September 17, 2018

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Good afternoon Utility Task Force members,

In an effort to update this task force, the following has occurred within town government since the last meeting:

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• The town is developing bid specifications for an increased tree service contract, so that a local vegetation management program within the town’s right-of-way can be implemented moving forward. The Town Highway Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, and I have conducted a survey of troubled areas which will constitute the beginnings of the Town's vegetation management program.  Increased funding will be appropriated for this. The reality is, while this may be necessary, it is not the panacea for the power issues as the majority of outages caused by fallen trees are outside the right-of-way. This further speaks to the importance of SEEC’s proposed public outreach program.

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• The Public Service Commission met with Supervisor Lucas and I regarding NYSEG’s operations and the open investigation stemming for our formal complaints. They will be touring NYSEG’s infrastructure in our area. In further follow up, the PSC formally requested that NYSEG provide more frequent and detailed updates to this Task Force.
  

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• Deputy Supervisor Garrity and I met with Legislators Kaplowitz and Covill to discuss their imitative to have a third party audit of NYSEG’s operations conducted. The town will be supporting this in any and every capacity possible.
  

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Rick Morrissey

Somers Town Supervisor