New directions
Council of governments finds new purpose in paring down
Wednesday, September 30, 20091
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NORTHAMPTON - Completely severed from the public institutions it once managed, the Hampshire Council of Governments is striking off in a new direction.
This summer the council pared down drastically, selling the Hampshire Care skilled nursing facility in Leeds and letting go its longtime council administrator Pennington Geis.
But, officials say, the council now is poised to become a major supplier of electricity. And in the months ahead, councilors plan to take a fresh look at what the group's mission is and should be. At their regular monthly meeting last Thursday, councilors and staff held the first of an expected series of strategic planning sessions.
With its headquarters in the Old Courthouse on Main Street in Northampton, the council is successor to the county form of government, which was abolished by the state a decade ago.
Since then the council has ceded control of former county institutions like the Registry of Deeds, jail and courts to the state. Eight communities have broken away from the council since its inception, with 12 of the county's smaller towns remaining. They pay dues based on population ranging from $600 to $10,000.
But far from folding up their tents, council officials say there is still a need for their services, even if they may have to reinvent them a bit. Dozens of municipalities and public agencies around western Massachusetts that are not represented on the council pay fees for the various services it offers.
"I don't see any reason why it should become less of an influence because there's so much talk statewide about regionalization," Chesterfield Selectman David Kielson said. His community pays $1,396.50 a year to belong to the council.
One of the council's missions has been to find good deals on materials and services for the municipalities within its sphere. Even before the county dissolved, that included things like surplus military trucks, asphalt and school supplies.
Hampshire councilors are also the trustees of a $44 million health insurance trust that covers a total of about 9,000 people, including municipal employees and retirees plus their families. (See related story.)
Energy savings
Today, the fastest-growing area of the council's bulk purchasing efforts is electricity. Called Hampshire Power, the program just finished its third year, and now takes up $6.4 million of the council's overall $7.7 million budget.
"I think we're one of the best buys in the business right now," said William Barnett, Belchertown's town clerk and chairman of the Council of Governments executive committee. "We're hoping to really make this a really important function of government in Hampshire County."
Hampshire Power has 85 customers - many of whom aren't dues-paying members of the Council of Governments. One advantage of being a council member is an electricity rate that is a fraction of a cent lower than the one paid by nonmembers.
About half the council's power customers are municipalities looking to power offices and street lamps on the cheap. Belchertown, which gets a slightly better price because it is a council member, has saved $300,000 to date, according to Hampshire Power Director Geoff Rogers.
Other customers include two regional school districts, 13 private businesses and 10 of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife's facilities in western Massachusetts.
Hampshire Power doesn't generate electricity itself. Instead, it buys power at wholesale rates from Independent Systems Operators, a nonprofit that oversees electric utilities around New England. Hampshire Power's customers buy a total of about 5 megawatts of power.
"As a supplier we're still pretty small, but I expect we'll see a lot of growth in the coming year," Rogers said.
For now, Hampshire Power doesn't offer its service to homeowners, but Rogers said that could change as the program expands. And the program is gearing up to start buying from large producers separate from the Independent Systems Operators, which should help Hampshire Power find even better deals, he said.
In fiscal 2008, the last year for which data are available, Hampshire Power refunded a total of $5,726 to 40 customers that take part in its profit-sharing program.
Customers have two other payment options: a "real time" rate that fluctuates with regional power usage, and a yearly fixed rate. Rogers anticipates this year's fixed rate will be in the 8-cent range, about a cent less than what utilities are offering.
Meanwhile, the proceeds from the sale of Hampshire Care for $4 million to Masonic Health System of Charlton will be invested in Hampshire Power, council officials have said.
Councilors voted in late August to vacate the position of council administrator, which had been held by Pennington Geis since the council formed. Geis, who couldn't be reached for comment, had also served as interim director of Hampshire Care for several months before the sale.
But Barnett said, and council meeting minutes reflect, that Geis' relationship with the council may not be over. Councilors have discussed contracting with Geis on an as-needed basis, and Barnett said her experience could come in handy as Hampshire Power grows.
"I would like to have her work with us," he said.
Attractive option
Williamsburg Selectman Jeffrey Ciuffreda said town officials passed on the fledgling electricity program when council officials first pitched it five years ago. The town's contract with Constellation NewEnergy expires soon, and Ciuffreda said officials are considering switching to Hampshire Power now that it has a three-year track record.
When it comes to other services, Ciuffreda says Williamsburg's contact with the Council of Governments is limited. The town's accounting is done by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, he said, and it formed its own public health district in collaboration with other Hilltowns.
"Sometimes we feel like we can do a little bit better on our own, really," Ciuffreda said.
Williamsburg, which today pays $3,337 in annual dues to the Council of Governments, does avail itself of the council's regional building inspection and zoning enforcement services. So do Chesterfield, Goshen, Plainfield, Huntington and Middlefield.
Kielson, of Chesterfield, said he's "very satisfied" with the council's services, including the inspections, health insurance trust and Hampshire Power, which the town joined last year.
While the council now is putting most of its stock in Hampshire Power, it has scaled back in other areas, including selling Hampshire Care and leaving the administrator's office vacant.
The council's surplus equipment purchasing efforts have been placed on the back burner in recent years as the electricity program has grown, Rogers said. In the past Rogers, as regional services manager, spent a lot of time on the road buying former military trucks to be put to use as plows for council member towns. Last year, he rounded up just three surplus vehicles.
Meanwhile the Cooperative Purchasing Department continues to handle a high volume of bids every year. In fiscal 2008, the last year for which data was available, the department awarded contracts worth $5.8 million for materials and services for schools, highway departments, other municipal agencies and human services. That includes everything from scissors for art classes to road salt to contracts for typewriter repairs, said deputy procurement officer Nanci Schwartz.
"We've even had Northampton come back to join our school and art bids because they know what a great deal it is," she said.
Data analyst Henning Ohlenbusch said the projected savings for participants that year is $900,000.
A brief history
When it formed in 1999, the council was made up of all 20 communities that had made up Hampshire County. The regional government body had been in place since 1662 and, in recent years, oversaw the nursing home as well as the court, registry of deeds and jail.
Viewed by many as obsolete and fiscally unsound, county governments were abolished by the state a year before. Though some officials in Amherst, South Hadley and Easthampton recommended against it, county residents voted 2-1 to form the council.
Today the council is made up of representatives from 12 members towns: Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Granby, Huntington, Pelham, Plainfield, Southampton, Westhampton and Williamsburg.
Amherst, Hadley, Hatfield, Northampton, South Hadley, Worthington and Ware seceded from the council in 2002; Easthampton followed in 2003. Some tried to leave earlier, but the council's charter demands membership for a minimum of three years.
Each community pays membership dues based on its population. Northampton paid $163,000 annually before it withdrew from the council, and Belchertown paid $62,000 per year at the beginning.
Hoping to convince other towns not to drop out, the council in 2002 reduced its fees and instituted a $10,000 cap. Belchertown is the only remaining member town to have reached the cap. Middlefield, with a population of less than 500, pays $682.25. The median annual assessment is $1,895.50.
In fiscal 2010, the council expects to collect just $37,205.76 from its membership. Barnett said dues cover only a minuscule part of the overall $7.7 million council budget, paying for a portion of council employees' salaries. Other costs are covered by program revenues and grants, according to budget documents.
James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.
