Minutes 02/24/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24. 1998 BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, in regular session assembled February 24, 1998, that it hereby urges its Federal legislators and regulators to recognize that Virginia is not among the high-cost states that have little to lose by moving quickly to retail competition, and the Congress should proceed slowly and cautiously as it considers moving in this direction; and BE IT FlIRTHER RESOLVED that Congress is urged to work to provide the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with clear and explicit authority and responsibility to (1) require and approve the creation of truly independent--Independent System Operator--to provide all users with fairly-priced, non-discriminatory ;/""(equal) access to transmission services; (2) more effectively deal with generation and transmission market power issues; (3) require development, filing and neutral, non-discriminatory enforcement of reliability standards and obligations applicable to all participants in a market; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is urged to oppose any legislation proposed to limit municipal debt financing and urge the appropriate Federal regulators to issue rulings on existing '~private use" codes that would allow municipal electric systems to compete on an equal basis with investor-owned and cooperative utilities; and FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, hereby urges Federal legislators and regulators to work diligently to ensure that all classes of customers, not just those with economic bargaining power, are treated fairly and equally and truly benefit from any legislation or regulations dealing with the restructu~ng of the electric utility industry. Council next considered approval of the City' s priority project list for the West Piedmont Planning District Commission' s Overall Economic Development Program for 1998-99, thereby endorsing the retention of status as a Redevelopment Area within the West Piedmont Economic Development District. Upon motion duly seconded, and by unanimous vote Council approved the document and priority list as presented and amended, and authorized the City Manager to notify the U. S. Economic Development Administration of the City' s desire to maintain status as a Redevelopment Area and Council' s support of the West Piedmont Economic Development District designation. Council next considered adoption of a Resolution to be presented to the Virginia Department of Transportation stating the City' s position on highway improvement projects within the City. Tom Harned, Assistant to the City Manager for Community Development, noted that the priorities stated were the same as those of the previous year, with the only difference being a clarification and better description of the scope