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Home My Public Portal About01-22-2001 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND,INDIANA,SERVING AS A BOARD IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION OF THE RICHMOND POWER&LIGHT PLANT MONDAY,JANUARY 22,2001 The Common Council of the City of Richmond,Indiana,serving as a Board in charge of the operations of the Richmond Power&Light Plant met in regular session at 7 p.m.Monday,January 22,2001 in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building in said City.Vice Chairperson Larry Parker presided with the following Councilmembers in attendance:Howard"Jack"Elstro,Etta Lundy,Bruce Wissel,Karl Sharp,Bing Welch,Sarah"Sally"Hutton and Paul Combs.Chairperson Phil Dickman was absent.The following business was conducted: ROLL CALL Eight present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the meetings of December 18,2000,and the special meeting and the regular meeting of January 8, 2001,were approved on a motion by Councilmember Welch,second by Councilmember Hutton and carried on a voice vote. APPROVAL OF BILLS,INVESTMENTS AND TRANSFERS Upon recommendation of the Finance Committee,Councilmember Hutton moved to approve the following bills for payment,seconded by Councilmember Combs and by unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. Bills Already Paid: Payroll and Deductions $519,034.62 Investments Purchased From: Cash Operating Fund Bond Sinking Fund Utility Bond Reserve Fund Depreciation Reserve Fund Insurance Reserve Fund Consumer Deposit Fund 190,000.00 Cash Reserve Fund • Group Insurance Fund Total Investments $ 190,000.00 Transfer from Cash Operating Fund to: Cash Reserve Fund for Payment To City in lieu of taxes Transfer from Cash Operating Fund to: Depreciation Reserve Fund For Property&Plant Transfers from Depreciation Reserve to: Cash Operating Fund Transfers from Consumer Deposit to: Cash Operating Fund Transfers from Utility Bond Reserve Fund to: Bond Sinking Fund Transfers from Cash Operating to: Interest and Bond Principal Bond Sinking Fund Cash Reserve Fund Utility Bond Sinking Fund Depreciation Reserve Fund Insurance Reserve Fund Consumer Deposit Fund Interest and Bond Principal End of Month Petty Cash Revenue Bonds Interest Coupons Redeemed Interest Coupons Redeemed Bond Coupons Miscellaneous Prepaid Invoices $2,390,025.70 Total Prepaid Invoices 3,099,060.32 Total EFT/Direct Deposit of Payroll: (160,166.75) Total Prepaid Invoices: 2,938,893.57 Total EFT Transfers: 1,493,164.67 Total Prepaids plus EFT Transfers: 4,432,058.24 Total Bills Not Paid: 885,616.39 Grand Total of Bills to be approved: $5,317,674.63 RP&L Minutes Cont'd January 22,2001 Page 2 REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON There were no remarks by the Vice Chairperson. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilmember Wissel commented that there would not be a meeting in two weeks because of several of the Councilmembers attending the A.P.P.A.Conference.General Manager David Osbum said while they were on that subject,he was interested in what the meeting schedule would be in February because he had some items that he would like to discuss with the Board.City Clerk Norma Schroeder stated that it had been announced at the last meeting that the dates had been changed in February to the second and fourth Monday nights instead of the regular first and third. Those dates,she said,would be February 12 and 26,2001. STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT Councilmember Elstro said there was no report. REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER Osburn thanked the Councilmembers for their attendance tonight,especially since the Common Council meeting usually following the RP&L meeting had been cancelled.He said the highest priority for asking that Councilmembers attend this meeting was for approving bills so RP&L could close out the end of the year. Osbum asked the Board to authorize him to receive bids on a 2001 Sport Utility Vehicle for the Line Department as approved in the Capital Budget.He said this vehicle is to be used by the Transmission and Distribution manager and they are trading in a 1992 Ford F 150 which is a half-ton pickup truck that has 137,000 miles on it.Councilmember Wissel moved to grant that authorization,second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Osburn asked for authorization to receive'bids for the Transmission Line Rebuild Project that he said he had discussed with the Board at the last meeting.Councilmember Welch moved to grant that authorization,second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. In the general report Osburn said he had two items that he wished to discuss with the Board.The first,he said,was concerning the SO 2 emissions for the year 2000.Giving a brief summary,he said he had the final records on the emissions.He said the utility emitted 12,073 tons of SO 2 in 2000 and with the allowances to RP&L given by EPA, along with the allowances that were purchased,he said,they have in the utility's account 12,132 allowances making it about 60 extra allowances to cover that.He said they had been watching that rather closely in case they had to buy some additional allowances at the very end to cover that,adding that that is actually a lot closer than the utility would want to cut it each year.He said they would probably try to purchase more this year to try to get a little more cushion. He said the rule of thumb he is hearing from the industry is to try to have 10 percent excess in the account to try to cover any emissions they didn't count on. Osbum pointed out that RP&L did reduce its emissions in 2000 by switching to a lower sulfur coal.He said they projected that if they had not switched they would have emitted a little over 15,000 tons so they did reduce it close to 3,000 tons,which is roughly a 20 percent reduction.He said this is an ongoing process for RP&L,so they will have to,some time,start looking at the allowance market and start buying up more allowances to cover the operations in 2001.He said the workshop he attended recently taught him some"tricks of the trade"which resulted in creating a general account in which to store allowances until it's time to move them.He said allowances now are$155 a ton,an increase from the$140,which it had been.In answer to a question by Councilmember Wissel,Osbum said there is no time limit on the allowances,adding that the utility could,if the price was very low,buy 15,000 and they might last for another 10 years. The second item,Osburn said,is to look at dates for upcoming meetings.He said RP&L would,hopefully,be ready to submit its business plan for the telecommunications project to this Board very soon and he asked about the possibility of meeting at 7 p.m. Monday,January 29 at RP&L.He also suggested a meeting at 7 p.m.Monday,February 19 at the service building to discuss the utility's Nox compliance plan,noting that he and his staff had their recommendations prepared as to how they would like to move forward and would like to discuss it with the Board. Councilmember Welch commented that he had been watching the national news about what is going on in California and all the trouble that is being caused by de-regulation.He asked Osbum what he had heard from IMPA or the Legislature as to what is going on in Indianapolis on de-regulation.Osburn answered that nothing is expected in Indiana concerning de-regulation this year and it is not even anticipated that a bill would be introduced.He said it is a possibility that the Indiana Manufacturer's Association which is primarily driven by the very large manufacturers in Indiana may introduce a bill just to keep the spirit alive and to try to keep the subject "on the table." He said the legislators don't get this overwhelming push from their constituents to look at de-regulation so they are not that eager to tackle it and he said they are also getting the feedback that the governor doesn't see a lot of interest in pursuing it at this time.Then,he said,when you add in what is going on in California and the nightmare they are having out there,it makes you think twice before jumping into the fray. Osburn said the feedback he is getting from the A.P.P.A.is that there will be some legislation introduced at the federal level but because of what is going on as a result of de-regulation in California they will probably have a hard time getting anything through.If anything,he added,there might be a bill going through that is really a liability bill that stresses more along the line of some enforcement powers for some federal agencies to try to force utilities to improve their liability and supply. RP&L Minutes Cont'd January 22,2000 Page 3 Councilmember Hutton said she had received several calls again in the last couple of weeks about the dusk to dawn lights.She said she is beginning to wonder if this subject needs looking into further.She said she feels that RP&L is taking the flak about these because it furnishes the power and she cited a situation in the past where a complaint was made and RP&L had gone out of its way to help.Councilmember Hutton said she would look into the situation and see what other utilities do. Councilmember Sharp acknowledged the passing of Donald Meredith who had served as the City's Controller for many years.Councilmember Lundy also acknowledged the passing of Merle Henderson,the former president of the Housing Authority Board for several years. NEW BUSINESS There was none. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed,the meeting was adjourned. Larry Parker,Vice Chairperson ATTEST: Norma Schroeder,Clerk