Council agenda 4/14/09 - update

With regard to the Council agenda for Tuesday, April 14 - I got this update:

There have been three items added to the April 14, 2009 Council agenda. The first item is the annual request to waive the bidding on the removal of the Pool Bubble. Hemispheric Air has been the sole vendor for this activity since the construction of this facility. And, as in past years, the removal of the bubble is the second assignment this fiscal year (the installation of the bubble in September being the first)). Therefore, since the combined cost of the two assignments exceeds the bid limit, a bid waiver is being requested. This has traditionally been brought before the Council at the March or April meeting but was overlooked in the development of the April 14, 2009 agenda.

The second item pertains to our contracted electricity rate with CCM Energy Purchasing/Bay State Consultants. We locked in for five years in February of 2007, but it appears that we might be able to renegotiate a better rate, which could also entail extending the contract period. Attorney Dwight Johnson is reviewing this, but since this decision is extremely time-sensitive, we wanted to be sure that it was on the agenda should it need an action by the Council.

The third item is a grant application request to Congressman Murphy's office which is detailed in the cover memo for that agenda item (7G).

Chris Murphy's suggestion relates to the Inflow and Infiltration project for the WPCA. Seems fine to me, as does lower energy costs. I don't see why we should waive the bid for the bubble though. It's become glaringly obvious to me that both the Council and the Administration oppose changing course with the pool.

I suggest the voters fire the Council in November.

Tim White