Left In Lowell

As Lynne discussed in an earlier post, last night the City Council took up the issue of a “Acceptance for Payment in Lieu of Taxes for Real and Personal Property,” an agreement between the City and Montgomery L’Energia Power Partners (the Tanner Street plant.)

Massachusetts law allows municipalities to come to an agreement with utility providers; so instead of a tax assessment, there is a set fee. CM Bernie Lynch explained that it is often difficult to assess the value of such a business, thus difficult to assess taxes. Thus this option. The City Council approved the 20-year contract, which is front loaded. Yes, 20 years. I could catch the exact numbers but I know at the beginning it is about $500,000/year, and then drops off but if they upgrade the facility, then the numbers will altered. According to published reports, Billerica may receive as much as $1.5 million their massive power plant.

The ubiquitous and politically connected (former State Energy Secretary, Finance Committee member of Niki Tsongas’ Congressional Campaign) Joseph S. Fitzpatrick, president and chief executive officer of DG Clean Power was in attendance and allowed to speak and answer any questions the City Council had. Surprisingly, the great majority of the Council sat silently; only CC Rodney Elliott and Rita Mercier asked questions. CC Elliott focused on the details of the contract and CC Mercier raised the issue of any pending legal issues between the power company and the town Blackstone (MA). Fitzpatrick answered that there were no problems. I wish that CC Mercier had then asked was there an issue in the past; how was it resolved and how much money did the town of Blackstone spent on legal representation to resolve the issue.

Also, Mr. Fitzpatrick also answered some questions regarding the new Billerica power plant but most likely he will return when the Environment/Neighborhood Sub-Committees take up CC Elliott’s motion to discuss the “impact on the Concord River and traffic issues affecting South Lowell resulting from proposed power plant in Billerica.” I think this time he will be joined by some South Lowell residents who may not agree with his assessment of the situation. By the way, has anyone resolved the idle trains sitting on the tracks that run through that neighborhood?

And speaking of the environment, it looks like the City Council is aggressively looking at a resolution to the skyrocketing costs of residential trash pick-up. A number of CC members, Administration and others will be traveling to Worcester in a couple of weeks to evaluate that city’s Trash and Recycling program.