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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-12-01 RMLD Board of Commissioners MinutesR.MLD Meeting Minutes - December 1, 1997 Page 1 Regular Session Reading Municipal Light Department Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes Date: December 1, 1997 Location: 230 Ash Street, Reading, MA 01867 Time: 7:30 pm Attendees: Messrs. Ames, Hughes, Pacino, Burditt, Swyter Messrs. Rucker, Cameron, Murch, Blomley, Barna, and Ms. Cavagnaro Guest: Mr. Hines, Selectman, Town of Reading 1. Regular Session Agenda, call to order Mr. Pacino called meeting to order at 7:30 pm 2. Minutes of November 3, 1997 Minutes of November 17,1997 No minutes were included in the meeting booklet so they couldn't be reviewed before the board meeting. Copies need to be sent to the Board Members before the next meeting. 3. Report of the Chairman of the Board Mr. Pacino reported on a speech made to Town Meeting in November. 4. Commissioners' Reports a. Operations Budget Subcommittee A meeting on the operations budget is scheduled for next Monday, 12/8/97. Mr. Burditt may be having surgery which may affect this schedule. b. Capital Budget Subcommittee Mr. Swyter stated that a meeting is needed and would like a copy of the 6 year and operational budget. Mr. Murch is to provide this. 5. Action Items At this time, Mr. George Hines, Selectman, Town of Reading was asked if he wished to address the Board. He stated that he was attending the meeting because he understood that the Board would be discussing deregulation. He also mentioned that they may be taking up the discussion of management individuals at tomorrow night's meeting (12/2/97) in the regular session and that there may be a discussion of the retirement issues because of the Selectmen's concern about the expenditures. RMLD Meeting Minutes - December 1, 1997 Page 2 Regular Session a. NEPPA 1997 Membership Meeting Mr. Pacino asked if anyone wanted to go. Suggested Motion Move that Commissioner Hughes be appointed as the RMLD representative at the 1997 NEPPA membership meeting. Mr. Ames moved and Mr. Swyter seconded the motion to send a representative to vote. Mr. Ames moved and Mr. Swyter seconded the motion to amend it to make Mr. Rucker the backup. Motion carried 510. b. Cab, Chassis, and Heavy Duty Line Construction Body for use with, and including, a Hydraulic Rotating Derrick. Suggested Motion Move that bid 9-9-97-1 for a Cab, Chassis, and Heavy Duty Line Construction Body for use with and including, a Hydraulic Rotating Derrick be awarded to James A. Kiley Company for the total cost of $213,207.00, Purchase Order 971304 be canceled on the recommendation of the General Manager and staff. It was decided that this would be put out to bid for a more generic "demo" truck as this bid was for a new one. RMLD found out that a demo was available for $100k ess. The board deferred action until the next meeting. c. Employees Retirement Trust Fund Suggested Motion Move that the Board, acting as trustees for the Employees Retirement Trust Fund, authorize $649,673.00 be transferred from the RMLD Employees Retirement Trust Fund to the Reading Contributory Retirement Board Account for contributory retirement pensions and direct administrative expenses, and that $19,682.00 be transferred from RMLD Employees Retirement Trust Fund to the Town of Reading for noncontributory retirement pensions on the recommendation of the General Manager and staff. Mr. Hughes moved and Mr. Ames seconded and recommended addition of town accountant and finance director by memo of (10/14/97) Mr. Burditt asked Mr. Rucker why Admin. went up 25% an increase from 31 to 39. Mr. Rucker is to get back to the Board with an answer. Mr. Burditt moved that the motion be tabled. Motion was seconded by Mr. Swyter and carried 510. 6. Presentations (None) RMLD Meeting Minutes - December 1, 1997 Regular Session Page 3 7. General Manager's Report a. Memorandum from New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc., regarding New Hampshire Electric Co-op Proposes "Electric Consumers Together" to Bring Lower Rates and Retail Choice to New Hampshire Customers. Discussion ensued regarding how this could affect the RMLD. Mr. Rucker will look into this. b. Letter to Arthur von Rosenberg, General Manager, City Public Service Board, San Antonio, Texas, from David W. Penn, Deputy Executive Director, APPA regarding legislative and regulatory developments in state restructuring arenas. GM provided this information so the Board would know how to get into the APPA database. c. Memorandum to Officials of APPA Member Systems, from Alan H. Richardson, Executive Director, APPA regarding Nominations for 1998 Major APPA Awards. Note: Does the Board wish to make any nominations? Mr. Pacino asked if the department had any recommendations. Mr. Ames asked if any of the managers involved in the deregulation legislation should be nominated. Mr. Rucker stated that there is one more meeting to consider this issue. d. Memorandum to Leonard Rucker, from Ken Barna, Diedre Lawrence, Karla Doukas, Rubin and Rudman LLP regarding Use of E-Mail under Open Meeting Law. Note: General Manages is seeking Board direction on next steps to be taken on this issue. Discussion ensued with regards to what E-Mail specifically comes under the Open Meeting Law. It was offered by Mr. Barna that any time they are making a decision then this would fall under this law. Anything informational would not constitute a violation of the Open Meeting Law. e. Memorandum to Officials, APPA Member Systems, from Alan Richardson, Executive Director, APPA regarding Hometown Connections - A New APPA Venture to Serve Your Needs. GM submitted this outline of process for Board's review and information. RMLD Meeting Minutes - December 1, 1997 Page 4 Regular Session f. Legislative Workshop, Rally and APPA Meetings. Note: Are any Commissioners attending? Mr. Ames stated that he thought the board should attend. Mr. Pacino and Mr. Swyter said they would be unable to go. Mr. Swyter. Mr. Burditt and Mr. Ames went last year and felt it was a great learning experience. Messrs. Burditt, Ames and Hughes have committed to attend. Mr. Pacino reminded the Board members that when they are out of town, they cannot have a meeting and cannot discuss any business. Mr. Barna stated that they didn't have to post this since it was not a "meeting". Mr. Rucker stated that these are non-refundable arrangements and asked for a firm commitment from these three which he received. 8. Board Discussion a. Restructuring Discussion Deregulation Stakeholders (Decision factors to be considered by the Commission) Suggested Board processes to make deregulation decisions: ' RMLD will make a series of phone calls and send letters to various towns stating that the RMLD would like to make presentations and hold meetings with Selectmen on deregulation. These meetings presentations will be publicly announced. Their purpose would be to engage the public and town officials to obtain information from the customers to factor customer input back into the deregulation plan. b. Compensation to the Board Mr. Swyter wants a public discussion/hearing on this issue before the election. Mr. Pacino wants to discuss this with the Board before going to public meeting. 9. Information Items g. Share A Thought from David Wen a customer from Lynnfield, MA. Regarding a problem his area has with "mini" blackouts. These were tree problems experienced last winter. New cables are being put in next week which should take care of the problem. m. Memorandum to Robert Fournier, from John Corbett regarding Net Income Figures. Mr. Corbett is trying to develop a formula for `in-lieu-of-taxes' payments. RMLD Meeting Minutes - December 1, 1997 Regular Session Page 5 p. Letter to Leonard Rucker, from Argeo Paul Cellucci, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Department regarding thanking RMLD for their generous support for the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development. Mr. Rucker isn't sure that continuing to stay on this board is worth it. u. October 31, 1997, Financials (Sent under separate cover) Swyter pointed out on Page 13, the $87,900 expended against the Retirement Board. 10. Executive Session Mr. Pacino moved to enter into executive session for the purpose of litigation and labor negotiations and to revert back to regular session to set up a date for the next meeting and to adjourn. Motion carried 5/0. Respectfully submitted, illiam J. u hes, J . Secretary pml