1 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:11,040 Good good morning everyone. Uh I'd like to welcome you to our September 9th uh 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:19,359 late plant board meeting. Uh my name is John Dalton. I'm the chair. Um we will 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:22,960 start with uh a roll call. Um Tyson Kubinski 4 00:00:21,119 --> 00:00:26,080 » present. >> Nicole Grosner 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,279 » here. >> Warren Leon 6 00:00:27,359 --> 00:00:34,160 » here. And uh I am John Dalton, chair here as 7 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:40,640 well. Um our first uh matter of business is 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:46,399 approving the minutes for our August 12th meeting. Um we have two sets of 9 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:52,559 minutes. Uh one for a regular session and one for an executive session. Uh 10 00:00:50,559 --> 00:00:55,199 could I hear a motion for approval of those minutes? 11 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,520 » And can we do them separately, please? Just 12 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:02,239 » Sure. Please. I move that we vote to approve the 13 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:08,640 regular session minutes from August 12th. And I also 14 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:14,520 um move that we vote to approve but not release the executive session minutes 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,520 from August 12th. 16 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:22,640 » Could I have a second? >> Yeah, 17 00:01:18,479 --> 00:01:25,640 I sorry. I I'll say I I I second both motions. 18 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:29,320 Yes. 19 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:38,240 » Uh, Warren, >> yes. 20 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:41,040 » Tyson, >> yes. 21 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:45,439 » Nicole, >> yes. 22 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:51,840 » And I'm also Yes. So, with that, the meeting minutes for August 12th are 23 00:01:48,479 --> 00:01:55,680 approved. Our next agenda item is the director's update. Uh Jason, over to 24 00:01:54,799 --> 00:02:01,280 you. >> Thank you everybody. Um so some of the 25 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:05,759 things I want to talk about today. Uh first I just wanted to mention that the 26 00:02:03,119 --> 00:02:09,920 agenda for this meeting incorrectly states that our next meeting on 27 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:14,000 September 23rd is a Thursday. It is a Wednesday. So just uh to be clear and 28 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,680 we'll make sure that when the notice goes out, it's it's obviously the 29 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:23,200 correct day. But I just this particular agenda listed the next meeting as a 30 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:27,280 Thursday. It is a Wednesday. Um, in your packet on the CMLP updates under the 31 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:30,720 electric side, you'll see that there were some kind of industry updates and 32 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:35,360 one of those I just wanted to call the board's attention to was that the DPU 33 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:41,519 did approve some new basic service rates for the investor own utilities. Um, it 34 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:47,519 was a like a one and a half to two and a half cent increase on about a 15 cent uh 35 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:54,000 supply charge. There's Chris is coming in now. Um and so that does bring their 36 00:02:51,280 --> 00:03:00,000 total rate for example national grids to about 39.5 cents. Um when you look at 37 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:03,840 the load shape that we have uh here in conquered for time of day it's obviously 38 00:03:02,239 --> 00:03:07,920 hard to know when the average person uses their electricity and what that 39 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:12,159 would mean their their rate would be. But when we look at the average load 40 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:16,239 shape it comes to about 21 a.5 cents. though just to compare with where we are 41 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,760 for neighbors and other communities served by National Grid and Eversource 42 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:24,800 is a little bit lower than National Grid but pretty close. Um I wanted to give an 43 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:29,440 update on the middle school solar project. Um we do have a pathway to 44 00:03:27,599 --> 00:03:34,480 getting that project done this year which is good news. Um where we are now 45 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:40,319 is we have received a proposed site license from select using the power 46 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:45,440 options uh purchasing methodology and uh that site license is currently 47 00:03:42,799 --> 00:03:50,560 with council uh town council and school council for review uh along with school 48 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:55,440 administration for their review. And our hope is that the school committee can um 49 00:03:53,440 --> 00:04:01,280 discuss and vote on this at their September uh meeting which I believe is 50 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:07,040 also around the 23rd or um at that time frame. So um and if that happens, we 51 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:11,680 still have a path to getting this done this year. The other um agreement that 52 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:16,239 needs to be signed and executed is the um power purchase agreement. And uh we 53 00:04:14,319 --> 00:04:23,759 do we did receive a draft of that as well. And so both documents will be 54 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:28,479 reviewed by uh council prior to uh execution and the site license will be 55 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:32,080 more of a public conversation. But the developer feels very strongly that if we 56 00:04:30,479 --> 00:04:36,960 get these things done this month that this project can be completed this year 57 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:41,759 and uh lock in the pricing that we've been exploring. So that's great news. We 58 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:46,479 still have the power options review, but that does not take that much time. And 59 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:52,240 um the developer feels strongly that if we can get these things executed soon, 60 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:56,080 the project can move forward. Um work continues on the landfill solar 61 00:04:54,240 --> 00:05:01,520 expansion as well with a lot of those panels coming off. Um we did receive 62 00:04:59,199 --> 00:05:07,120 some really good news that the panels will be reused instead of recycled. Um 63 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:12,880 while recycling is you know a a good outcome for re old panels a reuse is 64 00:05:11,039 --> 00:05:17,759 much better because it ensures that none of that is going into a landfill. So 65 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:22,160 these panels will most the vast majority of them will be reused um as they are 66 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:28,720 for a long period of time which is great news. Um and we are targeting probably 67 00:05:25,759 --> 00:05:32,080 early Q1 of 27 for completion of that. They're really trying to get everything 68 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:38,720 done this year and commissioned I think for some tax purposes. But um things are 69 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:43,840 moving very quickly. We are we have some engineering review with a third party 70 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:48,720 engineer for uh metering equipment and the way that we will be able to 71 00:05:45,759 --> 00:05:53,759 interconnect uh and kind of sit between where this um equipment is and our 72 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:58,240 conductors downstream so that we can properly meter it according to the 73 00:05:55,199 --> 00:06:02,240 contract. And um and we also have a temporary measure in case the metering 74 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:05,840 equipment doesn't arrive in time. But um we're in we're in good shape on this 75 00:06:03,759 --> 00:06:10,800 project and really exciting to have our first uh battery storage here in 76 00:06:07,919 --> 00:06:14,560 conquered that we can dispatch. Um I wanted to remind board members that 77 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:20,720 it's about that time of year again for the DPU report. This is an annual return 78 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:25,680 that MLPS must file every year and uh it's a very long document includes a lot 79 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:30,000 of financial information as well as some information about your municipality and 80 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:37,440 about your decision makers like board member lightboard members. The DP report 81 00:06:32,639 --> 00:06:42,080 is as of 1231 2025. So there's only actually three members here who were 82 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:46,800 members then and that's Chris, John, and Warren. So, we'll be reaching out to the 83 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:51,120 three of you for signatures on this um report and then Tyson and Nicole, next 84 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:54,720 year you would be uh because you were light would be lightboard members at the 85 00:06:53,039 --> 00:07:00,479 end of this year, you would sign the next return. Um and so, thank you to Nan 86 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:04,880 for driving this process and helping collect all the information. Um it 87 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:10,720 includes everything from like system and capital upgrades to a ton of financial 88 00:07:07,759 --> 00:07:15,039 information that comes out of our audit. And uh it was one of Nan's goals last 89 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:19,199 year to help document the process because it's one of those things you do 90 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:23,440 once a year and is easy to you know kind of forget and then get drowning in the 91 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:27,199 uh remembering all the different things you had to do. So uh she's done a great 92 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:31,120 job at that and has already made significant headway. So we hope to have 93 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:36,479 that to um the board members in a couple weeks for signature. All the DPU returns 94 00:07:33,759 --> 00:07:41,599 get filed on the DPU's website and you can find um past years for all the MLPS 95 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:44,720 there. Uh the engineering and line crews have 96 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:49,440 been supporting a number of projects around town. Uh we have received 97 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:53,680 additional doors for our new SCADA project uh for substation 223. Uh we 98 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:59,360 still have some doors that are backordered for substation 219. The com 99 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:04,639 total completion for that project is probably creeping into early 2027, but a 100 00:08:03,039 --> 00:08:09,759 lot of work will happen this fall and winter. And u you know to do some of 101 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:13,599 this work we will have to be tying circuits and feeders together that 102 00:08:11,759 --> 00:08:18,240 aren't normally tied so that we can kind of deenergize equipment and then safely 103 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:22,639 replace it. So there's a lot of planning and coordination work that goes into 104 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:25,599 that because you can't just blindly connect things that don't normally get 105 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:30,240 connected. You have to do a lot of analysis and the timing has to be right. 106 00:08:27,759 --> 00:08:36,880 which is why this is a fall winter project and not a um you know anytime 107 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:42,880 where we have super heavy demands um and uh or maybe solar saturation issues. So 108 00:08:40,719 --> 00:08:47,200 um there's been a lot of coordination on this project and Joe and his team have 109 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:52,240 been meeting with the stakeholders and the manufacturer uh quite often and um 110 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:58,800 so I'm really happy that it's continuing on in this way. And then I wanted to 111 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:03,519 mention um you know the light plant typically celebrates public power week 112 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:10,000 every year which is the first full week in October and every other year or so we 113 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:14,880 tend to do an open house and this year we have been planning our open house uh 114 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:19,279 for the better part of the year. It really started early this year in our 115 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:25,200 planning. So the open house is Saturday October 3rd. Uh it is from 10:00 a.m. to 116 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:30,320 2 p.m. And this is uh really an event for any resident, business, family in 117 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:34,800 conquered uh or any of the customers that we serve uh who are interested in 118 00:09:32,959 --> 00:09:38,399 seeing the light plant and seeing some of the people that run the light plant 119 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:42,880 and seeing the equipment, the trucks, the fiber splicers, the safety 120 00:09:40,399 --> 00:09:48,240 equipment. Uh as well as interactive displays on solar, on clean energy, on 121 00:09:45,279 --> 00:09:52,240 EVs. Um there'll be, you know, posters and information about time of day, 122 00:09:50,399 --> 00:09:57,040 people who can answer questions. There's a lot of activities for kids, including 123 00:09:54,320 --> 00:10:02,560 face painting and pumpkin decorating and cider donuts and um local farms are 124 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:08,360 providing uh fresh apple cider and donuts and things. So um if you go to 125 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,360 our website, conqueredmma.gov/cmlp, 126 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:14,399 we'll have information up there about it. We'll be setting up uh or sending 127 00:10:12,399 --> 00:10:18,320 out news and notices and information blast to the public. We have a banner 128 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:22,399 coming that we'll be hanging both in West Conquer and downtown and we'll be 129 00:10:20,959 --> 00:10:27,760 trying to get the word out as best we can. Um on when we celebrated our 125th 130 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:33,279 anniversary a few years ago, we had exactly 125 people come to the open 131 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:38,000 house and we're really trying to uh vastly outnumber that that group of 132 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:41,760 people. Um we're trying to, you know, allow people to come a little earlier in 133 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:46,640 the day and stay a little later in the afternoon. Um, and we have plenty of 134 00:10:44,399 --> 00:10:50,000 parking on site, so uh, people don't have to worry about that. And, uh, yeah, 135 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,680 we're just really hoping that people can come out. And we'd also like to extend a 136 00:10:52,079 --> 00:10:57,120 special invitation for any lightboard members who happen to be around that 137 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:01,680 weekend. If you'd like to stop by and say hello to the team, um, we'd love to 138 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:06,640 have you there. So, uh, anybody watching this, please, please do stop by October 139 00:11:03,839 --> 00:11:12,720 3rd, 10 a.m. to 2 pm. And I'll stop there and see if there's any questions. 140 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:16,399 Any questions from board members? >> Apologies for being late and cider 141 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:23,040 donuts. Sound good? >> Yeah, that October 3rd uh 142 00:11:20,959 --> 00:11:26,800 date sounds like an important one. Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of 143 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:28,720 the country and won't be able to to join you, but 144 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:32,959 » we'll save you a donut. >> We'll put it in the freezer. 145 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:38,399 » Excellent. Any any questions, comments? 146 00:11:36,959 --> 00:11:45,040 And Jason, I think you'll be doing the broadband update. Yes. Um I will. Uh so 147 00:11:42,959 --> 00:11:49,519 just a few updates on broadband. The march continues toward broadband's um 148 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:57,360 completion of their 100 gig router upgrade migration. Um the the current 149 00:11:54,079 --> 00:12:00,720 topology is stable. We've even asked um kind of third parties to vet some of 150 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:06,560 this information. Feel very solid with our final plans to replace the backup 151 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:11,200 piece of equipment. And um during that maintenance window, which ordinarily 152 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:15,680 replacing a backup would not impact any service, but we do plan to actually test 153 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:19,519 the failover capabilities of these units because what we don't want to do is feel 154 00:12:17,519 --> 00:12:23,839 like we've completed this project and then we think everything is good in the 155 00:12:21,839 --> 00:12:27,839 first moment that the we have some sort of issue. The primary router doesn't 156 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:31,920 fail over properly to the backup router. So um they will test that. It should 157 00:12:30,399 --> 00:12:36,800 just be a very brief service interruption. Um, routers are really 158 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:41,200 good at um, if if they're up, they can gracefully uh, kind of let people's 159 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:45,040 session finish on whatever they're doing and kind of move over to another one. 160 00:12:43,279 --> 00:12:48,639 So, because we're not really losing the router, we can kind of test that 161 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:52,959 failover. It really shouldn't have a big service impact. And we will advertise 162 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:56,160 this to people like we do any um, service impacting maintenance window. It 163 00:12:54,639 --> 00:13:00,639 will happen in the middle of the night. Um, usually we prepare around midnight 164 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:03,760 and start these things around 1:00 a.m. And, uh, for something like this, it 165 00:13:02,399 --> 00:13:08,079 should really just be a short period of time that we need to do that testing and 166 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:12,320 work. So, um, it will happen sometime in September. We don't have a date yet, 167 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:16,079 but, um, once the team vets everything, we'll push that out and make sure 168 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:20,880 everybody, all the customers are aware, um, of that. And then that project, 169 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:25,680 including the XGS pawn migration and everything else, will be complete. Um 170 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:29,279 and then I think in October Dale might be here to you know announce the new 171 00:13:27,839 --> 00:13:34,079 speeds that we'll be offering residential customers at no additional 172 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:38,240 cost. um getting these uh bandwidth upgrades was really important 173 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:44,079 prerequisite to make sure that we could extend these um faster speeds without 174 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:49,440 inc you know um incurring any any congestion issues because uh what other 175 00:13:46,959 --> 00:13:54,800 ISPs don't tell you is that they vastly overs subscribe their services and their 176 00:13:52,079 --> 00:13:59,519 um their pipes basically their bandwidth options and so that means that you know 177 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:03,680 95% of the time you might have you might not bump up against any of their limits 178 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:07,279 but that you will occasionally. Uh we don't do that. We currently are not 179 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:12,320 really overs subscribing, especially kind of our main exits to anything. So, 180 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:15,760 um but we what we wanted to do is make sure that if we did offer faster speeds 181 00:14:14,399 --> 00:14:20,800 to people that they could always get those faster speeds and that's what um 182 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:25,360 this project enables people to do. Recently, we implemented a survey uh for 183 00:14:23,279 --> 00:14:29,680 a street. there was some interest for some people that were their road was 184 00:14:27,279 --> 00:14:34,800 being paved um in the next year or so and they were interested in getting uh 185 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:39,519 broadband. One of the models that we've discussed um going back to the fiber 186 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:43,279 broadband completion task force was trying to make datadriven decisions 187 00:14:41,519 --> 00:14:47,760 about where we expand conquered broadband access because as you know or 188 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:51,760 could imagine it's very expensive to do these capital projects to bring fiber to 189 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:55,360 homes and what you don't want to see is you spend significant capital to find 190 00:14:53,839 --> 00:14:59,279 that there's no customers there waiting for you to to sign up for that service 191 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:03,199 because you you're not going to get any return to help you expand in future 192 00:15:01,279 --> 00:15:07,360 territories. So, one of the things we wanted to do was um get more detailed 193 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:11,279 information about customers in particular service areas that do not 194 00:15:09,199 --> 00:15:16,560 currently have access to broadband and then use that data to help plan the um 195 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:20,800 expansion of the territory. So, we did that. There's the street. It serves 196 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:25,199 really only nine residents. Um and it was an area that had underground um 197 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:28,880 electricity long before broadband existed. So, that's why they don't have 198 00:15:27,279 --> 00:15:33,440 conduit, you know, going down the road for for our facilities and broadband. Um 199 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:37,199 we did that survey and we found that eight of the nine were likely or very 200 00:15:35,279 --> 00:15:41,440 likely to take broadband as they were unhappy with their current options and 201 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:45,760 ISP. Um which suggests that this is probably a really good market for us to 202 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:50,399 you know consider expanding into especially with the upcoming paving. Um 203 00:15:48,399 --> 00:15:56,320 sometimes what we'll do so we do this on the electric side as well is that we may 204 00:15:53,600 --> 00:16:00,480 either hire a contractor or ourselves put some conduit in the ground and you 205 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:03,680 know plan where the handholds go but we might not necessarily do all the work 206 00:16:01,839 --> 00:16:07,440 and pull all the conductors or the fiber immediately but at least before the 207 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:12,160 paving happens because there is a moratorum after paving occurs. We don't 208 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:17,120 want to see streets sit with no access in the future. So whether we complete it 209 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:21,680 now or we at least get some uh infrastructure in the ground so that we 210 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:25,759 can do it in the you know medium term um we are going to try to proceed with this 211 00:16:23,199 --> 00:16:30,880 street but we have to coordinate with uh engineering and and make sure that there 212 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:34,320 uh there's no other facilities that we're going to bump up against as we try 213 00:16:32,399 --> 00:16:38,880 to plan the street and and then there's also just the time and we have a small 214 00:16:36,639 --> 00:16:42,639 underground crew who does work so we just have to consider their time as 215 00:16:40,399 --> 00:16:47,360 well. uh they've recently replaced all those hand holes on uh Gford Lane and uh 216 00:16:45,839 --> 00:16:52,000 helped connect that broadband infrastructure that was kind of orphaned 217 00:16:49,759 --> 00:16:56,480 and not connected uh then was traveling through the electric space so that we 218 00:16:53,440 --> 00:17:00,079 could utilize that and separate it. But they get very busy during the the 219 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:03,279 digging season and there's a lot of underground projects that we have in 220 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:06,720 conquered so we just need to coordinate that. But I'm I'm just really happy that 221 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:10,640 we've been able to connect with customers in this way and you know get a 222 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:16,240 kind of a direct representation of their interest in the service and it seems 223 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:19,360 strong and um oh the last update was just on Gford Lane which I just kind of 224 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:26,199 touched on. So I'll I'll pause there and see if anybody has any questions. 225 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:26,199 » Any questions from board members? 226 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:36,080 » Warren. >> Hi. Um, in the broadband report, there's 227 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:40,880 a box in there that says upcoming maintenance is taking place in on June 228 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:45,360 11th and June 18th. I assume that's 229 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:51,120 a mistake. >> Yes, that sounds like a mistake. Um, we 230 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:57,320 will get that updated and make sure that um it's not too confusing for people. 231 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,320 » Thank you. 232 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:02,480 » Any other questions? for comments. 233 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,799 I >> guess just curious um of the you said 234 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:11,360 there are nine people on the street. Were you were you able to get to get 235 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:18,400 input from all nine? >> Yes, we did. So the very interested um 236 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:22,480 party who you know initially contacted us did helped us do some outreach. We 237 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:27,200 did directly outreach to all the customers. Um but I imagine that maybe 238 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:30,559 one or two might have fallen between the cracks. that this sounds like a close 239 00:18:29,039 --> 00:18:34,559 neighborhood and this individual reached out directly to all of his neighbors and 240 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:38,880 um encouraged their participation just so that we would have kind of expedient 241 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:42,080 feedback and it it was really I think it was within 3 days we had heard from all 242 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,240 nine. So that was great. >> That's great. 243 00:18:46,559 --> 00:18:51,320 » Any other questions or comments? 244 00:18:51,520 --> 00:19:00,960 » Not seeing any. The uh next agenda item is financial review. Um I think this is 245 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:06,240 in preparation of kind of the um 2027 forecast which we'll be reviewing in 246 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:12,640 greater detail in the coming months. Um and uh Jason turn it over to you. 247 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:16,160 » Great. Thank you John. Um so we're going to kind of handle this conversation in 248 00:19:14,559 --> 00:19:20,559 two parts. The first part we're going to talk about the audit and we can pause 249 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:26,160 and uh see if there's questions and then we're going to shift to talk about um 250 00:19:23,039 --> 00:19:32,000 some early drivers of the of the forecast for discussion. Um what we 251 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:36,240 envisioned for this forecast cycle was that we would um have this meeting to 252 00:19:34,559 --> 00:19:40,080 kind of talk about some of the pressures that we're seeing about the forecast 253 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:44,480 while staff continue to develop the first draft of the forecast and then in 254 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:48,799 October we would be presenting that forecast um and allowing the board to 255 00:19:47,039 --> 00:19:53,440 have a little bit of time to to review it beforehand and then get feedback from 256 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:56,720 the board on that and then produce a final draft that would be voted. And 257 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:02,400 just to clarify kind of the responsibility of all the parties um we 258 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:08,960 produce a forecast that tries to capture all of our um estimated costs including 259 00:20:05,679 --> 00:20:16,320 you know personnel on and m capital broadband um power supply and the board 260 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:20,880 looks at that and and votes it and that kind of then sets in motion the rate 261 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:26,080 creation. Now, in a typical year historically, we were then flipping 262 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:30,240 immediately to setting rates in December to become effective January 1st. We're 263 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:34,960 kind of in a unique period now because we went live with time of day rates in 264 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:39,600 April of this year with the expectation that there would be a phase two. And 265 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:44,559 there's been some discussion and I think um we are of a mind that the phase 2 266 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:51,200 rates might start exactly one year after the phase 1 rates in April of 27. Um, 267 00:20:48,159 --> 00:20:56,159 and in part that would really help with the year-over-year comparisons of going 268 00:20:53,760 --> 00:21:00,799 live at the same time with this uh new rate and it might allow for some more of 269 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:05,520 the bill print conversations to take place before then. Uh whether or not 270 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:08,960 that is fully baked or not, we we don't have a crystal ball yet. But I think 271 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:13,760 that it would give us more time to take into consideration some of the requests 272 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:17,840 surrounding billprint um and and and like I said, provide a better comparison 273 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:23,200 year-over-year. But anyway, regardless of that, once the financial forecast is 274 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:28,320 voted by the board, we take that as our revenue requirement to use to configure 275 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:33,280 the rates. Um because these rates were um you know developed in conjunction 276 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:39,039 with a third party. Um we had that third party kind of sitting on retainer with 277 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:43,919 some time and materials hours. So, uh, while Laura and other staff are 278 00:21:41,039 --> 00:21:47,360 perfectly capable of running through the revenue requirements or running the 279 00:21:45,679 --> 00:21:51,200 revenue requirements through the cost of service study model, um, we would 280 00:21:49,679 --> 00:21:55,840 probably re-engage them just because time of day is such a unique uh, beast 281 00:21:53,919 --> 00:22:00,799 and we would work with them to look at analysis on what we've seen so far with 282 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:05,760 time of day and then use that to construct the rates that would become 283 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:10,159 effective for phase two. Um the way that the light plant's budget gets voted at 284 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:14,080 town meeting is different from some other departments, not all but some. In 285 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:18,000 that there's not a specific appropriation for the light plant. The 286 00:22:15,919 --> 00:22:21,840 light the town meeting is authorizing the light plant to spend all of its 287 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:26,640 money and all the money it might make in that given year. So the forecast is 288 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:30,480 really that it's this is what we think power supply will cost. This is what we 289 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:34,480 think these things will do. And then we we often talk about okay well last year 290 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,120 this was our forecast and you know we thought we're going to give out this 291 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:40,559 many rebates but we didn't. We found that things slow down or we found that 292 00:22:38,799 --> 00:22:44,799 this rebate program was much more popular. And these conversations allow 293 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:48,080 the board to provide input on kind of where we're focusing. There are 294 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:53,760 obviously some drivers that we have little control over. There are contracts 295 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:57,600 executed by boards long before you that um you know kind of set the stage for 296 00:22:55,679 --> 00:23:01,919 for things that we can't change. There are certain uh contracts uh like for 297 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:05,360 example union contracts that we're going to have for the first time. Uh these are 298 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,799 kind of looked at as fixed costs but there's a lot of discretion as well and 299 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:14,080 things that you know the board can provide input onto um initiatives that 300 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:19,520 we should focus more on or less on or pivot to. So this is the beginning of 301 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:23,120 that conversation. So I first wanted to talk about the audit. Um I received the 302 00:23:21,679 --> 00:23:27,440 audit yesterday morning. I think the auditors might have sent it to Nan on 303 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:30,799 Friday, but um I just got it yesterday, put it in the packet and I realize that 304 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:35,600 board members probably have not had a time to exhaustively read the entire 305 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:39,120 document and that's okay. Um I wanted to talk briefly just about the audit 306 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:44,240 process and what that looks like every year um both from our perspective going 307 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:50,400 through it as well as from the town's perspective. So the first thing that 308 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:54,559 happens is at the end of the year or the very beginning of the new year, the 309 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:58,559 auditors come on site to do an inventory audit. They randomly select items from 310 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:02,559 both the broadband and electric side that are supposed to be in the warehouse 311 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:06,799 and they do spot checks of many of these items to make sure that the counts that 312 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:11,600 we have on the books match the counts that we have physically here. um they 313 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:14,400 they hold on to that information and what they're waiting for is they're 314 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:19,840 waiting for the kind of the close of our financial year which is usually about 60 315 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:25,360 to 90 days after a given month. So in the March April time frame we have 316 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:30,320 closed the previous uh calendar fiscal year for us and um then the auditors 317 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:34,480 kind of engage and they provide us with a list of their requests that they need 318 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:38,000 and we start collecting documents. Then they do on-site visits where they 319 00:24:36,159 --> 00:24:41,679 collect and might spot check other documents or look for backup. Uh there's 320 00:24:40,159 --> 00:24:47,919 a lot of conversations that happen, questions that we ask, questions that 321 00:24:43,279 --> 00:24:53,200 they ask. And then um we our our staff prepare and produce reports for them uh 322 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:57,760 as well as additional backup information. And then the auditors 323 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:02,080 prepare the financial statements uh for the light plant. And then they produce 324 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:06,080 an audit on the findings and of the organization's finances. And you know, 325 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:11,200 basically they're they're telling you and the public um how easy it is to find 326 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:15,840 things, how accurate things are, and basically the general um financial 327 00:25:14,159 --> 00:25:20,240 condition of the of the light plant organization. Um once we receive that 328 00:25:18,799 --> 00:25:25,279 audit, we obviously share it with the lightboard. But conquer has a unique 329 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:29,919 ether committee that handles audits for the town, and that's the financial audit 330 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:35,760 advisory committee. that committee um receives and reports on the town audit, 331 00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:39,760 the CCRSD audit, the regional district audit, and the light plant audit. And um 332 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:43,919 we have a lightboard member, Chris Shaner, who has been appointed by the 333 00:25:41,679 --> 00:25:49,520 select board to to that group um after he was voted by you um to represent you. 334 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:54,080 And so what will happen at that meeting is that the auditor, our auditor will 335 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:58,000 show up there and we'll provide a full presentation of the audit and answer any 336 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:02,720 questions that that group might have about the audit. And um that audit 337 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:05,760 contains representatives like I said from the lay plant, from the school 338 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:09,360 district, from the town, from the finance committee and they you know 339 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:13,120 discuss the audits. Eventually, they produce a report about the audit and 340 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,960 then they vote it and that becomes kind of like the final record and it's kind 341 00:26:14,559 --> 00:26:21,360 of like the town's understanding of the audit and the result of it and any 342 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:26,400 questions or takeaways or action items that that need to happen going forward. 343 00:26:23,919 --> 00:26:32,320 The the FAAC um historically would kind of have this 344 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:36,559 dormant um cycle and then come back to life when audits were done and then go 345 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:40,559 away. But in the last year and a half or so, there's been a renewed interest to 346 00:26:38,159 --> 00:26:44,320 keep this group active so that they have a better kind of pulse on what's 347 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:49,200 happening um across these different organizations and and also knowing that 348 00:26:47,039 --> 00:26:52,640 there's very big timing differences, right? Because we're on a calendar 349 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:56,960 fiscal year, but the town and the district are not. So that means that 350 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:00,799 audits are produced at different times of the year, which necessitates them 351 00:26:59,039 --> 00:27:04,640 meeting kind of at different schedules. So um the financial audit advisory 352 00:27:02,799 --> 00:27:08,320 committee will be reviewing this audit in great detail. Their meetings are 353 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:13,279 recorded. Their report will be entered into um you know I don't know if it's 354 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:17,840 printed in the town meeting annual report but um it is kind of the official 355 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:21,840 log of this and historically the lightboard has been um you know like 356 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:25,279 okay this is interesting. We'll discuss some key takeaways but you know that's 357 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:28,480 the audit committee and they'll do their thing. But just know that if you have 358 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:32,240 any questions, if you have any concerns or if you would like to talk about this 359 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:36,720 in greater detail, you're welcome to reach out to the chair or to me to, you 360 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,840 know, raise that issue. Um, and we we certainly can talk more about it in this 361 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:42,960 setting. And John, do you want to take questions because I'm totally fine 362 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,679 taking questions and pausing for a second here? 363 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:50,400 » Yeah, please. I see you got questions from Tyson and Chris. 364 00:27:48,559 --> 00:27:54,880 » Yeah. So just real quick on a clarification, is it the responsibility 365 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:58,880 of that committee to look at the findings that are coming out of the 366 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:02,480 audit and then track those through the course of the year to make sure that 367 00:28:00,159 --> 00:28:06,159 there's progress being made and then report back to the lightboard on that 368 00:28:04,559 --> 00:28:11,919 progress? >> That's a great question. I think that so 369 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:15,679 historically um the the auditors who had been in place for many many years were 370 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:19,760 not producing a lot of findings and so there wasn't as much to track. Last year 371 00:28:17,919 --> 00:28:23,440 in the town's audit, there were several material weaknesses and there was one 372 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:27,840 for the light plant associated with the inability to reconcile cash between the 373 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:32,159 town and the light plant. And so that is a fair question to say well like who is 374 00:28:29,919 --> 00:28:35,760 tracking these things? Um I think that you know for the town I think between 375 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:40,399 the finance committee and the financial aory committee there is definitely a 376 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:44,559 renewed interest in making sure that those material weaknesses and any other 377 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:47,840 significant findings get discussed and addressed. Um, I think that you, as 378 00:28:46,559 --> 00:28:53,279 you'll see when we talk a little bit about our current situation, you'll see 379 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:57,279 that either some of them don't pertain to us. It's not in our control or they 380 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:01,360 are things that have already been resolved. Um, or they were brought up by 381 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,399 staff as questions like, "Hey, this is how we've been doing it forever. What do 382 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:10,240 you think?" And they said, "Yeah, no, that's we think you should do it this 383 00:29:06,159 --> 00:29:13,679 way instead." So, um, what like it's a fair question, but I I Yeah. So, I don't 384 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:17,760 really know if it's like their responsibility. Chris, do you know if 385 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:21,919 like in terms of the charge, it's their charge to track those and report on 386 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,960 them? >> The charge of the um of that audit 387 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:29,919 committee? >> Yeah. 388 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:34,559 » Yeah. I mean, I think they they serve uh you know at the at we serve the 389 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:39,039 selectmen basically. So I think it's ultimately the select men who have that 390 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,440 responsibility, not not us. But that's a good question. I don't I don't know the 391 00:29:40,399 --> 00:29:45,039 answer exactly. >> It's really hard to hear it, Chris. 392 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:49,520 » Yeah, I'm sorry. I I got the wrong mic going here. Um 393 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:53,120 » but I think he was saying it's the responsibility of the select board um 394 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:59,279 ultimately which the financial audit advisory serves at the request of. Um so 395 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:03,360 yeah, I I I guess that's something we can certainly ask u maybe Jennifer 396 00:30:01,679 --> 00:30:06,159 Barrett the town. >> Yeah, it it would be helpful to 397 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:10,799 understand what the governance process is on those now that you sounds like 398 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:15,200 have improved your auditors. So you'll you'll probably have findings going 399 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:20,760 forward that uh folks need to have an understanding around and and ensure that 400 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,760 we're making progress on 401 00:30:23,679 --> 00:30:27,840 » Chris. >> Yeah. Um but you know we probably will 402 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:33,360 have findings but I'm looking through this I am I missing something? I'm not 403 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:37,600 seeing any any findings or uh deficiencies in this 404 00:30:35,919 --> 00:30:41,679 maybe maybe it's on the wrong page >> internal control report. There are two 405 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:44,480 significant findings and I'm going to touch on those in my conversation in a 406 00:30:43,679 --> 00:30:48,480 minute. So, >> okay, fair enough. I'll wait for that. 407 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:52,080 » Yeah, there's there are some items identified on page 80 of the PDF, I 408 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,640 think. >> All right, it didn't make it to page 80 409 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:59,120 yet. >> How dare you, Chris. 410 00:30:57,039 --> 00:31:03,279 To his credit, he was on page 78, so he was almost 411 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:06,399 » No, I you know, if I was writing a report and there was something 412 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:10,480 important, it would be on page one. >> Well, it's true. material weaknesses are 413 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:14,000 required to appear in the financial statements, right? So like to your 414 00:31:12,559 --> 00:31:17,840 point, Chris, like if there was something seriously wrong, you probably 415 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:22,480 would have seen it before then. Um the internal control report is intended to 416 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:25,840 capture less significant events than material weaknesses. And so the good 417 00:31:24,559 --> 00:31:30,399 news is we did not have a material weakness on this audit. Um and uh so 418 00:31:29,279 --> 00:31:36,640 since we're talking about it, let me just talk about the two um significant 419 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:43,760 findings that they had. So every auditor who is asked to prepare financial 420 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:49,200 statements as well um has a potential uh has identified a potential uh control 421 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:54,000 issue which is that there could be the situation that the organization does not 422 00:31:51,519 --> 00:31:58,000 have the qualified staff necessary to produce the financial statements which 423 00:31:55,679 --> 00:32:01,360 in itself could be a problem right so imagine an organization and they've 424 00:31:59,519 --> 00:32:06,480 fired their CFO and they've fired their finance director and they've got uh you 425 00:32:03,919 --> 00:32:08,960 an AP specialist and an AR specialist and they're saying somebody says you 426 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,640 know we'll produce your financial statements and they say well we can't so 427 00:32:10,559 --> 00:32:17,039 let's ask the auditor to do that in that case there could be a problem right so 428 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:21,440 the governmental accounting standards say that if the auditor does the 429 00:32:19,679 --> 00:32:26,960 financial statements then they need to disclose that um and they can decide 430 00:32:24,159 --> 00:32:31,760 whether it's a finding a significant finding a weakness or something else the 431 00:32:29,919 --> 00:32:38,000 previous auditor would always mention this if you go back and watch the um the 432 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,960 for example the CCRSD audit that was presented to the financial audit 433 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:47,279 advisory committee you'll see that the auditor um from CBIZ that was used by 434 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:50,880 the town for that audit very clearly discloses that they produced the 435 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:54,480 financial statements and what their relationship was for the audit and and 436 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:58,720 the creation of those financial statements and that but that auditor 437 00:32:56,799 --> 00:33:04,240 just did not flag that as a significant finding. Gule Salvidian and Associates 438 00:33:01,279 --> 00:33:08,480 our new auditor u does always make this as a significant finding and it's in 439 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:13,120 every single internal control report for every MLP that they audit and uh for 440 00:33:11,519 --> 00:33:17,760 whom they also create the financial statements and I think they said they 441 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:22,559 only have one of their more than one dozen uh clients who they who who 442 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:26,720 produces their own financial statements and it's probably a very large MLP who 443 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:32,960 has probably a much larger finance team than we do. Um, but it really is not a 444 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:37,360 qualification thing as uh Nan is a CPA and and well within uh her capability to 445 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:41,519 produce financial statements, but um historically conquered has appreciated a 446 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:45,840 third party taking that information and vetting it and displaying it. And it 447 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:50,640 also is a time thing because the audit is very labor intensive for staff and 448 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:55,440 having to do both of those functions may delay the ultimate completion. So 449 00:33:52,799 --> 00:33:59,519 anyway, um that finding will always be there. it will never go away unless we 450 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:03,440 prepare our own financial statements. But um as you can see they talk a lot 451 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:07,519 about the creation of the financial statements and they have to raise any 452 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:11,280 issues with that process that they find. So in other words if we don't have 453 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:15,280 information for them or they don't feel certain about the data that we're 454 00:34:12,720 --> 00:34:18,480 presenting or they find u quality issues with the data that we're giving them 455 00:34:16,879 --> 00:34:22,399 then obviously they can't create the financial statements and they would you 456 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:26,800 know also identify that as a a different kind of issue. That's one of the 457 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:29,599 significant findings. The other one was um and I don't have the language in 458 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:33,760 front of me, but it's something like account issues and the following 12 459 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:39,440 account issues were identified and these are um 460 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:44,079 more granular uh suggestions that they have for best practices on how accounts 461 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:48,800 are handled and there were 12 of them. Um examples of them include and I'll 462 00:34:46,399 --> 00:34:54,879 just run through them. The first one was the depreciation fund. So we pay money 463 00:34:52,079 --> 00:34:58,880 into an account called depreciation for our assets, right? They depreciate at a 464 00:34:56,879 --> 00:35:04,400 particular rate and we are putting that money away to replace those items when 465 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:09,200 they need to be replaced. Um we do not handle our cash. That is all handled by 466 00:35:07,119 --> 00:35:13,440 the town treasurer and that arrangement is like that in every MLP in the state 467 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:17,440 because the law requires that they are the treasurer for the light plants in 468 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:21,440 their communities. So when cash comes into the light plant, it comes into the 469 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:27,119 town treasurer and is deposited in an account for the light plant. Um that 470 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:31,040 account is one account and the auditors would prefer to see depreciation appear 471 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:34,079 in a separate account. And so that is not something that's within our control, 472 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:38,240 but it's certainly a best practice that we can pass along to the town treasur's 473 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:42,240 office and say, "Hey, our auditors would prefer to see a separate account just to 474 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:46,800 make sure cash is not comingled with other functions." So those are the types 475 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:50,480 of um findings that we had. The other one was the cash reconciliation with the 476 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:54,640 town which has been an issue but because we've been able to do it um it was not a 477 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:59,280 material weakness right but I think there's still delays and the regular uh 478 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:05,040 reporting of cash and something that town staff will have to work closely 479 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:10,079 with CMLP staff to um make sure that in a timely manner within X days after 480 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:13,760 close both sides can reconcile cash and as I mentioned the co-mingling is 481 00:36:11,839 --> 00:36:18,160 definitely makes things a challenge because the town has one account for 482 00:36:16,079 --> 00:36:22,320 everything for tax receipts and excise and you know water sewer other 483 00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:25,599 enterprise funds. Um so you know typically if you had your own bank 484 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:30,960 account you could use the bank statement as a reconciliation tool. We don't have 485 00:36:27,599 --> 00:36:35,040 that at our disposal and our system does not have you know history of all those 486 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:39,599 other transactions. So it's inherently complicated and there are timing delays 487 00:36:37,119 --> 00:36:43,040 and etc etc but we've made significant strides in addressing cash 488 00:36:41,119 --> 00:36:46,720 reconciliation um with the town and I think we'll 489 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:51,040 continue to work on that. so that we feel like we can do a more regular 490 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:58,079 reporting of the cash wreck. Go ahead Tyson or Don if you are okay with it. 491 00:36:56,240 --> 00:37:01,280 » Tyson, please. >> Yeah, just a quick question on the 492 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:07,200 drafting financial statements. Is there a reason why you don't use two different 493 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:10,720 firms uh to try and separate the the the the responsibility there? 494 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:15,920 » I don't know the answer to that question. And I know that the town and 495 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:19,760 many towns in Massachusetts um use the same auditor to prepare the financial 496 00:37:17,599 --> 00:37:23,760 statements as to perform the audit. They are technically done by different 497 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:28,880 individuals within the auditing firm. Um and I know that you know there are 498 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:31,520 standards that they are are held to, but I don't know the answer to that 499 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:36,160 question. But I can certainly look into it to see if that's a reasonable thing 500 00:37:33,359 --> 00:37:39,280 or if it creates um overhead or if there's some, you know, cost issue. I I 501 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,079 really don't know. >> Okay. I was just curious because when 502 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:45,119 I've dealt with that situation before, usually you separate two firms. 503 00:37:44,079 --> 00:37:48,960 » Yeah. >> Thanks, 504 00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:54,240 » John. Do you think it would be helpful to run through the other 10 specific 505 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:58,480 recommendations for accounts under that or is that too much level of detail for 506 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:02,640 the lightboard? I just I'm happy to do it, but I I don't want to waste time if 507 00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:06,240 that if there's >> I mean, from my perspective, I'm 508 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:11,720 comfortable with what we've heard. I don't know if others uh would like to 509 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,720 hear greater detail. 510 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:19,440 » We will be preparing um a summary document. Um it has a table. I'm I'm 511 00:38:18,079 --> 00:38:22,480 looking at it right now as I'm reading off these notes, but it will have the 512 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:26,640 topic and the description from the auditors. It will have the owner of like 513 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:30,240 who's in charge of implementing that. It will have notes on where we are today. 514 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:33,920 And it will have the status whether it's already complete, whether it's going to 515 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:38,240 be complete and then any next steps that are required. And so that document will 516 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:42,400 be circulated, you know, in the future. But I prepared that just in case we 517 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:46,960 needed to talk about it. But, you know, if the board is happy with that, we can 518 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:52,800 do that. Or if again, uh, Chris, do you want to answer John's question? 519 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:57,280 » No, I I was going to ask that I meet with Jason before I go to the next 520 00:38:55,040 --> 00:39:00,800 financial a committee meeting with this so that I fully briefed on it, but I 521 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:04,800 don't think we need to cover anymore today. 522 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:08,079 » Yeah. the the document that you mentioned, Chris, would be immensely 523 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:11,599 helpful going forward to have that type of material. 524 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:15,200 » Um, >> and we can expect that, Jason, at kind 525 00:39:13,359 --> 00:39:18,400 of the October or November board meetings. 526 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:23,040 » Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, even by the September meeting. Um, yeah, I mean, 527 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:26,880 it's nearly sharable. we just have internal notes on what we need to do for 528 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:32,160 certain things and I would just you know so but yeah I mean literally it could be 529 00:39:29,359 --> 00:39:36,560 sent out today if if you know anyway but we will get it to the board soon just so 530 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:40,720 we can identify and as I said several of these are already resolved several of 531 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:44,160 these were raised by staff because they were you know asking you know hey this 532 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:48,720 is something we've done for 20 years like this the other auditor uh said that 533 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:52,400 this was fine and dandy and can you just like tell us from your perspective 534 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:56,160 knowing that you've completed way more light plant audits like is this the way 535 00:39:53,920 --> 00:40:00,720 other people do it? No, not really. And uh you know, you should probably do it 536 00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:05,200 this way. So, uh anyway, that does segue nicely into the just the reiteration of 537 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:08,720 the fact that we do have new auditors. They do specialize in light plant 538 00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:12,800 audits. They did find things that we asked them to look at that have been 539 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:17,280 nagging us and staff for a while. And I'm really grateful for their expertise. 540 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:21,520 We had some really um deep, engaging conversations about process and history. 541 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:24,880 um they get into the weeds of all of your meetings. Next year's audit, they 542 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:29,520 will be reading the minutes from this meeting and my words right now. So, um 543 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:33,680 they they look at really everything in in totality and what the board does and 544 00:40:31,599 --> 00:40:37,680 its actions and and looking at laws and recommendations. So, they they've done a 545 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:41,280 great job and uh first audits can be very challenging. And so I in addition 546 00:40:40,079 --> 00:40:45,839 to thanking the auditors, I need to thank all the staff who really spent a 547 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:50,480 lot of their time um preparing for this, especially Nan, but all of her staff, 548 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:54,800 Sandy and Beverly and Rebecca as well, as well as Karen and other staff and 549 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:58,240 other departments. I mean, this audits like this spread far and wide. It goes 550 00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:03,680 into power supply and Laura's team. It goes into operations and Joe's team. It 551 00:41:01,119 --> 00:41:07,680 goes into customer service and rates. So um really everybody at the light plant 552 00:41:05,599 --> 00:41:11,920 has helped and contributed to the production of this this document and u 553 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:16,640 you know I think our goals in addition to um addressing some of these 554 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:20,560 individual account issues is also to um continue to hone down our monthly close 555 00:41:19,119 --> 00:41:26,240 process so that it's a little bit shorter to reconcile more items on a on 556 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,280 a regular monthly basis and then um hopefully next year's audit will be a 557 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:32,560 little bit faster because we won't be dealing with a new auditor. We know what 558 00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:35,680 they're going to ask for. Um it was kind of funny. They showed up and they forgot 559 00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:39,040 to send us the list of things that they needed. So we were kind of scrambling at 560 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:43,200 the last minute, but you know, having all that information just makes things 561 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:48,400 more um expedient in the future. So we're looking forward to that. Um just 562 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:53,440 some key takeaways. I think you know the the short version of the of the story 563 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:58,640 from our overall audit and the financial condition is that the foundation is 564 00:41:55,200 --> 00:42:03,359 extremely solid. cash on hand and um incoming payments alone more are more 565 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:08,240 than enough to cover um all of our total debts and uh we don't have an issue with 566 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:13,440 liquidity. Um and then long-term obligations, deferred outflows um are 567 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:17,680 handled proactively and we have um you know no issues with future budgets uh 568 00:42:16,079 --> 00:42:21,040 that won't kind of be caught off guard by some of these commitments whether 569 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:25,119 it's power supply, oped, pension, things like that. Um, some key takeaways. I 570 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:29,280 think another good read is the uh management discussion analysis section, 571 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:34,079 which kind of tells you in plain text what some of these numbers mean. Um, 572 00:42:31,359 --> 00:42:40,720 plant net worth increased 9.88% year-over-year from 24 to 25. Net income 573 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:47,200 was 6.7 million. Operating revenues were 17.6% higher in 2025 than 24. Um that 574 00:42:45,119 --> 00:42:53,359 was driven by commercial sales that were uh 7% higher than 24 uh with residential 575 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:58,400 sales increasing 5%. Operating expenses increased by 12.6% 576 00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:02,880 mostly due to increased power supply but also uh additional expenses being uh 577 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:09,280 maintenance and tree trimming. Uh we did a big tree trimming job in 25. Um we 578 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:14,800 purchased 3.4 4 million kilowatt hours more in 25 than the year before which 579 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:19,119 indicates that electrification is increasing especially heat pumps and 580 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:23,920 EVs. Uh but it was also a hotter summer and a colder winter uh than the previous 581 00:43:21,359 --> 00:43:28,960 year and debt decreased about half a million dollars from the previous year. 582 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:32,400 So, um, I think I'll just pause there, see if there's any last questions, but 583 00:43:30,319 --> 00:43:35,680 just know that A, we'll be following up with the board on some of those, uh, 584 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:39,760 open items, and B, the financial audit advisory committee will be doing a much 585 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:43,520 deeper dive into the audit along with the audit presentation, which will be 586 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:48,480 recorded, and Goule and Salvo and Associates will be out to to offer that 587 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:51,760 presentation directly. And um, yeah, so I'll just see John if there's any other 588 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:56,560 questions before I kind of pivot into talking about the other half of the 589 00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:59,880 financial discussion. Any questions from board members? 590 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:08,319 Thanks, Jason. That was a very comprehensive review and uh look forward 591 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:13,040 to seeing the uh um summary of issues and intended response. 592 00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:17,079 » Great. Um all right, so I'm going to share my screen. Um, 593 00:44:24,319 --> 00:44:27,319 okay. 594 00:44:29,599 --> 00:44:36,000 So, I've kind of already talked about the process, so I'm going to jump right 595 00:44:33,359 --> 00:44:40,640 into some key um financial drivers for what we're seeing for 27. Um, and the 596 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:44,720 first slide, the first two slides actually are about power supply. And 597 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:48,720 Laura, if you have any other things to add about um transmission. I know we 598 00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:53,520 received a little bit of information on that, but we hadn't had time to put a 599 00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:57,440 slide on it. But whatever you feel you have some degree of certainty about, 600 00:44:55,359 --> 00:45:01,200 I'll turn it over to you. >> Well, good morning everyone. How is 601 00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:06,880 everybody doing today? Uh this first busy slide, um I'll don't 602 00:45:04,720 --> 00:45:12,560 worry, I'll walk you through it. Um the two points you want to focus on are the 603 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:20,160 two black circles. Um the darker blue line 604 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:26,800 uh is what the cost of forward power delivered at the mass hub around the 605 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:32,800 clock in an even manner would have cost one year ago today. So back when we were 606 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:39,440 setting the budget for 2026 2027 power was trading about $70 for the year. 607 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:45,440 Now, as we approach the budget cycle, you can see the latest date here in 608 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:50,480 August, uh, calendar 2027 deliveries cost about $87. 609 00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:57,839 So, take away from this, power supply expense is expected to be up. 610 00:45:54,960 --> 00:46:04,240 This is the cost of energy. Any questions about this slide? The other 611 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:11,200 colors are for different ears. Um, but the the dark darker blue line is the 612 00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:15,040 one we're looking at for calendar 2027. >> Any any questions from board members? I 613 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:20,640 mean, obviously we have a portfolio of power supplies which so we're not ex 614 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:23,680 exposed to the full $87 per megawatt hour. 615 00:46:21,359 --> 00:46:28,079 » That's correct. So, as you may recall, about 20% 616 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:33,599 um of our needs are typically met in the spot market, and it's only that 20% that 617 00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:38,240 would be exposed to this increasing pricing. Um, as John mentioned, the 618 00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:44,560 other 80% are covered under long-term agreements. Um, the prices on those 619 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:49,760 contracts do change. Um, so they the cost of power can increase somewhat, but 620 00:46:47,119 --> 00:46:55,800 it's not going to be um it's like two it might be a 2% escalator a year. it's not 621 00:46:51,839 --> 00:46:55,800 going to be the $70 to $87. 622 00:46:57,200 --> 00:47:06,720 So energy is one component of power supplied. If you go to the next slide, 623 00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:12,160 um capacity is another component and uh look to the far right column, that was 624 00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:20,640 the clearing price for capacity in different auctions. So for um capacity 625 00:47:16,319 --> 00:47:27,599 the year runs from July 1st to June 30th and uh for the 25 26 year 626 00:47:25,839 --> 00:47:33,440 um the 627 00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:37,920 zone to which CMLP is subject uh to is rest of pool which was trading 628 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:42,800 at $259. That was also the clearing price for the 629 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:48,319 second half of 2026 and the first part of 2027. But you can see starting in 630 00:47:45,359 --> 00:47:52,839 July of 2027 that rate is expected to increase from 259 to $3.58. 631 00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:59,599 And then we don't, as Jason said, have a slide on it, but another significant 632 00:47:57,359 --> 00:48:05,359 component of power supply expense about 6 or 7 million worth is in fact 633 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:10,160 transmission. And a good chunk of that 6 million is attributable to the schedule 634 00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:17,760 9 RNS rate we pay to the ISO New England. And due to um capacity 635 00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:24,720 additions, buildouts, um various projects to reinforce the grid, um those 636 00:48:21,359 --> 00:48:30,480 costs are expected to increase in 2027 versus 2026. Um we don't have an exact 637 00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:37,119 percentage right now but the bottom line is all three legs of power supply costs 638 00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:44,319 that is energy capacity and transmission are expected to increase in 2027 639 00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:48,480 um versus 2026. Exactly how much um remains to be seen when we put the full 640 00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:54,480 forecast together. But we want to give you a heads up that these increased 641 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:58,640 costs um may put pressure uh upward pressure on rates. 642 00:48:57,119 --> 00:49:02,880 » Laura, could you talk a little bit about Oh, sorry. Maybe Tyson can go first, but 643 00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:06,240 I was just going to ask after he's gone, could you talk a little bit about your 644 00:49:04,240 --> 00:49:10,800 process in developing the load forecast and then working with E& on getting kind 645 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:16,440 of estimates and just what you do there? But um let's pause and if you want to 646 00:49:13,119 --> 00:49:16,440 call in, Tyson. 647 00:49:17,359 --> 00:49:27,599 If me call on Ty Tyson, please speak. >> Um Laura, do you do you know what the um 648 00:49:25,359 --> 00:49:31,200 underlying kind of macro drivers are for the increase in pricing? 649 00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:34,160 » I'm sorry. Can you repeat it? I didn't hear you. 650 00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:37,359 » Can you uh Yeah. What are the Do you know what the back the back like the 651 00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:41,520 macro drivers are for the increase in pricing that are driving it? 652 00:49:39,839 --> 00:49:45,839 the back road drivers >> macro like high level high level 653 00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:49,359 » the drivers the macrolevel drivers that are that are increasing 654 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:52,319 » for the energy cost >> yes 655 00:49:50,240 --> 00:49:58,160 » yes it you want to go back to the previous slide Jason um that would be 656 00:49:55,440 --> 00:50:04,400 oil the cost of oil which you may have seen Brent just passed $100 a barrel 657 00:50:01,359 --> 00:50:11,040 » uh recently so the the major driver there is world global oil supply you 658 00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:14,720 know you see the the market increase once the war started. If you look, can 659 00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:18,960 you see my cursor? >> No. No. 660 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:24,480 » Okay. So, we went from like a $75 go to about, you know, January March uh 661 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:32,000 February March of 2026. Jason, you can see it was trading around $75. 662 00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:35,200 Um yeah, go up to the blue line. Go down a little bit. Yeah. So, but 663 00:50:33,760 --> 00:50:42,640 right before the war, it was trading at 75 and it immediately jumped up to 85 to 664 00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:46,559 $90. Um, there was a still a little upward pressure even before the war 665 00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:54,000 started. You can see we went from 70 up to 75 in this period. Um, but the major 666 00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:58,200 factor here is uh is oil. >> Okay, that's helpful to understand. 667 00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:05,280 Warren. >> Oh, and so about the process. 668 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:11,200 » Sorry, Warren had a question. >> Oh, I'm sorry. 669 00:51:05,839 --> 00:51:16,720 » Yeah. Um, given that there's very little um electricity generation for oil, why 670 00:51:14,559 --> 00:51:24,880 is it having such a big impact on electricity prices? 671 00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:31,920 um because oil um is fairly tightly correlated with natural gas and it's 672 00:51:28,079 --> 00:51:36,400 natural gas that's really driving um the cost of electricity. Now there's there's 673 00:51:35,040 --> 00:51:41,839 a couple different dynamics going on with natural gas 674 00:51:38,559 --> 00:51:46,720 worldwide. Natural gas is trending closely with oil. As oil gets shut in, 675 00:51:44,480 --> 00:51:52,160 natural gas production also gets shut in globally. But in the US, we're kind of 676 00:51:49,760 --> 00:52:00,160 having a bit of a boom in oil production and increased drilling over here coupled 677 00:51:55,280 --> 00:52:05,680 with the delay in um coming online of several LNG export trains. And so the 678 00:52:03,839 --> 00:52:10,640 price like down at the Gulf Coast at Henry Hub has been somewhat disconnected 679 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:15,520 from worldwide worldwide um natural gas prices. It's been fairly cheap at the 680 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:21,440 Gulf, whereas it's trading very expensive in Europe and the Far East. 681 00:52:18,240 --> 00:52:26,480 Um, but we're up here in New England and as you may recall me saying in the past, 682 00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:30,160 we have um limited pipeline capacity to deliver the supply we need in the 683 00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:33,680 winter. And so there's also a disconnect between the Gulf Coast and the 684 00:52:31,359 --> 00:52:39,760 Northeast. The basis or the difference between the two of those locations is 685 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:44,240 huge, particularly in the winter. Um so several different market dynamics 686 00:52:42,079 --> 00:52:47,839 happening in natural gas but really the oil is tied to natural gas which is tied 687 00:52:46,319 --> 00:52:51,079 to electricity. >> Thank you. 688 00:52:52,400 --> 00:53:04,079 » So the process for um for preparing the budget the first thing we do is prepare 689 00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:11,520 the load forecast. Um, and we do that by examining 690 00:53:05,599 --> 00:53:17,359 uh recent trends in um in our sales compared to degree days. We 691 00:53:15,599 --> 00:53:21,200 always start the budget with an assumption that we're going to 692 00:53:18,720 --> 00:53:26,400 experience normal weather during a year. So, we base our load forecast on normal 693 00:53:23,599 --> 00:53:33,440 degree days. Um 694 00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:39,119 and then uh once we have a load forecast uh ENE develops the integrated portfolio 695 00:53:36,880 --> 00:53:42,559 cost. They figure okay here's how much is going to come from each of the 696 00:53:40,319 --> 00:53:45,839 contracts. Here's what the cost is for each one of those. Here how here's how 697 00:53:44,559 --> 00:53:49,920 much we'll have to buy from the spot market and here's the cost of that. And 698 00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:55,680 they send us back what they believe the purchase power supply expense is going 699 00:53:52,319 --> 00:54:00,400 to be based on our load forecast. and that's what we put into the budget. And 700 00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:05,280 then as Jason mentioned, a lot of other um expenses and both capital and 701 00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:13,319 operating are then assumed for the upcoming year um to to develop a full 702 00:54:08,319 --> 00:54:13,319 revenue requirement for calendar 2027. 703 00:54:15,440 --> 00:54:25,680 » All right. Any other questions on power supply before we move on? 704 00:54:20,559 --> 00:54:28,240 Okay. Um so thank you Laura. Um the next thing I wanted to talk about was 705 00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:33,359 personnel. It's one of the first sections in the forecast. Um we do have 706 00:54:30,720 --> 00:54:38,480 two collective bargaining units um here at the light plant for the first time 707 00:54:35,520 --> 00:54:44,880 and those agreements will be executed soon. The inception of the contract date 708 00:54:41,760 --> 00:54:48,480 is going to be January 1st, 2025. So there's still some uh questions and 709 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:52,400 uncertainty around the exact dollar figures of impact, but hopefully we know 710 00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:57,599 those figures soon and we'll be incorporating that into the forecast so 711 00:54:55,040 --> 00:55:04,079 that we have um some certainty. That is only about 11 uh or so staff of the 41 712 00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:09,359 or so who work at the light plant. So it's not, you know, the the majority um 713 00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:13,760 by any stretch, but it is a significant change in in the way that we address 714 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:17,920 that. for the other employees in the light plant. Um, you know, all light 715 00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:22,559 plant employees are town staff and the non-union staff follow the personnel 716 00:55:19,839 --> 00:55:29,119 bylaw and the salary um compensation plan voted by the town and uh you know 717 00:55:27,359 --> 00:55:34,160 which I I think includes the personnel board and other staff um and and goes 718 00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:39,040 through the regular budgeting process for their salary reserves and all that. 719 00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:43,200 But basically that is um if you are eligible to move up a step if you're not 720 00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:51,280 at the top you go up a step which is a 2% increase. Um and then there is a 1.2% 721 00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:57,839 cola that was given in um July of this year. Uh again we're we're trying to um 722 00:55:55,359 --> 00:56:01,680 take the town which has a fiscal year of July 1st to June 30th and the light 723 00:55:59,599 --> 00:56:05,599 plant which has one from January 1st to December 31st and marry those. So 724 00:56:03,839 --> 00:56:10,000 there's always some level of uncertainty because what we don't know is for the 725 00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:14,960 period of July 1st of next year through the end of you know 2027. Um and so 726 00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:20,000 we're we're trying to use this as an indicator of what might happen for uh 727 00:56:17,359 --> 00:56:26,079 the other salaries. There is a one-time merit payment eligible for people who 728 00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:30,720 complete uh goals that are um expressly documented and approved by their uh 729 00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:36,079 supervisor and department head. and they they get a percent for each of those 730 00:56:32,240 --> 00:56:40,400 significant goals they complete. Um and then uh in terms of vacancies and 731 00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:44,079 positions, we still do have a couple vacant positions that we have been 732 00:56:42,079 --> 00:56:48,000 trying to fill. We have a senior network engineer that's vacant right now. We 733 00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:54,240 have a meter supervisor that's vacant right now. We also, you know, have to 734 00:56:50,640 --> 00:57:00,079 always think about um continuity and uh planning around potential retirements. 735 00:56:56,799 --> 00:57:05,200 Um several years ago the light board had suggested that staff um plan for a 736 00:57:03,040 --> 00:57:10,799 project manager role and we've been planning to fund that um for several 737 00:57:07,680 --> 00:57:14,799 forecast cycles. Now the thought process here was that whether it was the 738 00:57:12,480 --> 00:57:19,920 advanced metering project, time of day rates, large solar arrays, there is 739 00:57:17,599 --> 00:57:23,920 always a project that's large that's going on at the light plant and that 740 00:57:21,359 --> 00:57:27,839 maybe a a project manager could help with both the project as well as 741 00:57:26,079 --> 00:57:34,720 outreach as well as coordination with other departments. Um we also have near 742 00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:39,440 single FTE, you know, requirements among several departments that we we're trying 743 00:57:36,319 --> 00:57:43,359 to juggle. And so um we're still thinking about the application of that 744 00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:48,160 over the coming year. And I will mention that you know with the um increased 745 00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:53,839 reliance on the advanced metering system, we did create a new position for 746 00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:58,559 an advanced metering infrastructure analyst that's been filled um with the 747 00:57:56,640 --> 00:58:02,880 expected retirement of other individuals in the metering department. And that did 748 00:58:00,319 --> 00:58:07,440 come to fruition. So, we're still down um or sorry, no, I think right now we 749 00:58:05,599 --> 00:58:11,760 we're kind of net even with where we were with metering, but we're still 750 00:58:09,359 --> 00:58:15,839 finding a need that we need a supervisor to oversee the metering uh team in terms 751 00:58:14,160 --> 00:58:20,079 of the safety and coordination and service orders and all that. So, we're 752 00:58:17,839 --> 00:58:25,119 just trying to take a look at that and um and see if we think we need to add an 753 00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:29,920 FTE or if we think that the one that we had is sufficient or anyway, that's just 754 00:58:27,760 --> 00:58:34,079 a a note that we have here to talk about. um as we go through the process 755 00:58:32,079 --> 00:58:37,599 and as we kind of work with staff and department heads and I think I probably 756 00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:42,160 should have started by talking about our own internal process which um Laura 757 00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:46,559 mentioned it for the power supply. We do that for kind of nearly every major 758 00:58:44,240 --> 00:58:49,760 budget driver. Um we sit down with the operations teams and we talk about 759 00:58:48,240 --> 00:58:54,319 projects that are coming down the road both ones that we can and cannot 760 00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:57,440 control. Um for example the 40B projects where we're going to see hundreds of 761 00:58:55,520 --> 00:59:00,880 units of housing come on board. you know, we we don't have a say in whether 762 00:58:59,280 --> 00:59:04,559 that happens or not. It just happens and we have to be able to respond. Other 763 00:59:02,799 --> 00:59:09,200 projects are ones that we might initiate like an undergrounding project. So, um 764 00:59:07,520 --> 00:59:12,880 we sit down and we talk about those and we figure out what we can get done, what 765 00:59:10,880 --> 00:59:18,160 we have to get done in a particular year and what that translates to for costs. 766 00:59:15,119 --> 00:59:22,640 Um and then uh we also estimate revenues and figure out you know what we plan to 767 00:59:20,319 --> 00:59:27,280 raise from uh merchandising and jobbing and uh other uh contract kind of work 768 00:59:24,960 --> 00:59:32,319 that we do where we make revenue on that. Um and then uh we put together 769 00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:36,240 this overarching document that you will all see in a month that kind of outlines 770 00:59:34,640 --> 00:59:41,200 where we expect to spend money and make money. Um so this is personnel. So, I'll 771 00:59:39,040 --> 00:59:45,599 stop here and just kind of see with each slide if there's any questions that 772 00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:50,359 people have before I move on. >> Any questions from board members on 773 00:59:47,359 --> 00:59:50,359 this? 774 00:59:50,720 --> 01:00:03,280 » Um, one question. So, you're talking about um a vacant project manager role. 775 00:59:57,520 --> 01:00:09,680 Um, so I guess the question is whether um you're typically looking to hire for 776 01:00:07,440 --> 01:00:16,400 full-time um staff or, you know, are are there 777 01:00:13,359 --> 01:00:23,040 situations where you might consider um hiring for a a limited time like a 778 01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:26,400 contract position for a specific project? 779 01:00:24,160 --> 01:00:30,799 » Yep. Yeah, we absolutely do that. Um so for example the middle school solar when 780 01:00:28,160 --> 01:00:37,200 we were undergoing construction we hired a limited status um employee who was 781 01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:40,960 non-benefited position and uh had the expertise necessary and had done many 782 01:00:39,040 --> 01:00:45,839 projects like that before public projects and so uh she was able to help 783 01:00:43,359 --> 01:00:49,280 do coordination meetings and you know on-site visits and bring back 784 01:00:47,440 --> 01:00:54,480 information to the team and coordinate. So we've done that. We also have a lot 785 01:00:51,119 --> 01:00:59,680 of consultants that help us um and there are for example at our uh NISC our 786 01:00:57,599 --> 01:01:03,599 software vendor um they have project managers that help with certain 787 01:01:01,280 --> 01:01:07,599 implementations right so like there there are project managers either at 788 01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:13,200 some of our consulting firms that we use regularly or some of our vendors um I 789 01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:18,000 think this when the board conceived of it was kind of um there was an 790 01:01:15,680 --> 01:01:21,200 overarching need not just to manage a project well and help with the staff 791 01:01:19,520 --> 01:01:25,680 that were already overburdened with other jobs, but also help communicate 792 01:01:23,760 --> 01:01:29,119 from the community's perspective um what some of these things were and then work 793 01:01:27,359 --> 01:01:32,640 interdep departmentally. And I think that's where some of those relationships 794 01:01:30,559 --> 01:01:37,359 sometimes aren't as productive with third parties is um understanding maybe 795 01:01:35,280 --> 01:01:40,400 the particular community's needs and then working closely with other 796 01:01:38,880 --> 01:01:45,440 departments. So, for example, like public works and paving, right? So like 797 01:01:42,400 --> 01:01:50,240 I think sometimes um long-term relationships like that are harder to do 798 01:01:47,839 --> 01:01:54,640 with brief engagements with but if there's a particular big project we've 799 01:01:52,000 --> 01:02:01,559 absolutely done that in the past. >> Okay. 800 01:01:56,960 --> 01:02:01,559 » Any other questions on personnel? 801 01:02:02,720 --> 01:02:09,680 » All right. I'll shift to capital. Um this is the project that is coming and 802 01:02:08,240 --> 01:02:14,559 going. We're not really sure what's happening here, but Eversource has been 803 01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:18,880 working with us on feasibility of a a large substation upgrade that would help 804 01:02:16,319 --> 01:02:22,720 us participate in transmission. Um, and so we're not sure exactly if this is 805 01:02:21,119 --> 01:02:28,079 happening. It's planned for, you know, early to mid 2030s, but it's something 806 01:02:25,599 --> 01:02:32,000 that you have to plan for 8 to 10 years. And so we've we've had several 807 01:02:29,599 --> 01:02:37,040 discussions with them. obviously is not going to require us to build anything 808 01:02:33,920 --> 01:02:41,040 this upcoming year, but it may require um planning and some of that planning is 809 01:02:39,119 --> 01:02:45,200 pretty serious and when it surrounds transmission and capital then it may be 810 01:02:43,280 --> 01:02:51,200 capitalized. It just depends on what it is. Um so there's that project coming. 811 01:02:48,960 --> 01:02:55,440 Uh we have a SCADA system as I mentioned that will be going online soon. Um, but 812 01:02:53,839 --> 01:02:59,599 we also would want to look at next steps, right? There's there's a lot of 813 01:02:57,520 --> 01:03:03,760 questions and conversations about distributed energy management uh or 814 01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:09,680 resource management systems as well as virtual peaker or virtual um power 815 01:03:06,400 --> 01:03:13,359 plants um as well as just the extension of the SCADA system. The initial SCADA 816 01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:17,520 deployment is really going to be focused at the substations. We have several 817 01:03:15,680 --> 01:03:21,599 other pieces of equipment in our territory that are already uh kind of 818 01:03:19,839 --> 01:03:25,520 could be connected to this data system, but there are many more that could be 819 01:03:23,200 --> 01:03:30,480 replaced. And all of that is providing much more concrete data that will help 820 01:03:28,480 --> 01:03:35,359 people troubleshoot and understand how our system is operating. And where you 821 01:03:32,720 --> 01:03:40,079 have a territory that's 50% underground, that can be incredibly useful to help 822 01:03:37,760 --> 01:03:44,640 diagnose issues, which I can tell you when we have an underground failure, it 823 01:03:41,920 --> 01:03:49,359 is it takes a very long time to identify specifically where that failure is. And 824 01:03:47,359 --> 01:03:53,520 these manhole systems can be completely filled with water and require to be 825 01:03:50,880 --> 01:03:57,839 pumped before you can enter. And it is like finding a needle in a hay stack. So 826 01:03:55,280 --> 01:04:02,160 the more visibility we have for some of these outside resources uh the more 827 01:04:00,240 --> 01:04:07,440 useful that SCADA system will be. This will be very useful for looking at uh 828 01:04:04,960 --> 01:04:12,480 you know feeder data and and live uh usage across different pieces of 829 01:04:10,079 --> 01:04:16,480 infrastructure at the substations. But um you know we want to think about the 830 01:04:14,319 --> 01:04:21,039 next level which is kind of going out in a in a circle um from the center from 831 01:04:19,440 --> 01:04:24,400 these substations which is you know seeing what visibility we can have for 832 01:04:22,640 --> 01:04:29,680 things like reclosers and switches and relays and uh other power protection 833 01:04:27,039 --> 01:04:34,480 devices out in the field. So that's going on. And then we also have you know 834 01:04:32,000 --> 01:04:39,119 we have a lot of um buildings. We have uh three substations one kind of 835 01:04:36,480 --> 01:04:43,440 dormant. We have uh municipal office space and warehouse garage space. We 836 01:04:41,039 --> 01:04:46,960 have a roof that is in a failed state that needs imminent replacement. We have 837 01:04:45,680 --> 01:04:51,359 parking lots. We have a lot of infrastructure. And so, uh, figuring out 838 01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:55,280 the timing of that, what staff can do, what consultants can do, what's 839 01:04:53,520 --> 01:05:00,319 reasonable, and what schedule we need to replace these things on. So, those were 840 01:04:56,799 --> 01:05:05,280 big kind of drivers. Um, we also have on the battery energy storage. We received 841 01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:10,079 borrowing authorization from town meeting a couple of years ago to to 842 01:05:07,359 --> 01:05:15,760 purchase and own ourselves a large battery in town. Um, our first battery, 843 01:05:13,039 --> 01:05:19,839 we were able to use that authorization to our advantage to negotiate a very 844 01:05:17,760 --> 01:05:24,240 favorable deal with very little risk for rateayers on our first battery. But the 845 01:05:22,720 --> 01:05:27,839 question still remains, which is that that battery still has a lot of 846 01:05:26,079 --> 01:05:32,000 limitations. It's not our battery. we have contractual rights to, you know, 847 01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:36,480 say when that battery may be charged or discharged, but it's very different than 848 01:05:33,520 --> 01:05:40,000 if it's our battery, right? So, we'd like to have some conversations about 849 01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:44,880 that and about when the timing is right to pull the trigger on um ownership of a 850 01:05:42,720 --> 01:05:49,280 battery and connection, you know, to our SCADA system and so that if in real time 851 01:05:47,599 --> 01:05:53,920 we have a problem, the battery could be used to dispatch, which would probably 852 01:05:51,760 --> 01:05:57,359 be a little different than how a vendor battery might work. or a vendor battery, 853 01:05:55,440 --> 01:06:01,839 we might be able to say stop charging or stop discharging, but only under certain 854 01:06:00,079 --> 01:06:06,319 emergency circumstances. But if we wanted to more smooth things out or 855 01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:10,880 regulate voltage or um get into different markets, uh then you know we 856 01:06:08,799 --> 01:06:15,039 would need our own battery to do that. I think sighting is a question. The WR 857 01:06:13,599 --> 01:06:19,599 Grace site is something we've talked about. Substations is something we've 858 01:06:17,039 --> 01:06:24,720 talked about. So um the timing of that is obviously germaine to the budget 859 01:06:21,359 --> 01:06:29,119 conversation. Um where we decide to underground next and what our plans are 860 01:06:26,559 --> 01:06:32,880 for the next few years is a relevant conversation. Remember that the 861 01:06:30,880 --> 01:06:36,799 underground fund is a restricted fund. Uh it's a percent and a half we collect 862 01:06:34,720 --> 01:06:42,160 on every bill and it's reserved specifically for the undergrounding of 863 01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:45,839 existing overhead territories. And um but that's it's always a conversation. 864 01:06:44,319 --> 01:06:50,400 and then things like EV charging stations or other um capital 865 01:06:48,160 --> 01:06:54,000 infrastructure that can be deployed. So, you know, it's we we know that these 866 01:06:52,319 --> 01:06:58,240 things get built out over time. It's a question of what's happening in in this 867 01:06:55,760 --> 01:07:03,920 particular year. Uh we typically project capital out. Uh we try to do 10 years. 868 01:07:01,039 --> 01:07:09,119 It's pretty um you know, you can predict certain things that far especially like 869 01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:12,400 buildings and roofs and HVAC, but other things it's hard to know. you know 870 01:07:10,880 --> 01:07:18,480 certain transformers should have a life of 30 to sometimes 60 or 70 years but 871 01:07:16,000 --> 01:07:21,599 other times um you know you find you have to repurpose a transformer and 872 01:07:20,000 --> 01:07:26,880 purchase a new one to go there because of uh changing requirements of that 873 01:07:24,319 --> 01:07:31,119 particular customer. So, um I think I'll pause there and just see um if people 874 01:07:29,440 --> 01:07:36,720 have any questions, >> any questions, comments? I mean, Jason, 875 01:07:34,319 --> 01:07:41,119 are any of these items in essence discretionary where you're kind of 876 01:07:38,160 --> 01:07:44,000 looking for some board perspective on them or is this just really more of an 877 01:07:42,880 --> 01:07:48,799 up for us? >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I guess if like if 878 01:07:46,240 --> 01:07:51,599 people have high level like this seems important, we should do it sooner than 879 01:07:50,160 --> 01:07:55,520 later, we can certainly take those comments now. But I think in the next 880 01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:59,200 conversation that we have when we actually start getting into the 881 01:07:56,640 --> 01:08:03,359 forecast, we can start talking about know because like the hard part is the 882 01:08:01,119 --> 01:08:06,640 board doesn't know the the full picture and the requirements and so they might 883 01:08:05,200 --> 01:08:09,520 say well this seems important but we're like well this is more important. The 884 01:08:07,760 --> 01:08:14,640 board's like oh you're right. So we want feedback like yes this is a good idea to 885 01:08:12,400 --> 01:08:17,679 pursue but I think once we get everything on the piece of paper then 886 01:08:16,159 --> 01:08:21,359 you can look at the totality and say well actually this is more important 887 01:08:19,359 --> 01:08:25,679 than this thing because you'll have more at your disposal but so welcome to take 888 01:08:23,440 --> 01:08:30,319 comments on things like this you know like yes or no we don't really like that 889 01:08:27,839 --> 01:08:37,159 but it's hard to just weigh in on you know everything at this point. 890 01:08:32,799 --> 01:08:37,159 » Any questions or comments? 891 01:08:38,719 --> 01:08:44,960 Warren, please. >> Yeah, I have a general comment. 892 01:08:41,759 --> 01:08:51,120 Listening to all of this, and it's two interconnected comments. It seems like 893 01:08:48,799 --> 01:08:59,679 there is going to be pressure on rates and likely 894 01:08:55,920 --> 01:09:04,319 a need to increase rates. As we know, there's great public concern about 895 01:09:02,640 --> 01:09:08,000 affordability, and I think we should be taking that 896 01:09:06,480 --> 01:09:14,400 seriously, and we should be looking at things that 897 01:09:11,839 --> 01:09:20,080 really I mean, if something we don't want to hobble the light plant, but if 898 01:09:17,199 --> 01:09:25,520 something is discretionary, next year might not be the year to do it. The one 899 01:09:22,480 --> 01:09:30,400 thing I was hearing so far that falls into that category was the project 900 01:09:28,319 --> 01:09:37,520 manager position, which seems like a good idea, but next year might not be 901 01:09:32,960 --> 01:09:42,319 the year to do it. Um, and then another somewhat related comment going back to 902 01:09:39,759 --> 01:09:50,640 what you said right at the beginning about delaying the increase in rates 903 01:09:47,600 --> 01:09:56,719 until April. I understand the logic of that. But if we're going to need to 904 01:09:54,080 --> 01:10:03,199 increase rates, are we going to end up in a situation where there's sticker 905 01:09:59,679 --> 01:10:09,040 shock in rates in April because you're trying to 906 01:10:05,040 --> 01:10:13,080 recover a year's worth of cost increases over just nine months? 907 01:10:15,199 --> 01:10:22,400 » Okay. Yeah, that's that's a fair question. I I mean I think we do need to 908 01:10:19,360 --> 01:10:27,520 know probably pretty soon um you know what the board's feeling is on the 909 01:10:24,480 --> 01:10:31,600 timing of phase two or any adjustments in rates. I think we're going to 910 01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:37,360 hopefully be discussing at the second September meeting um the PCA charge that 911 01:10:35,199 --> 01:10:41,360 I mentioned at the last not the last meeting because that was the OML 912 01:10:39,040 --> 01:10:47,199 discussion but the one before that um and so that might be uh the true up that 913 01:10:44,960 --> 01:10:52,239 can happen separate from the time of day rates so that people don't conflate 914 01:10:49,120 --> 01:10:56,880 phase two with being higher rates but yeah I think we do need some guidance on 915 01:10:54,000 --> 01:11:02,320 the timing and what board members feel >> well at least in my opin I it's hard to 916 01:10:59,120 --> 01:11:10,239 give guidance without talking of knowing what's the level of additional revenue 917 01:11:05,920 --> 01:11:18,239 you need. That that's really seems like >> the crux of the matter. If the revenue 918 01:11:14,400 --> 01:11:25,440 needs are modest, then recovering them over 9 months is okay. If the revenue 919 01:11:21,679 --> 01:11:29,679 need increases are significant, then it's a problem only covering them in 920 01:11:28,239 --> 01:11:35,199 nine months, >> right? 921 01:11:32,400 --> 01:11:40,159 » Thank Thank you, Warren. Chris, >> yeah, building on that, I certainly from 922 01:11:37,920 --> 01:11:46,800 an execution side of things, it's nice to just do a rate change once. Uh but uh 923 01:11:44,400 --> 01:11:50,960 I worry that if we've got a big bump in rates happening along with the roll out 924 01:11:48,800 --> 01:11:54,800 of the phase two of time of day that people just think it's raising because 925 01:11:52,960 --> 01:12:02,159 of the time of day and we get pushed back on time of day. Um, so, um, it 926 01:12:00,320 --> 01:12:06,560 there's that. I guess I'm not sure what I I guess the best answer, but but I 927 01:12:04,719 --> 01:12:11,040 think we want to think about making sure we're not, 928 01:12:08,560 --> 01:12:14,920 um, turning sentiment against time of day in advertently. 929 01:12:16,560 --> 01:12:23,120 Agreed and understood. I think that was has been a message from the board for a 930 01:12:20,960 --> 01:12:26,640 long time, which is that we want to be careful about how we do things 931 01:12:25,040 --> 01:12:32,400 surrounding time of day because we want to give it a fair shot and not have 932 01:12:28,719 --> 01:12:39,159 people um incorrectly conflate time of day rates existence with, you know, 933 01:12:35,199 --> 01:12:39,159 higher electricity costs. 934 01:12:40,000 --> 01:12:47,199 All right. Well, I'll keep I'll keep going. Um 935 01:12:44,719 --> 01:12:52,800 see here so the next uh budget driver I've got is operations and maintenance. 936 01:12:49,520 --> 01:12:57,199 We are seeing um higher costs for transformers and other distribution 937 01:12:54,480 --> 01:13:01,280 system resources. Um they are climbing at higher than the the rate of inflation 938 01:12:58,960 --> 01:13:08,080 and this is really uh probably a supply and demand issue. We saw this during 939 01:13:03,360 --> 01:13:14,000 COVID. there were some um relaxing of um of quantities of product that helped um 940 01:13:11,679 --> 01:13:19,520 kind of bring costs or at least not have them continue to rise astronomically. Uh 941 01:13:16,800 --> 01:13:24,080 but we are seeing more people uh whether stockpiling or places building out as 942 01:13:22,400 --> 01:13:27,199 electrification continues. There's just more and more of a need and there are 943 01:13:25,360 --> 01:13:32,320 not a lot of manufacturers of some of this equipment. Uh further we're seeing 944 01:13:29,600 --> 01:13:36,560 tariffs. Um and tariffs implemented at kind of the last minute because a tariff 945 01:13:34,560 --> 01:13:40,239 is a tax. A lot of agreements say that taxes can be passed on to customers. And 946 01:13:38,560 --> 01:13:44,400 so we're seeing situations where we've ordered equipment and then after we 947 01:13:42,239 --> 01:13:50,480 receive it, we get a additional bill for a tariff that was levied on that um in 948 01:13:47,280 --> 01:13:56,159 the process of delivery. So um you know it is a tight time. We do try to um kind 949 01:13:53,679 --> 01:14:03,120 of purchase what we need, keep on on hand enough uh material and stock to 950 01:14:00,080 --> 01:14:07,840 address issues as well as respond expediently to, you know, requests for 951 01:14:05,360 --> 01:14:12,640 new service or upgrades. Uh and we also try to occasionally purchase um larger 952 01:14:10,640 --> 01:14:16,480 amounts of things to kind of get better pricing. Uh I know there's a a bid out 953 01:14:15,199 --> 01:14:24,320 there right now to get some of that equipment. Um I mentioned the 40B. So 954 01:14:19,760 --> 01:14:28,800 Novo, um this project there at U 292 or something Baker AB has broken ground. 955 01:14:26,640 --> 01:14:33,360 Their building permit was issued. Uh there's going to be a couple hundred new 956 01:14:30,239 --> 01:14:38,719 units out there. Um we've ordered meters for that already. There's going to be 957 01:14:35,600 --> 01:14:43,360 another one Alta at the on Forest Ridge right next to one of our substations. 958 01:14:40,800 --> 01:14:48,960 That's a few hundred units. Um there's going to be uh that that might be a next 959 01:14:46,239 --> 01:14:53,280 year purchase. Obviously the um the prison and MCI conquered property 960 01:14:51,440 --> 01:14:57,199 probably won't be developed you know next calendar year probably won't drive 961 01:14:54,800 --> 01:15:00,960 the budget then but obviously as you see this growth that's that is a pretty 962 01:14:58,800 --> 01:15:04,800 large purchase not just for meters but all the supporting equipment and 963 01:15:02,400 --> 01:15:09,440 installation and it is new load is new customers it does kind of have an 964 01:15:06,960 --> 01:15:13,760 overall downward pressure on rates but in the more short term it's equipment 965 01:15:11,199 --> 01:15:18,719 and materials we have to buy um we have not done tree trimming at 966 01:15:17,040 --> 01:15:23,040 this year. We did a good amount last year. We're we're thinking about doing 967 01:15:21,120 --> 01:15:26,719 something similar to what public works does and what some other communities do, 968 01:15:24,480 --> 01:15:32,719 which is get a three-year agreement. The tree bid process is a lot of work on 969 01:15:28,960 --> 01:15:38,080 staff. And if we could identify um kind of a rotating plan of a three-year 970 01:15:35,679 --> 01:15:43,600 trimming where because historically we had a four-year plan and um we did see 971 01:15:41,280 --> 01:15:48,080 several outages this year as a result of limbs falling on lines even though we 972 01:15:46,159 --> 01:15:53,199 just did exhaustive tree trimming over about half the town. um it might help 973 01:15:51,360 --> 01:15:58,320 lower costs, especially administrative costs on doing some of these agreements 974 01:15:55,440 --> 01:16:04,480 and will definitely lead to um more higher reliability of service. Um and 975 01:16:01,440 --> 01:16:08,880 then you know last year, oh I forgot to in parenthesis here, but last year our 976 01:16:06,320 --> 01:16:14,080 rebates um were forecasted to be about $770,000. 977 01:16:10,719 --> 01:16:18,080 And we are trying to help um or at least prepare for a more detailed discussion 978 01:16:16,239 --> 01:16:23,679 with the board about our rebate program so that we can have better um data to 979 01:16:21,280 --> 01:16:27,840 support what our rebates are doing in terms of decarbonization 980 01:16:25,520 --> 01:16:32,239 and um and what kind of impact we think that they're having on decision-m among 981 01:16:30,480 --> 01:16:37,360 our customers who are are using the rebates. So, we want to make sure that 982 01:16:34,239 --> 01:16:42,080 the board can help us prioritize rebates that they think are particularly 983 01:16:38,800 --> 01:16:45,520 effective and uh maybe, you know, divert more money toward those rebates that 984 01:16:43,679 --> 01:16:50,560 seem to be popular and super effective at achieving uh light plant, light board 985 01:16:48,239 --> 01:16:54,080 or town goals. And then, you know, maybe if we find some that are underperforming 986 01:16:52,400 --> 01:16:58,159 expectations, we need to shift money out of there. Um, 987 01:16:56,400 --> 01:17:03,520 so I'll pause there and see if there's any questions about some of these O andM 988 01:17:00,239 --> 01:17:07,000 categories. Any questions or comments from board members? 989 01:17:09,280 --> 01:17:15,440 » I guess Jason, I really encourage you to um as you suggested for these rebate 990 01:17:13,760 --> 01:17:20,159 programs, I think the board would benefit from some additional analysis in 991 01:17:18,000 --> 01:17:25,280 terms of their effectiveness. Um who's benefiting from them? Um you know, what 992 01:17:23,040 --> 01:17:31,120 are the specific objectives that are being furthered? So 993 01:17:27,440 --> 01:17:33,520 » yeah, agreed. Um and then last 994 01:17:31,760 --> 01:17:38,159 » I was just going to sorry before you move on um when are you expecting that 995 01:17:35,760 --> 01:17:43,120 discussion to happen? >> Um that's a good question. I think that 996 01:17:40,560 --> 01:17:48,320 uh it really depends on what we can fit in at the this kind of tail end of the 997 01:17:46,159 --> 01:17:52,480 year with the financial um requirements that we have and the rates. like if if 998 01:17:50,320 --> 01:17:56,800 rates are going to get set this year then it might be tight but u we can 999 01:17:55,120 --> 01:18:00,960 certainly have more conversation about it and we can certainly also work 1000 01:17:59,040 --> 01:18:05,840 offline collaboratively. I just don't know how much time the board will have 1001 01:18:03,440 --> 01:18:11,360 to engage in collaborative discussion, but um we're certainly happy to bring 1002 01:18:08,560 --> 01:18:15,360 some folks into the fold and um you know start having those conversations with 1003 01:18:13,360 --> 01:18:20,120 maybe one or two board members similar to the um bill redesign. 1004 01:18:23,920 --> 01:18:34,080 » Can I chip in here? >> Yes, he called on you. No. Well, 1005 01:18:30,400 --> 01:18:36,719 » sorry. Um, yeah. So, you're >> just because we are trying to move on 1006 01:18:35,440 --> 01:18:39,600 and we are going to have an opportunity for kind of liaison comments, but go 1007 01:18:39,199 --> 01:18:43,679 ahead. >> I I just have something that's like 1008 01:18:41,360 --> 01:18:47,920 relevant to the comment at the the topic at the time and coming back to it at at 1009 01:18:46,560 --> 01:18:53,280 the end of the meeting or whatever just seems like out of step. So, I'm just 1010 01:18:50,000 --> 01:18:58,640 going to try to kick it in here. Um, as far as the the uh rebate programs, 1011 01:18:56,159 --> 01:19:04,719 anybody who's operating, you know, in an Eversource region sees a bill and they 1012 01:19:02,080 --> 01:19:10,000 see the Massave, you know, regulatory framework cost and they they see that on 1013 01:19:07,280 --> 01:19:14,960 their bill, would it be a thing as you're doing billing redesign to just 1014 01:19:12,719 --> 01:19:19,840 indicate that this much of our budget or this much of what your bill is paying 1015 01:19:16,560 --> 01:19:24,960 for right now today is going towards our rebate program so that people see that 1016 01:19:22,480 --> 01:19:31,040 that the money that we are allocating in a big chunk in our budget $770,000 1017 01:19:28,560 --> 01:19:36,400 shows up on your bill as a buck or whatever whatever it is. This is your 1018 01:19:33,199 --> 01:19:42,000 you know this is your contribution to uh to our our energy goals. So they they 1019 01:19:39,760 --> 01:19:46,239 see a number on their bill and and it's broken out for the customer. That's just 1020 01:19:44,159 --> 01:19:48,800 a thought. I'm I'm just kicking that out. 1021 01:19:47,360 --> 01:19:52,960 » Yeah. I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole, but we did have that 1022 01:19:50,400 --> 01:19:57,360 before. It was called the CARES charge. Um, it's like conservation and something 1023 01:19:55,199 --> 01:20:00,880 and Laura could probably speak as to when it appeared and when it went away, 1024 01:19:58,960 --> 01:20:05,920 but it was a I believe it was a board decision to stop, you know, delay 1025 01:20:04,320 --> 01:20:09,679 charge, but we can certainly have that conversation as we come through the 1026 01:20:07,440 --> 01:20:12,960 build redesign process to see what people want to see. 1027 01:20:11,040 --> 01:20:17,440 » And and Jason, just just looking at time, um, seems we need to 1028 01:20:15,679 --> 01:20:22,480 » Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I I can be very brief on this just that um the there's 1029 01:20:20,400 --> 01:20:26,719 not a lot of capital for broadband in the upcoming year with the exception of 1030 01:20:24,320 --> 01:20:31,360 maybe a vehicle replacement. Uh not certain exactly what year but and then 1031 01:20:29,199 --> 01:20:34,880 you know planning their uh capital expansion projects into new service 1032 01:20:33,440 --> 01:20:39,440 territories similar to the one that we discussed earlier. Uh but really that 1033 01:20:36,960 --> 01:20:45,520 was all I was going to cover on on broadband. So, um, so with that, John, 1034 01:20:42,320 --> 01:20:49,360 do you feel ready to move on or do you >> Yeah, if there's any other comments or 1035 01:20:47,199 --> 01:20:52,800 questions from board members in general, it's it's been a really useful 1036 01:20:51,120 --> 01:20:58,159 discussion. Thank you for this, Jason. And um, you know, I feel like board 1037 01:20:56,640 --> 01:21:03,040 members have offered some really good comments which hopefully have helped you 1038 01:21:00,480 --> 01:21:08,800 with providing some direction. >> Yeah, extremely helpful. 1039 01:21:06,159 --> 01:21:11,760 All right. So, are you ready, John, to share? 1040 01:21:09,520 --> 01:21:18,960 » Yes. Next agenda item we have is essentially um lightboard governance. Um 1041 01:21:15,280 --> 01:21:23,840 I know Warren has been uh meeting with uh select board and other members on 1042 01:21:21,040 --> 01:21:28,640 this matter. Um and it's obviously something that uh you know affects us as 1043 01:21:26,320 --> 01:21:31,920 lightboard members. Um my understanding is Jason, you're going to be performing 1044 01:21:30,239 --> 01:21:38,400 a presentation. >> Yes. Um and and that was a good segue, 1045 01:21:34,320 --> 01:21:41,760 John, and to mention that um the the the governance structure for the light plant 1046 01:21:39,920 --> 01:21:46,880 and light board in conquered is somewhat unique and um it was uh the town manager 1047 01:21:45,199 --> 01:21:52,080 brought that to the attention of the select board a few years ago, a few 1048 01:21:49,040 --> 01:21:56,880 years ago and created a goal uh for herself or the select board created a 1049 01:21:53,760 --> 01:22:00,719 goal for her to study that topic and uh kind of make recommendations toward a 1050 01:21:58,560 --> 01:22:05,760 resolution for it. So, it's been a a very public goal of hers for a few 1051 01:22:03,120 --> 01:22:10,880 years. And um one of the things that she did was asked a task force of people to 1052 01:22:08,239 --> 01:22:15,040 help advise her um through that process. And to do that, she used a current and 1053 01:22:13,520 --> 01:22:19,199 former light board member, a current and former select board member, a retired 1054 01:22:17,360 --> 01:22:24,880 general manager from another light plant, um, who also had been an a deputy 1055 01:22:21,920 --> 01:22:28,719 town manager, uh, and myself to help do the research and look at the background, 1056 01:22:26,719 --> 01:22:32,960 figure out how we got where we are, what other people do, and kind of what we can 1057 01:22:30,560 --> 01:22:37,040 do to maybe standardize and reduce some of the liabilities that we have in our 1058 01:22:34,800 --> 01:22:40,159 current governance structure. So um the presentation I'm going to give is very 1059 01:22:38,560 --> 01:22:44,880 similar to the one that was given to the select board and for that reason I may 1060 01:22:42,239 --> 01:22:48,719 abridge a little bit but u please raise your hand if you have questions in a 1061 01:22:46,880 --> 01:22:53,360 particular area. I think the point of this is to present an overview of the 1062 01:22:50,800 --> 01:22:58,000 governance to talk about the process that's underway and then to allow the 1063 01:22:55,440 --> 01:23:02,239 board to offer feedback and uh maybe address a few specific questions that uh 1064 01:23:00,480 --> 01:23:08,400 would be useful for staff and for the town manager during this time. 1065 01:23:04,880 --> 01:23:14,239 Um so uh turning to state law chapter 164 um it's very clear about the the 1066 01:23:12,320 --> 01:23:18,880 governance structure for light plants and it says that um a dedicated 1067 01:23:17,040 --> 01:23:24,320 lightboard and a general manager will have the operational authorities to kind 1068 01:23:21,280 --> 01:23:29,760 of run a light plant. Um and you're going to see those those two sections in 1069 01:23:26,400 --> 01:23:32,159 a second, but just know that uh it it says, you know, if there's a light 1070 01:23:31,120 --> 01:23:35,520 board, they're going to appoint the general manager. the general manager is 1071 01:23:33,679 --> 01:23:39,600 going to run the plant and it's a distinct, you know, quasi commercial 1072 01:23:37,520 --> 01:23:43,920 operation that exists as both a town department and a completely separate uh 1073 01:23:42,239 --> 01:23:51,280 enterprise fund that should not be comingling funds with the town. The town 1074 01:23:46,800 --> 01:23:54,880 charter, however, um says that there's a a moderator who can appoint a fincom, 1075 01:23:53,520 --> 01:23:58,960 there's a select board who can appoint these few committees and boards, and 1076 01:23:57,199 --> 01:24:04,000 then there's a town manager who appoints everyone else. and that everyone else 1077 01:24:01,520 --> 01:24:07,920 language um leaves it open to interpretation that that includes uh 1078 01:24:06,159 --> 01:24:14,320 whoever leads the light plant and including the light board. So that is 1079 01:24:10,719 --> 01:24:18,639 kind of the the discrepancy or the concern that that we have in our current 1080 01:24:16,159 --> 01:24:22,000 structure is that uh state law says one thing and the town charter which is 1081 01:24:20,320 --> 01:24:25,600 adopted as a special act of the legislature says another thing and 1082 01:24:23,360 --> 01:24:28,719 there's a bit of ambiguity and conflict because the charter itself doesn't 1083 01:24:27,280 --> 01:24:34,400 mention the late plant or the light board in any way. 1084 01:24:30,480 --> 01:24:38,400 So the specific statute um says that a town that has established or votes to 1085 01:24:36,400 --> 01:24:43,920 establish a gas or electric plant may elect a municipal light board consisting 1086 01:24:41,120 --> 01:24:48,800 of three or five members. So the may elect um means that you do not have to 1087 01:24:47,040 --> 01:24:53,040 have a lightboard. You can certainly have a select board who operates as a 1088 01:24:50,719 --> 01:24:57,440 lightboard because as you can imagine >> you want to share your screen on your 1089 01:24:54,880 --> 01:25:00,320 presentation. I I I've seen this presentation so I 1090 01:24:59,280 --> 01:25:04,159 know oh he's going through his presentation but we're not seeing it. 1091 01:25:02,239 --> 01:25:11,040 » Please forgive me. Please forgive me. I I failed to share the screen. So yes. Um 1092 01:25:08,320 --> 01:25:19,760 so that was the first slide. We're here. Um so uh yes uh anyway the the May says 1093 01:25:16,239 --> 01:25:24,960 that a town may elect a lightboard. Um in contrast you can imagine there are 1094 01:25:22,080 --> 01:25:31,360 very small communities some that have four to 600 meters um who have their 1095 01:25:29,120 --> 01:25:37,120 select board act as their lightboard and that is an option as well. So um that 1096 01:25:35,280 --> 01:25:40,320 lightboard has the authority to construct purchase or lease a gas or 1097 01:25:38,800 --> 01:25:45,679 electric plant in accordance with the town and maintain and operate it. So 1098 01:25:42,880 --> 01:25:51,360 after that it says that either the mayor of a city, the selectman or a municipal 1099 01:25:48,320 --> 01:25:55,920 light board if there is one um appoints a manager and that manager has certain 1100 01:25:53,760 --> 01:26:01,120 responsibilities and that includes the complete operation of the plant. It 1101 01:25:58,239 --> 01:26:07,440 includes the purchase of supplies so procurement. It includes the employment 1102 01:26:03,679 --> 01:26:11,600 of attorneys and agents and staff um and a lot of other responsibilities. Now in 1103 01:26:09,360 --> 01:26:14,960 in conquered those other responsibilities like procurement, 1104 01:26:13,040 --> 01:26:19,760 hiring and firing all rest with the town manager and and it states that clearly 1105 01:26:16,719 --> 01:26:22,880 in the charter. So basically you've now got the town manager who can do all 1106 01:26:21,280 --> 01:26:26,320 these things and the general manager of a light plant who can do these things. 1107 01:26:24,480 --> 01:26:29,679 And so conquered had to find a way to reconcile these things. And I'll tell 1108 01:26:27,920 --> 01:26:34,480 you what they did in a second, but just as a brief history, know that the light 1109 01:26:32,560 --> 01:26:40,639 the light plant was established by the town in 1898 after two successive votes. 1110 01:26:38,480 --> 01:26:46,159 And at that time there was a three member elected lightboard all the way 1111 01:26:42,880 --> 01:26:52,239 until the 1950s. Um the mid-50s it shifted and what happened was in the 40s 1112 01:26:49,280 --> 01:26:56,400 after the second world war conquer's number of elected officials had 1113 01:26:53,840 --> 01:27:01,280 skyrocketed. There were something like 60 elected officials in total because 1114 01:26:59,440 --> 01:27:05,760 you had weights and measures. You had tree wardens. You had all these people 1115 01:27:02,960 --> 01:27:09,679 that were elected. And conquered was growing. And all of these people, the 1116 01:27:07,280 --> 01:27:13,679 board of health, they were hiring staff. They were setting employment policies 1117 01:27:11,199 --> 01:27:18,480 and pay schedules and rules and accounting of their funds and all of it 1118 01:27:16,080 --> 01:27:22,400 was separate. And so there was a strong desire to centralize and increase 1119 01:27:20,560 --> 01:27:26,639 efficiency. So the town said, "You know what? let's figure out what committees 1120 01:27:24,320 --> 01:27:31,040 have to be elected and what what roles have to be elected and let's really pair 1121 01:27:28,480 --> 01:27:34,239 this down. They saw the may elect and they said well it looks like the light 1122 01:27:32,320 --> 01:27:38,400 board can be elected or not. So we'll just leave them on this list over here 1123 01:27:36,400 --> 01:27:41,199 and they left it with the town moderator the school committee and the select 1124 01:27:39,600 --> 01:27:47,360 board as the only elected officials in conquered and everybody else was 1125 01:27:43,120 --> 01:27:52,480 appointed. So um at that time in the 50s after the charter was formally adopted 1126 01:27:50,880 --> 01:27:57,280 and the town manager form of government was set here in conquered um the light 1127 01:27:55,120 --> 01:28:01,520 board flipped to an appointed board and they were appointed by the town manager 1128 01:27:58,960 --> 01:28:05,280 and they have been ever since. In the early 80s you know people were pointing 1129 01:28:03,520 --> 01:28:08,880 out that there were some of these issues that it says state law says this but 1130 01:28:07,760 --> 01:28:12,639 we're doing something a little different. So to kind of smooth things 1131 01:28:10,639 --> 01:28:16,480 over, the town adopts an administrative code which just says, "Well, we have a 1132 01:28:14,880 --> 01:28:18,880 good solution for this. The town manager has all these authorities. The general 1133 01:28:17,760 --> 01:28:21,840 manager has all these authorities. They're actually just the same person. 1134 01:28:20,320 --> 01:28:25,360 We'll just call the town manager the general manager and we'll create an 1135 01:28:24,000 --> 01:28:28,719 agreement between the light board, between the select board, and between 1136 01:28:26,560 --> 01:28:31,679 the town manager to kind of, you know, understand what everybody's 1137 01:28:29,760 --> 01:28:37,280 responsibilities are here in conquered because they're unique. So the 1138 01:28:34,719 --> 01:28:42,880 administrative code exists for a while but um it did ruffle some feathers. In 1139 01:28:40,719 --> 01:28:47,199 the early 90s there was a charter review and so there was a committee called by 1140 01:28:45,120 --> 01:28:49,920 the select board to open up the charter and say okay we're going to look at this 1141 01:28:48,480 --> 01:28:53,360 and let's figure out all the things we want to do all the changes we might need 1142 01:28:51,360 --> 01:28:57,120 to make. And one of the big things that came out of it was that the light board 1143 01:28:54,880 --> 01:29:00,880 at the time expressed serious concerns about the governance structure and 1144 01:28:58,800 --> 01:29:06,560 objections that some of their statutory rights as a lightboard were being um 1145 01:29:04,080 --> 01:29:10,239 taken away in this governance structure we had in conquered. And while those 1146 01:29:08,719 --> 01:29:15,199 concerns were documented, nothing really changed. the charter or the um the 1147 01:29:13,199 --> 01:29:20,159 administrative code was amended and it has been amended a few times as recently 1148 01:29:17,120 --> 01:29:24,560 as 2008. But the issue of governance was really never fully resolved in that 1149 01:29:22,000 --> 01:29:29,679 discrepancy about who is appointing and how the two different groups are um 1150 01:29:27,600 --> 01:29:36,239 separated or connected was was never fully resolved. So um what what we see 1151 01:29:34,480 --> 01:29:40,719 here is some snippets from the administrative code. And a couple key 1152 01:29:38,639 --> 01:29:44,719 ones to point out was it says that the municipal lightboard is responsible to 1153 01:29:42,639 --> 01:29:49,280 the town manager and has the authority and responsibility delegated to it by 1154 01:29:46,639 --> 01:29:52,320 the town manager. But somewhere else there's a state law that says they 1155 01:29:50,800 --> 01:29:56,800 actually have these particular requirements. And we've got a code which 1156 01:29:54,480 --> 01:30:00,880 is a document signed by nobody here today that says that no in fact the 1157 01:29:59,199 --> 01:30:04,480 board has these responsibilities. So there's a bit of a discrepancy there. 1158 01:30:02,719 --> 01:30:09,120 And then the second one was even though the light board is responsible for um 1159 01:30:06,880 --> 01:30:15,040 appointing a general manager who has the authority to manage staff um the 1160 01:30:12,080 --> 01:30:19,120 administrative code says that the uh town manager agrees to consult with the 1161 01:30:17,040 --> 01:30:23,280 light board prior to uh and during the course of selection of a permanent 1162 01:30:20,800 --> 01:30:26,239 director. So you know instead of the board doing it the board can certainly 1163 01:30:24,800 --> 01:30:31,360 advise the town manager but the town manager has appointing authority. So 1164 01:30:28,719 --> 01:30:35,600 what is happening around us? So what you'll see here is if you look at that 1165 01:30:32,960 --> 01:30:40,800 pie chart in the middle um there are about 40 MLPS in the state 1166 01:30:38,320 --> 01:30:45,120 and 35 out of 40 have at least a majority elected lightboard. They're 1167 01:30:42,960 --> 01:30:49,199 either fully elected or they're majority elected and then there are five who are 1168 01:30:47,360 --> 01:30:54,400 appointed. Conquered is one of those five. It's really important to note that 1169 01:30:51,760 --> 01:30:59,840 the other four uh to talk about those two of them have mayors um and the mayor 1170 01:30:57,840 --> 01:31:05,840 is the appointing authority and the other two have specific mentions in 1171 01:31:02,880 --> 01:31:10,800 their charter um or separate legislation of how the appointing will work in those 1172 01:31:09,040 --> 01:31:14,639 communities. So the town manager is the appointing authority. Those two 1173 01:31:12,480 --> 01:31:20,320 communities are Danvers and Shrewsbury. and it very explicitly lays out that the 1174 01:31:17,120 --> 01:31:23,520 town those towns have voted to say we don't want to do the elected thing even 1175 01:31:22,080 --> 01:31:26,880 though the state law says it we want to adopt a different law and we want to say 1176 01:31:25,440 --> 01:31:32,639 that the town manager is the appointing authority so Cochran is singular in that 1177 01:31:30,480 --> 01:31:36,080 we we are appointing but we have never really received explicit word from the 1178 01:31:34,400 --> 01:31:41,920 town that that is their preferred method of appointing the lightboard um 1179 01:31:38,800 --> 01:31:45,840 » excuse me Jason you've never conquer's never received explicit authority from 1180 01:31:44,480 --> 01:31:50,000 the state. >> Correct. 1181 01:31:48,560 --> 01:31:53,520 » Right. Because there's never been special legislation. 1182 01:31:51,360 --> 01:31:58,400 » Yeah. >> Yeah. You could argue that by adopting 1183 01:31:55,920 --> 01:32:04,480 the town charter, um even though it was ambiguous, that there was an intention 1184 01:32:00,320 --> 01:32:10,000 by the the people at the time. Um but we don't really know that for certain. Um 1185 01:32:08,159 --> 01:32:15,120 and then you can just see here a couple other metrics in terms of the number of 1186 01:32:12,480 --> 01:32:18,480 um board members. You see they're vastly the vast majority is three or five 1187 01:32:16,800 --> 01:32:26,080 members. Um this is a snippet from that charter 1188 01:32:22,400 --> 01:32:29,679 review in the 1990s and it this is a a memo from the charter review committee 1189 01:32:27,679 --> 01:32:35,120 to the select board at the time board of selectmen. um basically letting them 1190 01:32:32,719 --> 01:32:39,600 know that the board's position is that the administrative code um is illegally 1191 01:32:37,760 --> 01:32:44,639 preempting many of the obligations and responsibility that's given to the light 1192 01:32:41,440 --> 01:32:49,520 board in chapter 164 of uh math general law. Um and so there there's a whole 1193 01:32:47,440 --> 01:32:53,679 history here. Um some of these documents we've put on a governance page on our 1194 01:32:51,440 --> 01:32:58,480 website. So if you go to conquer.govlp /tlp and then look for governance on the 1195 01:32:56,719 --> 01:33:04,800 lefth hand side there. Some of these documents are there and we'll be posting 1196 01:33:01,120 --> 01:33:09,679 more um as time goes on as well. So there's a couple slides about like 1197 01:33:07,440 --> 01:33:13,280 why is this conversation happening? Um we can certainly read these but in the 1198 01:33:11,120 --> 01:33:17,600 interest of time I'll just say that um the light plant has very different 1199 01:33:15,199 --> 01:33:22,080 requirements from town departments. Um the light plant is a commercial utility 1200 01:33:19,600 --> 01:33:25,840 that competes with other utilities. The town can decide at any time that the 1201 01:33:24,000 --> 01:33:29,920 utility is not meeting its needs and decide to sell the plant. It does belong 1202 01:33:27,840 --> 01:33:35,520 to the people of conquered and so as such we we can we have different pools 1203 01:33:32,560 --> 01:33:38,880 of competition of personnel. Uh and we really are competing with other light 1204 01:33:36,880 --> 01:33:44,159 plants and investor own utilities which operate all very distinctly from their 1205 01:33:41,199 --> 01:33:47,520 towns. Um and so uh that is one of the biggest reasons and again as I stated 1206 01:33:46,000 --> 01:33:51,520 it's been a select board and town manager goal for a few years to look at 1207 01:33:49,440 --> 01:33:55,920 this and try to bring some permanent resolution. 1208 01:33:53,520 --> 01:34:00,719 Um and here is talking about the labor market and the size of the light plant. 1209 01:33:57,840 --> 01:34:06,960 Um which uh though power supply makes up the vast majority of our budget um you 1210 01:34:04,080 --> 01:34:10,880 know 20ome million dollars our the size of our budget in our organization you 1211 01:34:08,800 --> 01:34:15,120 know is larger than the general government appropriation which includes 1212 01:34:12,320 --> 01:34:21,679 police, fire, public works um and all the other town departments. Uh so 1213 01:34:19,040 --> 01:34:24,480 in terms of where we are today and what the town manager has done, I mentioned 1214 01:34:23,280 --> 01:34:29,520 that working group and I kind of mentioned their uh the the people on it 1215 01:34:27,360 --> 01:34:33,280 and they were asked to basically let's look at what other people are doing. 1216 01:34:31,040 --> 01:34:37,040 Let's look at the charter. Let's talk to legal counsel and let's understand um 1217 01:34:35,440 --> 01:34:40,960 some of the pitfalls and some of the benefits of the way that we do things 1218 01:34:38,560 --> 01:34:46,639 and let's make a recommendation. So that group um did issue a recommendation and 1219 01:34:43,920 --> 01:34:53,280 this is what it was. It was a suggestion to ask town meeting to um vote to 1220 01:34:51,360 --> 01:34:58,159 solidify a new governance structure and and what they would be doing is asking 1221 01:34:55,679 --> 01:35:02,400 the legislature to adopt uh special legislation that would solidify the 1222 01:35:00,719 --> 01:35:06,080 method of appointment of the light board and then allowing the lightboard to have 1223 01:35:04,080 --> 01:35:11,920 the full statuto responsibility in chapter 164. And the recommendation was 1224 01:35:09,199 --> 01:35:17,120 a five member board that's majority elected with the other two members being 1225 01:35:14,159 --> 01:35:21,520 appointed by the town manager. Um if that passes town meeting then it would 1226 01:35:20,000 --> 01:35:25,520 go through the special legislation process which can take a year or two 1227 01:35:23,440 --> 01:35:30,080 depending on the legislature and then once certified then there would be at 1228 01:35:27,760 --> 01:35:34,800 the next town election the three lightboard members would be on the 1229 01:35:31,760 --> 01:35:38,400 docket to be elected. Um I'll pause here. 1230 01:35:36,800 --> 01:35:42,159 Chris. >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm wondering, we have a lot 1231 01:35:40,480 --> 01:35:46,560 of overlap between the light board and the town now and all kinds of things, 1232 01:35:43,760 --> 01:35:52,639 you know, just for example, the uh stormwater charges are on our bills and 1233 01:35:50,400 --> 01:35:58,800 uh so does this change any of those kinds of relationships? 1234 01:35:54,960 --> 01:36:03,360 um the light plant incurs a lot of um you know uh services on behalf of the 1235 01:36:01,520 --> 01:36:07,040 town or from the town and and pays for them and I think that all of that is 1236 01:36:05,440 --> 01:36:12,000 completely permissible and something you see in all other municipal light plants 1237 01:36:09,280 --> 01:36:15,920 where uh any indirect costs borne by the utility are paid by the utility and any 1238 01:36:14,159 --> 01:36:21,520 support that the utility gives to other town departments is also compensated in 1239 01:36:18,400 --> 01:36:24,960 in reverse. So um today we bill the public works departments for the 1240 01:36:22,960 --> 01:36:29,120 services that we offer and I would think that this would have no impact on that. 1241 01:36:27,280 --> 01:36:32,960 Um as Dean mentioned in a previous meeting about the billprint there are 1242 01:36:30,960 --> 01:36:39,199 conversations for other reasons entirely which is really just more um questions 1243 01:36:35,280 --> 01:36:42,639 about cost and complexity as well as um maybe some of the systems that are in 1244 01:36:41,199 --> 01:36:46,080 place with the different fiscal years and the financial obligations for 1245 01:36:44,239 --> 01:36:49,920 reporting. questions of what, you know, whether it makes sense to continue a 1246 01:36:47,840 --> 01:36:54,239 consolidated utility bill. But there would be no concern with, you know, 1247 01:36:52,719 --> 01:36:58,480 light plants that are operating more independent from the town having um 1248 01:36:56,639 --> 01:37:01,520 shared resources and shared interest. That will always be the case. We will 1249 01:37:00,000 --> 01:37:04,880 always be owned by the town. We will always be considered a municipal 1250 01:37:03,280 --> 01:37:08,080 department, right? We are a department of the town. We just operate different 1251 01:37:06,480 --> 01:37:11,239 from every other department because of the statute. 1252 01:37:12,880 --> 01:37:19,360 Um so in terms of that governance structure and what it specifically looks 1253 01:37:17,040 --> 01:37:22,960 like um this is an illustration that we put together. So on the left hand side 1254 01:37:21,040 --> 01:37:26,880 you can see the different levels of responsibility. You've got the citizens 1255 01:37:24,560 --> 01:37:31,280 who elect a select board. The select board hires or appoints a town manager. 1256 01:37:29,600 --> 01:37:35,360 And today that town manager is appointing both the light board as well 1257 01:37:33,679 --> 01:37:40,960 as the director of the utility. That's me today. Under the proposed governance 1258 01:37:38,320 --> 01:37:45,119 structure, the citizens would elect the select board who would appoint the town 1259 01:37:42,480 --> 01:37:48,880 manager. The citizen would also elect three of the five lightboard members and 1260 01:37:47,440 --> 01:37:54,159 then the other two lightboard members would be appointed by the town manager. 1261 01:37:51,280 --> 01:37:58,400 And um then that combined lightboard, all five members would appoint a general 1262 01:37:56,400 --> 01:38:01,920 manager. And the general manager and the lightboard in terms of what their 1263 01:38:00,159 --> 01:38:05,520 responsibilities would be, it's exactly what the statute says. They have the 1264 01:38:03,679 --> 01:38:10,880 authority to run the plant. The general manager has the authority to hire agents 1265 01:38:07,920 --> 01:38:14,239 and staff and um you know the board sets rates that many of the responsibilities 1266 01:38:12,639 --> 01:38:18,480 that the board has today are the responsibilities that the board would 1267 01:38:15,600 --> 01:38:23,119 have. You have to file a DPU return. You have to vote rates. Um you have to vote 1268 01:38:20,800 --> 01:38:26,560 a forecast. Uh you know those types of responsibilities those are inherent in a 1269 01:38:24,880 --> 01:38:30,560 lightboard and that's what happens in every other community. The difference 1270 01:38:29,280 --> 01:38:34,560 here is that there's some direct representation on the lightboard from 1271 01:38:32,320 --> 01:38:38,159 the rateayers and the citizens of the town. 1272 01:38:36,159 --> 01:38:42,960 So the question is, you know, well, why a blended board? There's only a small 1273 01:38:40,960 --> 01:38:47,520 handful of other blended boards out there. Um, is this a unique structure? 1274 01:38:45,679 --> 01:38:53,040 Um, we argue that, you know, the vast majority have elected um or elected a 1275 01:38:50,880 --> 01:38:58,320 majority elected light boards and so we would be moving into the majority. Um, 1276 01:38:56,320 --> 01:39:03,360 and I think that one of the important things that the working group uh had for 1277 01:39:01,119 --> 01:39:06,719 its recommendations was that whatever we do should be in line with the statute. 1278 01:39:05,119 --> 01:39:10,880 So even though they could recommend a fully appointed board and the town could 1279 01:39:08,800 --> 01:39:15,440 certainly vote on that, they felt like there was definitely a trend and and a 1280 01:39:13,600 --> 01:39:19,600 and a path that other light plants and light boards have been going through 1281 01:39:17,199 --> 01:39:23,840 toward more direct representation. And the law says a three or five member 1282 01:39:21,679 --> 01:39:28,239 elected board and this would be three elected members as well as two 1283 01:39:25,840 --> 01:39:33,280 appointed. And then the reason for that split and the appointment at all is that 1284 01:39:31,040 --> 01:39:38,480 being an elected position there's not any requirement on somebody's expertise 1285 01:39:36,159 --> 01:39:42,239 in the utility field or financial expertise uh which are all really 1286 01:39:40,480 --> 01:39:46,239 important members for a high functioning lightboard. And so the thought process 1287 01:39:44,320 --> 01:39:51,199 there was that the town manager with those two appointments could help ensure 1288 01:39:48,800 --> 01:39:56,560 that there is some utility or financial engineering expertise on the lightboard 1289 01:39:54,239 --> 01:40:01,280 um to to you know be kind of some technical resources for for people who 1290 01:39:58,480 --> 01:40:05,199 may be elected um onto the board and and the elected members may have all those 1291 01:40:03,119 --> 01:40:09,920 qualifications as well. There just is less of a guarantee. Um 1292 01:40:07,840 --> 01:40:14,239 » and then I just have one more slide uh yeah one more slide and then the 1293 01:40:11,199 --> 01:40:17,560 questions. So in terms of like what the process is 1294 01:40:17,920 --> 01:40:26,000 um the goal here is having these discussions, ensuring that the public um 1295 01:40:24,000 --> 01:40:30,480 know what what the need for this change is. Um offering things like recorded 1296 01:40:28,239 --> 01:40:35,520 interviews or explanations and workshops to talk about the governance structure. 1297 01:40:33,040 --> 01:40:39,760 uh working with council to draft a warrant article and then you know 1298 01:40:38,320 --> 01:40:43,760 bringing it up at the hearing through the hearing process and then a town 1299 01:40:41,679 --> 01:40:48,080 meeting vote and again the town meeting vote does not make an instant change. 1300 01:40:45,360 --> 01:40:52,560 The change happens once the legislature adopts what town meeting has asked it to 1301 01:40:50,080 --> 01:40:56,560 do and then a town meeting or a town election cycle happens. uh the board 1302 01:40:54,880 --> 01:41:00,960 would be elected all three members at once but in staggered terms so that in 1303 01:40:58,639 --> 01:41:04,719 the future you would have each year a different member would be coming off the 1304 01:41:02,400 --> 01:41:07,679 board. Um and so some of the key questions that we'd like to ask in 1305 01:41:06,159 --> 01:41:11,280 addition to answering questions the board might have about this process or 1306 01:41:09,920 --> 01:41:15,920 about the governance structure in general is you know additional guidance 1307 01:41:14,159 --> 01:41:20,719 about outreach. You know Dean had a good suggestion about using things like bill 1308 01:41:17,840 --> 01:41:25,679 inserts or um online messages you know news and notices podcasts. We've had 1309 01:41:23,199 --> 01:41:28,960 ideas like this, but if if anybody has ideas, and they it doesn't have to be at 1310 01:41:27,040 --> 01:41:32,880 this moment. You can always email staff, but you know, what kind of additional 1311 01:41:30,480 --> 01:41:39,119 outreach, this is a complicated topic that um gets deep into the weeds of, you 1312 01:41:36,239 --> 01:41:44,480 know, competing uh legal documents and um and does require a bit of a a deeper 1313 01:41:42,480 --> 01:41:49,119 understanding before maybe some people can form an opinion. So, how do we get 1314 01:41:46,480 --> 01:41:52,000 to a lot of people with this topic? uh you know are there certain 1315 01:41:50,320 --> 01:41:56,320 vulnerabilities in the current current governance structure that you feel like 1316 01:41:54,000 --> 01:42:00,400 really deserve to be highlighted as we talk about this? Um and then you know 1317 01:41:58,800 --> 01:42:06,800 what are some of the concerns that you think people might have um if we propose 1318 01:42:04,560 --> 01:42:11,840 a governance structure change like this? And so those are kind of the questions 1319 01:42:08,400 --> 01:42:17,760 that I had and um you know maybe John we can have a brief discussion. 1320 01:42:15,199 --> 01:42:25,239 » Yeah. Any any board members uh want to weigh in here or have additional 1321 01:42:19,440 --> 01:42:25,239 questions they would like to to propose? 1322 01:42:26,960 --> 01:42:36,159 » I was thinking a little bit about um you know kind of the best way to communicate 1323 01:42:32,400 --> 01:42:44,000 the the material this this topic um to the public because I think that is 1324 01:42:39,119 --> 01:42:49,760 important. Um, and you had the chart slide, which I think is great. Like 1325 01:42:46,719 --> 01:42:57,040 people always like visuals. Um, I would I would say maybe on the current part of 1326 01:42:53,280 --> 01:43:01,840 it, um, you might want to add the general manager, basically indicating 1327 01:42:59,520 --> 01:43:07,679 that the town manager is the general manager. So having that word 1328 01:43:04,960 --> 01:43:12,000 um or or that label town man or general manager 1329 01:43:09,280 --> 01:43:19,520 kind of highlights the the potential conflict. 1330 01:43:15,520 --> 01:43:23,440 Um but I I would say like just kind of listening to everything that you talked 1331 01:43:21,840 --> 01:43:30,800 through um there would be a need to have like a 1332 01:43:27,520 --> 01:43:36,719 really concise sort of highlevel these are the these are the like big 1333 01:43:33,199 --> 01:43:44,560 reasons why we're proposing this change. um you know, consistency, alignment with 1334 01:43:39,520 --> 01:43:50,880 the Massachusetts general law, um and you know, the ability to separate the 1335 01:43:48,639 --> 01:43:55,760 you know, the roles town of town manager and general manager of the light plant, 1336 01:43:53,280 --> 01:44:00,080 things like that. Um to kind of start the conversation and then people who 1337 01:43:58,400 --> 01:44:06,400 want to get into the weeds, there's there's a lot of great content um you 1338 01:44:04,080 --> 01:44:13,239 know that you have here. Yeah, that's a great suggestion. Thank you. 1339 01:44:09,040 --> 01:44:13,239 » Any other questions or comments? 1340 01:44:14,159 --> 01:44:22,000 I guess one I would offer would be um what's our role and responsibility in 1341 01:44:20,159 --> 01:44:28,239 terms of moving this forward versus the select board or town managers? 1342 01:44:26,800 --> 01:44:35,280 » Yeah, I know that the you know the select board can put more articles on. I 1343 01:44:31,920 --> 01:44:40,000 know um you know there at the last select board meeting when this was 1344 01:44:36,719 --> 01:44:44,800 discussed there was conversation and um comments made by Wendy Rall who's the 1345 01:44:42,080 --> 01:44:48,719 chair of the select board right now and who is a former lightboard member as 1346 01:44:46,480 --> 01:44:54,159 well who understands the the light plant light board a lot and um you know I 1347 01:44:51,440 --> 01:44:57,840 think the select board would be the one advancing the article but I think that 1348 01:44:56,320 --> 01:45:01,920 people would be probably pretty interested in the lightboard's 1349 01:44:59,280 --> 01:45:07,760 perspective since they um work more closely with the light plant and staff 1350 01:45:03,920 --> 01:45:13,600 and um so yeah I I it's a good question you know and and also as we seek to do 1351 01:45:09,600 --> 01:45:18,000 outreach like how does that um how how can we leverage some of the layboard 1352 01:45:15,840 --> 01:45:22,800 expertise and having some of those conversations that's a good question I 1353 01:45:20,080 --> 01:45:27,280 know Warren being more involved in the in that working group I mean maybe he 1354 01:45:24,719 --> 01:45:31,520 has a perspective and you know Warren you could certainly join me on Zoom for 1355 01:45:29,199 --> 01:45:36,159 some of the meetings or podcasts, you know, we might have with outreach for 1356 01:45:33,040 --> 01:45:42,880 people or or others if if time allows. >> Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. But I 1357 01:45:39,040 --> 01:45:49,040 also think this is a case where the role of the select board and endorsing this 1358 01:45:46,000 --> 01:45:57,600 is going to be crucial because it can't be perceived as an effort by the light 1359 01:45:53,520 --> 01:46:05,080 board to um execute a queue taking away authority from the town manager. Right. 1360 01:46:01,600 --> 01:46:05,080 It's a good point. 1361 01:46:05,360 --> 01:46:15,199 » In terms of outreach, I think a variety of of different kind of modes is always 1362 01:46:11,840 --> 01:46:20,719 a good idea, but um I I'm a proponent of the bridge. I feel like 1363 01:46:16,960 --> 01:46:27,520 » that's a good way for kind of a wide, you know, cast of people to to read 1364 01:46:23,440 --> 01:46:31,679 about the the topic. um in-person workshops and things like that are 1365 01:46:29,679 --> 01:46:36,880 great, but you know would probably be attended by a very small minority. 1366 01:46:35,440 --> 01:46:41,920 » Yeah. And the bridge did do a great article after the select board meeting 1367 01:46:38,880 --> 01:46:45,760 um a few weeks ago and um you know their continued coverage on topics does really 1368 01:46:43,920 --> 01:46:50,560 help inform the public especially since it goes to every home um and business 1369 01:46:48,719 --> 01:46:55,600 here in conquered. So that I agree that is a great way to get the word out and I 1370 01:46:52,480 --> 01:46:59,600 think um it'd be interesting to see how much appetite there is for continued 1371 01:46:57,840 --> 01:47:03,840 discussions on this topic because I think that uh people may just decide ah 1372 01:47:02,159 --> 01:47:07,920 I don't not really I don't have a horse in this race you know I doesn't seem 1373 01:47:05,679 --> 01:47:11,520 interesting to me or or they're already insiders and they've already heard these 1374 01:47:09,600 --> 01:47:17,520 presentations now multiple times you know so like um that's that's what 1375 01:47:15,040 --> 01:47:21,440 that's where your ex your information and perspective is really helpful for us 1376 01:47:19,600 --> 01:47:25,280 because you, you know, have neighbors and friends and family members who all 1377 01:47:23,119 --> 01:47:28,800 live in town and can kind of see through their lens much better than than we as 1378 01:47:27,280 --> 01:47:32,040 staff can because we're living this every day. 1379 01:47:32,480 --> 01:47:41,760 Yeah, I agree with um that about the bridge and I also agree with what Nicole 1380 01:47:38,639 --> 01:47:48,639 was saying before that it's crucial that we have boiled down this issue to like 1381 01:47:46,480 --> 01:47:53,520 one slide that we could present and present over 1382 01:47:50,960 --> 01:47:57,840 and over again. This is why this is an issue. This is why we have to do 1383 01:47:56,000 --> 01:48:03,960 something and here's what we're proposing to do and got to fit it on one 1384 01:48:00,960 --> 01:48:03,960 slide. 1385 01:48:04,960 --> 01:48:10,880 » Chris, >> I I got to ask here. So, we're going to 1386 01:48:07,920 --> 01:48:15,520 end up asking the legislature to endorse some scheme. Why don't we just ask him 1387 01:48:12,960 --> 01:48:22,239 to endorse what we do now? >> Um, right. So, there's two basic 1388 01:48:18,000 --> 01:48:28,159 options. one is we can just simply accept the provisions of chapter 164 and 1389 01:48:25,600 --> 01:48:31,040 be done with it. Um or we can do something different. And if we're going 1390 01:48:29,600 --> 01:48:36,080 to do something different, we can do what we do now or we can do something 1391 01:48:33,760 --> 01:48:41,199 more similar to what the statute says already. And I think the um as I pointed 1392 01:48:39,280 --> 01:48:44,320 out on that one slide, I think there was a goal to say that if we're going to go 1393 01:48:42,800 --> 01:48:48,320 ask the town, we're going to go ask the legislature to do something, it should 1394 01:48:46,480 --> 01:48:53,600 be rooted in the statute and what the legislature did when they created this 1395 01:48:51,119 --> 01:48:59,679 legislation for light plants to exist in the first place and that a departure um 1396 01:48:56,880 --> 01:49:03,440 is harder to justify than something that's in line with the law and what the 1397 01:49:01,760 --> 01:49:06,960 vast majority of other light plants are doing. So that that was the motivation 1398 01:49:05,679 --> 01:49:12,000 of the group and I don't know Warren if you have any other thoughts on that. 1399 01:49:09,760 --> 01:49:17,920 » Yeah I think that's the case. Well, there are really two issues, you know. 1400 01:49:14,719 --> 01:49:21,679 One is how is the light board selected? The other is the issue of who's the 1401 01:49:19,760 --> 01:49:26,480 general manager and um and who appoints the general 1402 01:49:24,880 --> 01:49:31,080 manager. And I think 1403 01:49:31,840 --> 01:49:40,159 moving more in the direction of what the legislation says in both of those makes 1404 01:49:37,360 --> 01:49:45,840 good sense. And if we ask the legislature, can you endorse something 1405 01:49:43,920 --> 01:49:50,400 that we've been doing, but really doesn't match 1406 01:49:47,840 --> 01:49:54,719 what the legislation says? You run the risk of the legislature just turning 1407 01:49:52,320 --> 01:49:58,040 around and saying, "No, we're not going to do that." 1408 01:50:01,199 --> 01:50:07,840 » Uh, just looking at the time, any other questions or comments? And uh you know 1409 01:50:05,440 --> 01:50:12,239 I'd like to thank Warren and and Jason for kind of their work here. I feel like 1410 01:50:10,080 --> 01:50:17,040 what they've come up with is in the broader group is a real workable 1411 01:50:14,080 --> 01:50:23,719 solution that kind of uh would serve conquered well. 1412 01:50:19,840 --> 01:50:23,719 Any other comments, questions? 1413 01:50:23,920 --> 01:50:34,159 Um I guess right now uh open it up for liaison and public comment. 1414 01:50:31,280 --> 01:50:38,320 Um, since I'm the liaison, I'll I'll go first and then you can take public 1415 01:50:35,840 --> 01:50:42,400 comment. Um, I just want to thank Jason and Warren for all the work they've done 1416 01:50:40,400 --> 01:50:48,480 to sort of bring that whole thing forward. Um, that that was a year in the 1417 01:50:45,040 --> 01:50:53,280 making and uh and it's a long hall to get it over the line at at town meeting. 1418 01:50:50,800 --> 01:50:57,760 So, um, you know, we've got we've got work to do to get the public to at least 1419 01:50:55,600 --> 01:51:02,800 understand what the complexities of that are. Uh Warren's comment about trying to 1420 01:51:00,239 --> 01:51:06,000 get it on one slide is germaine because when you end up in front of town 1421 01:51:04,480 --> 01:51:12,719 meeting, you're not going to get more than five minutes to uh make your case. 1422 01:51:09,760 --> 01:51:17,040 Uh so it's got to be pretty crisp. Um and and uh we'll need to we'll need to 1423 01:51:15,280 --> 01:51:22,320 hone that over time if we want to make this fly. So thanks for all of that. Um 1424 01:51:20,320 --> 01:51:26,800 I do want to comment one one comment on on the CMS solar. I uh I made some 1425 01:51:24,800 --> 01:51:31,679 comments as we were setting our select board goals. Um, I made some comments at 1426 01:51:29,360 --> 01:51:36,560 the uh, select board meeting that were somewhat pessimistic about this and 1427 01:51:33,679 --> 01:51:40,800 Jason has kind of started to turn my view a little more optimistic that we 1428 01:51:38,719 --> 01:51:45,440 can get this over the line this year. Um, I I was lobbying at the select board 1429 01:51:43,760 --> 01:51:51,520 level that maybe we just take it off our goals because it seems so remote at this 1430 01:51:48,639 --> 01:51:56,560 point, but it's sounding a little more uh, optimistic. So, so thank you for uh, 1431 01:51:54,480 --> 01:52:02,239 you bringing me around, Jason, on that. Uh I'm I'm still I'm still concerned 1432 01:52:00,000 --> 01:52:06,000 that that you know we got to have one shot at this point which is the 1433 01:52:03,840 --> 01:52:11,199 September 23rd meeting of the school committee uh to get this done. Um so 1434 01:52:09,119 --> 01:52:16,000 that's that's an important date on the calendar now for the CMS solar project. 1435 01:52:13,360 --> 01:52:19,760 And that that's that's my uh that's my comment from the liaison perspective for 1436 01:52:17,840 --> 01:52:25,040 now and thank you. >> Thank you Dan. 1437 01:52:21,840 --> 01:52:33,760 Not seeing other any other liaison. Um here Pamela Dre. 1438 01:52:29,760 --> 01:52:38,880 Pamela, do you come off mute and offer your question or comment? 1439 01:52:35,840 --> 01:52:46,719 » Yes, please. Uh let me find my notes. Come back. Uh 1440 01:52:44,159 --> 01:52:53,280 » and if you if you can recognize that we are fast approaching our 9:30 uh 1441 01:52:49,440 --> 01:52:56,280 scheduled uh closing of the meeting. >> Um 1442 01:52:56,560 --> 01:53:02,040 where'd they go? Well, 1443 01:53:02,639 --> 01:53:11,679 the the danger of I I haven't found them. I'll off the cuff. I'm sorry. I 1444 01:53:08,159 --> 01:53:16,480 apologize. The the danger of 1445 01:53:14,080 --> 01:53:21,760 a fully elected board is that we could elect someone who is a fiscal 1446 01:53:18,880 --> 01:53:28,400 conservative cost cutter who doesn't who believes climate change is a hoax who 1447 01:53:24,480 --> 01:53:33,760 could obstruct the board um in the interest of saving costs on the 1448 01:53:31,280 --> 01:53:39,920 investments that we're paying for the entire community in the long term. Um 1449 01:53:38,320 --> 01:53:43,480 I On the other hand, 1450 01:53:43,840 --> 01:53:53,480 elections are always good because they involve the community and 1451 01:53:50,480 --> 01:53:53,480 and 1452 01:53:54,719 --> 01:53:58,280 when we're making 1453 01:54:01,360 --> 01:54:07,239 when we're making the the uh 1454 01:54:07,520 --> 01:54:10,080 the 1455 01:54:10,800 --> 01:54:21,599 We need to the way we put our costs has to do more than just uh be a fair 1456 01:54:18,880 --> 01:54:29,280 thing. It has to also incentivize the behavior that people we want people to 1457 01:54:24,400 --> 01:54:37,119 do. I if we want we need to decarbonize our energy supply and people will not 1458 01:54:32,480 --> 01:54:43,520 switch from gas or oil uh heating systems to heat pumps if it's going to 1459 01:54:40,159 --> 01:54:51,840 be more expensive for them. You have to make it cheaper to do that. And if that 1460 01:54:47,520 --> 01:54:58,960 means subsidizing the the people who use all electric uh heat pumps, 1461 01:54:56,239 --> 01:55:08,639 then that's what we must do. make it more expensive to do the wrong thing by 1462 01:55:03,040 --> 01:55:16,080 placing the the major uh uh payment on those people that are doing the wrong 1463 01:55:11,040 --> 01:55:21,920 thing by sub by giving uh uh that's what incentives for battery and solar 1464 01:55:20,480 --> 01:55:27,920 adoption is. >> Thank you. because we want to end at 1465 01:55:25,440 --> 01:55:33,560 » the virtual power plant. >> Appreciate your comments there. Um Fran 1466 01:55:30,560 --> 01:55:33,560 Cummings, 1467 01:55:33,920 --> 01:55:41,440 » hi. Thanks uh for taking a comment. The I have a couple things. One is in 1468 01:55:38,480 --> 01:55:44,639 general, I think you might anticipate uh town meetings saying, "Wait a minute, 1469 01:55:43,280 --> 01:55:50,080 we're going to have less control over the light plant." um you know that that 1470 01:55:47,520 --> 01:55:54,560 it it goes more to the uh people who elect the light plant compared with like 1471 01:55:52,880 --> 01:55:59,440 town meeting working through the town manager affecting the the policies at 1472 01:55:57,520 --> 01:56:04,400 the light plant. It sounds like it may be necessary and and a good proposal 1473 01:56:02,080 --> 01:56:10,960 anyway, but I think that's a that might come up. I have a separate point small 1474 01:56:07,840 --> 01:56:14,719 one about the rebate discussion. Um I think we should be looking for ways to 1475 01:56:12,480 --> 01:56:19,679 encourage ground source seed pumps as much as possible going forward and try 1476 01:56:16,960 --> 01:56:24,639 to you know highlight that in the in the analysis and uh discussion going forward 1477 01:56:22,400 --> 01:56:27,840 as compared with the obvious need to continue supporting air source heat 1478 01:56:26,080 --> 01:56:32,400 pumps. But we need to try to find a way of encouraging the mix to shift toward 1479 01:56:30,800 --> 01:56:39,280 ground source for various reasons including keeping the light plant peaks 1480 01:56:34,800 --> 01:56:46,080 and costs uh moderated. Thank you. Thank you, Fran. 1481 01:56:41,840 --> 01:56:50,560 Um, any other comments from from the public? 1482 01:56:48,239 --> 01:56:54,719 » Not seeing any. Um, can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? 1483 01:56:52,800 --> 01:56:58,719 » Move to adjurnn. >> I second. 1484 01:56:56,480 --> 01:57:00,960 » Beat you to it. >> Nicole, 1485 01:57:00,000 --> 01:57:03,199 » yes. >> Tyson, 1486 01:57:02,000 --> 01:57:04,800 » yes. >> Warren, 1487 01:57:03,920 --> 01:57:06,000 » yes. >> Chris, 1488 01:57:05,440 --> 01:57:10,400 » yes. >> And I'm also Yes. Thank you all. With 1489 01:57:08,560 --> 01:57:12,880 that, we'll adjourn the meeting. >> Thank you.