in Administrative & General Expense. Staff Accountant Thomson explained that Customers Accounts expenses increased because of the writing off of bad debt that MMED had done. Vice Chairman Dentino wondered about a collection agency. Director Babin explained that after an account was closed, MMED sent a letter after the account is 30 days past due requesting payment. Letters are also sent if the account becomes 40 days past due and finally at 50 days past due. Once that occurs and the account remains unpaid, the account is then sent to a collection agency. Vice Chairman Dentino asked if it would be possible to get a spreadsheet showing the amount of money owed, etc. Director Babin said that there was one included in the packet for the write-offs. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the legal items. Director Babin explained that legal funds were paid from operating expenses while only the settlement of the Beliveau matter was paid from the MMWEC Reserve Trust Fund. Vice Chairman Dentino asked for a breakdown of the legal items. Staff Accountant Thomson then addressed the questions that had been asked at the previous meeting for which Director Babin had indicated to the Board that the MMED staff would get back to them on. The first question was in regards to Municipal Sales and the reason for the difference between prior year actual and FY08 year-to-date actual. Staff Accountant Thomson said that the FY07 figure of $232,886 was only for municipal buildings, no streetlights or security lights were included. The FY07 figure did include all municipal buildings, streetlights and security lights. The second question was about "Other Power Supply Expenses - CalpinelDominion". Staff Accountant Thomson said that MMED no longer purchases power from Calpine so this description was changed to read Dominion only. The third question was concerning increases in Operations Payroll and Maintenance Payroll. Staff Accountant Thomson explained that a couple ofthe lineman had been out on workmen's compensation the prior year so they were not on the MMED payroll. Their return to active duty was the cause of the increase. The fourth question was in regards to Customer Accounts payroll. This was actually the result of an incorrect calculation on the spreadsheet. A 40 hour work week had been used for the budget instead of a 37.5 hour work week for the four Financial Assistants and the Business Manager. The fifth question was about "Other Income Jobbing - Etc.". Staff Accountant Thomson believed this line could have a better description as it includes jobbing activities, interest in guaranteed deposits, donations from third parties and other miscellaneous revenues. He changed the description on the December statement to alleviate confusion. Write-Off Summary for 2006 - Director Babin told the Board that MMED has written off approximately $65,000 in bad debt for the year ending December 2006. He said that Office Manager Laurie Anderson oversees the Financial Assistant in charge of collections and he believes MMED pursues collections very aggressively. He said that there was one commercial customer who declared bankruptcy for which MMED had to write off approximately $20,000. Commissioner Amoruso wondered if there was anything that could have been done sooner to prevent that loss. Director Babin said yes, that customer could have been pursued a little more aggressively earlier on. Chairman McCarter clarified that the fact that this customer declared bankruptcy does not make their identity confidential information, it's public information. He then asked if it's possible to lien an owner if a tenant does not pay their bill and let the owner pursue the tenant for the money. Office Manager Laurie Anderson answered no, she didn't believe that MMED could legally do that. Director Babin agreed. Vice Chairman Dentino said it bothered him tremendously that someone decided this customer's personal property could not be liened and MMED walked away. He said that it was very disheartening to learn that someone else did in fact lien this customer's personal property. Chairman McCarter suggested that perhaps there was a personal guarantee involved between those parties. Residential Conservation Services Program Summary for Calendar Year 2007 - Director Babin told the Board that by law, MMED has to target ~ of 1 % of operating revenues in a single year for residential conservation services. MMED's target for 2007 was $76,548 based on revenues but MMED actually spent $95,922. He reported that $42,700 of that money was for energy efficient appliance rebates. Office Manager Anderson said that MMED' s rebate forms could be found at Home Depot, Advantage Appliance, on MMED's web site or in the office. Old and New Business Director Babin said that he would like to schedule a meeting for Monday, February 25 at 7:00 where the main topic would be the operating budget. Director Babin also reported to the Board that the letter providing notice to MMWEC of MMED's intent to terminate its membership had been sent. He also pointed out that Mr. Steiger, the General Manager of MMWEC who had attended a previous Board meeting, has since resigned his position from MMWEC. Director Babin told the Board that he is still pricing out other options. Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioners meeting at 8:30 (Amoruso) Passes 5/0 Respectfully submitted: Jacqueline Lee 3/3/08 C'u\t)-~re<0Al~ Signature of 1 r ~ -~ --0'6 Date of Approval