MEETING ABOUT ELECTRICITY SET FOR JANUARY 14

One of the big issues the new city administration will tackle is where LMU will get the electricity it sells to its customers in the future. Mayor Dave Kitchell says a public meeting next week will offer a chance to hear some of the options.

“On the 14th of January, we’ll have an informational meeting at McHale Performing Arts Center. We’ll have Indiana Municipal Power Agency there to make a presentation as to what their services are and what they can do for us.There has not been a request for proposals made to any utility, but we have contacted the legitimate players that are in our service area to come visit us and to make a public presentation."

"Duke Energy has been asked to attend. Duke may provide some information on the transition program that they have for utility plant employees, the generating plant employees. They have some assistance that they can provide and they have done this for other cities."

"We’ve also contacted one solar provider that would be not the entire answer for our generating plant but but would be somebody that might be able to help us augment our power supply with low-cost solar power panels which is being done a lot of places right now. "

"I think the thing that people have to remember is that this is a two step process and what we’re talking about here is somewhat what the previous administration was talking about, but you have issues of wholesale power for use by Logansport Municipal Utilities customers/consumers, and then we’re talking about generating capacity to sell on the open market, to third parties.”

Kitchell says about 48 percent of LMU’s customers live outside the city limits, and that’s one reason some changes to the ordinance that created the Utility Service Board have been proposed.

There are currently 5 members of the Utility Service Board -- 3 are appointed by the mayor and 2 are appointed by the council. Proposed changes that were approved on first reading on a vote of 5-2 Monday night would require that one mayoral and one council appointment live outside the city limits, and would also allow either the mayor or council to dismiss their appointment, by way of a letter, at any time, for any reason, though the council would have to hold a public vote on their dismissal.

A second and final reading on the ordinance is expected at the next council meeting.

A meeting of the council’s Rules Committee has been set for 5:30 p.m. Monday, January 11 to discuss possible appointments to boards.