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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin light commission 03/15/04 "'" r (' r .. ~(ErEIVED . ,j ('I r.'t;},\S OFF ICE Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting March 15,2004 04 APR 22 AM II: 44 Mt.rbF1ELD MASSACHUSETTS Present: Chairman Steven MacCaffrie; Vice Chairman David McCarter; Commissioner Louis P. Amoruso; Commissioner Mike McCue; Acting Director Ann Langille; Chief Financial Officer Kimberly Stoyle; Engineer Chris Cox; Line Foreman Gary D' Ambra and Manager John D' Agostino Light Commissioners Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:30 followed by the pledge of allegiance. Minutes of February 9,2004 Motion: To approve Passes 4/0 Questions and Comments Regarding the issue of Fred Brown's (481 Gilbert Street) loss of equipment which was discussed at the February meeting, Acting Director Langille recommended that Mr. Brown be compensated an amount not to exceed $500. Her reasoning was that it was the fair thing to do because the service was attached to a tree. Chairman MacCaffrie agreed it was a unique situation. Manager D' Agostino pointed out the service has been fixed. Acting Director Langille stated that a pole had been installed in the Brown's front yard and the service was now attached to it. CFO Stoyle offered the policy is to give a credit to the customer's bill but it would also be possible to cut a check if that was preferred. Commissioner McCue, who was not in agreement with compensating Mr. Brown, didn't want to repeat himself as he went into great length at the previous meeting. Vice Chairman McCarter believed compensating Mr. Brown was the fair thing to do, not that the Light Dept. was liable or did something wrong. A motion was made by Vice Chairman McCarter, second by Chairman MacCaffrie and a vote was called for by Commissioner Amoruso. Motion: To reimburse Fred Brown up to $500 for losses incurred due to his service being attached to a tree Fails 2/2 (McCue and Amoruso against) Chairman MacCaffrie read a letter from the mEW which stated the intentions of the professionals at the Light Dept to join the union. Motion: To turn the letter over to counsel Passes 4/0 ... George Dentino, 2 Gladiola Terrace, asked if he could defer his questions and comments .r"' until the end of the meeting as he believed some of his questions would be answered by the members of the Finance Committee. Chairman MacCaffrie agreed. Financial Report for January 2004 Chief Financial Officer, Kimberly Stoyle, reviewed the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet for January. Total metered sales for January were $2,166k. Total power production expense was $1,341k which was 14% less than what was budgeted. This was because the Light Dept. sold more power into the market than was purchased and did so at a time when prices were high. Also, previous Director, Jack Beliveau, had purchased some options from Energy New England in October of 2003 that were exercised in January of 2004 that yielded a profit. Net income before p.i.l.o.t. for the month was $375k while there was a net increase to surplus after p.i.l.o.t. of$335k. There were 5 outages for the month, 3 of which were due to squirrels. CFO Stoyle reported the e-billing is working well. The changes that were suggested by a customer to prevent identity theft were implemented. r Acting Director Langille gave a Plant & Equipment update. The Williams St. Bridge is pending the state surveyor staking the road layout so it can then be determined where to install the new poles. Phase two of the West St. Expansion should be completed by the end of March. Work on the School St. Bridge is going well. Cut-out replacement is continuing. The Light Dept. is ready to proceed at Erin Center, just waiting on Home Depot and Pizzeria Uno to move forward. Engineer Cox gave a Gilbert Street Expansion update. He reported the contract was awarded to Mass Electric Construction Company and the starting date is April 1 , 2004. While discussing the East Side Substation, Acting Director Langille pointed out that there are two parts to the project, the substation portion that MMED will be responsible for and the Transmission portion that will be the responsibility of National Grid. With regard to a public hearing for the project, Langille said she didn't want to step out ofline regarding the transmission aspect, as this was National Grid's part. Manager D' Agostino suggested finding a location in the neighborhood for a meeting to provide information to the public regarding the Substation. Vice Chairman McCarter offered the example of how well the neighborhood meeting with the residents of the Campbell St. area went. Commissioner Amoruso suggested scheduling this meeting for a Saturday. Vice Chairman McCarter wanted to thank the Light Dept. for assisting in the process of removing the poles and wires from the downtown area. He specifically mentioned Foreman Gary D' Ambra and his efforts at coordinating with Verizon and Comcast. r 2 .. (' Director's Report FY '04 Budget CFO Stoyle explained this was the same budget that was previously presented. Ql had been approved, however, Q2 was quickly approaching and the remainder of the fiscal year needed Board approval. She added that the Light Dept. has been working with the Finance Committee answering their questions. Mr. Jim Lazzara, of the Finance Committee, recommended that the Board approve the remaining quarters of the budget. He did want to bring to their attention the cost of labor. The Finance Committee found the step increases for the Light Dept. to be higher than those of the other departments. They also approved the pending capital projects and plan to review them along the way. Vice Chairman McCarter thanked Mr. Lazzara and the Finance Committee for their work. Motion: To approve the remaining 3 quarters of the FY 2004 budget Passes 4/0 Approval of FY '02 Audit r Chairman MacCaffrie made the statement he had no problem with the audit whether it had the qualification or not. Vice Chairman McCarter asked CFO Stoyle if she .felt there was anything in the audit report she should point out. She did indicate that cash levels were limited and that there was a strong possibility that financing would be needed for the East Side Substation. As the plans for the substation firm up, a strategy will be presented that would outline the costs and possible financing methods available. CFO Stoyle also pointed out that if National Grid was involved with the East Side Substation, MMED's costs would be reduced. Motion: To accept the FY '02 auditor's report Passes 4/0 Transfer of Vehicle to Town The Light Dept. has a vehicle that it no longer needs and offered it to the Town. Foreman D' Ambra eXplained it was not worth it for the Light Dept. to maintain the vehicle and thought the Town may have use for it. Motion: To transfer the vehicle into surplus for the Town's use Passes 4/0 r"' MMWEC Acting Director Ann Langille announced there is a vacancy on the MMWEC Board of Directors. The position is for three years and they hold a monthly meeting. She asked if anyone was interested to please let her know. 3 r T .. (' Questions and Comments continued George Dentino brought to the Board's attention the debate in North Attleboro over changing the charter so that the Town Manager would be in charge of North Attleboro Electric. He pointed out the many letters opposing this which also referred to Mansfield as being a good example of why they wouldn't want the charter to pass. Mr. Dentino also stated his belief that Light Commissioners should be Light Commissioners and Selectmen should be Selectmen, so as to avoid Selectmen bleeding money from the Light Dept. He said it is bad for the ratepayers as it is essentially collecting taxes through their meters. He believes the Board has illegally taken money from the Light Dept. Chairman MacCaffrie stated that what the Board has done is legal. Mr. Dentino brought up the subject ofintemal charges. The first example was when the Light Dept. requested use of a lockbox, which would have meant a great savings to the Light Dept. but the request was turned down by the Board. A second example was the overcharging of MIS services to the Light Dept. r- Mr. Dentino reviewed some of the statements made by the Finance Committee. The first was in regards to the qualification of the FY 2002 audit. He stated it was because the Town, not the Light Dept., was not giving the auditors the information they needed. He mentioned the supposed shortfall and reiterated that there was no money missing from the Light Dept. He mentioned the $100,000 escrow payment, which was supposed to have solved the alleged problem and CFO Stoyle indicated that no monies were placed in escrow. Mr. Dentino stated that the Light Dept. has balanced every year and the Town has never admitted that there wasn't a shortage at the Light Dept. He asked when the Town, not just Chairman MacCaffrie, would state this. Chairman MacCaffrie answered that the Town is working on this, explaining it is a timing issue. Mr. Dentino also wondered if the Finance Committee was putting the Town under the same scrutiny as the Light Dept.? The Finance Committee responded by telling Mr. Dentino to attend a Finance Committee meeting ifhe would like the question addressed. Old Business There was no old business. New Business Vice Chairman McCarter thanked everyone at the Light Dept. for taking on additional responsibilities and asked Manager D' Agostino when the position of Director would be filled. Manager D' Agostino said that he did not have an exact time frame. Commissioner McCue especially wanted to thank Ann Langille for stepping in as Acting Director. Commissioner. Amoruso thanked everyone in the department who has also stepped up during this time. r"' Chairman MacCaffrie asked the Board to consider the pros and cons of hiring a Light Dept. Manager, separate from the Town Manager, as Manager D' Agostino has the 4 r ... .. r responsibility of running the town. Vice Chairman McCarter questioned whether there would be contractual issues? He asked Chairman MacCaffrie if his suggestion was to go back to the way it was when John Larch was Manager? Chairman MacCaffrie answered yes. Commissioner McCue voiced concerns about the question of authority. He said he supports the way it is set up now and questions a duplication of effort. Acting Director Langille and CFO Stoyle informed the Board that decisions regarding the potential bilateral power contracts may need to be addressed before the next Light Commissioners meeting. The Board indicated that if decisions needed to be made immediately then they could be addressed at a regular Selectmen's meeting. The date for the next meeting was set for Monday, April 12, at 7:30. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioner's meeting at 8:25 Passes 4/0 Respectfully submitted: Jacqueline Lee 4/12/04 r ~~r Dat~ f Ap oval r 5 r ... ..