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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLIGHTCOMM MIN09132010 Mansfield Municipal Electric Department Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting September 13,2010 Present: Chainnan Jess Aptowitz; Vice Chainnan George Dentino; Clerk Olivier Kozlowski; Commissioner Douglas Annino; Director Gary Babin; Engineer Chris Cox; Staff Accountant Ken Thomson; Financial Assistant Jacqueline Lee and Town Manager Bill Ross Light Commissioners Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Financial Report for FYI0- Director Babin reviewed the FYIO Capital Budget, which was previously approved by the Board in the amount of $1,481,395. MMED came in under budget and the capital expenditures were $1,040,048. Expenditures came in $441,347 under budget while completing the scope for the capital projects proposed by the staff. Part of the expenditure being less than budgeted was due to a bucket truck budgeted at $220,000 that was approved for FYlO but won't be delivered until FYI 1. This vehicle will be part of MMED's FYll capital expenditure. The streetlight expense also came in under budget because there were far fewer repairs as MMED had turned off every other streetlight in Town prior to FYI0 due to the Town's budgetary issues but this had not been accounted for in MMED's budget. Director Babin told the Board that MMED had 36 pole replacements planned but 48 were actually replaced putting pole replacement expense over budget. Computers and software expense came in under budget as only $5,000 was spent out of a $30,000 budget. MMED budgeted 250 hours for billable work but the actual was 900 hours. Director Babin explained that this was due to snow plowing and also because there was more billable work than anticipated. Clerk Kozlowski questioned the engineering and operations management being under budget. Director Babin said this was because one employee was out for an extended period of time. Clerk Kozlowski asked if this had been offset by overtime. Director Babin answered no, that someone was temporarily promoted to assume the responsibility. He also noted that he and Engineer Cox both assisted with filling the void so no additional overtime was involved. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the estimating techniques in the budget and wondered whether MMED had overestimated on projects. He would like to see a better way of handling the budgeting. Director Babin commented that he believes MMED already does a good job with budgeting and that Chris Cox and Gary D'Ambra spend a great deal of time defining the scope of jobs and the material and labor required to complete those jobs. Town Manager Ross said that he wants to make sure there is cash on hand to pay the bills. Vice Chairman Dentino said he doesn't like to see large carryovers and that he sees it with the Town as well. ,_..,.~",..--.<_..,__._u,._~..""..,___,"_"""____,,,~ T .... .. East Mansfield Substation - Director Babin told the Board that the DPU has scheduled National Grid's filing for a public hearing at Oliver Ames High School in Easton on October 5. This is the first step in National Grid receiving DPU approval to extend a transmission line from Easton to Mansfield in order to supply the East Mansfield substation. Public Hearing on Low Voltage Facilities on Private Property - At 7:30 PM Clerk Kozlowski began by reading the public hearing notice. Motion: To open the public hearing on low voltage facilities on private property (Dentino! Annino) Passes 4!0 The first resident to address the Board was Glenn Rogers of 5 Kybren Circle. He said that he lives in one of the 5 homes on Kybren Circle which will be affected by this proposal which would make the homeowners responsible for the low voltage facilities on their property. He objects to this and questions why now after all these years. He said it was made clear in writing by their homeowners association that the utilities infrastructure is not the homeowner's responsibility. Mr. Rogers also questions what condition the infrastructure is in. He understands it is a liability issue for the Town but he is afraid this will set a precedent for other utilities. He asks the Board to reconsider their proposal and not to approve it. Resident George Gallivan of 11 Kevins Way wanted to hear from the Board why they were looking to institute this policy. Town Manager Ross said that this issue has been brewing for a few years and has been brought up at previous Light Commissioners meetings. He stated that there is already a policy and that this is tying into it. Mr. Gallivan said that he can understand doing this going forward but to change the rules retrospectively for some customers seems unfair. He also pointed out that from a private property perspective; those who live on Kevins Way try to be good neighbors. Sam Hausman from 4 Griffins Way pointed out that they gave an easement to the Light Department, which is referenced on his deed, when the residential compound was built. Director Babin said there is no recorded easement, according to Town Counsel. He was told by Town Counsel that any written agreement is not binding if it is not recorded in land court. Mr. Hausman said he did also look for previous policies but could find only one policy for new construction from 2004. He said he moved into his house in 1999 and his neighbor moved into their house in 2000. He said they should be grandfathered as he believes this new policy would not be fair to him and the other homeowners involved. Yvonne McNamara, 163 East Street, said she was at the meeting on behalf of her parents who own property on North Main Street. She said she had questions about responsibility for repairs. Director Babin said, as he understood it, the responsibility of ownership for the Light Department would end at the property line then it would become the responsibility of the property owner to perform repair on private property. Ms. McNamara pointed out that North Main Street is made up of businesses having a hard time because the economy is so bad. She questioned whether as landlords they would have to put the responsibility for this in their leases. A huge concern for downtown businesses would be who they would call to come out if there was a problem at 9:00 PM at a restaurant, for example. Ms. McNamara also questioned whether they would get something in writing 2 - H''-"_.._..._,.'''.___._.. T ... stating when these facilities were last checked or repaired. Clerk Kozlowski explained that it would be the same as the wiring or plumbing in the wall of the house you're buying, the seller would not be able to tell you that. Ms. McNamara said she would like to know the condition for budgeting purposes. Vice Chairman Dentino told her that copper wire was used and put into conduit approximately ten years ago. He said the chances are slim to none there would be a problem in the next 50-100 years. Chairman Aptowitz then announced for those watching at home that these property owners received a letter and a map regarding their proposed ownership of facilities. Director Babin said there were 36 different locations involved and mailing addresses were tracked down through the Town Assessor's office. Vice Chairman Dentino commented that the Board is just following NStar and National Grid policies. Tim Burke of 121 East Street asked how it would be determined who is responsible for a cable fault, as he believes that it would be almost impossible to figure out whose side the fault is on. He wondered whether the bill would be shared. David Hobaica, 12 Patriots Way, questioned the procedure of how property owners were notified about the public hearing. He stated that there were 11 homeowners on his street and only one had been notified of this meeting. Director Babin said that the homeowners association had been notified because the issue affected the residents through their participation in the homeowners association. Mr. Hobaica asked if there would be a vote that evening. Chairman Aptowitz said since there was not a full Board, the vote would take place at the next Selectmen's meeting. Mr. Hobaica then asked what the additional costs of moving forward with this proposal are. Director Babin said that it has been discussed conceptually but MMED hasn't priced anything out. Mr. Hobaica wondered if it would be worth the cost of this process for MMED to move forward with this. Lou Amoruso, 6 Brookside Road, told the Board that his business on Francis Avenue is affected by this proposal. He said this is unfair and that the Board is not making things equal for everyone. He believes the property owners involved are unfairly being asked to shoulder the burden. He reminded them that the downtown business owners were told that there would be no extra cost to them for putting their service underground when North Main Street was placed underground in the early 2000's when he was on the Board and now the Board is reneging on that promise. Mr. Amoruso questioned who is responsible for what and mentioned the Dig Safe work as another consideration. He also thinks that the Board is actually adding liability to the Light Department. He believes everyone should be grandfathered and a change should be made only when there is a change in ownership of servIce. Steve Turner of 6 Chandler's Way said that he thought he was currently paying for infrastructure. He questioned why he is hearing "We haven't really thought that out." in regards to the cost MMED will incur if they go through with this proposal. He also believes the numbers don't seem to be there to constitute a liability issue. Yvonne McNamara pointed out that properties, not individuals, should be grandfathered. 3 ... Stephen Spiewakowski, 4 Kybren Circle, questioned the liability issue. He said he did not understand when looking at the map what it is the Selectmen want to transfer ownership of. Town Manager Ross said that the property owner is already responsible for the cable from the transformer to their house. Mr. Spiewakowski questioned the difference between the primary and the secondary and wondered how long it would be before the homeowner was asked to assume responsibility for the primary as well. Mr. Spiewakowski said he's been in the neighborhood for approximately nine years. He said the Light Commissioners are now asking to change the agreement made between the developer and the Town. He commented that none of the residents attending tonight are in favor of this. Commissioner Annino said that some issues have been brought up tonight that he had not considered, like the hand holes. He believes this Board has a bit of a mess on their hands to clean up and pointed out that these are things that have been done in the past for unknown reasons. Vice Chairman Dentino said that most points brought up this evening are valid. He stated that the line of demarcation between the customer and MMED's responsibility is the Board's concern. He thinks policies were not followed in the past, which is part of the problem. He reiterated that he doesn't want the property owner to assume responsibility for the primary but believes the Board is only doing what NStar and National Grid already do as far as ownership of the secondaries are concerned. He does, however, believe the downtown will be a problem. Regarding Mr. Amoruso's mention of the promise by the Light Commission to the downtown business owners that putting their facilities underground would not be at any cost to them, Vice Chairman Dentino said that it was at a tremendous cost to the Light Department and to the ratepayers and everyone seems to be forgetting that part. He pointed out that this was a tremendous benefit to the downtown business owners. Vice Chairman Dentino suggested looking at different ways as to how to handle the downtown area. In regards to Ms. McNamara's suggestion, Vice Chairman Dentino said it's very difficult in their minds to say they'll transfer this responsibility from MMED to the property owner. There has to come a point in time, per the policy, that the Town is in the situation where the Town takes care of what is normally MMED's and the property owners take care of what is normally and should be theirs. Clerk Kozlowski said that the vast majority of customers fall under the policy and pointed out that those who are here this evening are the exceptions to the rule. He then asked Director Babin if there would be any difference from a damage perspective, for example, if someone was digging in their yard and hit something. Director Babin said MMED may go out and disconnect the service so the person is able to perform the repair work. Chairman Aptowitz thanked everyone for coming this evening. He said there are a lot of things that need to be considered and a lot of good points were made. He believes the people involved can be divided into three different groups; residential compounds, North Main Street businesses and other businesses. He now thinks that next week's Selectmen's meeting is too soon to wrap this up. He also apologized that everyone involved did not get notified. 4 ..-------------.,..-- . ... Chairman Aptowitz then looked to his fellow Board members and asked them how they would like to proceed. Vice Chairman Dentino said he is unavailable in two weeks but agrees one week doesn't allow enough time. He suggested giving a handout explaining the responsibilities to individual owners, not just the association. Town Manager Ross explained that they initially thought notifying the association was enough and that the association would pass the word on to the individual homeowners. There was then discussion as to when they would continue this public hearing. Town Manager Ross said that he would be away for the second and third Mondays in October. Vice Chairman Dentino suggested doubling up the next Light Commissioners meeting with a Selectmen's meeting. Chairman Aptowitz said they would not be closing this public hearing, just tabling it until the next meeting and he wanted to let the residents know what that date will be. Town Manager Ross suggested carrying it over until Wednesday, October 6. Motion: To continue the public hearing on low voltage facilities on private property on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 7:00 PM (Annino/Kozlowski) Passes 4/0 Town Manager Ross commented to the audience that he has been in this business for over forty years and has been to hundreds of hearings and he commended the residents for the way they conducted themselves during the meeting. He thanked them and said that he appreciated it. Chairman Aptowitz called for a five minute recess. FYI0 Operating Budget - Director Babin said that the estimated FYI0 operating budget was $30,389,733 and the actual expense was $28,335,123, coming in under budget by $2,054,610. He said that purchased power expense came in at $1,839,391 under budget. He said that MMED sold less electricity than projected and that costs were also lower on the spot market. Distribution costs came in at $62,063 below budget. Customer accounts came in $115,455 over budget because of write offs, $49,000 of it being residential accounts. Director Babin said that A&G costs came in $207,773 under budget. This was primarily due to legal and engineering fees being $182,000 under budget. Director Babin reported that net income for FYlO was $2,693,785 and that energy sales were down 3.2%. MMED's balance sheet showed a cash balance of $5,690,926 and the depreciation fund showed a balance of $4,946,253. Town Manager Ross pointed out that it is important to have cash on hand so there are no rate increases and so no borrowing is necessary for the substation. Staff Accountant Thomson said that some of the payroll costs on the profit and loss statement increased because of the "other post employment benefits account" that MMED funded in full for only one year and probably will not fund again for some time due to the Board's vote. Town Manager Ross said that the State requires that when MMED makes a payment for their retirees' healthcare costs, it has to be separately accounted for and cannot be comingled with 5 ---r II" ," the Town's payments, He stated that the enterprise account cannot subsidize the rest of the Town. Clerk Kozlowski questioned the distribution expense and asked if two employees were out for an extended period, how the work got done. Director Babin said that there was some overtime in one case but in the second case there was no overtime pay required. Vice Chainnan Dentino asked if most of the overtime was because of working out of grade. Director Babin answered that someone was temporarily promoted to a higher grade then went back to their original position when the person returned. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the unanticipated lock box charges and wondered if that happened mid-year. Director Babin said the lock box costs were not included in the budget because it was not approved until after the budget was approved. There was then an explanation and discussion of how the lock box works. Chairman Aptowitz said he had a resident call him to make him aware that the Light Department office accepts cash payments and she expressed concern for the safety of the Light Department employees. Chairman Aptowitz said that he previously reported this to Town Manager Ross, who said that he and Director Babin have been discussing this issue. Mr. Ross intends to follow up on this when the Town Treasurer returns from her maternity leave. He said that he would prefer if all payments were made through the Treasurer's Office or the drop box and believes most people pay with checks. He also commented that long-term he would like to combine electric and water bills as he thinks this would make it easier for the residents. Vice Chairman Dentino asked if the MMED billing work had gone to bid since MMED changed billing vendors. Director Babin said it had not because it is a service. He explained that MMED switched billing companies because it saves approximately $7,500 per year. Town Manager Ross said there are different bid laws for the Light Department than there are for the Town. He said he did research that when he first came to Mansfield. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the part of the operating budget summary that says "fiscal year net income is not subject to the 8% limitation on rate of return as dictated by the DPU since the DPU figure is calculated based on calendar year net income". He had questions regarding the calendar year vs. the fiscal year and how the adjustment is made. Director Babin reminded the Board that when MMED had gone over the 8% net income threshold in calendar year 2008, that the staff came to the Board early in 2009 with different options asking how much money they wanted returned to the ratepayers. He believes MMED recommended using the 6% rate of return so that any excess net income over that amount was returned to the ratepayer. Vice Chairman Dentino was uncertain and asked that Director Babin look into that. Commissioner Annino brought up the subject of developing a sustainable community and feels the Board needs to show people they are looking into different options. He wondered how the Board felt about putting money away for renewable energy as he believes they need 6 to develop this mindset. Mr. Annino thinks they should be taking small steps, such as LED lighting for streetlights. Town Manager Ross said they are looking at what other communities are doing on renewable energy. The problem is MMED would be doing it all at our expense and the cost per kilowatt hour from renewable resources is far more expensive. Chairman Aptowitz said he is very concerned with the number of kilowatt hours sold being down. He is concerned that this is becoming a shrinking business. He stated that MMED needs to watch their costs. Chairman Aptowitz said that he didn't want to mention any names but he is aware that there are existing payment plans for electric bills and his understanding is that the responsibility for an electric bill on a commercial property is that of the tenant. He wondered if there was a process of notifying an owner if a tenant is late on their electric bill and he'd like to know if there is such a process for water and sewer bills as well. Old and New Business Commissioner Dentino said that he needed clarification of the office hours of the Light Department. He believes the office hours should be the same as the Town Hall. Director Babin answered that one person comes in at 7:00 AM, one starts at 7:30 AM, one at 8:00 AM, one at 8:30 AM and one at 9:00 AM. Commissioner Dentino asked if the Office Manager comes in at 7:00 AM and leaves at 3:00 PM then who supervises between the hours of 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM. Director Babin answered that he is there until at least 4:00 PM when the office closes. Commissioner Dentino wanted to know why everybody doesn't work 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Director Babin stated that these flexible hours are allowed per the collective bargaining agreement. Commissioner Dentino would like to see where this is stated in the contract. Clerk Kozlowski asked what happens to the phones after 4:00 PM. Director Babin said that the phone goes on night ring at 4:00 PM when the office closes. Clerk Kozlowski inquired as to whether there was any work to be done in the office after 4:00 PM and Director Babin said there is. Chairman Aptowitz asked if there is a procedure for the handling of burned out streetlights. He questioned whether the responsibility should be left up to the customer to call or did MMED have someone who periodically drove around and took notes. Director Babin explained that there are no personnel who work at night when the streetlights are on so MMED cannot check for streetlights being out but when a customer calls, it is usually taken care of in a day or two. On the matter of the secondaries on private property, Chairman Aptowitz offered to meet with Town Manager Ross and Director Babin to keep the ball rolling and perhaps look at the 3 different subgroups involved. 7 ^ -- -" ^ - --- -" ..,.^- ^ -- --,.-----,,-'.---- T 1lI Chairman Aptowitz then said Vice Chairman Dentino would be out of town on October 6 so he did not want to hold the next Light Commissioners meeting that night. He said he wanted to wait until Commissioner Moran was there to set a date so that he could ensure that everyone would be there to continue the public hearing, Town Manager Ross stated that he will be away for slightly over two weeks at the beginning of October. Chairman Aptowitz then suggested a combination Selectmen/Light Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, October 27. Town Manager Ross will call Commissioner Moran and let him know. Chairman Aptowitz wants to make sure all the residents involved are notified of this meeting. Town Manager Ross suggested that the previous vote for the meeting to be held on October 6 needed to be amended. Motion: To amend the previous vote to carryover the public hearing on low voltage facilities on private property to October 6, 2010 and change that date to October 27, 2010 (Kozlowski/An nino) Passes 4/0 Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioners meeting at 10:20 (Annino) RespectfullY'SUbmitted: )Pequeline Lee 11/08/10 ~~ -. Signature of Clerk it - ~-(cJ Date of Approval 8 '-"<'~__"'_'____'~_""__'~~.,~__~_~~,_"_,".,c..,.'"_'-~..__...._... T 111'"