HomeMy WebLinkAboutLight Comm. 10/15/2019Mansfield Municipal Electric pa RECEIVED
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Minutes of Light Commissioners Meeting
October 15, 2019 Z41q NON 2 I A $ 14 b
Present: Chair Neil Rhein, Vice Chair Frank Delvecchl6, �Cer E� five Schoonveld,
Commissioner Michael Trowbridge, Commissioner Jess Apt5W 'anDepartment
Manager Joseph Sollecito
The meeting was held at the Mansfield Town Hall Room 2AB and called to order at 6:00 PM
followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Chair Rhein stated that this meeting is being televised
and taped for future broadcast and asked if anyone in the audience was intending to record the
meeting to please state their intentions. No one did so.
A complete copy of the Board packet containing all documents that are referenced in the
minutes is on file at the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department office.
Citizens Comments- none
Motion: To approve the minutes from the February 6, 2019 and September 24, 2019
Light Commissioners meetings
(Schoonveld/Delvecchio) Passes 5/0
Town of Mansfield request for Bike Path Extension- Manager Sollecito invited Town
Engineer Rick Alves and Town Manager Kevin Dumas to speak about a bike path extension
from Court Street to East Street and the electrical work that would need to be done. Engineer
Alves explained it will affect landscaping but no parking spaces will be lost. He said they are
proposing lights on the west side as currently they are on the east side. There will also be a
flashing beacon at each pedestrian crosswalk.
Manager Sollecito said they still have to go through the bidding process before the Board can
take a vote on this but he believes it will be an improvement in lighting.
Town Manager Dumas told the Board that he has already met with citizens and addressed
their concerns about the possibility of the lights being too bright.
Commissioner Aptowitz noted that this is a donation being made by the Light Department as
this expense is in addition to their PILOT.
Motion: To approve the request from Town Manager Dumas for a bike path extension
to be funded by MMED
(Aptowitz/Trowbridge) Passes 5/0
Mansfield Community Assistance Fund- MMED Office Manager Laurie Anderson and
Dawn Saba from the West Side Benevolent Circle reviewed results of the Mansfield
Community Assistance Fund. In 2018, $2200 was awarded in utility assistance and in 2019
$961 has been given out. These monies are kept in a separate account and a check is sent
directly to the utility. This is a "utility fund" so the monies can be used for other utilities such
as water. The expenses for 2018 were $156 and in 2019 they are $240.
Bid Award for Advanced AMR System — This item was tabled.
MMED FY19 Audited Financials — MMED Staff Accountant Joe Pereira told the Board that
there were no issues and that MMED's audit went well. He also said that MMED is in great
shape and the only changes that needed to be made were minor adjustments with GAAP
(generally accepted accounting principles).
Motion: To accept the Powers & Sullivan LLC audit of MMED for FY19 as presented
(Aptowitz/Schoonveld) Passes 5/0
Hedging Power Supply Contracts — Manager Sollecito said that at the time he was
preparing this information, he and Mayhew Seavey of PLM were having a discussion about
how this price was very attractive. Five power suppliers submitted bids for both on -peak and
off-peak periods. He reviewed the analysis with the Board and noted that some of this was
time triggers but most of it was price triggers. The bid award went to EDF for average price
of $48.10 / mWh covering various periods of time from 2019-2021.
Distributive Generator Avoided Cost Savings — Manager Sollecito reviewed the avoided
power supply and transmission costs with the Board. I-Ie said that there was just one day
MMED could not run the distributive generator at full capacity but it was fixed the next day.
He reminded them that it has to be running during the peak. There was $821,000 in avoided
costs for MMED for approximately a 16 month period.
Comments from Commissioners — Clerk Schoonveld questioned streetlights that he noticed
were on when he was leaving the train station. Manager Sollecito said that some are owned
by the MBTA and some are privately owned.
Commissioner Aptowitz said he still sees burnt out streetlights. He wondered if MMED had
set up a program for someone to drive around town investigating this. Manager Sollecito said
they should all be working at this time because they are LED lights but they should let us
know if they see any not working.
Chair Rhein questioned the lights near Fulton Pond. Manager Sollecito said there is a
temporary plan for the Fall Festival. There is a long-term plan pending an agreement that the
Town needs to work out with a property owner. Chair Rhein thanked Manager Sollecito for
MMED's assistance with the Fall Festival.
Chair Rhein also questioned the North Main Street lights project. Manager Sollecito said that
there is a total of 73 fixtures that need to be removed and resurfaced and so far 22 have been
removed.
At 6:56 PM a motion was made by Clerk Schoonveld to enter into executive session.
Motion: To enter into Executive Session for the following reasons and to return to open
session for possible vote to approve contract terms with General Manager:
1) Pursuant to M.G.L. Ch. 164, Section 47D and M.G.L. Ch. 30A, Section 21,
Exemption 2, to conduct strategy session in preparation for negotiations with
2
nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining session or contract
negotiations with nonunion personnel.
2) Vote to return to open session
(Schoonveld) Passes 510
Roll Call Vote: Delvecchio-aye; Trowbridge -aye; Schoonveld-aye; Aptowitz-aye and
Rhein -aye
Return to open session at 7:19 PM. Commissioner Aptowitz stated for the record that the
Board gave Manager Sollecito a positive evaluation in January 2019 and another positive
review in July 2019. He said that Manager Sollecito received a 3% raise in January 2019
retroactive to July 2018 and tonight he would receive a 5% raise retroactive to July 2019.
Motion: To raise Manager Sollecito's salary by 5% retroactive to July 1, 2019 to the
annual amount of $172,029.25
(Aptowitz/Delvecchio) Passes 5/0
Motion: To extend Manager Sollecito's contract for an additional year to expire in
December 2021
(Trowbridge/Aptowitz) Passes 4/0/1 (Schoonveld against)
Clerk Schoonveld voted against the motion and said he thinks Manager Sollecito is doing a
fine job but he is not in favor of extending any contract.
Motion: To adjourn at 7:20 PM
(Aptowitz) Passes 5/0
Respectfully submitted: Jacqueline Lee
ignature of Clerk
Date of Approval
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