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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of light commission 10/20/03 r Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting October 20, 2003 r'J . i S' 19 Present: Chairman Steven MacCaffrie; Vice Chairman David McCartc::l~}'91erkRq&e.rl'TS Achille; Commissioner Louis P. Amoruso; Commissioner Mike McCue'; Director JacK Beliveau; Chief Financial Officer Kimberly Stoyle and Town Manager John D' Agostino Light Commissioners Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:35pm followed by the pledge of allegiance. Minutes of September 10, 2003 Motion: To approve Passes 4/0/1 Commissioner McCue abstained Questions and Comments None Heating Assistance r- Gail Farrugia, Director of the COAlSocial Services asked the Board for funding from the Electric Department again this year. She is looking for $30,000.00. Last year $30,000.00 was the initial donation then an addition $10,000.00 was donated. Jack Beliveau believes it's very beneficial to make the donation. He stated that Social Services helps their clients/our customers with financial matters that the Electric Department would prefer to not get involved with. Gail stated that there is already a waiting list for the program. She estimates that there will be between a 25% and 50% increase in requests this year. Motion: To change the amount and fund the Heating Assistance program at $40,000.00 Passes 5/0 Robotics The Light Commissioners agree that the High School Robotics Program is great for the school, the youth and the electric department. The program helps get students, who are not involved in sports, to be involved in some extra curricular activities. The team made it to both regional and national competition this year. Chairman MacCaffrie was very impressed with the students and their robot when they appeared before the Board earlier this year. Motion: To provide the same level of support ($5,000.00 and staff assistance) to the Robotics Program as last year Passes 5/0 ~ ~ - Financial Report for August 2003 r Chief Financial Officer, Kimberly Stoyle, reviewed the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet for August. The PPCA was lowered 0.5 cents to .0315 effective October 1 st. It is possible that it will be lowered one more time before the end of the year. The total kwh for August was the highest on record. Chairman MacCaffrie stated that the Electric Department did a good job maintaining and restoring power during the windstorm on Wednesday, October 15th. He believes that we faired much better than our sister utilities. CFO Stoyle gave a major projects update. She informed the board that we have selected a Vendor for internet bill presentment and payment; they are Soleil Communication from Attleboro, MA. The system may be up as early as December 1st. CFO Stoyle passed around a board with a sample of what the computer screens might look like once this system is up and running. Chairman MacCaffrie stated that we didn't need anything from them to move ahead with this project. Engineers Ann Langille and Chris Cox gave major project updates on their projects. Energy Conservation Rebate Program r Director Beliveau informed the Board of the regulation regard residential conservation services. The regulation states" the program budget for a municipal utility shall be at an annual level equal to and not less than ~ of 1 % of its gross annual retail revenues. For MMED that would equal about $60,000.00 Laurie Anderson, Business Manager, informed the board that in 2002 we spend a little over $22K and so far this year we have spent about $25K. In order to increase spending we would recommend an Energy Conservation Rebate Program. The program would offer $50.00 rebates on EnergyStar Refrigerators, Front Load Washing Machines and Window Air Conditioners. There would be a limit of one rebate per customer per calendar year. The accounts must be active and a credit would be issued to the customer account. We have received numerous inquiries from the customers regarding whether or not we offer a program. The customers have been told that we were researching a program and to hold on to their receipts. Due to this fact we would recommend that purchases made on or after January 1, 2003 be included in the program. The Board asked Business Manager Anderson to research other appliances that we could include and report back to the board at the next meeting. Calpine Energy Services Contract Director Beliveau reported that the escrow agreement with Calpine has been completed. We expect an amount of close to $1 million will be deposited in an account that can be accessed by Mansfield if Calpine is unable to fulfill it's obligations under the contract. r r Overtime Director Beliveau researched the overtime of the line department and it has increased from 60 hours in 1998 to 90 hours in 2003. This is lower than Director Beliveau had estimated and it only represents a man-hour year and does not appear to warrant hiring another crew. Old Business Town Manager D' Agostino questioned the minutes in regards to it mentioning that the PPCA has increased Yz cent. Director Beliveau clarified that the PPCA was increased in March ofthis year and, as previously stated, decreased Yz cent effective October 1 st. CFO Stoyle clarified that we are taking a "wait and see" position on the issue of charging interest on overdue accounts. She stated that North Attleborough Electric has begun to charge interest on overdue accounts and would like to see what they experience. r- Town Manager D' Agostino informed the board that he received a quote of $57K for Employee Practice Liability insurance at a cost of year. Mr. D' Agostino had sent a memo to the Board and asked they reconsider their prior vote on Wednesday October 15 to obtain the insurance, as he believed it was not an economical decision. Mr. D'Agostino stated we would pay $57,000 for coverage that would not exceed $80,000 in benefits. Commissioner McCarter raised the matter of coverage of legal fees. He stated he believed we were better off with some insurance than none. There was discussion of the benefit of a continuation in coverage versus a gap in time. Director Beliveau noted that there may be statutory issues with regard to self-insurance. Mr. D' Agostino stated he would research this with the agency. Motion: To reconsider the vote from last meeting regarding direction to purchase EPLI insurance.) Passes 3/1/1 Commissioner McCarter against; Commissioner McCue abstained due to absence on the initial vote. Motion: To "self insure" with respect to EPLI. Passes 4/1 Commissioner McCarter against New Business Chairman MacCaffrie read a statement to clarify some statements by former Chairman Wills that recently appeared in the newspaper. Chairman MacCaffrie hopes that his statement "puts some issues to bed". Adjournment r Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioners' meeting at 9:00pm r Passes 5/0 The date for the next meeting is Monday, November 1 ih at 7:30pm. Respectfully Submitted: Laurie Anderson 11/17/03 ~/l/~ , 19nature 0 Clerk (( / 17/t/ 5 Date.bf At6proval r r T ..