ED TAYLOR

In a joint meeting of the city’s advisory Utilities Commission and Finance Commission to address potential methods of reducing the electric rates pending the sale of the system to Florida Power and Light (FPL), it appeared that the major obstacle with attempts to refinance certain city debts, as proposed by Vice Mayor Jay Kramer, was the absence of a date certain closing for the sale of the municipal utility.

“Without a date certain, were are speculating,” said Scott Stradley, chairman of the Utilities Commission.

Finance Committee Chairman Peter Gorry echoed Stradley’s concern and added, “If we had a date certain we could evaluate what makes sense in the short term versus the long term.”

Gorry had made a list of 20 possible projects with the potential for cost savings; however only a couple were discussed due the length of the meeting which approached four and one half hours.

One cost saving item was approved by the joint panel.  City Finance Director Cindy Lawson advised the panel that the repayment of an outstanding $3.2 million loan from Regions Bank would save the city $1.1 million annually for the next three years.  “This is money that could be used to provide a slight cost reduction on electric rates,” she said.

Craig Dunlap, of Dunlap and Associates in Winter Park who has served as a financial advisor for the city for the past 35 years, did mention the possibility of the early payment of another loan that was not due until the year 2021 but advised against it since the debt service on the loan would outweigh any benefit to the city.  The panel agreed with his analysis.

At the suggestion of City Manager Jim O’Connor, Gorry’s proposals will be reviewed by city staff prior to the next Utilities Commission meeting set for March 31.  The meeting was initially set for April 3, which is the day after Mayor Winger will meet with representatives of the Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA).  Utilities Commission Vice Chairperson Jane Burton suggested the earlier meeting date so that the mayor will be as up to date as possible with information prior to the FMPA meeting.

Utilities Chairman Scott Stradley made a motion that the city’s transactional attorneys accompany Mayor Winger, City Manager O’Connor and City Attorney Wayne Coment to the meeting with FMPA but that motion failed for lack of a second.

FPL utility activists Charlie Wilson and Glenn Heran told the panel that representatives from FPL should also be in attendance at the meeting in spite of FMPA’s specific request that their meeting be only with officials of Vero Beach.

“FPL is our partner,” Wilson said. “The question is do you want FPL to continue to help you?”  Wilson added that he would “love for FMPA to come here and speak for themselves rather than have Mr. Kramer and Mr. Christopher speak for them.”  George Christopher is an alternate member of the utilities commission.

Christopher responded that it was a “shame” when people attempt to make things personal. “He was not making a very good point so he decides to swing out,” he said.  “I think everyone in this room knows that I am in no way associated with FMPA and serve on this commission as a citizen and ratepayer of Vero Beach.  We should try to keep things civil.”

Utilities Commission Chairman Stradley voiced agreement with Christopher’s position.

Heran’s plea to insist upon making FPL a presence at the city’s meeting with FMPA was not considered.

Mayor Winger said the meeting with FMPA is the day after the next city council meeting on April 1.  “I don’t expect too much,” he told the panel.  “FMPA has about 12 to 14 conditions with the city that do not involve FPL that will need some sort of resolution and we will not be equipped to deal with those issues on April 2^nd.  I am hoping that the meeting will help us in our pursuit to find a path forward to the completion of the sale.”

The mayor added that, “We don’t know what we’ll find out on April 2^nd other than we will need council approval to proceed with any path forward.  We should have more details and direction to present at the city council meeting set for April 15^th.” Winger said that he anticipated a short meeting with FMPA since the city would not be there to negotiate conditions and likened it to more of an ongoing information gathering process.

All parties agreed to extend an open invitation to FMPA to attend and participate in any city meeting involving the utilities issue.

Toward the conclusion of the lengthy meeting, each advisory panel took individual votes on motions to continue to pursue lower rates and resolve all issues that are blocking the sale of the electric system to FPL as quickly as possible in an attempt to benefit the ratepayers of Vero Beach.

Vice Mayor Jay Kramer, who had initially proposed the joint panel review as a means to reduce electric rates pending the resolution of the FPL transaction, said after the session that he was “happy that the city is starting to look at ways to get electric rates down”.

“This should have been done three years ago,” Kramer said but added that, “This was a good start to address the issue of lowering rates.”