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HomeMy Public PortalAbout10-16-2000 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,OCTOBER 16,2000 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,October 16,2000 in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building in said City.Chairperson Bing Welch presided with the following Councilmembers in attendance:Howard"Jack"Elstro,Etta J.Lundy,Bruce Wissel,Karl Sharp,Larry Parker,Paul Combs,Phil Dickman and Sarah"Sally"Hutton.The following business was conducted: ROLL CALL Nine present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of the October 2,2000 meeting were approved on a motion by Councilmember Hutton,second by Councilmember Parker and were 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 the motion was carried by voice vote. Bills Already Paid: Payroll and Deductions July 21 and Aug.4 $249,408.30 Investments Purchased From: Cash Operating Fund Bond Sinking Fund Utility Bond Reserve Fund Depreciation Reserve Fund Insurance Reserve Fund Consumer Deposit Fund Cash Reserve Fund Group Insurance Fund Total Investments $249,408.30 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 $ 104,495.78 Total Prepaid Invoices 353,904.08 Total EFT/Direct Deposit of Payroll: (77,220.82) Total Prepaid Invoices: 276,683.26 Total EFT Transfers: 76.422.52 Total Prepaids plus EFT Transfers: 353,105.78 Total Bills Not Paid: 620,361.78 Grand Total of Bills to be approved: $ 973,467.56 RP&L Minutes Cont'd October 16,2000 Page 2 REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON Chairperson Welch commented on the recent death of Jim Hankinson,a former Councilmember and RP&L Board member,and asked that he be remembered for his contribution to the community. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was none. STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT Councilmember Elstro said there was no report. REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER General Manager David Osburn requested authorization to receive bids for the pumping re-circulation system for the Zero Discharge Project.He explained that this is an ongoing project and has to do with the wastewater discharge from the Whitewater Generating Station.He said the first phase of the project is already underway and that is the dredging and cleaning out of the existing ash containment ponds,adding that this is for the second part which is for the construction of the piping manhole pumps electrical system which will take care of the pumping and handling that discharge between those ponds and back to the plant. Councilmember Wissel moved to authorize the General Manager to receive those bids,second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote.Osburn stated that November 15 had been set as the other date for the budget meeting with the second meeting to be held as announced on November 27. He commented on his recent trip to Germany,stating that he learned quite a bit about how they do business in that country,their culture,structure of government,tax system and the euro.He said they toured the generating facility there and found it is operated much the same as ours does here.He said they are also having stricter environmental pressures put upon them and are struggling with how to maintain an adequate generation supply with that going on.He said their cost of power is more than it is here,adding that their residential customers probably pay on the average 15 cents a kilowatt hour,but their industrial customers get a much better price rate of four or five cents a kilowatt hour. Councilmember Sharp commented that in Germany,itself,they have some environmental problems and the direction they are wanting to take is to completely eliminate any nuclear plants and coal emissions are a problem,also.He said they would like to go to solar and wind and that sort of thing.He said they get their coal from Australia and Colombia. Osbum said the coal comes in by ship and is offloaded onto barges and transferred into the country.He said their delivery cost is about$60 to$70 a ton,which is more than twice as much as what RP&L pays. Osburn gave an update on the utility's landfill gas generation project assessment,stating that they have hired Keystone Engineers to do more of a physical assessment of the landfill and the gas quality.He said they drilled test wells and pulled gas samples and the report confirms that the R.W.Beck assessment that the gas quantity and quality is good.He said they showed that the gas recovered is an average 54 percent methane which is plenty to support the generation that's required and based on their sampling they estimated 18.9 million BTUs an hour of gas.He said their recommendation is that if the utility continues with the project,is that it be done in two separate phases.Osburn also shared with the Board that the logo for the"green energy or green power"it will be selling has been termed earth energy and was put together by Harry Phillips,the marketing director of RP&L. Councilmember Combs said his concerns about the landfill project include whether or not there would be a strong odor or loud noise as a result of the project.Osburn answered that he feels that burning off the gas would create an odor that does not already exist in a landfill,adding that what they are doing creates very little emissions.He said he also felt the noise could be handled in the design of the project and that should be considered up front and it should be realized that it would cost a little extra money to address that. NEW BUSINESS Gary Woodall,a union representative in Indianapolis,said he represented about 100 employees of RP&L who are concerned about the City and Osbum getting into their pension plan.Chairperson Welch thanked Woodall for appearing before the Board but assured him that this Board is not a negotiating member in this issue but there is a negotiating team in place that is dealing with the employees.He said the Board would prefer the questions Woodall asked be referred to that negotiating team.Councilmember Welch told him that this Board has no intention of taking anything away.He added that the attorney working with the negotiating team works for this Board under contract as does the General Manager. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed,the meeting was adjourned. Bing Welch,Chairperson ATTEST: Norma Schroeder,Clerk