After a power outage in August that left Greenport residents and businesses in the dark for hours, the village board authorized a complete “systems overview” on Monday, to the tune of $55,000.
The study will be performed by A&F Electrical Testing, Inc. out of St. James.
According to Village Administrator Paul Pallas, the study is required by the New York Power Authority.
Trustee Dave Murray asked why, if work had already been done, the village had to spend an additional $55,000.
What was done in the past, Pallas said, was “more of a component overview, not a systems overview. A&F is doing a bigger picture study, to make sure things are functioning together as a unit.”
Greenport Mayor David Nyce said previous work focused on the wiring to and from a transformer.
“This is much broader than that,” Pallas said.
Nyce added, “Clearly, I’m not happy with the situation of having to spend money again. But that being said, we don’t have a whole lot of choice.” After the report is done, Nyce said he wanted to review results very carefully. “And if there’s anything that comes out of this that shows something that should have been caught earlier, I want to go after them immediately.”
Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said she wanted to look at the original plan and makes sure everything was clearly spelled out; the work, she said, is part of a complete upgrade and capital improvement project at the electrical plant.
The report, Pallas said, could most likely be generated more quickly than the originally anticipated eight weeks. Village attorney Joe Prokop said time was of the essence because there is a time limitation as to when issues can be raised.
“I’m upset that this money is not going to any actual improvements,” Nyce said, adding that if discrepancies were found, “I want to go very aggressively after anyone responsible.”
