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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLight Comm. 11/15/2021Mansfield Municipal Electric Department O'CEIVED Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting =u,� i �? � k�iiS OFFICENovember 15, 2021 FEB 9 q Present: Chair Frank DelVecchio, Vice Chair Jess Aptowitz, Commissioner Mike Trowbridge, ?05irnissioner Steve Schoonveld and Light Department Manager Joseph Sollecito : ;_,{ i_ _ T The meeting was held at the Mansfield Town Hall Room 3AB and called to order at 5:30 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Chair DelVecchio stated that this meeting is being televised and taped for future broadcast and asked if anyone in the audience was intending to record the meeting to please state their intentions. No one did so. A complete copy of the Board packet containing all documents that are referenced in the minutes is on file at the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department office. Motion: To enter into Executive Session for the following reasons and then to return to open session. a. Pursuant to M.G.L. Ch. 164, Section 47D and M.G.L. Ch. 30, Section 21, Exemption 2, to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel. b. Review and possible vote to approve minutes of the following meetings: i. November 04, 2015 where Exemption 10 was declared ii. September 20, 2021 where Exemption 2 was declared iii. October 18, 2021 where Exemption 2 was declared c. Review and possible vote to approve for release previously approved but not released minutes for the following meeting: i. January 2, 2019 where Exemptions 3 & 6 were declared ii. March 6, 2019 where Exemption 3 was declared iii. April 29, 2019 where Exemptions 3, 6 & 10 were declared iv. May 15, 2019 where Exemptions 3 & 6 were declared v. June 5, 2019 were Exemption 3 was declared vi. July 2, 2019 where Exemptions 3 & 6 were declared vii. October 15, 2019 where Exemption 2 was declared viii. April 29, 2020, where Exemption 3 was declared ix. September 21, 2020, where Exemptions 2 & 10 were declared x. November 02, 2020, where Exemption 10 was declared A. February 23, 2021, where Exemption 3 was declared (Trowbridge/Aptowitz) Passes 4/0 Roll call vote: Schoonveld-aye; Trowbridge -aye; Aptowitz-aye; DelVecchio-aye The Board returned to open session at 5:56 PM. Possible vote to approve contract with MMED General Manager Chair DelVecchio stated they discussed the General Manager's contract in Executive Session. He gave a history of the contract discussions. Through discussions in executive session, they settled on a 5% increase, which brings the salary to $184,967.87. In addition, they made other changes to the contract which are in line with the Town Manager and other professionals. He also stated the contract will be put online for the public to be able to see. Motion: To approve and sign the contract with the General Manager. (Aptowitz/Trowbridge) Passes 4-0 Manager Sollecito then expressed his thanks and said that he is proud to work here. He noted that the board worked with him on every issue, he has a great staff and is thankful. Chair DelVecchio said they intend to sign the contract tonight. Motion: To approve the minutes of the October 18, 2021 Light Commissioners meeting. (Trowbridge/Schoonveld) Passes 4-0 Mr. DelVecchio asked for clarification in the notes as to why the Town's audit report was not done on time. It was stated that it was not that it was not done on time, but that it cannot be done before the electric audit due to the fact that the Bristol County Retirement Board does not supply the necessary information for the Town's audit until later. General Manager's Report Manager Sollecito discussed the issues that came up when the Equipment Storage building was put out to bid. There were few bidders and the costs came back excessively high. He noted that the plan is to rebid after the new year. Annika Nilsson Ripps and Justin Humphreys from TBA Architects joined the meeting to present a history of the project. In this, she noted that when the bids were returned, they were substantially higher than was expected. She then discussed the original design considerations and the changes made to bring the costs down. One of the changes made was to remove the rain garden because they can manage the storm water from the roof. In addition, they reviewed the fapade material, but made no changes as the original material costs decreased. In addition, any unnecessary site signage and painting will be removed. And finally, the electrical system was changed from three-phase to single phase and moved above ground. Also, they have requested the smallest tight tank that will work for the system, but the size has not been confirmed by the engineer. Ms. Ripps reviewed the costs associated with the design of the project, noting that $133,805.94 has already been paid and $122,203.89 was still outstanding. She then presented a review of the material costs increases, noting the changes from April 2020 to April 2021, as well as the changes from January 2021 through April 2021. She noted that the cost increases of steel, diesel, and asphalt were what stood out as having the most impact on the project. Ms. Ripps then presented the revised construction estimate. She stated that the environmental remediation costs were estimated to be $674,000. Next, she noted that from quarter two to quarter four, the cost of steel was up 37%, electrical costs were up 7%, concrete was up 5%, and roofing was up 4%. In addition, she said they were seeing consistently long lead times, which leads to inconsistent scheduling, resulting in higher general conditions costs. Ms. Ripps stated that the estimated bids should be between $1.7 million and $2.2 million. That is in line with the bids they saw last summer. Though prices have gone up, she expects the project to benefit from bidding early in the year and not interfering with the summer construction season. Commissioner Trowbridge asked about the tight tank being for septic. Ms. Ripps responded that it was a requirement to have it for vehicle storage, and that it was not for septic. Mr. Trowbridge then stated his feeling that the Electric Department was not getting what was wanted for this project, and that perhaps it should be put on the back burner. Since hazardous waste is a problem for site cleanup, and we do not seem to have a handle on it, maybe it would be better to wait for a better market. Ms. Ripps replied that while the full extent of the contamination wasn't known early on, through the testing that has been done, they now have a better understanding of the situation. There shouldn't be a situation after the building is built that will require remediation, but building now will help remedy the situation. Furthermore, LEED does give credit for using these sites for appropriate uses, of which this is one. Mr. DelVecchio asked where the push for these projects was coming from. Ms. Ripps replied that LEED is trying to minimize new site disturbances and protecting green space by using these existing contaminated sites for appropriate uses and making them better. Commissioner Aptowitz stated his concerns that this would be less of a building. He stated that since we've never had it before, it's not something we have to have now and that we should take time to clean up the property and hit the brakes on spending money. Manager Sollecito pointed out that the building would not be smaller, that it would have the same footprint. When pressed by Mr. Aptowitz about removing things that were wanted, Mr. Sollecito pointed out that some of those things were not necessary. He also stated that he reviewed the needs with staff. We are getting two new vehicles and they need shelter to reduce the speed of aging. Other items, such as transformers and wire reels will also benefit from being under cover. He stated that the property would continue to be used, but the building would make it more useful. Commissioner Schoonveld asked about the difference between the original clean up cost, around $250,000, and the cost now being around $500,000. He asked if that would be it, or if there would be more costs down the road if we proceeded with the building at a later date. Ms. Ripps replied that there are additional costs if it is decided to not move forward with the project. It must be reported to the state that the site is stable and there are no other opportunities for the contamination to get into the river. Mr. Aptowitz discussed that since the inception of the project, the costs have doubled. The commissioners have a responsibility to the ratepayers, and they need to be prudent with their money. Mr. Trowbridge inquired about what the cost would be to go back out to bid after the new year. Mr. Humphreys responded that it would only be the cost of advertising. Mr. Trowbridge then replied that he would have no issues with going back out to bid after the first of the year and then having another discussion. If the bids come back high again, then a decision can be made then. Chairman DelVecchio asked why the rain garden was such a good idea, but now that it is being removed and stormwater is going directly into the system it is fine. Mr. Trowbridge commented that it is a newer design but not necessary. Ms. Ripps stated that they are aware that the building that was designed was the building that was desired. But this design is no more and no less than what is needed. Mr. Trowbridge stated that we should be leaders, and that for a difference of about $20,000, the rain garden should be left in the design. We should not set the example that it is alright to ask developers to do these types of things but we do not do them. Mr. DelVecchio then asked about the electrical change from three-phase to single-phase and that it seemed like a serious change. Mr. Sollecito replied that the electricity was only going to power lights and heater blocks for engines and that three-phase was not needed. It would save some money because we could do that ourselves. Mr. Sollecito continued on to say that when the bids came in high, they asked TBA what could be cut to save money. There are some things such as the rain garden that are desired but not needed. Having the service go overhead rather than underground would be a marked savings. Mr. DelVecchio also inquired about the signage and painting. Mr. Sollecito stated those were minor changes and that the folks at DPW can make signage for the building. Commissioner Schoonveld asked if material costs normalize, then what would this project become? Ms. Ripps replied that they cannot forecast future costs. Mr. Schoonveld quoted a number from the revised construction estimate and said that it looks like it would be a $1.5 million project in normal times. Ms. Ripps said that the rain garden can be included in the bid as an add alternate to find out the costs. Mr. DelVecchio asked if the commissioners would approve that and Mr. Schoonveld replied that it would be fine to go out to bid every six months if we had to in order to get the data. Motion: To put the storage building out to bid after the new year. (Aptowitz/Trowbridge) Passes 4-0 Mr. Aptowitz stated that he made the motion to go out to bid because it is a small cost, but that he is not necessarily behind the project. He said that the project has gone this far and he wants to see what it is going to cost. Mr. Schoonveld concurred saying it was going out to bid for further discussion, not that we were saying we were going to accept any bids. Chairman DelVecchio thanked Ms. Ripps and Mr. Humphreys for their input and for taking the commissioners through the process. Review of Financials Manager Sollecito stated that the October financials could not be completed until the MMWEC bills came in, and they were not yet. For September, the net income was similar to last year. The generation charge receivable is currently $107,000 vs. a payable of $418,000 owed to customers in 2020. The rates were adjusted to accommodate that. The cash position is $15.3 million, which is basically unchanged from last year. Energy sales were up 9.4% for September, and year-to-date sales through September were up 2.7%. This has been the trend all year, and this September was higher usage due to the weather being warmer. Finally, the depreciation fund is $3.9 million to cover the capital expenses. Comments from the Commissioners Painting of electrical equipment. This is an idea from Commissioner Rhein. Mr. Sollecito stated he spoke to Mr. Rhein about his position and that of others on staff, and that is that we do not want people near our boxes for safety reasons. He asked his counterparts in other municipals, and they voted no. A concern was who would maintain the painting, and that electrical boxes tend to run hot, possibly causing the paint to peel. Chairman DelVecchio said that the cultural council is painting some storage units, and that maybe in the cultural district some of our boxes could be painted under strict guidelines. He then said that it should go on the next agenda so that Mr. Rhein has a chance to discuss it further. Mr. Sollecito said that an option was to do the artwork on traffic control boxes as they do not have high voltage. Mr. Schoonveld noted that many of the boxes that could be painted were next to or on private property. He thought it would be good to ask the property owners if they wanted something like that. Mr. Trowbridge agreed with this sentiment. Mr. Sollecito suggested the board consider who had design approval. Mr. DelVecchio said that he believed the cultural council is well intentioned and may already be thinking of that sort of thing. Commissioner Schoonveld and Chair DelVecchio made comments praising the Electric Department and their handling of the storm that hit the town on October 27. Manager Sollecito echoed that praise of the MMED staff. Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to the meeting. - None Citizens Comments —None Motion to Adjourn at 6:50pm (Schoonveld/Aptowitz) Passes 4-0 Respectfully submitted: Katherine Duggan Signature of Clerk Date of Approval