HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-23-1997 3/
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, JUNE 23,1997
1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana, serving as a Board in charge of the operations of the
2 Richmond Power&Light Plant met in regular session at 7 p.m. Monday,June 23, 1997, in the Council Chambers
3 in the Municipal Building in said City. Chairperson Bing Welch presided with the following Councilmembers in
4 attendance: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta Lundy, Bruce Wissel, Sarah "Sally" Hutton, Alan Stamper and Larry
5 Parker.Geneva"Gene"Allen was absent.The following business was had to-wit:
6
7 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
8
9 The minutes of the meeting of May 19 and June 2, 1997 were approved on a motion by Councilmember Parker,
10 second by Councilmember Wissel and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
11
12 APPROVAL OF BILLS, INVESTMENTS AND TRANSFERS
13
14 Upon recommendation of the Finance Committee, Councilmember Hutton moved to approve the following bills for
15 payment,seconded by Councilmember Lundy and by unanimous voice vote the motion carried.
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17 Bills Already Paid
18 Payroll and Deductions 464,159.84
19
20 Investments Purchased From:
21 Cash Operating Fund 1,150,000
22 Bond Sinking Fund
23 Utility Bond Reserve Fund
24 Depreciation Reserve Fund
25 Insurance Reserve Fund
26 Consumer Deposit Fund
27 28
Cash Reserve Fund
Group Insurance Fund
29
30 Total Investments 1,150,000
31
32
33 Transfer from Cash Operating Fund to:
34 Cash Reserve Fund for payment
35 to City in lieu of taxes
36
37 Transfer from Cash Operating Fund to:
38 Depreciation Reserve Fund
39 for Property&Plant
40
41 Transfers from Depreciation Reserve to:
42 Cash Operating Fund
43
44 Transfers from Consumer Deposit to:
45 Cash Operating Fund
46
47 Transfers from Utility Bond Reserve Fund to:
48 Bond Sinking Fund
49
50 Transfers from Cash Operating to :
51 Interest and Bond Principal
52 Bond Sinking Fund
53 Cash Reserve Fund
54 Utility Bond Sinking Fund
55 56
Depreciation Reserve Fund
Insurance Reserve Fund
57 Consumer Deposit Fund
58 Interest and Bond Principal
59 End of Month Petty Cash
60 Revenue Bonds
61 Interest Coupons Redeemed
62 Bond Coupons
63 Miscellaneous Prepaid Invoices 278,822.85
64 Total Prepaid Invoices 1,892,982.69
65 Less EFT/Direct Deposit of Payroll (103,920.96)
Total Prepaid Invoices 1,789,061.73
Total Bills Not Paid 796,829.24
Grand Total 2,585,890.97
RP&L Minutes Cont'd
June 23, 1997
Page 2
1 REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON
2
3 Chairperson Welch reported on the A.P.P.A. national conference in Toronto which five Councilmembers attended
4 last week. He called the conference interesting and informative, noting that the main theme centered around
5 electrical industry deregulation and the restructuring that will come about because of it. He said subjects
6 discussed varied, relating to what is happening in the states, investigating deregulation and organizing
7 deregulation legislation to states that are already in the mode of deregulation. He said they went into great depths
8 talking about the benefits that may come with deregulation, how public power and boards governing public power
9 utilities will have to be aware of this happening, informing the ratepayers and customers as to how things are
10 changing, explaining why and how it is going to affect them in the long term. He said boards will have to have
11 insight,vision and be ready to accept challenge over the next few years during restructuring.
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13 A highlight of the confernce for him, Chairperson Welch said, was listening to a journalist for the Washington Post
14 who commented on what is happening in today's society and industry using a main theme of "This is the most
15 cyncial society in the history of the nation."Elaborating, Chairperson Welch said,the journalist pointed out that the
16 U.S. as a society and democracy has no enemies to fight at this point; nothing to worry about in the way of
17 invasion or the overrunning of the country; has the most freedoms ever in the history of the country; more
18 prosperity than any other group or generation has ever had; and the most educated and informed generation.
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20 However, he pointed out, we still have problems which are being generated because of the national debt, the
21 effect of the national debt on society and the economy, generation conflicts between generations because of the
22 entitlement programs and the effect they have had on their lifestyle, and politics in general and the corruptive
23 nature of politics in the recent past and the overall breakdown comes around because of the loss of trust by the
24 younger generation, resulting in what he calls the"most cynical society."
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26 Chairperson Welch said he brought back for the other Councilmembers copies of most of the presentations and
27 these will be available for those who wish to pick them up at the receptionist's desk at RP& L.
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29 UNFINISHED BUSINESS
30
31 Councilmember Stamper said that one of the things of importance which he felt came out of the conference was
32 having a long term strategic plan for the utility. He said he would like to see this Board move toward that or at
33 least have discussions.
34
35 General Manager Irving Huffman commented that at budget time RP & L submitted a plan and it was discussed
36 what the utility's plans are for the next five or 10 years. He said the utility does have a strategic plan and has had
37 it for a long period of time.
38
39 STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT
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41 Councilmember Elstro said he could meet with Councilmember Stamper any time to discuss the subject of street
42 lights. Councilmember Stamper said he will see in Council meeting where the Mayor is on the street lights and
43 what he is planning on doing and they can decide as to whether or not a meeting is needed. Councilmember
44 Elstro agreed.
45
46 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
47
48 There was none.
49
50 REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER
51
52 John Ragen from A.B.B. Combustion Engineering gave an update on the Low Emission Boiler Systems project
53 (LEBS) project which he said was directed at reducing air emissions and improving efficiency. He said the
54 Department of Energy's underlying objective was to commercialize some of these technologies they have helped
55 support financially. He said it included three technologies:The firing system to reduce nitrous oxide emissions and
56 organic air toxic emissions; a dry flue gas desulphurization system to remove sulphur dioxide and particulate
57 matter as well as inorganic air toxics; and the Kalina technology which utilitzes a mixture of ammonia and water
58 as the working fluid.
59
60 He said at the last meeting it was clear what the cost of that Kalina technology would be could not be financed at
61 that small capacity and that was lost. Then, since the new boiler was not going to be constructed,the opportunity
62 to demonstrate the firing system on a new boiler was lost. However,that left Plan B, he said, which was the back
63 end system of the desulphurization system because if was their understanding that Whitewater Valley could have
64 a problem in the year 2000 when phase II kicks in of sulphur dioxide emissions and possibly particulate and the
65 third technology addressed those issues.
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RP&L Minutes Cont'd
June 23, 1997
Page 3
1 Ragen said A.B.B.demonstrated on a commercial scale in Poland this technology so given that it was essentially
2 commercial and the market was not currently in the U.S.there was no incentive to demonstrate that technology so
3 all three were lost which is the reason the LEBS project was disconnected with the Whitewater Valley station. He
4 said A.B.B. is still currently evaulating the Kalina technology but at a reduced pace, adding that they haven't given
5 up on it. He said the D.O.E. is still much interested in Kalina and A.B.B. is having discussions with the D.O.E.
6 about creating a separate project which would enable them to jointly work with A.B.B. in evaluating and
7 developing the Kalina technology. But, in the meantime, Ragen said, A.B.B. will not compete in the final phase of
8 the LEBS project but will complete the current phase and submit their deliverables. He said A.B.B. cannot thank
9 RP& L enough for its support and he hopes to return some day and work on a successful project.
10
11 In answer to Councilmember Stamper's question as to whether A.B.B. had plans to refund the funds expended by
12 RP &L an the project, Huffman said that amount was a little over$8,000, adding that he felt RP& L benefitted far
13 more than the amount of money it spent on the project. Chairperson Welch expressed his appreciation for the
14 presence of A.B.B. Huffman said with combustion engineering,prior to A.B.B.purchasing them, RP& L benefitted
15 with the new low nitrous oxide burners and because of those the E.P.A. and the electric power research got RP&
16 L involved in the low emission burner project. He said with the$7 million project they learned a lot and it brought a
17 tremendous amount of employment. And, he continued, because RP & L participated in that it got involved in the
18 LIPAC project which was a$21 million project that dropped a lot of dollars into the Richmond economy. He said it
19 also provided RP & L with cleanup requirements and it now has the facilities to meet the requirements for the
20 future.
21
22 Huffman opened the bids for the new storage building at RP & L. These included bids from Oberle & Associates
23 of Richmond for$187,600; Russell&Geier Contracting Inc.of Richmond for$159,822;and the J.S. Sweet Co.of
24 Cambridge City for $211,099. He asked that the bids be referred to him for evaluation, tabulation and
25 recommendation. Councilmember Hutton so moved, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was
26 carried on a unanimous voice vote. In answer to a question by Councilmember Dickman, John Nills of RP & L
27 responded that$140,000 had been budgeted for this.
28
29 Huffman made a few comments about some recent information which appeared in the newspaper saying RP & L
30 is not competitive. He said IMPA indicated the utility is competitive. In Toronto, he said, they heard about the
31 anticipated shortage of power, noting that RP& L's capacity is needed by the industry in this area. He said RP& L
32 should be very happy it has capacity, happy that it is competitive. Chairperson Welch said there were numerous
33 comments at the conference addressing the areas in the northeast and the anticipated brownout that is going to
34 occur if the summer is hot in that region. The other section mentioned, he said, was closer to Indiana, concerning
35 Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Minnesota, noting the areas would have problems if the summer is warm and
36 humid.
37
38 Chairperson Welch reminded Board members of the executive session at 7 p.m.Wednesday night at RP&L.
39
40 ADJOURNMENT
41
42 There being no further business, on a motion duly made,seconded and passed the meeting was
43 adjourned.
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48 Bing Welch, Chairperson
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53 ATTEST:
54 Norma Schroeder, Clerk
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