LAPEL — At a special meeting of the town council on Thursday, April 1, the Lapel board approved a payment plan to cover dramatically higher natural gas costs reflected in utility bills residents received for February services.
The town also is giving residents more time to pay those gas bills.
The gas price increase was related to the February gas crisis associated with a polar vortex weather event that created winter storms in Texas and other parts of the country.
The agreement is to pay $402,590 of a remaining balance to Constellation New Energy, the town’s natural gas provider, during the next two years.
At the meeting, council president Chad Blake said the agreement received “favorable opinion” from the town’s legal and financial team.
Blake said the goal is to pay back the money, financed at a 4% interest rate, in less than two years with no penalty for early payment.
In March, giving residents warning of their upcoming bill, Blake provided a Facebook Live broadcast to discuss the circumstances with concerned citizens.
In the broadcast, he said the bill received for the town was close to $500,000 for the month of February, nearly $200,000 more than what the town projected for the entire year.
Blake said in his briefing that during the polar vortex natural gas prices, per unit, increased as high as $1,100. Normally, in Lapel, rates are $2 to $3 per unit.
He added that Lapel and other communities across the country feel the actions taken by suppliers “equates to price gouging during an emergency.”
In his broadcast, Blake said concerns about possible price gouging were shared with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and Office of the Indiana Attorney General.
He said he knew many residents would not have means to pay their bill on the due date and that the town is allowing residents and businesses a payment plan of up to nine months for the gas portions of their bills.
Paving bids
The council received three bids for an Indiana Department of Transportation Community Crossings Matching Grant Program project in town.
Bids came from DC Construction of Indianapolis ($628,287), E&B Paving of Anderson ($770,347) and Midwest Paving of Noblesville ($689,789).
The council took the bids under advisement and, at a meeting on Monday, April 5, selected DC Construction to do the work.
In December, in what was the largest grant for a road project in town history, Lapel was awarded $699,438 from the Community Crossings program.
In total, the paving project at that time was estimated for $932,600, with a town match of $233,161.03.
With the selected bid being lower than the estimate, the town match will decrease, as well.
Blake said he believes it is still the largest grant for a road project for the town and added, “It’s good (the bid was lower); it will give us more money to do other things.”
The paving work will be done on 2.23 miles of Lapel roads, including county roads 200 South, 950 West (Brookside Road) and 500 South (Alliance Road). Also included are Vine Street, 10th Street, Ash Way, Beechwood Drive, Briar Drive and Oakmont Drive.
Prescott agreement
The council voted on an annual agreement contract with Everett J. Prescott Inc., a privately-owned water, wastewater and stormwater solutions distributor.
The company provides handheld radio-read water meters and software.
The contract amount is $3,600.
