HomeMy Public PortalAbout01-20-1975 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, SERVING AS
A COMMITTEE IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION OF THE
RICHMOND POWER & LIGHT PLANT, JANUARY 20, 1975
1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met in regular
2 session January 20, 1975 at the hour of 7:00 p.m. in the Council
3 Chambers in the Municipal Building in said City serving as a committee
4 in charge of the operation of the Richmond Power & Light Plant. Mr.
5 Brown presided with the following members present: Messrs. Cornett,
6 Elstro, Geier, Marino, Merchanthouse, Mills and Williams. Absent: Mr.
7 Hilton. The following business was had to-wit:
8
9 Mr. Geier moved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, seconded
10 by Mr. Williams and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried.
11
12 Mr. Merchanthouse moved to approve the following bills, seconded by
13 Mr. Williams and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried.
14
15 APPROVE THE FOLLOWING:
16 Bills in the amount of $703,488.75
17 Interest Coupons 191 ,522.50
18 1 Payroll 67 ,305.71
19
20 TRANSFERS FROM CASH OPERATING FUND TO:
21 Depreciation Reserve Fund $ 91 ,000.00
22 Cash Reserve Fund 60,000.00
23 Utility Bond Fund 68,983.40
24
25 INVESTMENTS PURCHASED
26 *Utility Bond Reserve Fund $105,186.47
27 **Utility Bond Reserve Fund 100,000.00
28
29 *C.D. 's Maturing 1/8/76, yielding 7 5/8%
30 **C.D. 's Maturing 1/8/76, yielding 7 1/8%
31
32 Mr. John Brown, Chairman of the Board, made the following statement:
33
34 This will be a trying year for the utility, the sharp increase
35 in costs and the decline in use will be just two of the major
36 problems this board will be called on to face and help solve
37 in this coming year. It is not going to be easy, I call on the
38 board to rise to the challenge and to use their collective
39 talents and knowledge to meet these problems and to aid our
40 fine General Manager in solving them.
41
42 Beside the day to day problems which this board will face, I
43 would like to submit these five areas for their consideration:
44
45 1 . Employment Relations Committee:
46
47 Improve Employee Relations both from management and from
48 " an employee organization, whether that organization be
49 national or local . This will be the particular respon-
50 sibility of the Employee Relations Committee, I would
51 - hope this committee will meet monthly and be a viable
52 hardworking unit.
53 Mr. Hilton, Chairman - Mr. Cornett, Mr. Mills
54
55 2. Liaison Committee:
56
11/ 57 Close co-operation between the City Government and the
58 Utility especially in the area of the full use of the
59 utility computor by the City. The Liaison Committee
60 will have this responsibility and the members of this
61 Committee will be: Mr. Marino Chairman - Mr. Geier,
62 Mr. Elstro.
63
Light Plant Minutes
January 20, 1975
Page 2
1 3. Street Lighting Committee:
2
3 All requests for new or replacement lighting will be,
4 as usual , cleared through this committee. Special
5 attention should be paid to those areas that have no
6 lights or are very poorly lighted. Good lighting is a
7 great help to the Police Department. Committee members
8 are: Elstro, Chairman - Mr. Merchanthouse, Mr. Williams.
9
10 4. Finance Committee:
11
12 One last item I would like to see considered would be
13 the responsibility of the Finance Committee. I strongly
14 urge that a comprehensive and comprehensible operational
15 budget report be devised to be reviewed each month by this
16 board. This committee will consist of Mr. Geier, Chairman,
17 Mr. Merchanthouse and Mr. Marino.
T8
19 There has been considerable discussion in the press covering the
20 possible use of solid waste as a fuel in the fireing of boilers
21 at electric power plants, with the approval of this board I
22 would like to see a feasibility study to see if this would be
23 a possibility at Richmond Power & Light. I believe the power
24 company at St. Louis is using this method on an experimental basis
25 in conjunction with US Steel . If this is possible it would be of
26 great benefit to the utility , the City and the environment. We
27 can make no promises but I believe we owe it to everyone concerned
28 to investigate. With the Board's concurrence I would suggest
29 that the General Manager, the Chief Engineer and your Chairman go
30 to St. Louis and see the operation there.
31
32 Mr. Brown, _announced there bill be a meeting January 22, 1975 at 8:00 p.m.
33 in the Council Chambers regarding energy recovery from solid waste
34 disposal .
35
36 Irving Huffman, General Manager, requested authorization to replace
37 a 1965 Falcon.
38
39 Mr. Geier moved to authorize Mr. Huffman to receive bids to replace
40 the 1965 Falcon, seconded by Mr. Marino and on unanimous voice vote the
41 motion was carried.
42
43 The Clerk presented proof of publication to receive bids for a Line Supt.
44 car. City Attorney, Robert G. Burton, examined the proof of publication
45 and found it to be in order. Mr. Geier moved to accept and file proof
46 of publication, seconded by Mr. Merchanthouse and on unanimous voice vote
47 the motion was carried.
48
49 Bids were received from the following:
50 Kurdy's Brookbank Chev. - 1975 Nova $ 3,605.82
51 Fred First, Inc. - 1975 Maverick $ 3,661 .44
52 Raper Sales , Inc. - 1975 Dart $ 3,865.00
53
54 Mr. Geier moved to refer the bids to Mr. Huffman for study and recom-
55 mendation, seconded by Mr. Marino and on unanimous voice vote the motion
56 was carried.
57
58 Mr. Huffman presented a review of the 1974 operations of the Richmond
59 Power & Light. (A copy of which is attached to the minutes)
60
61 Several Board members asked questions concerning the financial status
62 of the utility.
63
64
V
r i
Light Plant Minutes
January 20, 1975 "
Page 3
1 Mr. Huffman stated if the Utility receives a refund back form the
2 Federal Power Commission hearings it could help considerably.
3
4 Mr. Brown, Chairman of the Board, called an executive committee meeting
5 for February 10, 1975, at 7:00 p.m. at the Richmond Power & Light
6 office.7
8 There being no further business on motion duly made, seconded and
9 passed, the meeting was adjourned.
10
11
12 John Brown
13 Chairman
14
15 ATTEST: Margaret Mellen
16 City Clerk