Legislative & Rules Committee – Board of Representatives James Diamond, Chair Arthur Layton, Vice Chair Committee Report

Date:	Monday, September 17, 2007
Time:	7:00 p.m.
Place:	Democratic Caucus Room, 4^th Floor Government Center, 888 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, CT

The Legislative & Rules Committee met as indicated above. Present were Chair Diamond and Vice Chair Layton and Committee Member Reps. Berns, Day, Esposito, Heaphy, Lodato, C. Martin, Mitchell and Zelinsky. Absent/excused was Committee Member Rep. Lombardo. Also present was Burt Rosenberg, Assistant Corporation Counsel. Also present for the joint portion of the meeting with the State & Commerce Committee were President David Martin, Clerk Summerville, Reps. DeLuca, Fedeli, Mallozzi and Rauh; Michael Freimuth, Economic Development Director; Michael Scorrano of Pareto Energy; Brian Mercure of the State of CT Dept. of Transportation and Paul Pimentel of Congressman Shays’ Office.

Chair Diamond called the meeting to order at 7:12 p.m.

Item No.	Description		Committee Action
1. LR27.053		RESOLUTION; terminating a lease with Saturn of Stamford for Saturn’s use of a vacant lot on Magee Avenue.	COMMITTEE APPROVED 6-0-0

Chair Diamond asked Mr. Rosenberg to review Item No. LR27.053. Mr. Rosenberg stated that the lease was for 20 years and runs to 2015; there is no termination clause in the lease; Saturn is no longer in Stamford; and the administration wants to terminate the lease. Mr. Rosenberg added that it was his opinion that the termination of the lease didn’t require Board of Representatives approval, however, Corporation Counsel Cassone felt that since there was a termination of a revenue stream, it was best to get approval.

The Committee asked Mr. Rosenberg to provide answers to several questions, which were received in the Board Office on September 18, 2007. The answers are:

(1) Saturn of Stamford is no longer in existence.  Saturn of White Plains is the successor dealer.

(2) Director of Operations Barnes advised that the space will be leased to Earth Technology, Inc., which has been awarded the Urban Transitway contract, for materials storage, and requires a payment equivalent to that of Saturn lease.

(3) The roof of the Town Center Garage is used for the purpose of leasing space to the local Honda dealer.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, the item was approved by a vote of 6-0-0 (Reps. Diamond, Layton, Esposito, Lodato, C. Martin and Zelinsky in favor).

The Committee met jointly with the State & Commerce Committee for the following two items:

As Secondary Committee:

2. SC27.020

PROPOSED ORDINANCE; for publication; establishing an Energy Improvement District.

COMMITTEE APPROVED 10-0-0 (as amended)

Chair Esposito stated that this item was reviewed last month; at Steering, the Legislative & Rules Committee was made secondary on the item. He asked Mr. Freimuth to bring L&R Committee members up to date. Mr. Freimuth stated:

· The State’s recent energy legislation contained enabling language to allow municipalities to create an “Energy Improvement District (Authority).” This legislation was designed to address costs, capacity, reliability and quality. So far, only Ansonia has enacted an ordinance.

· For example, if a hotel that needs heat and power at night pairs with an office building across the street that needs it during the day, they can get together, buy a generator, and share in the costs and the power generated.

· There is an energy shortage in Stamford and potential businesses need to know if we have enough power. These arrangements will allow us to reduce the pressure on the grid.

· Currently, any business can install a generator, which typically provide backup in the event of power failures. This provides for the inverse. It takes your property off the grid, you power yourself and the grid is used as the back up. You can choose fuel cells, solar or gas; you cannot use oil, diesel or coal; you can capitalize the costs; you can arrange for financing.

· The ordinance provides for the creation of a district which then identifies properties in the district that want to participate. The district boundaries can be drawn as large or as small as the Board decides.

· The legislation is necessary because these systems will be crossing public rights of way and using the public utility system (the electricity will be moved across existing CL&P lines and substations). CL&P will be paid for the use of these lines, and in actuality, the electricity will be sold via the grid. These are really financial transactions.

· No determination has been made as to what CL&P will be paid for the use of its lines. There are opportunities for CL&P in that it may be a new business stream for them.

· Energy issues are really economic development issues now. Businesses are concerned as to whether power is available and reliable in Stamford.

Mr. Freimuth distributed a new draft of the ordinance that reflects changes made as a result of last month’s meeting (see attached). Changes are:

· They changed the composition of the Board, providing for a minimum of 5 members, who do not have to be electors, but do require approval of the Board of Representatives.

· The Board can expand itself, similar to the DSSD rules.

· Clarified that any bonding is not obligated by the City, but by the District.

· The powers and duties are not delineated, and the ordinance refers back to the State statute.

Rep. Diamond expressed concerns about the scope of the regulatory authority of the District (Section 7). Mr. Freimuth responded that the powers of the District include the right to sue and be sued, have a corporate seal, can confer with the DPUC, can oversee construction of facilities, arrange for maps and surveys, enter legal contracts, borrow money, fix rates and fees, purchase equipment, oversee long term maintenance, hire staff, etc. The District cannot be a mini CL&P, cannot be a municipal power company, cannot sell outside the District, cannot contradict the DPUC, cannot use powers of eminent domain. Finally, the City of Stamford is not obligated to participate, but it can if it wishes to do so. In response to Rep. Diamond’s concerns, Mr. Rosenberg offered alternative language:

“The Board may make and enforce any reasonable regulations which it may determine necessary for the planning, development, funding, acquisition, purchase, construction, reconstruction, improvement, extension and operation of the District’s facilities, provided that such regulations are consistent with Federal, state and local statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations.”

Rep. Diamond stated that he could not see the downside of expanding the district to include everything south of the Merritt Parkway. Rep. Berns questioned why the District could not include all of Stamford. Mr. Freimuth responded that there is no “downside,” but there were some administrative burdens. Mr. Rosenberg read from the Statute that compels all property owners within the District to be notified of the establishment of the District by mail. After discussion, the Committee decided to leave the boundaries as proposed. Mr. Diamond went on record stating that he would vote in favor of the ordinance and the District boundaries, but he does believe the boundaries are too small and he cannot see the downside of moving the boundary North, either to Vine Road or the Merritt Parkway.

Clerk Summerville moved to delete the reference to the approval by voice vote in the certification. Said motion was seconded and approved unanimously by the State & Commerce Committee and unanimously by the Legislative & Rules Committee.

A motion change the last sentence in Section 3a) to read “Members of the Board, including tThe Mayor, may appoint a designees.” Said motion was seconded and approved by a unanimous voice vote.

A motion to accept Mr. Rosenberg’s re-write of Section 7 was made and seconded.

A motion to amend Mr. Rosenberg’s re-write by adding the words “as may be amended from time to time” at the end was made, seconded and approved by unanimous voice vote.

The motion to approve Mr. Rosenberg’s re-write of Section 7, as amended, was approved by unanimous voice vote.

A motion to approve the ordinance for publication was made, seconded and approved by unanimous voice vote.

3. SC27.022

APPROVAL; of a contract with Pareto Energy for consulting services with the City and the WPCA on purchase of energy needs, the establishment of an Energy Improvement District and possible microgrid at the Government Center, among other energy-related matters.

COMMITTEE APPROVED 10-0-0 (as amended)

The Committee discussed the Contract with Pareto. They will try to contract for less expensive electricity. Their fee is $.002 per KW hour; any savings above and beyond that is realized by the City. If no savings are found, Pareto does not receive any compensation. Pareto will only enter into agreements that they feel give greater savings than their fee. Additionally, for their assistance in creating the Energy Improvement District, they only receive a fee if they are successful. Michael Scorrano of Pareto Energy confirmed that this was his understanding.

A motion to amend the contract by adding the words during the term of this Agreement at the end of the Section entitled, “Fees for Task 3,” was made, seconded and approved by unanimous voice vote.

A motion to approve the contract, as amended, was made, seconded and approved by a unanimous voice vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

James Diamond, Chair