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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmin of light com 12/4/2000 (' LIGHT COMMISSIONERS Minutes December 4, 2000 Present: Acting Chairman Lou Amoruso, Dan Donovan, Amos Robinson John D' Agostino, Town Manager Jack Beliveau, Director of Light Department Ann Langille, Light Department Engineer 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. In the absence of Chairman Wills, the gavel was handed to Lou Amoruso as Acting Chairman. Correspondence A memo was received from Jack Beliveau, Director of Light Department regarding Pole 10, Court Street. It was requested to relocate this pole by the nearest abutter as it blocked a new driveway. The original location was not on the property line. It was located in the telephone companies set area and must be relocated by them. As the pole was being relocated closer to the home of the requesting party and there were no abutters other than the requesting party, the Director was requesting waiver of a public hearing. The pole will be relocated pole within 5 days of notification by the Director. r Commissioner Robinson stated he would like to continue with the procedure and hold a hearing. Motion: To waive the public hearing and sign off on the moving of the pole. Donovan! Amoruso 2-1 Robinson opposed, as he would prefer to continue with the procedure and hold a hearing. A memo was received from Jack Beliveau, Director of Light Department regarding flag lighting on the South Common and Route 106 Railroad Bridge. The spotlight illuminating the flag on the south common had failed and the required stock was not available. A temporary floodlight was installed. The new bulb has been received and a permanent repair will now be made. The railroad bridge underpass lighting on route 106 has not been completed due to internal confusion at Richard Brothers. The fixture intended for this project was mistakenly used on another project. Richard Brothers has reordered the fixture and will replace the defective unit within a few days. 2. Questions and Comments None 3. Light Department Director's Report Financial Report In the absence of Kim Stoyle the Director presented the financial report. For the month of October r' a profit was earned of $18k before payment in lieu of taxes with a net decrease to surplus after payment in lieu of$20k. Sales were up in October by 24% with purchased power costs rising by Light Commissioners (' Page two December 4, 2000 Financial Report (cont) 46%. He stated they will not do any better in November or December. Sales are up mostly due to the increases in the PPCA. The purchased power costs are up as a result of the increase in oil combined with the Seabrook Nuclear Plant being down. Projections for Next Year The Director advised the Commission where we are this year. He had mentioned before that he needed about 6 months of data to address where we are going. . The current cost of wholesale power, loss adjusted is $0.0927KwH . Average cost in 1999 for wholesale power was $0.0733!KwH . The above represents a 27% increase over 1999. . The overall rates have been increased 13% between 1999 and present. . Energy is being sold to industrial customers at $0.04 plus a PPCA of$0.0315 or $0.0715 KwH. . They are losing approximately $0.021 per KwH for each KwH customers utilized. It will be necessary to increase PPCA by 1I8th of a cent in January to remain financially sound. The average bill, July -November, is $76.00 for residential customers. An overall increase would be $13.00 or 19-Yz% more by next July. It is modest compared to utilities around us. r Also, to make sure the public is aware they are receiving their monies worth, salaries were reviewed for 1999 which represented 5.12% of the revenue while the overall for all Massachusetts municipals was greater than 10%. Mansfield has the second lowest in Massachusetts. Commissioner Robinson questioned what would happen without the increase. Commissioner Robinson was concerned about the elderly and those financially challenged residents having to pay more and not being able to meet the payments. The Director noted that assistance programs have been established to help those in need. Commissioner Robinson noted that some residents might be too proud and asked that the increase be postponed until the spring. The Director noted that without the increase projects will not be completed. we have industrial customers They are willing to pay the bill in order to have a reliable system. The Light Department has to generate sufficient earnings to support our capital programs and to improve our system and make it reliable, which is being demanded by our industrial customers. Acting Chairman Amoruso asked for an update on the lighting cliche that occurred on Saturday. At 1 :30 a.m. there was a fault at Choppy Pond that caused the fault we felt. At 8:45 a.m. Saturday morning there was a more sustained voltage dip. We were operating on one transformer. The Light Department continues to investigate this outage to see where the problems occurred. New England Power is saying nothing went wrong. So we really do not have an explanation. Old Business None r Light Commissioners r' Page three December 3, 2000 New Business Commissioner Robinson asked ifthe street light patrol had finished their survey. He noted two streetlights that need to be replaced one at Mill and Sandy Hill Drive and the other by the Uncommon Theater. He also reminded residents to call if they see any lights out. Commissioner Robinson asked for an update on any new equipment to be purchased. The Director asked for comments at the next meeting on the new Residential Customer's Handbook from the Light Department which will be passed out to new customers. This booklet is entirely done in-house by the Light Department staff. Initial responses from the Commissioners were very positive on this handout. Next meeting January 8, 2001. Minutes of November 6,2000. Acting Chairman Amoruso passed the gavel to Commissioner Robinson to act as chairman. r. Motion: To approve the minutes of November 6,2000. Donovan/Amoruso 2-1 abstention. Acting Chairman Robinson abstained. Motion passes. Motion: To approve the executive minutes of November 6,2000, but not to release. Commissioner Robinson was not given a copy of the minutes of the executive session regarding the John Larch Lawsuit. Amoruso/Donovan 2 in favor Robinson abstained. Motion passes. Motion: To adjourn. Robinson/Donovan 3-0 Motion passes. Meeting adjourned at 8: 1 0 p.m. Respectfully submitted Deborah A. Button Lou Amoruso - Clerk Board of Light Commissioners Date r . -