Perkasie needs a Smart Council, not Smart Meters

A proposal for adding an electric "smart meter" system came up at budget time as a "wishlist" item from the electric department- despite a call to cut budgets by 1-3%.  The number associated with this expense has been cited at $550,000 which seems dubious after the presentation by Elster and GE given at a special electric utility committee meeting held Monday, August 25th. with little notice to the public.  In fact it didn't appear as a notice on the borough website or social media outlets until earlier that day. Link to audio recording of meeting. 

"Smart meters" are cutting edge technology that manufacturers claim will make your electric service more reliable, allow users to track their usage in "real time", reduce costs, and make electric transmission more efficient while making utility workers jobs safer.  They would replace the traditional electric meter usually mounted on the side of your home and act as 2-way radio frequency (RF) mesh network devices that communicate with the utility server as frequently as every minute.  The term "mesh network" refers to the ability for a smart meter located at your home to pass along not only your information but to act as a relay point for other homes as well.  Meaning that RF traffic could potentially occur all the time!

In reality what they do is intrude on the privacy of your home, with the capability to track what appliances you are using, when you are home, and the ability to interact with other RF capable devices in your home allowing a utility to control your usage. A 2012 Congressional Report Service report on smart meters raises serious security and 4th Amendment privacy issues.  Some models of these meters have caused fires. At the meeting a resident reported that a friend had opted in to a program in MD and found that his air conditioning was cut back on one of the hottest days of the summer of 2013.

These meters also cost more for residents (estimated at an additional $30 per meter) and have a lifespan of only 7-10 years as compared with traditional meters at 40-50 years.  Assuming it doesn't catch on fire first, because neither of the meters from the 2 companies that presented to the committee are UL-listed for safety.
So why Perkasie?  With one of the most reliable electric utilities in the county if not the state, what other possible reason could there be for spending more money that residents don't have on this type of program? During the 1 hour+ long presentation Perkasie electric superintendent Harold Stone testified that the line loss (electricity lost due to resistance and equipment not operating at peak efficiency) for Perkasie should be around 4% but is about 5%, inferring that a smart meter system could help them find issues and improve this- but a minute later he explained that the threshold of 10% loss is when you really start looking for problems. He also made the dubious claim that due to currently malfunctioning meters the Borough was losing $100,000 of revenue per year.

Do Perkasie residents really want to be able to track their usage in real-time and give the borough the ability to monitor their usage and more easily shut off their service?  What about the privacy and security concerns? Could smart meters be used as a tool for political retribution? Perhaps what residents really want is their electric rates to return to normal after the 2008 bungled contract that was negotiated under the watch of then Utility Chair Jim Purcell- interestingly the same individual who still holds that position.

Did Perkasie officials consult with neighboring Lansdale about their experience with these smart meters?  In the words of Lansdale councilman:

"Obviously, it's a big expenditure for putting in meters. Did we identify it as an absolute need? Is there a projected life of the meters?" Angelichio said. "In 2006, we spent a boatload of money on new meters. Seven years later, we're spending a lot more on some meters. I want to make sure it's a cost-effective solution."   

The article goes on to claim that employees of the electric company can help residents identify ways to cut their bills.  Is an expensive system really needed for that, or with just a simple device available at most home improvement stores can a homeowner identify appliances that consume more electricity and cut back on their usage?

Will you eventually be forced to have a smart meter installed?  There is pending legislation to allow consumers to "opt-out", make sure to contact your state representatives and let them know how you feel about this before you are forced to adapt this new expensive technology.

Learn more about the potential issues with smart meters here:

http://www.stopsmartmetersnow.com/

http://www.stopsmartmetersinpa.com/

New information on Menlo Pool incident comes to light (RED FLAGS)

As a result of a Right to Know (RTK) request, a borough resident has obtained emails and a copy of the rental contract for Menlo Pool for the 8/11/13 incident- after the borough RTK officer Donna Benner invoked the 30 day extension on August 13 without giving reason and anticipated date and cost of the records as required under state law.

Obtaining information from the borough is like pulling teeth.  Why the dishonesty?  Why were RED FLAGS ignored?

The first email dated Thursday August 8 at 12:32pm is from assistant manager Andrea Coaxum to the interim parks and recreation director Carolyn Hanel, also copied are borough manager Dan Olpere and Interim Police Chief Steven Hillias.

This email contradicts earlier statements by borough officials that they were initially aware of only around 100 party patrons as it clearly references "several hundred people" and also admits "concerns over the size of the party" and encourages Ms Hanel to be "very clear to the man that no alcohol will be permitted".  According to published reports by NBC news "Borough officials insisted the promoter told them only 100 people would be coming to the pool for a small birthday party" and “The renter was told three times that he couldn’t bring alcohol in and he knew that,” said Perkasie Borough manager Dan Olpere.

It also encourages notification of the police (who are copied on this email and have previously claimed no knowledge of the event until they were called that night) and a warning "The pool staff should already know to call 911 if things start to get out of hand."  Also mentioned is a $1,000 donation which was offered by the renter but never accepted by borough officials.  Coaxum gives her approval of the rental.

The next email is from the manager Olpere to the assistant manager Coaxum and Hanel, again the police are copied.  To his credit he states that he would not want to inconvenience pool members by rescheduling the movie night just to "accomodate hundreds of non-members that we will never see again" and tacitly gives his approval for the rental.  Again the $1,000 donation is mentioned.

The next email is from Hanel to Coaxum and CC to Olpere and Hillias.  It mentions extending the party to midnight and again the $1,000 donation is mentioned and closes with "Stay tuned, more to come." No further emails were received but the packet did note that there were other documents related to the RTK request that were not disclosed because they could be related to a criminal investigation. 

The next email timestamped 1:38pm (just an hour after the first emails on the subject) is from Hanel to the Menlo Pool manager advising them of the decision to rent the pool and that the organizer would likely be stopping to pay that day. 

The next document is the actual executed rental agreement, the name of the staff member who executed it has been redacted by us to protect their identity because they did not make a decision to rent the pool and are simply acting as an agent of borough officials. 

This document reveals the Philadelphia address of the renter Antwan Garfield, and also several policies that were violated by borough officials including 

• all parties are held to a 3 hour limit
• a guest list must be submitted to the Aquatics Director 2 weeks prior to the party to ensure the correct patron to guard ratio is met
• Full payment of rental fees must be paid two weeks prior to event

In addition the de facto policy as stated on the Borough website that  "Private parties are limited to Friday and Saturday nights from 8:00 - 11:00 pm. Sorry, no Sundays." was ignored.

Here is the memo from Manager Olpere to council with his version of the events.  Of interest is where he reports that the pool manager was told that some guests would be "some people had vouchers from a cancelled event and that they would be admitted with those."  Yet another RED FLAG that was ignored putting our community and pool staff at risk

Are you Fed up yet?  Sign the petition HERE asking for resignations of borough leadership

9/10/13 Community Outreach Meeting

Residents spoke with Councilmembers Ryder and Stottlar about a number of issues including the car show, Menlo Pool incident, Fire department, road paving.

Notably absent was Councilman Steve Pizzollo, who had a verbal exchange with a resident at last weeks public meeting and told her "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.