Public Participation

Transcript (~4 min @ 22:46)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 22:45 Speaker 2: We have a quorum. Could everybody please rise and join me in saluting the flag.

▶ 22:54 Speaker 2: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. President, I make a motion to open the floor for public participation. Second. Alderman Waterman, we commence public participation. Motion is seconded by Alderman Inferno. On the motion, all those in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion passes. This is the portion of our meeting where any member of the public can come forward to the table in the center of the room, identify themselves, and speak relative to any order that is on our agenda this evening. Sir, could you identify yourself?

▶ 23:37 Speaker 1: my name is Jerry Morrows surprise here to talk about two orders tonight one is the 2017-165 the Charter review order and I don't I don't know what your process is around this if this is going to get referred to committee or whether you're going to be hearing it directly in this full board and whether you're going to do it all tonight okay thank you that's helpful I'll leave that at that. The next one I want to speak to is 2017-133, the solar net metering order. I'm not fully

▶ 24:09 Speaker 1: informed on this order, but I have some concerns that if we're agreeing to purchase electricity at 13 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 20 years from this entity, there's already been a lot of change in the electric market over the last five or six years regarding solar. We don't know what technologies will be out there. We don't know what the rate of electricity will be 5, 10, 15, 18 years from now. And I'd hate to see Melrose in the situation where, you know, we could be generating our own with great technology, free electricity, but we're required to buy electricity from this entity at 13 cents a kilowatt hour when, you know, we're only paying 5 cents or 8 cents or something another way. I would like to see in such a contract that there'd be some way renegotiating at some point I know that that changes the finance dynamics of the of the contract itself but I do worry about a 20-year contract at 13 cents per kilowatt hour and I as I understand that I want the board to be mindful that we're not we're not getting the electricity use credits it's actually a dollar amount that we get from that and that actually has been is subject to change based on how the Department of Public Utilities as I understand it makes an agreement that this will be the average amount per year you know paid for solar production for things so I just don't want to see us even though it looks advantageous right now I don't want to see us stuck in a contract for 20 years that might not be advantageous to us in the end and we'll be feeling like what we have at albatross around us for a long time there um there are some um some sophisticated issues around that and i didn't hear them discussed at the um committee meeting where this was brought up before so thank you that's my comments thank you sir for anybody else who wishes

▶ 26:11 Speaker 2: to speak on any item that's on the agenda for this evening motion to close public participation mr president second alderman mortimer has moved to close public participation motions seconded by alderman's work on the motion all those in favor anyone opposed motion passes at this time i'm compelled to point out that our meeting is being taped and will be rebroadcast in accordance with the massachusetts open meeting law for the public's viewing pleasure in the future okay if