The Winamac Town Council recently considered an ordinance that would extend their contract with the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA) through the year 2050.
Town Manager Brad Zellers indicated that IMPA is asking for an extension because they’re looking to have as much long-term security as they can to help with future investments and projects.
He reminded the council members of the report he shared with them last month which highlighted how low the Town’s rates are compared to other areas. Zellers also mentioned that the proposed extension would add less than 10 years to their current arrangement.
Zellers noted that he and Council President Tom Murray met with the company’s Vice President and added that Town Attorney Justin Schramm also met with their legal representative.
President Murray highlighted the fact that the proposed agreement indicates that in order to cancel their services they would have to give IMPA a thirty-year notice.
Town Attorney Schramm touched on why that time frame is specified, “The reason it’s a multiple of 30 is because when you’re talking about long-term bond financing, they usually run 30-year notes on them.”
He continued, Their Attorney, his name was Peter Prettyman, had talked about obtaining favorable interest rates which is passed along to our consumer at lower rates and they can only do that if they have 30 years to potentially get that financing in place.”
Schramm also provided some additional details about the Town’s existing arrangement with IMPA and what the ordinance would do.
He stated, “When we signed the original contract in ’02 expired in 2032. We signed an amendment in ’07 extending it to 2043 and then if we were to pass this, it extends it from 2043 currently to 2050 which we’d still keep that 30-year mark.”
There was a consensus amongst officials that they are satisfied with the services and they felt confident locking in for the additional time.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance in addition to an associated agreement.
