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Heating Oil Co-opPlan
October 14, 2008, work session
Councilman Metz said that the town was looking into the possibility of
creating a heating oil co-op plan similar to the one that was recently
started in Cortlandt. He will report back to the
board in a couple of weeks. Looking ahead to next year, he said it might also
be possible to get other towns interested in a single larger program.
Under the Cortlandt plan, several suppliers have
agreed to offer homeowners who join the co-op a discount on a service plan
and caps on the price of oil. Basically, the town's only involvement in the
program is to supply customers to the oil company. The rest is up to the
homeowner and the oil company
October 21, 2008
In response to questions from resident Mara Ziedins
regarding the status of the proposed heating oil co-op plan, Councilman Metz
said that the plan was moving forward quickly and that he hoped to have some
more details available at the board's upcoming October 28th work session.
Some companies have already agreed to participate in the program and he is
trying to get more to sign on
October 28, 2008, work session
Councilman Metz provided some additional information and a draft document
regarding the planned heating oil co-op that is being modeled after the
recently adopted Cortlandt plan. Residents would
pay a $5 fee to sign up. Mr. Metz envisioned that as soon as the details were
worked out, the town would set aside a Saturday for signing up. Still to be
worked out is language regarding how the price is to be capped. (There are at
least two possible benchmarks that can be used.)
Mr. Metz explained that he had been unsuccessful in getting the participating
companies to eliminate the 150 gallon minimum purchase or to be more specific
about the “reduced rate” for a service contract. All sales will
be C.O.D. (cash on delivery). Membership in the co-op will only be open to
residents, not commercial establishments.
Resident Serafina Mastro,
owner of Reliable Oil, the only oil company in Yorktown,
expressed some reservations about the program noting how difficult it would
be for homeowners to obtain the information that will be used to set the cap.
She wondered if the additional paperwork that would fall to the town was
worth the effort, especially as homeowners were already “shopping
around” for the best price; she noted that she typically gets about 25
calls a day from comparison shoppers. She added that it was also important
for homeowners to know the cost of a service contract and factor that in to a
total package.
Mr. Metz said he would be working with Supervisor Don Peters's
assistant, Kelly O'Dell, to pin down some remaining points and will get back
to the board, probably at the next work session, to review the plan again.
November 18, 2008
Councilman Matt Metz announced that 80 homeowners had signed up so far to
participate in the group. The town will hold another sign up session on
November 24th, between 7-10pm in the conference room in town hall. Homeowners
can also sign up at any time with Kelly O'Dell in the supervisor's office.
Mr. Metz said the co-op price will be
approximately 40 cents above the wholesale rate and that the suppliers will
offer a discount on a service plan. He noted that last week, the co-op price was
$2.30/gallon. The wholesale rate, which fluctuates, can be found on
Bloomberg.com.
January
5, 2010
Supervisor Siegel
reminded residents about the Town’s Heating Oil Coop. The program currently works with 4
– 5 vendors and costs residents $5 to join. Oil is priced at $.40 above
wholesale. Anyone interested in
participating should contact David Humphrey in the Supervisor’s office.
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