HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-16-1993 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF TH
CITY OF RICHMOND.INDIANA.SERVING AS A BOARD
�,IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION OF THE RICHMOND POWER& LIGHT PLANT
MONDAY.AUGUST 16.1993
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, August 16, 1993 in the Municipal
3 Building in said City. Chairperson Brookbank presided with the following Councilmembers in attendance: Elstro,
4 Lundy, McBride, Parker,Allen, Dickman and Hutton. Absent was Councilmember Donat.The following business
5 was had to-wit:
6
7 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 19 AND AUGUST 2.1993
8
9 Councilmember Allen moved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as prepared, seconded by
10 Councilmernber Dickman and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried.
11
12 APPROVAL OF BILLS. INVESTMENTS AND TRANSFERS
13
14 Upon recommendation of the Finance Committee, Councilmember Allen moved to approve the following bills for
15 payment,seconded by Councilmember McBride and by unanimous voice vote the motion carried.
16
17 Bills Already Paid
18 Payroll and Deductions 213,796.78
19
20 Investments Purchased From:
21 Cash Operating Fund
22 Bond Sinking Fund
23 Utility Bond Reserve Fund
24 Depreciation Reserve Fund
25 Insurance Reserve Fund
26 Consumer Deposit Fund
111 27 Cash Reserve Fund
28 Group Insurance Fund
29
30 Total Investments
31 Transfer to City in Lieu of Taxes;
32
33 Transfer from Cash Operating Fund to;
34 Payroll Deduction Fund
35 -
36 Transfers from Depreciation Reserve to:
37 Cash Operating Fund
38
39 Transfers from Consumer Deposit to:
40 Cash Operatng Fund
41
42 Transfers from Utility Bond Reserve Fund to;
43 Bond Sinking Fund
44
45 Transfers from Cash Operating ;
46 Interest and Bond Principal
47 Bond Sinking Fund
48 Cash Reserve Fund
49 Utility Bond Sinking Fund
50 Depreciation Reserve Fund
51 Insurance Reserve Fund
52 Consumer Deposit Fund
53 Interest and Bond Principal
54 End of Month Petty Cash
55 Revenue Bonds
56 Interest Coupons Redeemed
57 Bond Coupons
58 MisceLaneous Bills Already Paid 329,000.39
59
60 Total Prepaid Invoices 542,797.17
61 Total Bills Not Paid 602.717.35
62
63 Grand Total 1,145,514.52
64
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RP&L Minutes Cont'd
August 12,.1993
Page 2
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1 REMARKS BY CHAIRPERSON
2
3 Chairperson Brookbank commented that General Manager Irving Huffman had photos of his new grandson, Brady
4 Charles Huffman.
5
6 Chairperson Brookbank noted that the Board had not decided as to whether or not the City Clerk would be
7 attending the meetings on the fourth Monday of each month at the RP & L service building. Huffman said his
8 secretary has been taking notes at those meetings and it is one of the things in her job description. He added that
9 he felt she was capable of taking the minutes.Taking those comments into consideration,Chairperson Brookbank
10 advised the City Clerk that she would not be needed on that night.
11
12 UNFINISHED BUSINESS
13
14 None.
15
16 STREET LIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT
17
18 None
19
20 REPORT BY GENERAL MANAGER
21
22 Huffman commented that the bills to be paid were lower than normal because the IMPA bill was paid today but did
23 not show up on the sheet.Also,he said, RP&L has gone into longer term investments. He noted that there had
24 been some question about the figures in the bills presented at the July 19 meeting,explaining that after going
25 over them it was discovered they were correct but were just misread.
26
27 Huffman said he met with the Department of Justice attorney last week,along with two attorneys from EPA.Along
28 with him at the meeting, Huffman said,was Tony Sullivan, RP& L's attorney in this matter, and Jim Puckett,
29 representing the City,and Dale Norris,power production manager for RP&L.
30
31 He said one of the things pointed out through the Department of Justice and through the EPA attorney was that
32 Richmond was listed as non-attainment and that was an error. Huffman said the state had located monitors in
33 various parts of the city and one of them had picked up a violation of particulate and the City was listed as
34 non-attainment. He added that later it was determined that that should not have been the case because the
35 fugitive dust was from the work being done at the Wayne County Courthouse.As a result of that discovery,this
36 should not have been a non-attainment area,Huffman said,and should not have been a problem.
37
38 Huffman said the RP&L group made its presentation,stressing the fact that the facility has always tried to be an
39 excellent citizen, noting that it could be listed above the norm.He cited RP&L's involvement in various tests,
40 explaining that other.companies looked to the utility as a proper site for testing. He said RP& L was the host site
41 selected by the Electric'.Power Research Institute for a test that amounted to about$7 million. It was also a host
42 site for a test by a Finland based company. Because of these involvements, Huffman said,there is another project
43 starting somewhere between$250,000 and$500,000 for upgrading of RP& L's electrostatic precipitators to
44 higher standards. He said the standard for dust is getting tighter and RP&L agreed with the state to meet
45 stronger criteria,trying to be a good citizen. He added that it is the desire of the state and EPA not to give a
46 standard that gives a lot of leeway.He said they like to impose a standard that is tough to meet,preferably one
47 where you have to spend some money. Huffnian said at the conclusion of the meeting his group was told that the
48 case would be reviewed and they would be advised after further study. He said he was optimistic about the
49 outcome because he felt that over the past years RP& L has been a super citizen and done an excellent job in
50 the environment:area which he felt would make it difficult to chastize the City. In response to Councilmember
51 Dickman's question as to whether or not the suit had anything to do with the state and the stack, Huffman said
52 that was a different matter: •
53 .
54 Puckett said he looked at the situation in a cautious manner,sharing his assessment of the meeting with the
55 Department of Justice and the EPA.Giving some background, he went back to the letter from the Department of
56 Justice addressed to the City and RP&L in which they indicated a lawsuit and if the two parties did not want a
57 suit they could.arrange for a settlement conference and consider paying$21/2 million.There was response
58 setting up the conference, Puckett said,and that was what this meeting was about.Two days before, however,a
59 letter was received from the Department of Justice confirming that this meeting was to talk about money.
60
61 When the Richmond group arrived, Puckett said, he felt they indicated their position very effectively taking about
62 11/2 hours for the.presentation. He said the proposal made at the end was that we continue as RP&L had been
63 and that we conform to the standards of the proposed new particulate rule and continue the effort to see that the
64 new rule gets adopted. No mention Was made of money.They asked for time to talk,took copious notes,spent 10
65 minutes talking in'another room and came out saying they could not respond without talking with their superiors.
Puckett said out.of that kind of meeting the end product could be"see you in court."
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