Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLIGHTCOMM MIN04112011 . ./' ... .w~.,..:+j J' Mansfield Municipal Electric Department .~ tVEO Minutes OfLi;:;r~;~:~~~~oners Meet~WN CLERKS OFFICE 2011 MAY 12 P 12: 3q Present: Chairman Jess Aptowitz; Vice Chairman George Dentino; CleKAABf~i:~6}zlowski; Commissioner Douglas Annino; Commissioner Kevin Moran; DiMe,\&SGal!YlMTri;SStaff Accountant Ken Thomson; Line Foreman Gary D'Ambra; 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. Chairman Aptowitz stated that this meeting was being televised and taped by Mansfield Cable Access. There was no one signed up for Questions and Comments. Motion: To approve the minutes of the March 14,2011 Light Commissioner's meeting (Moran/Annino) Passes S/O Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the part in the minutes where Director Babin thanked Laurie Anderson, Elaine Peri and Jackie Lee for temporarily doing the work of five people due to two positions being currently unfilled. He wondered why they can't continue to do it since he believes they have been working little to no overtime. Jackie Lee questioned how Vice Chairman Dentino got the impression that little to no overtime was being worked as the three employees have been inundated to the point that they are working late on a daily basis, including Fridays and weekends, and assured him that the overtime is taking a toll on the employees and their families. Vice Chairman Dentino answered that if the overtime being worked is not adding up to at least eighty hours then it doesn't make sense to have five employees. Chairman Aptowitz pointed out that perhaps this was a discussion Vice Chairman Dentino should have at a later date with Director Babin and Town Manager Ross. Vice Chairman Dentino believed, however, that the ratepayers had a right to hear this. Town Manager Ross confirmed that the three employees have been working extra and have been carrying a heavy load. He said based on the workload and the amount of hours being worked Director Babin and he have come to the conclusion that the current staffing level of four Financial Assistants is appropriate. He said he believes that several duties have been pushed aside and also pointed out that no one has been able to schedule a day off or been able to utilize vacation or personal time because of the staffing shortage. Financial Report for February 2011 - Director Babin presented the financial statements for February 2011. The year-to-date net operating income is $2,029,440 and MMED's operating cash position is $8,502,942. The Generation Charge account payable through February stands at $198,292. Director Babin said that energy sales are up 4% YTD. He also said that MMED's depreciation fund, which stands at $5,956,135, will be used to fund the new substation. Staff Accountant Thomson reported that MMED is still doing a good job of controlling expenses and that operating costs are $1,017,000 or 4.8% under budget. He said that transmission expenses are $444,000 more than last year. Miscellaneous jobbing projects are also up from last year creating $42,000 in additional revenue. Commissioner Moran questioned Operations Payroll under Distribution Expense and wondered if it was down due to positions being open. Director Babin explained it was due to more being charged to maintenance than to operations as the two are inversely related but overall labor has remained the same. Commissioner Moran also questioned the jobbing and Staff Accountant Thomson said it was just more activity than anticipated. Vice Chairman Dentino questioned the over/under collection of the Generation Charge on the P&L statement. Director Babin explained that MMED projects the cost of the Generation Charge and it's trued up quarter-to-quarter. Vice Chairman Dentino noted that MMED has already gone through two big power seasons, summer 2010 and winter 2011, and thought that the price of energy should be predictable given our generating plants. Director Babin also explained that the Constellation contract is a commodities contract requiring that MMED purchase the power off the grid and make a financial settlement with Constellation based on the difference between the cost of the energy from the grid and the contractual price. Vice Chairman Dentino inquired as to what makes up the A&G expenses as he understands it's not salaries. Staff Accountant Thomson answered that it is made up of outside engineering, auditing, legal expenses, property insurance and office supplies. Chairman Aptowitz questioned the cash and the financing of the substation and wondered if some of the cash couldn't be given back to the ratepayers. He asked Director Babin to look into that. Town Manager Ross said he would hesitate to agree that MMED should have a rate structure that would draw cash down at this time but thought they could look at the options. Director Babin said he didn't realize MMED was going to finance so much of the substation from borrowing as he anticipated building up cash to pay for the substation so there is going to be an excess of cash since borrowing is now involved. Commissioner Moran suggested using the extra cash to subsidize the Smart Grid which would also help the ratepayer. FY11 Capital Budget Overview- Director Babin told the Board that two out of the first three projects listed on MMED Capital Expenditures through January 2011 spreadsheet were completed under budget so decreases are being recommended. The Maple Street project, however, needs to be increased because the scope of the job changed. Director Babin believes the remainder of the projects will be completed as planned during the fiscal year. The RiversideIBasin project will be starting up again and the Otis Street project is out to bid. He said pole replacements are coming in on budget. A new copier is being purchased for the office and a security system has been put in place because of copper theft that has been going on in the outside storage area. 2 .. ..-.........--. , 'f - Vice Chairman Dentino noted that the Otis Street project was budgeted at $300,000 and to date only $3,767 has been spent and he wondered how that much of the difference could be spent in the remaining four months of the fiscal year. Gary D'Ambra explained that the idea is to perform the project over this summer, which covers two different fiscal years. Town Manager Ross asked Staff Accountant Thomson if he annually encumbers money for known expenses. Staff Accountant Thomson said he does not until he gets the invoices. Chairman Aptowitz questioned why the Board even has to review or approve the changes in the capital expenditures. He thinks this should be between Director Babin and Town Manager Ross. Motion: To approve the FYll Capital Budget revisions (Dentino/Moran) Passes 5/0 Highlights of Lightower Agreement- Director Babin told the Board that MMED owns their own fiber optic cable loop which is distinct and separate from the Town loop and MMED has entered into two prior agreements to lease fiber to a firm called NEESCOM. The first agreement was in 2000 and it was for fiber optic cable that was installed on Franklin and Maple Streets. He said the second arrangement was in 2006 for a 72 fiber cable in the Cabot Industrial Park. Director Babin distributed and reviewed "Exhibit A - Fiber Route", a map showing the NEESCOM aerial fiber route and the Mansfield aerial and underground fiber routes. The current proposed agreement is with a firm called Lightower, which is the successor company to NEESCOM. Rick Coburn, representing Synergetic of 603 West Street, addressed the Board. He indicated he was the customer for the proposed Lightower installation and pointed out that his next- door neighbors actually have fiber optic connectivity. He said that he signed a contract with Lightower last November and they have been going back and forth over the installation trying to get it done. He questioned whether he should renegotiate with Verizon, their current provider, or wait on this. He said he wanted to make the Board aware that there are customers in the industrial park waiting on this agreement. Town Manager Ross urged the Board to approve this because he believes it will help both the customers and the Town. Motion: To authorize MMED to enter into a contract with Lightower (Moran/Dentino) Passes S/O Vice Chairman Dentino once again stated that he does not want to receive the Board packet on a Friday before a Monday meeting. Director Babin apologized, saying he is aware that this packet went out too late but he was waiting for the lawyers to finalize the proposed contract before it went to the Board. 2nd Quarter 2011 Generation Charge- The 2nd quarter Generation Charge has been established at 9.98 cents, up 0.16 cents from the first quarter. Director Babin told the Board 3 T T or that the cost of power projected for the period of April through June is 8.73 cents per kWh and the cost of transmission is estimated at 1.61 cents per kWh. He said there is a credit being returned to the customers of 0.37 cents in the rate because of overcollection of the prior Generation Charge. Director Babin then reviewed a chart showing forecast vs. actual cost of power. He explained that truing up quarterly does make it flow better than changing it monthly. Vice Chairman Dentino, however, questioned the volatility and believed that there are more overcollections than undercollections. Director Babin suggested that is why MMED might want to conduct a rate study and said the volatility issue clearly needs to be addressed. He suggested that he and Town Manager Ross review the variations in the charge and possibly use the rate stabilization fund to smooth it out. Town Manager Ross told the Board they will look into it and bring them back some options. Policy Language for Three Phase Services for Residential Properties- Director Babin said that Town Manager Ross brought up this subject previously and thought the Board should have input on this process as part of the checks and balances. Director Babin said that according to the Building Department the building code has no requirement for a stamp from a Professional Engineer for these types of installations. He suggested that some situations will be very straight forward and that the Board may not want to go through this every time. Town Manager Ross wanted to note that it is his understanding there is only one residence in Town with a three phase service. Line Foreman D' Ambra said he believes there may three or four. Town Manager Ross suggested adding a sentence to Section 406 of the policy stating that the policy would require electrical design drawings to be stamped by a registered Professional Electrical Engineer. He believes this will be a way to generate conversation with the person. The Board agreed and Director Babin will make the language changes and bring them back to the Board. East Mansfield Substation Update- Director Babin said MMED is awaiting the DPU's final decision regarding National Grid's transmission line, hopefully by this summer. The easement for the property on Bird Road is on the Town Meeting warrant for approval. MMED is starting to put together equipment and installation specifications and the boiler plate language has been sent off to Town Counsel and also to the Town's insurance provider for their review. Old and New Business - Vice Chairman Dentino said he would like to read a letter from a customer which he had been stopped from reading at the previous Selectmen's meeting. He asked the Board's permission to read it and was allowed to do so. The letter outlined in detail the MMED office procedures in regards to cash and included specifics as to who, when and where cash was being transported. Vice Chairman Dentino said that the Board had been told that this practice had been stopped months ago. He believes this is a safety issue and noted that in the past a policeman used to pick up the cash from the Light Department Office. He wanted to know where this issue stands. 4 .''"'',.",''',''....''"-"^',~"".H~..~,.,__.... .__ _.,."..._......._""".___.. y - Town Manager Ross said that he is addressing this but there are many issues to deal with, including space in the Treasurer's Office for the full-time person who will be needed in order to accommodate this change. He said that perhaps this could happen after the first of the fiscal year. He also acknowledged the difficulty with communicating payments between the Treasurer's Office and the Light Department Office and that it would need to be addressed. He expressed his concern that someone may get their meter pulled for non-payment after they had made a payment at the Treasurer's Office so his preference at this time is to have bills paid directly at the Light Department. Chairman Aptowitz said that if someone is delinquent in paying their bill there shouldn't be any concern about their meter being accidentally pulled. He thought it would be ridiculous to make any policy changes to accommodate these people. Clerk Kozlowski wanted to know how often it happens that someone comes into the Light Department Office with cash in order to prevent their meter from being pulled. Director Babin said that it happens routinely. His opinion is that this issue is rather complicated and that everyone was looking at it simplistically. Chairman Aptowitz believes that if a customer comes to the Light Department Office with cash and they are told to go to the Town Hall to pay that it is safe to assume they will and their meter should not be pulled. Town Manager Ross suggested putting a Light Department employee in the Treasurer's Office on days they think it will be busy. Vice Chairman Dentino did not agree, wondering why they would want to do that when they just established the Light Department Office is overworked and pointed out they wouldn't even have a billing computer there. Town Manager Ross believes on shut off days there must be one person who primarily takes payments and thinks they could do that just as easily at the Treasurer's Office. Chairman Aptowitz asked Director Babin and Town Manager Ross to focus on this issue then come back to the Board so that they can come to a resolution on this matter. The next Light Commissioners meeting was set for Monday, May 9,2011 at 7:00. Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioners meeting at 9:1S (Moran) Respectfully)ubmitted: Jacqq;eline Lee 5/09/11 ~_....... ./ 5 - 9~ fI Date of Approval Si~ature of Clerk 5 "--"..-..".."......-........-..-..--. , . ~ -