HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-14 RMLD Citizens Advisory Board Minutes ' RECEIVED
1 TOWN CLERK
READING, MA.
CITIZENS' ADVISORY BOARD(CAB) 2111 JUL 30 AM 9: 56.
MEETING MINUTES
Regular Session
TIME: 6:30 P.M.
DATE: Thursday,April 14,2011
PLACE: Lynnfield Town Hall, 55 Summer Street,Lynnfield
PRESENT: CAB: A. Carakatsane,Chairman, (Lynnfield),J.Norton,Secretary, (North Reading),
G.Hooper(Wilmington),T.011ila(Wilmington),T.Capoblanco(Reading)
RMLD Board: R.Hahn,
RMLD Staff: V.Cameron, P.O'Leary, K. Sullivan,T.O'Connor, R.Fournier, P. Price,
N. D'Alleva, M.Uvanni,J.Donahoe
1. Cell Meeting to Order—A.Caraketsane,Chairman
Chairman Carakatsane called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. and announced the meeting is being
recorded.
2. Introduction of naw Reading CAB Member—A.Carakatsane,Chairman
Chairman Carakatsane introduced and welcomed the newest CAB Member from Reading, Tony
Capobianco Tony noted he is also a member of the Reading climate committee, Cities for Climate
Protection,
3. Minutes of Meeting—December 8,2010—A. Carakasane
Mr. Hooper made a motion seconded by Mr. Norton to approve the December 8,2010 minutes as presented.
Motion carried unanimously 5:0:0.
Note: Items taken out of order,
5. NEPPA 2011 Annual Conference—August 21.24—V.Cameron
Ms.O'Leary stated that the Conference is at the Samoset Resort in Maine this year,and suggested that a
motion be done tonight to approve the number of members who wish to attend.
Mr.Norton made a motion seconded by Mr.Hooper to approve up to five members attending the 2011
NEPPA Conference in Rockport Maine.
Motion carried unanimously 5:0:0.
4. FY12 Capital Budget—V.Cameron.
The Facilities and MIS budgets were discussed first. Mr. Donahoe, Facilities Manager, outlined Projects 18
through 21. A correction on the summary for Project 18 was noted--"Two New Vehicles"should be changed
to ane New Vehicle". Regarding Project 19, Mr. Donohoe staled that since 2005,two new line vehicles are
replaced each year. He added that there are a total of 16 line department vehicles.
Mr.Capobianco asked if the old trucks are sold.
Mr. Donahoe explained the surplus policy.
Mr. 011ila asked if the trucks are standard, and Mr. Donahoe responded that the trucks are built to the
RMLD's specifications usually using an International body.
Mr. Carakatsane asked about Project 21, Roof Top Units, and the efficiency of the units. Mr. Donahoe
responded that whenever he purchases anything, he consults RMLD's Efficiency Engineer,Jared Carpenter.
Mr. Capobianco asked how much savings are anticipated.
Mr. Donahoe did not know the dollar value, but the SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) for a 7 12
ton unit is between 11 and 14.8 depending on the cost.
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April 14,2011
Mr. Uvanni, MIS Manager, discussed Projects 27 and 28. He explained the MIS Department is currently
working on an Initiative to allow customers to go to paperless billing and manage their own payment
schedules. He added the initiative will begin May 1 and save thousands of dollars a month. He noted that a
payment scanning system has been added in Customer Service so that a payment stub and check can be
scanned, which produces an image of both the check and stub on the computer, records the payment, and
puts it out to the lock box, where the payment is applied electronically to the CIS the next day. He stated
that the only upgrade MIS will be doing this year will be upgrading the e-mail system from Exchange 2003 to
Exchange 2010.
Mr. 011ila asked If there were any capital or time allocations in the FY12 budget to look at the data that can
be collected by the new meters being installed.
Mr. Cameron responded that would be funded out of the Energy Conservation Budget. Mr. Uvannl added
that the RLMD has an advantage regarding communication because of RMLD's fiber optic ring around the
four towns. RMLD will not be dependent on a cellular carrier to obtain those reads.
Mr. Cameron introduced Mr. Sullivan (Engineering 8 Operations Manager), Mr. Price (Chief Engineer), Mr.
D'Alleva(Technical Services Manager), and Mr. O'Connor(General Line Foreman). Mr. Sullivan noted that
originally 16 projects were proposed and due to cost, seven were eliminated. He added that Mr. Price did
the majority of the analysis of Projects 1 through 9. Mr.O'Connor, Mr. Price, and Mr. D'Alleva described the
construction projects. A correction on Project 3 In the"Reason for Expenditure" was noted--the number of
years in the second line should be changed from"7P to"45".
Mr. Sullivan noted that Projects 4,5,6,and 7 are part of"Smart Grid'.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Sullivan explained Projects 12, 13, 14, and updated the CAB on the progress of the GIB System prior to
discussing FY12's proposed GIS Project 515. He stated that Project 15 is an integration project. He stated
that discussions have taken place with vendors,consultants,the Town of Reading GIS Coordinator, and two
other municipalities regarding how the applications are islanded (in house) and do not talk to one another.
The intent of this project is to platform all of the software applications on top of GIB to enable communication
between the applications.
Mr. 011ila asked 'it demand response would be an application related to this, and Mr. Cameron responded,
"Yes."
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Price discussed Project 16 and noted that there are no capacitors requested this year, only transformers
and voltage regulators.
Mr. D'Alleva explained Project 17A and stated that this is outside the meter replacement project.
Mr. Sullivan described Project 178, and said that this is the second part of the meter replacement project
that combines meter installation and fixed network installation to obtain the data remotely back to Ash
Street.
Discussion ensued.
Mr. Oilila asked if there is time and effort allocated for calibration or verification that the data being read is
actually what is going on at the house. Mr. Sullivan responded that it would be done under MIS testing.
Mr. Capobianco asked what questions are to be answered after looking at the data. Mr. Sullivan responded
that the Department is looking to obtain the reads per homeowner, and then on a more frequent basis than
once every 30 days. He added 0 the information can be read more often, the Department starts to
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April 14,2011
understand where the usage is,which can be used for a Cost of Service Study, for locating tampering, and
for power outages and power restoration
Mr.Capobianco asked what the expected volume of data to be stored is,and Mr. Sullivan responded that he
did not know, and that MIS would have to decide how much can be stored, how much time can be devoted
to looking at the data, and figure out how the data will be used. He expects it to be operational by FYI
Mr. Price explained Projects 22 and 23.
Mr. Sullivan noted that there would be one carryover project from FY11, Project 33.
Mr.Norton thanked the staff for its work in the budget.
6. Other hems for Discussion
Mr. 011ila asked what the Town Payment letters are. Mr. Cameron responded that the Reading Town
Payment is based on a sum that the Board agreed to in 1007 and that sum is adjusted annually by the
Boston-Nashua-Brockton CPI. He added that the letters go to the Town Payment Committee consisting of
two Board members, two CAB members, and one Reading Selectman. He noted that the payment that
goes to the four towns (as legislated) is an above the line expense, whereas, the Payment to the Town of
Reading comes out of the 8%return,and is basically a return on investment.
Rotation Schedule for RMLD meetings: July — Mr. Carakatsane; August — Mr. 011ila or Mr. Capoblanco;
September—Mr.Hooper;October—Mr.Carakatsane;November—Mr.011ila; December—Mr.Capobianco.
Next CAB Meeting—Tuesday,April 26,2011 at 7:00 P.M.at the RMLD.
7. Executive Session
Mr. Norton made a motion at 8:08 P.M. seconded by Mr. Hooper to go into Executive Session based on
Chapter 164§47D, exemption from public records and open meeting requirements in certain instances, to
approve executive session minutes and return to Regular Session for the sole purpose of adjournment.
Motion carried unanimously by a poll of the CAB: Mr. 011ila — Aye; Mr. Capobianco — Aye; Mr.
Carakatsane—Aye; Mr. Norton—Aye; Mr. Hooper—Aye.
a. Adjournment
A motion was made at 8:13 P.M. by Mr.Norton and seconded by Mr. Hooper to adjourn the meeting.
Motion carried unanimously 5:0:0.
Respectfully submitted,
J n Norton, Secretary
/pmo inutes approved on: /¢�aerj