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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of light commission 08/06/01 r---\ HECE\\IEO C ('! r-~:~.\\c., OFF lel: LIGHT COMMI~SIONERS' MEETING 0 \ OCl '6 ~r1": 5 '" Mmutes of August 6, 2001, 7 PM 1\,"')' ".." .,' c- 'I~LO '11''Ih-J. i- 1S Present: Chainnan Brad Wills, Clerk Michael McCue, Lou Amoruso, Dan DonovaJ~ ASS fi. C H USE 1 Town Manager: John D' Agostino Light Department Director: Jack Beliveau Light Department Financial Officer: Kimberly Stoyle Treasurer/Collector: Richard Boucher Town Accountant: Bea Kearney Present at 7:40 p.m.: David McCarter Motion: To go into Executive Session to discuss pending litigation and return to open session at conclusion of discussion. (Amoruso/McCue) 3/0 Passes RoD Call Vote: Amoruso-aye, McCue-aye, Wills-aye The board reconvened in open session at 8:05 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Minutes of June 18, 200 I. Motion: To approve the minutes. (Amoruso/Donovan) 5/0 Passes ~) Executive Minutes of June 18, 200 I Motion: To approve, with title change to include Selectmen, and not release minutes. (Amoruso/McCue) 5/0 Passes Questions and Comments None Light Department Director's Report Financial Report - May and June Ms. Stoyle went over the fmancial statements with the Light Commissioners. May's sales came in at $1773k and were up 16% over prior year. Total Purchase Power was up 18% over prior year at $1634k. The Net Loss before PIWT was at $130k with after PIWT loss at $174k. June's sales came in at $I,985k and were up 28% over prior year. Total Purchase Power was up 15% over prior year at $I,798k. The Net Loss before PIWT was at $113k with after PILOT decrease was at $206k. Ms. Stoyle found significant this month was that the YTD Net Income was $217k and the PILOT payments at $280k. The payments were more than earned with a YTD Net Decrease at $81k as of June. This was due to an unanticipated payment adjustment. Cash is steadily decreasing even with a transfer of cash from our Depreciation Fund in June of a million dollars. This is the annual town charge and reflects the substation. We still have two and a half million in the Depreciation Fund. In May two outages were due to squirrels and one in June was a bird, a squirrel and some lightning storms. - Under major projects we have an enhanced web page. The customer is able to capture forms, fill them out and bring them in, saving time. The Inventory Bar Code System equipment is arriving tomorrow. The billing system testing is in the fmal stages and is running parallel right now. Beginning in September we should be ready to go live. r 1 ~ Director Beliveau mentions GIS is now a town project and the Light Department will be dropping it from their report. Gilbert Street is ready to energize. The relay testing and the transformer testing was done and witnessed by N.E.Power. There is a little bit of feeder work leaving the substation to be done yet. It is effectively on time and on budget. High praise goes to Ann Langille and Gary D' Ambra for the project being done quite efficiently and effectively. The project is being complete none too soon as we have gone from 38 MW to an all time high of 46.8 MW. That was a 25% increase and it overloaded the equipment. The Director assured Commissioner Donovan that he is already working on legally holding the responsible parties accountable for any and all late charges and additional costs. Commissioner McCarter was assured that, at this point, the projections for capital projects are~ consistent and on track. The SCADA system is functional and 85% to 95 % complete. The West Street Bridge completion date has been changed from August 15th to August 24th and cable has been updated. First Robotics Donation A discussion ensued regarding the importance of making a donation to First Robotics and its connection with Light Department. The Director recommended a thousand-dollar donation. Motion: Move to make a First Robotics donation for $lk. (Donovan! Amoruso) 5/0 Passes Chairman Wills asked if it would be a good idea for the town to present their accounting to the Board of Selectmen in a manner similar to the presentation of the Electric Light Department. Both the Town Manager D' Agostino and Ms. Kearney replied in the negative. The town accounting is totally different and already has a system in place. r"' Heating Assistance The director stated that the previous years' donations were $20k each. He also explained the process of the dispensing of the heating assistance monies. The Department of Social Services pays half and the beneficiary pays half of the cost of a heating bill. In the first and second years of the assistance program $11 k and 28k were expended, respectively. His recommendation was to continue with the program and start dispensing funds in September or October. Motion: Move to raise the Heating Assistance Program amount to $30k. (Donovan) Fails Motion: Move to donate $20k to the Heating Assistance Program. (Amoruso/McCarter) 5/0 Passes Project Status- Gilbert Street Open House There are plans for an open house in late September or early October. The purpose will be to let the community come in and see the new substation. There will be a tent, some refreshments and handouts. Generation Procurement Because peak increase has been so high there is a need to acquire an interest in generation procurement. Director Beliveau has developed an RFP. He outlined several options and invited board members to examine an RFP and explore three different'directions with him. Motion: Move to have Commissioners McCue and McCarter on the Board of RFP. (Donovan! Amoruso) 5/0 Passes r--- Motion: Move to support a 10 MW RFP proposal with no commitment. (Amoruso/Donovan) 5/0 Passes r ~ " . r r ,-... , Services provided to the Town Written correspondence has been supplied regarding services to the Town of Mansfield. There is very little exchange of services, but what is exchanged is done cooperatively. So there is no future misunderstanding, the charges will be one and halftimes the labor to cover the costs of the employee (vacation, medical, etc.) This should have little or no impact on the Town of Mansfield. There has been some confusion as to a 100% mark up. There is a 100% mark up for private parties: i.e.; _ accidents, insurance companies.) These are legitimate charges as we are doing work we would not ordinarily be doing. There is not a 100% mark up for the Town of Mansfield. Payment in Lieu of Taxes The Director updated the Light Commissioners on the history of the PILOT versus charges by the Town of Mansfield for service rendered. After a lengthy discussion and explanation by Director Beliveau; Town Manager D'Agostino, Treasurer Boucher and the Director were in agreement as to a future PIWT of$300,OOO plus 10% of profit without charges for services. This way both departments would be able to plan on a specific amount. Chainnan Wills opposed this solution. Commissioner McCarter wasn't clear on the whole issue. At this point, Commissioner Amoruso wasn't for or against the proposal. Commissioners McCarter and Amoruso wanted a recommendation from the Finance Committee. Year 2000 DTE Report The year 2000 DTE Report (DPU Report) needs to be signed by the commissioners and notarized. Mr. Amos Robinson also needs to sign the report, as he was a commissioner as of December 31, 2000. Old Business Removal of North Main Street telephone poles is now fixed at $206,348. Commissioner Donovan was assured that the telephone company would be filling in the holes as well as removing the poles. Motion: Move to authorize Director Beliveau to fmalize the removal of the poles not to exceed $206,348, including the cost of cable. (Amoruso/McCue) 5/0 Passes New Business None Date of next meeting: September 11,2001,7:30 p.m. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn at 9:50 p.m. (DonovanlMcCue) 5/0 Passes ~oL.~_~~ Signature of Clerk /o/!{/0/ Date of Approval T'