August 31, 2015 - Special Council Meeting

Brewster Village Council met in special session with Mayor Mike Schwab presiding.

6:30 P.M. – CALL TO ORDER

Council Members bowed their heads for the invocation provided by Clerk-Treasurer K. Kris King followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

MEMBERS PRESENT:

COUNCIL MEMBER FOX MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GODWIN, and motion carried to excuse Council Member Tharp from tonight's meeting.  The vote: All yes. 

VILLAGE OFFICIALS/EMPLOYEES PRESENT:

AUDIENCE:

Jim Barnhart of Brewster Cheese, and Myron and Marilyn Miller

Tonight's Business:

First Topic: A review of a proposed solar field installation to provide 2MW of electricity to Brewster Municipal Electric Utility.

Siyd Tawana, president and CEO of Atlas Power International (API) and Jerry Corbin, Business Development of API made a presentation for a 2 MW Solar Field.  There would be no cost for the village for building it or maintaining it.  There are no available areas in the village so property outside the village limits would have to be leased.  The power generated by the solar field would then be sold to the village for behind the meter power.  The proposed Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) would be a 25 year agreement with power delivered at cost of either 7 cents per KWH with a 4% escalator or a 25 year locked in rate of 9.5 cents per KWH of peak power.

There would be three stages for this project:

•          Negotiate the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
•          Build it
•          Maintain for 25 years

Jerry Corbin also discussed a six acre parcel of land owned by Fairless Local Schools.  Mr. Corbin explained they have been talking to the school superintendent about putting a .5MW solar field on those acres and whether API could lease or purchase the considered property.  Part of the proposal with this solar field will be creating a learning lab in each school where students can learn about green power.

Mr. Tawana indicated that API would cover the costs associated with the village's engineering review as well as costs associated with operation and maintenance of the solar field.  The village would pay only for the electricity produced and received into the village's power grid.

Mr. Corbin explained that at the end of the PPA, Atlas Power could remove the solar field and restore the land, or sell the solar field to the village at a depreciated fair market value, or enter into another PPA with the village.  Mr. Tawana explained the other solar field projects that API is associated with, the land is either owned by or leased from the municipality, in the village's proposed project, the cost of the land would be approximately 1/2 cent per KWH.  The federal incentives for the solar field investors expire at the end of 2016 and the costs associated with a 2 MW solar field are between $6 - $7 million.

There was a question and answer session to follow.  Jim Barnhart of Brewster Cheese stated this may be an option for the Village to keep peak power costs low.

Second Topic: A review of the current Village employee wage structure/format.

COUNCIL MEMBER MACKEY MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FOX , and motion carried to move that Council go into executive session for the purpose of considering the compensation of the employees of the Village of Brewster at 7:30 PM.  The vote: All yes.

Those included in executive session were the Council, Mayor, VA, Clerk, Chief, Captain, and HR Consultant John Barkan.  Everyone else was asked to leave the room.

COUNCIL MEMBER HILLIARD MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FOX and motion carried to exit executive session at 8:47 PM.  The vote: All yes.  No action was taken.

COUNCIL MEMBER HILLIARD MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MACKEY and motion carried to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

K. Kris King, Village Clerk-Treasurer

Mike Schwab, Mayor