BWL Board considers $1,500 chairs

LANSING – When three new non-voting Board of Water & Light commissioners begin their unpaid jobs in July, they could be welcomed with $1,500 chairs.

Eight current BWL Board of Commissioners members are considering the purchase of chairs for representatives of East Lansing, Meridian Township and Delta Township as part of a proposed $30,400 makeover for the utility's $182 million headquarters complex on South Washington.

The new members, however, believe those improvements are unnecessary and could damage BWL's image with the almost 97,000 customers it serves, said William Long, a former BWL Community Review Team member who will represent Delta Township. Long said he had discussed the issue with the other new board members.

"We appreciate that the board wants to treat us as equals, but that seems a little excessive," Long said. "Once we're in chairs, I don't think anyone is going to care what they look like."

In addition to the three chairs for regular meetings, board members are considering a $15,900 extension to the dias used for its general meetings, a $5,500 table for committee of the whole meetings held in the same room and three more $1,500 chairs for committee of the whole meetings. The board schedules six regular meetings each year.

All board meetings are held at the former site of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad depot on South Washington, a building BWL renovated for $2.8 million and opened in 2013.

BWL purchased 22 chairs for $1,183.70 each when the depot opened and went through a bidding process to get prices for the same chairs, company spokesman Stephen Serkaian said.

Serkaian said that if the board decides to purchase more chairs they, along with the others, are expected to last at least 25 years in a building that's also uses its furniture for BWL employee training and community events.

"These are extremely modest costs to support the spirit of regionalism and customer representation," Serkaian said.

Given the operational challenges BWL's Eckert Plant faces before its eventual closing, and the lack of an alternative source of power generation, Long hopes the board will keep its priorities in order and not focus on furniture.

Long said he would support having regular board meetings at tables used for committee of the whole meetings. A seat in an extra chair that's already in the depot at a table that extends the existing tables would be fine with him.

"The bigger issues we face are how to deal with the cost of upgrading BWL's system," Long said. "Those are the things we need to pay the most attention to."

BWL's Interim General Manager Dick Peffley told board members at Tuesday's meeting the city-owned utility must move quickly on the coal-burning Eckert Plant — built in the 1950s — and a replacement because it faces an "unprecedented level of work for the next seven to 10 years."

Peffley added that without electric generation at Eckert, service to downtown Lansing, General Motors and Sparrow Hospital are "one contingency from failure."

Still, discussion among board members at the meeting about a proposal for the upgrades to accommodate three new members appeared to generate more passionate and engaged discussion at Tuesday's meeting.

Robert Nelson of East Lansing and Mike Froh of Meridian Township are the other new board members coming in July. Froh's position will rotate annually among Meridian, Delhi, DeWitt and Lansing Township residents.

Board member Sandra Zerkle said at the meeting that she supports the upgrades because it shows BWL's commitment to its new members and the community's message to bring more accountability to the utility.

"The perception of people coming in and commissioners as elected by their community or appointed by their community sitting on the floor or sitting below us ... it's just not feasible for me," Zerkle said. "I know I wouldn't like that, and I don't think you would appreciate that either."

All board members serve unpaid positions. The eight Lansing board members were appointed by Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and approved by City Council.