Local News

Newburyport councilors back mayor on solar project

Lynne Hendricks
Correspondent
Published: September 29, 2008

NEWBURYPORT — Many of Newburyport’s City Council members appear to support the proposed Nock School solar project signed by the mayor last week, having been reassured by the mayor in recent days that the city has done its work to vet the deal.

Of the six of the 11 council members who returned phone calls made Friday, four expressed support for the project and Mayor John Moak’s decision to go forward, though they only recently learned of the project the mayor said has been in the works for more than a year.

“I don’t really have a problem with it,” said Ward 4 Councilor Ed Cameron. “The mayor’s the one who’s done the negotiating. I feel he’s done his due diligence.”

Mayor John Moak campaigned citywide via e-mail over the last few days seeking to quell fears and dispel perceptions in the community he hasn’t done enough to research the project. Questions have arisen in light of a belated conflict-of-interest disclosure filed last week by Jeff Wootan, whom Moak said has used his contacts in the energy business to get the city a deal it shouldn’t refuse.

Wootan has been Moak’s sole negotiator on the contract to install one of the largest solar arrays in the state atop Nock Middle School, a deal that would cost no money up front but instead be paid for by purchasing the power the panels generate.

Moak signed a deal with a power provider company called EyeOn energy of Colorado. An executive at the company told The Daily News that EyeOn plans to use a subcontractor, Integrated Energies, to help with the solar array’s installation. In his disclosure, Wootan has admitted he has been “in talks” to join Integrated Energies since July, during which time he has also negotiated with the company for a price to install 2,600 solar panels.

Wootan has denied any conflict of interest, and Moak has stood by him.

None of the council members questioned had read the 20-year contract with EyeOn, the waiver Wootan authored to exempt the city from open bid laws, or the three-page disclosure filed by Wootan 12 days ago with the city clerk.

However, those contacted expressed varying levels of support for the project based on information they’d received from the mayor.

“I think from my discussions with the mayor, I’m pretty comfortable with the distance (Wootan) has created,” Barry Connell said. “The state seems satisfied with the disclosures (Wootan) has made, and in the end we’re benefiting more than we might otherwise with this contract.”

Council President James Shanley expressed similar sentiment, having been told by the mayor the state Department of Energy Resources had issued a letter to the city stating they were “cool” with Wootan’s disclosure.

“Actually the lawyer from the Department of Energy sent a letter to the mayor saying they were cool with it,” Shanley said yesterday. “I’m not really sure there is a conflict of interest.”

Contacted yesterday, DOER Press Secretary Lisa Capone responded quickly to that assertion, stating, “The DOER did not send any letter to the city regarding Mr. Wootan’s disclosure. The only letter sent by DOER was the letter granting the city’s waiver request.”

“DOER has no authority to evaluate conflicts of interest,” Capone said. “It is up to the contracting authorities and the state Ethics Commission to determine if a conflict exists and whether prior disclosure is sufficient to resolve it.”

In an interview last week, DOER Commissioner Phil Giudice stated he was unaware a conflict of interest disclosure had been filed in connection with the two waivers granted by him to Triton and Newburyport. He indicated the state would not likely take a position on it either, feeling it was not part of the state’s consideration when granting the waiver and is now a matter for the city to resolve.

“The town has concern about that,” Giudice said. “I can appreciate their concern about that.”

Giudice suggested if inconsistencies were found in the waiver application authored by Wootan, that would be a matter for the attorney general to investigate, not the DOER.

Moak has said because he was familiar with Wootan’s work he did not seek a resume from him when he appointed him to the Energy Advisory Committee. But he has acknowledged he knew of Wootan’s business ties to Integrated Energies from the beginning. According to company officials, Wootan is currently employed as a consultant to Reflex Energy, which financed the launch of Intergrated Energies.

Moak sought to alleviate fears of conflict of interest among residents this weekend with an e-mail campaign reaching out across the city.

“I have not compromised my beliefs in sound and honest government,” wrote Moak with reference to recent reports in The Daily News.

The mayor has repeatedly contended he conducted much due diligence with regard to the contract with EyeOn, but in a letter to School Committee members and councilors said he would only share that due diligence with them after it’s been signed by EyeOn.

“Once they sign the contract, I will share some of the pricing comparisons that we have developed,” he wrote.

In a press release on Friday and in the e-mail sent over the weekend, Moak did not comment specifically on the nature of Wootan’s ties to any business contracted in the deal and made no mention of Wootan’s disclosure. He said Wootan’s involvement was not motivated by the paycheck he was receiving from IE parent company Reflex Energy, but from “a passion for clean energy.”

Reflex President Paul Mustone told The Daily News on Sept. 17 that he hired Wootan as a paid consultant to help him launch Integrated Energies in May and that Wootan has already been paid for his work getting Integrated Energies up and running.

City Councilor Larry McCavitt expressed support for the city’s sponsoring of a solar initiative but was concerned over the process which he referred to as “convoluted.”

“Anytime you’re getting into this kind of stuff today, when waivers are granted and people don’t understand what these contracts contain — unless you’re very careful about it, there’s a great chance of mistakes being made. It’s like the landfill. The mayor at that time signed the contract with that host company.”

As a member of the EAC, Councilor-at-Large Kathleen O’Connor Ives said she hoped after charges of conflict of interest were made the mayor would postpone signing the contract until the conflict was resolved. Moak signed it last week. Ives is hoping to hear some clarification from the mayor or Wootan on why the city shouldn’t worry about this contract. She suggested such clarification might come at the EAC’s next scheduled meeting on Thursday at the public library.

“It’s possible that at that time the committee’s questions about the project will be answered,” Ives said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some insight on why there shouldn’t be any concern on the contract or the conflict of interest. We as a committee haven’t met since that information was provided to us.”

Ives and the other councilors have not been privy to the details of the contract signed by Moak with EyeOn, claiming since no money is involved, the matter does not fall under their purview.

Regarding Wootan’s conflict of interest, Councilor Tom Jones suggested Newburyport use Triton as an example, since the two schools shared the same consultant and are looking at nearly identical projects, but Triton is conducting an investigation on whether Wootan’s work is truly best for Triton.

“We came later to the game and yet Triton’s not ready to finalize but we’re ready?” Jones said. “What did we miss? If we did miss, this would be a really good opportunity to look again.”