Rec. Oct. 19, 3:15 pm

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4 Rec. Oct. 19, 3:15 pm

5 Middleborough Gas & Electric Commission Meeting Middleborough Town Hall; Selectmen s Meeting Room Wednesday, September 16, 2015 In attendance: Chairman Dan Farley, Commissioner Lincoln Andrews, Commissioner Jack Healey, Commissioner Tom Murphy, and Commissioner Terri Scott. Others Present: Jackie Crowley, General Manager; William Taylor, Electric Division Manager, Sandra Richter, Public Communications Manager; Residents: Adam Bond and Judy Bigelow-Costa Tinkham, Jeannette Mello, Secretary; and Jim Cosgrove, taping for Middleboro Community Cable Access Media. Chair Farley opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. with a welcome and the Pledge of Allegiance. Chair Farley announced that the Gas & Electric Commission Meeting of September 16, 2015, is being recorded by Middleboro Community Cable Access Media (MCCAM), Verizon and Comcast. Chair Farley announced that the agenda for the meeting of September 16, 2015 should not have included Executive Session. Announcements & Recognitions a. Proclamation on 2015 Public Power Week and Public Natural Gas Week Sandy Richter, Public Communications Manager, read a proclamation recognizing Public Power Week and Public Natural Gas Week, October 4-10, The proclamation read as follows: Board of Gas & Electric Commissioners Middleborough Gas & Electric Department Commonwealth of Massachusetts A Proclamation Whereas, We, as the elected representatives and speaking for the citizens of Middleborough, Massachusetts, place high value on local control over community services and therefore have chosen to operate a community owned, locally controlled, not-for-profit natural gas and electric utility and, as consumers and owners of our natural gas and electric utility, have a direct say in utility operations and policies; Whereas, Middleborough Gas and Electric Department provides our homes, businesses, farms, social service, and local government agencies with reliable, efficient, and cost-effective natural gas and electricity employing sound business practices designed to ensure the best possible service at not-for-profit rates; Whereas, Middleborough Gas and Electric Department is a valuable community asset that contributes substantially to the well-being of local citizens through energy efficiency, customer service, environmental protection, economic development, and safety awareness; Whereas, Middleborough Gas and Electric Department is a dependable and trustworthy institution whose local operation provides many consumer protections and continues to make our community a better place to live and work, and contributes to protecting the global environment; Draft 1, September 23,

6 Whereas, Middleborough Gas and Electric Department's first and only purpose is to work in partnership with its customer-owners to furnish an essential public service and the best customer service to community citizens at lowercost rates; Now, therefore be it Resolved: that Middleborough Gas and Electric Department will continue to work to bring lower-cost, safe, reliable electricity and natural gas to community homes and businesses just as it has since 1893, the year when the utility was created to serve all the citizens of Middleborough and later, our neighbors in Lakeville; and Be it further Resolved: that the week of October 4-10, 2015 be designated Public Power and Public Natural Gas Week to recognize Middleborough Gas & Electric Department for its contributions to the community; to educate consumerowners, policy makers, and employees on the benefits of public ownership and; to make them more aware of the Departments overall contributions to their well-being; and; Be it further Resolved: that our community joins hands with more than 2,000 other public power systems and nearly 1,000 other public natural gas systems in the United States in this celebration of public power and public natural gas, which is best for consumers, business, the community, and the nation. Given at the regular meeting of the Board of Gas & Electric Commissioners at the Town of Middleborough, Selectmen Meeting Room, 10 Nickerson Avenue, Middleborough, MA 02346, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year two thousand and fifteen. By Name(s): Commissioner Lincoln D. Andrews Commissioner Thomas E. Murphy Commissioner Daniel E. Farley Commissioner Terri M. Scott Commissioner John F. Healey General Manager Jacqueline L. Crowley Board of Gas & Electric Commissioners Middleborough Gas & Electric Department Comm. Healey made a motion to approve the proclamation. Comm. Scott seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. GM Crowley will be contacting Jackie Shanley, Secretary to the Board of Selectmen, so that they can be placed on the agenda to discuss the Public Power Week and Public Natural Gas Week and to give an update on the MGED s operations including rate comparisons. Draft 1, September 23,

7 Unanticipated Citizen and Attorney Adam Bond discussed a proposal to have a 4-dial Howard street clock placed at 1 North Main Street, on his business property to enhance the appearance of the 4 corners intersection. Mr. Bond passed out information on the street clocks made by The Electric Time Company, Inc., a local company in Weston, Massachusetts. The cost is approximately $21,000-$25,000. He would like the MGED to consider it as an investment in the four corners. Comm. Murphy recommended that Mr. Bond ask the Peirce Trust for help. Comm. Andrews said that he personally believes that the clock would enhance opportunities to attract other businesses to vacant buildings in Town. Discussions on the street clock included, granting an easement, payment for electric usage, maintenance and help assembling and installing the clock by MGED, permanent electrical power access for Krazy Days, licensed electrician to do wiring, and support from other Town boards including, Historical Commission, Middleboro on the Move, Mike Maddigan, DPW, and Mass Highway. The Board of Commission s preference would be a Howard small four-face (dial) clock 10 9 with advertising of the street name only and involving the Pierce Trust. Comm. Healey made a motion to continue to explore the proposal to a conclusion including possible contribution to the effort, preferring a four-face clock, and additional funding from Pierce Trust and other entities. Comm. Scott seconded the motion. Citizen, Judy Bigelow-Costa Tinkham, described the great improvement the clock would bring to the downtown area. The motion was passed unanimously. Mr. Bond will return with further information, including style, location, how many faces, how to finance, and support from the Town boards including DPW and Mass Highway. Public Comment No public comment. Review and Possible Vote to Accept and Release Minutes: August 19, 2015 August 19, 2015 Open Session New Business Old Business: Comm. Murphy made a motion to approve, accept and release the August 19, 2015 minutes as presented. Comm. Scott seconded the motion. The motion passed. Comm. Healey abstained due to not attending the meeting. a. General Manager s Review i. Vote on Performance Rating (Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory) Chair Farley s said that his review of GM Crowley was much greater than satisfactory. She performs an excellent job, and the MGED is lucky to have her. Comm. Scott concurred. Comm. Murphy said that he concurred with Comm. Healey s performance evaluation that was read at last month s meeting and that he would like to take into account that she also performs the Power Manager s position. Comm. Andrews said that GM Crowley s salary is the highest paid employee in the town, but she earns it. Although there is no formal review matrix form that the Commissioners can use in reviewing the General Manager, Comm. Andrews read and submitted the following review: Draft 1, September 23,

8 Draft 1, September 23,

9 Comm. Healey said that his statement on the General Manager s performance was read by the Chair at last month s meeting, which supports the General Manager in receiving a 3% increase. General Manager Crowley commented on being grateful for their feedback and for what she perceives as confidence in her performance. Jackie appreciates their vote of 3% which is higher than what is stated in her contract. She does want to recognize that for the past three years increases have stayed consistent at 2% per year for the employees union agreements and management. Jackie prefers to be in solidarity and stay at 2% along with MGED employees who perform with great dedication and care a great deal about their service to the Town. Comm. Andrews acknowledged GM Crowley s belief and gave her kudos and that the previous Town Manager Charles Cristello made a similar decision. Comm. Andrews made a motion that General Manager Jacqueline Crowley receive a 2% increase as stated in her contract and that it be retroactive to August 8, Comm. Scott seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The General Manager and union contracts will be posted on the MGED s website. b. Gas Division Vehicle Bid Award i. Cancel Vehicle Bid Awarded at 4/15/15 Meeting At the April 15, 2015 meeting a vehicle bid was awarded to Balise Chevrolet in the amount of $49,598 for two vehicles. Balise Chevrolet has been unable to meet the order and delivery date of weeks. They have not been responsive to multiple calls. GM Crowley asked that the Commissioners cancel the bid award to Balise and award the bid to the alternate bidder MHQ Vehicles Comm. Andrews made a motion to rescind the vote to purchase the GM vehicles. Comm. Murphy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. ii. Vote to Award Bid to Alternate Bidder Comm. Andrews made a motion for the MG&E to procure the two transit vehicles from MHQ in the amount of $53,728. Comm. Healey asked if Balise Chevrolet have been contacted about the possibility of the bid award being cancelled. GM Crowley said that Bernie Gosson, Gas Division Manager, called and left them a message last week which they have not returned. Balise Chevrolet does not know that they are in risk of being cancelled. The vehicles were not being ordered until November. Comm. Healey said that a letter to Balise Chevrolet should state that the reason for the vehicle bid award to be rescinded was due to the time of the delivery date not being met. Comm. Healey seconded the motion on the basis of the notification letter to Balise Chevrolet stating that the bid award was rescinded due to time of the delivery date not being met. Comm. Murphy said that this letter should be certified and specify that they did not meet the specifications and the delivery date. The motion passed unanimously. If the alternate bidder MHQ is unable to honor their original proposal, the bid would be cancelled and the bid process would start over. General Manager s Report a. Draft Financials through July 2015 Draft 1, September 23,

10 The July financials displayed on the screen are continuing in the same trend as they have been earlier in the year. The Rate Stabilization is down about $300,000 from last month for the Electric side and on the Natural Gas side the Rate Stabilization has increased. At the end of the year it is likely that the Gas side will show an increase in the Rate Stabilization and will support a reduction that will be announced for November 1st. Based on a recent hedge, power rates should stay the same for the next three years. On the balance sheet the cash at the bank is lower due to the accounts receivables being up a little, due to high sales in August to meet cooling demand. b. Rate Comparisons The Residential Electric Rate Comparison chart for the month of August shows MGED continues to be one of the lowest besides Mansfield who has dropped their rates slightly in the last month. Taunton and Braintree has had slight increases. The Rate Stabilization Account helps MGED buffer high transmission and capacity costs. An MGED customer saves about $60 compared to Investor Owned Utilities. The Gas Rate Comparison shows MGED having a higher cost per ccf than Investor Owned Utilities (IOU) because MGED does not have summer rates along with other municipals. There are rate changes showing with the Investor Owned Utilities which are done quarterly. The combined bill shows the gas bills are small and the electric shows Mansfield s recent reduction is lower than MGED. MGED is lower than Braintree and Taunton. The Investor Owned Utilities (IOU) have come down in price but they are still high. c. Project Updates i. 2 MW Gas Fired Load Shaving Generator GM Crowley gave an update at the site of the 2 MW generator. The process continues on the environmental testing, the electrical wiring is being tested, and the Cummins consultants who have been there for the fourth week are making sure everything is operating correctly, and Algonquin Gas Transmission is upgrading our system. William Taylor, Electric Division Manager, gave a review of the electrical work that is being done at the generator. The generator will produce power to lower the peak times of the day and at the same time it will help alleviate the high regional transmission and capacity costs that occur during those times. This will help reduce the costs to ratepayers. ii. Switchgear Replacement Mr. Taylor discussed the switchgear replacement project that will be starting the first of October. After United Power s pre-testing, the electrical contractor, that was awarded the bid about a month ago, will start the work on replacing the old switchgear with the new switchgear. Loads will need to be transferred and then additional wiring will need to be done. It will take approximately 4 months to complete. Comm. Andrews mentioned that it would be interesting if MCCAM could video a plant tour of the upgrade. iii. Proposed Solar Bylaw Ms. Richter talked about the Town proposing changes to the zoning bylaw to include 2 large solar overlay districts for the Town meeting in October. Ms. Richter has been working with the Planning Board and the Green Energy Committee to help the Town become designated as a Green Community which will help the Town in obtaining funds through grants for upgrades to the Municipal buildings. The proposed bylaw will allow a solar field or farm of 50 kw and up in size. Ms. Richter said that right now the proposed bylaw does not hinder our ability to protect MGED s service or reliability to ratepayers and it does not impact our ability to work with solar developers. The Town of Lakeville has already accepted a solar overlay district which has not impacted the MGED. Draft 1, September 23,

11 Correspondence No Correspondence. Executive Session: Adjourn There was no executive session scheduled. Comm. Andrews made a motion to adjourn the September 16, 2015, meeting of the Middleborough Board of Gas & Electric Commissioners. Comm. Murphy seconded the motion. Motion approved unanimously. Open Session adjourned at 8:52 PM. The next scheduled meeting of the Middleborough Board of Gas & Electric Commissioners will be on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, at 7:30 PM, Selectmen s Meeting Room at the Middleborough Town Hall at 10 Nickerson Avenue in Middleborough. The Gas & Electric Commission Meeting of September 16, 2015, was videotaped and broadcast by Middleboro Community Cable Access Media (Comcast and Verizon) and audio-taped by the General Manager. Respectfully submitted, Jeannette Mello Secretary Draft 1, September 23,

POSTING OFFICIAL DAY AND DATE MEETING TIME: 3. Unanticipated. 6. New Businesss. 7. Old Business. a. Financials. 9. Correspondence

POSTING OFFICIAL DAY AND DATE MEETING TIME: 3. Unanticipated. 6. New Businesss. 7. Old Business. a. Financials. 9. Correspondence TOWN OF MIDDLEBOROUGH OFFICIAL MEETING POSTING NAME OF PUBLIC BODY: Middleborough Gas & Electric Commission DAY AND DATE OF MEETING: Wednesday, October 19, 2016 TIME OF MEETING: 6:000 PM LOCATION OF MEETING