HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-05-1997 a23
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 5.1997
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, May 5, 1997, in the Council Chambers in
3 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, Geneva "Gene" Allen, Alan
5 Stamper, Bob Dickman and Larry Parker. The following business was had to-wit:
6
7 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
8
9 The minutes of the meeting of April 21, 1997 were approved on a motion by Councilmember Hutton, second by
10 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.
16
17 Bills Already Paid 218,823.80
18 Payroll and Deductions
19
20 Investments Purchased From:
21 Cash Operating Fund 900,000.00
22 Bond Sinking Fund
23 Utility Bond Reserve Fund
24 Depreciation Reserve Fund 91,000.00
25 Insurance Reserve Fund
26 Consumer Deposit Fund
27 Cash Reserve Fund 168,025.00
28
29 Group Insurance Fund
30 Total Investments 1,1159,025.00
31
32
33 Transfer from Cash Ooeratina 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 314,131.86
64 Total Prepaid Invoices 1,704,980.66
65 Less EFT/Direct Deposit of Payroll (49,084.17)
Total Prepaid Invoices 1,655,896.49
Total Bills Not Paid 736,682.50
Grand Total 2,392,578.99
c?Li
RP&L Minutes Cont'd
May 5, 1997
Page 2
1 REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON
2
3 Chairperson Welch commented on the breakdown of the bus on a recent trip to Indianapolis for an I.M.P.A.
4 meeting. He expressed his regret that they did not get to attend the meeting, but said perhaps at a later date that
5 could be arranged.
6
7 UNFINISHED BUSINESS
8
9 Councilmember Dickman asked about the marketing plan and General Manager Irving Huffman answered that
10 they are getting to the point where they would like to move forward on it but other things have come ahead of it.
11 He added that they will also come up with some different rate schedules and their consultant has been working on
12 that.
13
14 Councilmember Stamper asked about the street lights and where the City is as far as paying its light bill. He also
15 asked what kind of money it is going to take to add some street lights to some neighborhoods which have been
16 waiting quite a number of years. Huffman suggested Councilmember Stamper contact Herschel Philpot, financial
17 manager,to see what the status is on street lights then he can make a determination. Philpot, speaking from the
18 audience, said the City is not in arrears on its bill, adding there was a time when that was the case but it is not so
19 at the present time.
20
21 Councilmember Allen commented that in going over the end of March statement received, she noticed minuses
22 percentage-wise of all sales except for security lights outdoors. Philpot answered that these are dusk to dawn
23 lights that are paid for by the customer. She said she noted the street lighting flat rate is down slightly but not
24 nearly as much as other categories. She said she noticed the public street and highway lighting is still almost as
25 high as it was a year ago and asked whether or not it was supposed to come down. Philpot answered that these
26 will come down on the April report.
27
28 STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT
29
30 There was none.
31
32 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
33
34 There was none.
35
36 REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER
37
38 Huffman, in answer to a question by Councilmember Hutton,said the lights went out Sunday afternoon as a result
39 of a huge raccoon on the transformer. He said the raccoon was stunned but not killed and it took better lighting
40 and good equipment to get rid of the raccoon.
41
42 John Nill, purchasing agent, made a presentation and distributed photographs, explaining the storeroom which, he
43 said,was proposed in the 1997 budget. However, he said,the billing proposed is higher than what it was originally
44 a year ago, noting that it is$142,000 for the weatherproof structure which is to be 75 by 100 feet of rigid steel. He
45 said the original plan was for a pole barn but it would not keep the moisture out. He said this structure will allow
46 them to use it for the storage of the reels of which there are 57 different types of cable conductors that are kept in
47 stock outside. He said they also have breakers that are used in the substations that have to be kept plugged in
48 and heated. He said the wood reels are also deteriorating and they need to get them in out of the weather, adding
49 there is no place to put these things to keep them secure and out of the way.
50
51 The building they have today, Nill said, was designed in 1962, and they simply need more room. He said the
52 extended warehouse will be built south of the transformer line and will be 16 feet high allowing for stacking and
53 double racks. He explained that a simple guy wire, something everybody uses,takes 16 weeks to get in once it is
54 ordered and that means they are going to have to start stocking and carrying more inventory like this. In answer to
55 a question by Councilmember Stamper, Huffman said this is a different place than the one to store records,
56 adding that that building is not going to be done this year. He said with the records they are looking at microfishing
57 and eliminating some of the records they now have. He added that it is a different project, stating they take these
58 jobs one at a time.
59
60 Councilmember Wissel moved to authorize the general manager to receive bids for the construction of the storage
61 building,with those bids to be opened June 2, 1997.
62
63 Nill reported to the Board that at the last Board meeting Custodis- Ecodyne of Itasca, Ill. had been the lowest
64 bidder at $72,920 and had been awarded the bid for the rebuild of No. 21 cell No. 2 cooling tower and the next
65 highest bid was made by GEA Thermal-Dynamic Towers, Inc.for$79,987.
RP&L Minutes Cont'd
May 5, 1997
Page 3
1 Nill said Custodis-Ecodyne had started balking about getting it done in a timely manner and stated that they were
2 not too clear on the union scale. Since the date to have the work done was May 19, Nill said he contacted
3 Custodis-Ecodyne and talked with them about getting out from under the bid. He said he contacted GEA Thermal
4 and they said they could do the project and get it done by May 19. Nill said he made the decision to rescind the
5 contract and award it to the second bidder, and Custodis-Ecodyne agreed to give RP & L$1,500 for its time and
6 trouble and GEA is on site at RP&L now. Nill said he did not want to get the attorneys involved. He said it means
7 $5,500 additional cost but getting it done on time will actually save money because they will be able to operate at
8 full capacity. Councilmember Hutton moved to ratify the action in replacing the original bidder, second by
9 Councilmember Lundy and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
10
11 In his report, Huffman said the U.S. Department of Justice finally arrived at the point of the consent decree and
12 signed it. He said from the original agreement, RP & L decided they would pay $200,000 plus interest from
13 January 1, 1996. He noted that the interest rate is going up at the rate of$29.31 and he wants to get it paid to cut
14 off the interest. He said if it is paid tomorrow the amount will be $214,390.67 and he is advising the Board the
15 payment will be made tomorrow and the matter will be closed.
16
17 Chairperson Welch said he finds it difficult to believe they can roll an interest rate on RP& L when all parties have
18 not agreed to accept the settlement and now RP & L is obligated to pay over a year of interest before all parties
19 signed off on the agreement. City Attorney Bob Bever stated that in talking with the attorney, Tony Sullivan, he
20 remembers the government was asking to collect the interest from as far back as to when the suit was first filed
21 August 21, 1993, or to January 1, 1994. Bever said January 1, 1996 was somewhat of a compromise date on
22 when the interest on the fine was going to start and now another year has passed and the interest has
23 accumulated.
24
25 Chairperson Welch asked if authorization from the Board was needed. Bever said the Board had approved it
26 before and now it is signed by the judge and Huffman and it requires 30 days and it has to be paid on or before
27 May 25, 1997. He said it needs no further action other than an acknowledgement authorizing Huffman to proceed
28 with payment to the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S.Treasury Department in New York City.
29
30 On another matter, Bever explained to the Board that in 1992 when Wayne Corporation went into bankruptcy
31 proceedings, the U.S. Trustee Fort Wayne Corp. filed a claim against RP & L to get paid $160,000 and that
32 amount of money was paid to RP & L in the 90 days preceding the bankruptcy filing. Bever said this had been
33 discussed in executive session by the Board late last year, but for the public's information,there is a law that says
34 when someone files bankruptcy they cannot pick and choose which unsecured creditor they can pay, therefore
35 any payment they made in that 90-day period before they declare bankruptcy, had been the act of picking and
36 choosing certain creditors over others, the trustee can go back and find out those payments and make those
37 creditors reimburse the bankruptcy court all of that payment.
38
39 Continuing, Bever said, that $160,000 is an accurate amount of what was received by RP & L during that 90-day
40 period, however, $100,000 of service was provided and that part should not be counted, thus it is a technicality.
41 He said they were able to get the trustee to accept $30,000 which is even half of the $60,000 which is a good
42 settlement for RP & L. Bever said it would need action by this Board authorizing that settlement payment to the
43 U.S. Bankruptcy trustee in conjunction with waiving any claim RP & L might have against the bankruptcy estate.
44 Councilmember Allen moved to accept the settlement, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was
45 carried on a unanimous voice vote.
46
47 ADJOURNMENT
48
49 There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed the meeting was
50 adjourned.
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55
56 Bing Welch, Chairperson
57
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60
61 ATTEST:
62 Norma Schroeder, Clerk
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