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Home My WebLink Aboutmin light commission 12/1/04 ; r CI~ ;:7' \l C f~1 ...1' i._. I ! i.... ~.iI " ,-., '7; n ~-r . .., Mansfield Municipal Electric Department !, tiC E Minutes of Light Commissioners Mee~1{J A N 14ft ~'111: 54 December 1, 2004 ' t IJ.;..!'i:. i- 1-- L 0 Present: Chairman Roger Achille; Vice Chairman Louis P 1"1Am&t~~;llig@1tT~ernie Dolan; Commissioner Mike McCue; Commissioner Steven MacCaffrie; Director Gary Babin; Chief Financial Officer Kimberly Stoyle; Engineer Ann Langille; Engineer Chris Cox; Financial Assistant Jacqueline Lee 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 November 10, 2004 Motion: To approve (MacCaffrie/ Amoruso) Passes 5/0 Director's Report r Financial Report - Chief Financial Officer, Kimberly Stoyle, reviewed the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet for October. Total metered sales revenue for October was $2,096,913, which is up 0.6% from October 2003. Total power production expense was $1,308,964, down 0.9% from October 2003. Net income before payment in lieu of taxes for the month was $362,156. There was an after payment in lieu profit of $305,156. Ms. Stoyle offered that sales being up while power costs are down are a good combination for net income. Commissioner MacCaffrie inquired as to why the jump in sales revenue occurred and wondered if it was due to ratepayers turning on their heat. Director Babin explained it was due to the combination of an increase in the PPCA, effective October 1, and to a significant decrease in expenses for the month. CFO Stoy1e reported the YTD net income through October was $1,737,052. There was a YTD net increase to surplus of $1,254,052, down 37% from the same period in 2003. She said this was not bad considering the shaky start to the fiscal year. Ms. Stoy1e also mentioned that the 2003 audit report had just been received and adjusting entries had been done the day before. These entries will be seen on the balance sheet for November. r- Mansfield Utility Assistance Program - As a followup to the November meeting, Director Babin distributed a legal opinion from Rubin & Rudman regarding the handling of the proposed MMED payment to the Mansfield Utility Assistance Program. Director Babin gave a brief background on the program, explaining that it started out as a fuel assistance program but now was more of a utility assistance program. Beginning with the contribution made in 2003, it was Director Babin's understanding that the money was going solely to paying electric bills. He said the MMED staff was recommending the Board authorize a payment of $30,000 for the upcoming year. , r Commissioner MacCaffrie reiterated that he and Vice Chairman Amoruso had brought up the issue of the wording of the motion at the previous meeting. He stated that he had read all 13 pages of the legal opinion from Rubin and Rudman and believes the Board should use the same wording as they did last year. Commissioner McCue added that as long as it was permissible, to keep it as an above the line expense, as it was last year. Motion: To authorize the funding of the Mansfield Utility Assistance Program in the amount of $30,000 (Amoruso/Dolan) Passes 5/0 Followup on Verizon Pole Line Removal - North Main Street - Director Babin distributed a November 4, 2004 letter from Addison Martin of Verizon in which he explained the calculation of the bill for undergrounding Verizon facilities on North Main Street. The bill total was $226,777.30. The Board had originally voted on August 6, 2001 to pay a not-to-exceed amount of $206,348 for the work. As was stated in prior meetings on this matter, MMED is being billed approximately 10% more than the original contract amount. A +/- 10% variance on the originally estimated amount of $206,348 had been referenced in a June 22, 2001 letter from Addison Martin to Jack Beliveau, MMED Director. Further, the October 5, 2001 contract between Verizon and MMED, executed by Jack Beliveau, has a footnote which requires the customer to pay the actual cost of the work. r- Chairman Achille believed the Board was at a fork in the road. He thought that if the staff believed they received $226,777.30 in products and services, then it justified paying that amount. Although Commissioner MacCaffrie felt the letter from Verizon was bogus and worthless, he also felt that the Town would have to pay the higher amount, as there was a valid contract in place. Vice Chairman Amoruso felt they had no choice but to pay the $226,777.30. Commissioner McCue was in agreement. Motion: To authorize payment to Verizon for undergrounding their facilities on North Main Street in the amount of $226,777.30 (MacCaffrie/ Amoruso) Passes 5/0 Questions and Comments - George Dentino, 2 Gladiola Terrace, stated that at the November meeting, the Board voted to make a donation to the Mansfield High School Robotics. He told the Board that they were all aware this was an illegal donation, whether it was placed above or below the line. He said that the Board had previously received a letter from the Department of Revenue regarding a donation, which they eventually were unable to make, to the homeless Veterans shelter. Mr. Dentino accused the Board of camouflaging the Robotics donation in the PILOT. He said it should be done on the Municipal side, through an article at Town Meeting, and then he would be happy to vote for it. Mr. Dentino also claimed the Board was doing the r 2 c ~ r same thing with the fuel assistance donation. He said what they were doing was incorrect, unless the money was for electric bills only. Chairman Achille then gave an explanation as to where the Board was coming from on these issues. He said the Board decided there is some degree of nexus between Robotics and the Light Department. He was also sure the Town would support this, whether from the Town side or the Light Department side. The Board also wants to continue supporting the Mansfield Utility Assistance Program, and they will leave it up to staff as to whether that is a below the line or above the line expense. Mr. Dentino stated that Chairman Achille was wrong with his use of the word nexus. He believed that the Board could not spend any Light Department funds on Robotics, as it had nothing to do with producing electricity. He thought the Board's motion for the fuel assistance was correct, as long as the money was limited to electric use. Clerk Dolan stated he was tired of listening to Mr. Dentino telling the Board what they should do. He said he found it insulting and a waste of his time. At Vice Chairman Amoruso's suggestion, Chairman Achille had Commissioner MacCaffrie read an excerpt from the Rubin and Rudman legal opinion, referred to in the Mansfield Utility Assistance Program, on which they based their decision on the Robotics issue. Old Business r Commissioner MacCaffrie saw other issues in Rubin and Rudman's legal opinion regarding the Mansfield Utility Assistance Program that he wanted to make known. The first issue he wanted to clarify is that MMED is not simply another department of the Town. Employees ofMMED are not Town employees and are not interchangeable. The opinion states it is best for Light Department employees to be viewed as MMED employees, and have operational and fiscal independence from the Town. If an employee was used in another department, for example, snowplowing, then MMED is reimbursed. A second issue Commissioner MacCaffrie wanted to clarify is that MMED is not authorized to donate services to the Town. This doesn't mean however, that a transfer can't be done. An example would be the holiday lights. A question had also been raised about the Town borrowing money from the Light Department. Commissioner MacCaffrie cited the example of Littleton in the legal opinion. This stated that borrowing money was the ultimate responsibility of the Light Department's governing body (Light Commissioners). He also said all monies that were borrowed had been paid back to MMED with interest. Commissioner MacCaffrie also wanted to point out that the opinion stated the full charge of the operation and management of the Light Department was "subject to supervision and control ofthe Commissioners". He felt this was a key point. r- 3 '" New Business r Meetings were scheduled for December 15 to review the MMED 2003 audit, and for December 22 to review the MMED operating budget for January 2005 to June 2005. Adjournment Motion: To adjourn the Light Commissioner's meeting at 8:05 (Dolan) Passes 5/0 Respectfully submitted: Jacqueline Lee 12/15/04 ~~ )-)l~()j- Date of Approval r r 4