Above: An inspector atop the wind turbine at Portsmouth High School in May 2014.
PORTSMOUTH — Before the public portion of Monday’s Town Council meeting began, members met in executive session to discuss the broken wind turbine at the high school.
Voters approved building the turbine with a $3 million bond issue in 2007. The windmill was built in 2009 but has been idle since 2012 due to a faulty gearbox supplied by a company that has since gone bankrupt.
In November 2014, the council voted to enter Portsmouth into a contract with Wind Energy Development (WED) of North Kingstown that would allow the town to pay off the remaining debt that’s left on the turbine.
Under the agreement, WED was to pay a lump sum of $1.45 million to the town. In exchange, the town would buy energy generated from the new 1.5-megawatt turbine over a 25-year period at a rate of 15.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
The agenda for Monday’s meeting cited the following sections of state law as a justification for going into executive session:
• “Discussions and/or considerations related to the disposition of publicly held property wherein advanced public knowledge would be detrimental to the public interest;
• “Matters related to the question of investment of public funds where the premature disclosure would adversely affect the public interest;
• “potential litigation.”
In public session, Council President Keith Hamilton said the status of transferring the turbine to a developer is “currently on hold and we’re waiting on further information on that.”
Revaluation services
The council unanimously voted to hire Vision Government Solutions of Providence to carry out the town’s revaluation at a cost of $321,000.
“They were not the lowest bidder, but they were the most qualified,” said James Lathrop, the town’s director of finance and personnel.
Matthew A. Helfand, tax assessor/collector, said the difference between Vision and the next-lowest bidder — the town received three proposals — was about $11,000. Mr. Helmand said he also favored hiring Vision.
The bid award is subject to any changes by the state legislature that would delay the need for the town to perform the revaluation, council members said.
Business manager
The council voted to direct new Town Administrator Richard Rainer — he was sitting at his first council meeting — to start the process of filling the position of town business development manager.
William Clark, who currently serves in that position, announced his intention to resign effective June 30, but he agreed to stay on the job on a month-to-month basis.
According to Council Vice President James Seveney, the current part-time position has been structured as a consultant, budgeted and working under the auspices of the town’s Economic Development Committee. He suggested the position become more formalized and with the manager reporting directly to the town administrator.
Other council members mentioned several opportunities to expand the job. Mr Hamilton said he’d like to see the position also focus on securing grants for the town, with the possibility of compensating the manager a percentage — perhaps 3 percent — of any award.
Council member David Gleason agreed. “Why not add more to this person’s misery when they come to town?” he said, drawing laughs.
Appointments
Veronica Kelly and John L. McMahon were both reappointed to the town’s Economic Development Committee. Jeffrey Moniz was appointed to the committee as a new member.
The council appointed Nancy Parker Wilson, general manager of Greenvale Vineyards, to represent the town on Discover Newport’s board of directors.
Wrong number
The council welcomed two local legislators — Rep. John G. Edwards and Rep. Dennis M. Canario — who were making the rounds in delivering copies of the 2015-2016 “Rhode Island Government Owner’s Manuel” to town officials. The paperback guide includes information on how to contact state and local officials.
Council member Elizabeth Pedro, after thumbing through the book, quickly saw something amiss.
“Who got my phone number? It’s not right,” she said.
The lawmakers said the secretary of state is to blame for the mistake.