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HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-01-2000 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,MAY 1,2000 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,May 1,2000 in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building in said City.Chairperson Bing Welch presided with the following Councilmembers in attendance: Howard"Jack"Elstro,Bruce Wissel,Karl Sharp,Larry Parker,Paul Combs,Phil Dickman and Sarah"Sally"Hutton. Etta Lundy was absent The following business was conducted: ROLL CALL Eight present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the April 3 and 17,2000 meetings were approved on a motion by Councilmember Hutton,second by Councilmember Parker and was 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 Parker and the motion was carried by voice vote. Bills Already Paid: Payroll and Deductions $237,902.32 Investments Purchased From: Cash Operating Fund 1,755,632.44 Bond Sinking Fund Utility Bond Reserve Fund Depreciation Reserve Fund Insurance Reserve Fund Consumer Deposit Fund Cash Reserve Fund Group Insurance Fund Total Investments $1,755,632.44 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 $ 141,781.79 Total Prepaid Invoices 2,135,316.55 Total EFT/Direct Deposit of Payroll: (72,198.49) Total Prepaid Invoices: 2,063,118.06 Total EFT Transfers: 1,505,038.43 Total Prepaids plus EFT Transfers: 3,568,156.49 Total Bills Not Paid: 600,234.69 Grand Total of Bills to be approved: $4,168,391.18 RP&L Minutes Cont'd May 1,2000 Page 2 REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON Chairperson Welch said he had no comments. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Chairperson Welch stated that in its last meeting the Board had accepted bids and awarded purchases on the bids as presented on two parcels of land on Williamsburg Pike.He said they had left one parcel which,at the time,it was thought there was no returned counter offer.However,a day or so later,it was found that there had been a counter offer returned on that parcel.Since that time,a second offer has been presented,and a counter offer presented to the first offer.So,he said,there are two parties interested in this parcel of land,which consists of 18.1 acres. He said this is land that was bought by RP&L and intended to be an economic development area.Since they are selling the land under state law and it is in a designated economic development area,he said,they have to look at it as an economic development sale.He asked both interested parties to step forward to answer some questions.The first to be questioned by Jackie Carberry of Warm Glow Candle Company currently located at 25 Washington Street(the old Hoffco building). Chairperson Welch said she made the first offer and indicated that her intent is to move their factory and the candle production to the area on which they are bidding.She said their intent is to build a production facility on the land. Chairperson Welch asked if she could project the number of people they are planning to employ.She answered that they are currently employing 27 and by the time the facility is finished they are looking at a total of around 40.She said they would start the construction of the building in a year,adding that they are in the process of acquiring some equipment that is built abroad which would take about 3 to 6 months for that to be completed for their use. Chairperson Welch asked if this Board accepts her bid would she be prepared to close immediately with full financing? She answered in the affirmative. Dave Karn of Cabinet Supply at 1700 North West 5th Street,the second bidder,answered Chairperson Welch's question about his intentions for that property if the Board awards the bid to him.He answered that they would also build a building there,adding that both of their buildings are completely full and they now have opportunities for all kinds of productions.He said they now are sitting on 1.9 acres,which is not practical for their business today.Then,on the industrial property they have almost 3 acres,which can be used for enlargement,but they like the address and the property across the street,which gives them no limits as to what they can do with it. Chairperson Welch said there is about 18.1 acres of land,which still has to be legally described,part of which fronts on Williamsburg Pike and the other on Progress Drive.He asked if the two bidders could come to some kind of agreement to divide the parcel and both be satisfied,how much acreage Karn would have to have to be satisfied.Kam answered that they didn't have to have the entire 18 acres and he would be willing to take a look at the parcel,keeping that in mind.Chairperson Welch asked if Carberry would do the same,and she agreed.He said the Board would hold off on its decision and would like both parties to get together with Bever and Osburn to see how it could be divided to the satisfaction of both parties. STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT Councilmember Elstro said there is no report. REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER General Manager David Osburn said bids could not be opened for the construction of Containment Dikes at Hodgin East,Richmond,and Northwest 11th Substations because unfortunately the newspaper did not publish both of the legal notices.He asked the Board to hold off another two weeks on this project and hopefully open the bids at its next meeting. Osburn asked the Board to approve amendments and changes to the 2000 Budget.He stated that the reasons for the changes include the telecommunications project and the expenses deal with the hiring of a telecommunications director, which means the approval of his salary.Other expenses include travel and office supplies as well as anticipating some outside services such as legal and consultants to assist in formulating the project. Osburn said they had had some meetings about the landfill generation project and now they are trying to set up a meeting with the Sanitary District to find out if they went forward how it would handled between the two entities.He said they had anticipated that the full project would be about$2'h million,but to be safe,he said they are asking to amend the budget just to cover the initial engineering,then they would come back to the Board to get approval without going any further.That's the reason,he said,for adding that$2 i million to the budget for a capital improvement budget to give them some working money. Osburn talked about the generation feasibility and Nox Compliance Study,stating that they had had discussions about both of these,but in a recent meeting they did discuss looking at what the facility's future holds for adding more generation capacity.He said in line with that,IMPA is going to issue a request for proposals very shortly to acquire additional generation.He said it looks like the Nox rulings are moving forward and RP&L will have to put in some Nox regulations in 2003 and there is an outside chance that the Nox Compliance might work with new generation.He said these two could be very closely related. If the Midwest Industrial Park proceeds at a quicker pace than what is anticipated,Osburn said RP&L would need a substation to serve that area and the utility needs to start doing some of that work now,doing the up front engineering work that's going to be involved in transmission lines lineup grades and site location.He said the$200,000 is just for engineering feasibility and that type of work which includes specification documents being drawn up. RP&L Board Minutes Cont'd May 1,2000 Page 3 He said they anticipate that they might be doing some of that work fairly soon.He said the substation itself,when it gets built,would be in a future year's budget.In answer to a question posed by Councilmember Sharp,Osbum said the substation would cost about$21/2 to 3 million,which is their best guess at this time. Chairperson Welch explained that,as Osbum had indicated,the idea is that this modification be made to the 2000 budget so that there is a line item accounting that will all be given project status.He said then,that any expenses that occur in any of the four areas will be accounted to the line item of the project. Councilmember Hutton moved to approve the amendments to the 2000 budget as offered by the General Manager, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Osbum said he did anticipate,hopefully at the next meeting,coming back to this Board with a couple of follow ups to this.He said one would be the proposal with receipt or evaluated on the generation study and hiring a firm to assist with the telecommunications project. He asked the Board for approval of Resolution No.2—2000 amending the current Salary Ordinance,explaining that even though the Board has approved the salary of the telecommunications director,the budget changes when you update the salary as well. Councilmember Wissel moved to approve the resolution,second by Councilmember Elstro and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Osbum said they did just complete their spring outage on Unit No. 1,which is back on line now,itemizing the changes and repairs that were made.He also commented that RP&L was one of the sponsors of the Enviro Fair held at the Wayne County 4-H Fairgrounds this past weekend,giving away 3,000 trees,half of them there and the other half at Hayes Regional Arboretum.He also mentioned the electric car that was brought up from North Carolina that got a lot of attention,saying that it is done in cooperation with schools in that state.A representative from the EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program,Osburn said,had a lot of questions on that subject. Councilmember Parker suggested that it should be made known that until the issue of the 18.1 acres is resolved,that RP &L is not looking for any additional bids or quotes at this time.He said that at this time the Board closes the offers for bids.Councilmember Sharp said Osburn gave the three new members of the Board a guided tour recently of the Whitewater Valley Station. NEW BUSINESS There was none. 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