Norwich member of municipal energy group to cut his stipend
Norwich — One Norwich member of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative board of directors said Tuesday he has not yet received any payment for serving on the board and has asked that his stipend be cut in half to $300 per meeting.
Robert Groner, a retired Electric Boat engineer, said he will ask CMEEC to place half of his stipend into the rate-stabilization fund for the six-member Connecticut utilities in CMEEC and also said he plans to donate $150 per meeting to the St. Vincent de Paul Place soup kitchen in Norwich, where he and his wife are regular volunteers.
Groner, a member of the Norwich Board of Public Utilities Commissioners, said he joined the CMEEC board in November “as a volunteer.” Groner said he was unaware that CMEEC board members were eligible for any compensation for serving on the board.
Groner and his wife attended the controversial four-day trip to the Kentucky Derby in May of this year. CMEEC, which is owned by the six municipally owned public utilities in the state, has hosted lavish Derby trips for the past four years. The 2016 trip cost totaled $342,330 for 44 board members, guests and invited municipal officials, including Norwich Mayor Deberey Hinchey and former Groton City Mayor Dennis Popp.
Groner declined to comment on the Kentucky Derby trip Tuesday, citing pending ethics complaints in Norwich.
On Tuesday, The Day filed a complaint to the state Freedom of Information Commission regarding CMEEC's failure to properly post agendas for its board meetings in the member utilities' city and town clerk's offices as required by state statute.
CMEEC board members who attend at least 65 percent of board meetings are eligible to receive stipends of $600 per meeting for attending regular and special board meetings in person and $200 for attending by phone or electronic device. In addition, members receive $250 for committee meetings in person and $100 for committee meetings by phone.
Since the payments are made at the end of the year after the 65 percent attendance is verified, Groner said he hasn't received any payments to date for his tenure as a CMEEC board member.
Late Monday night, Groner said, he contacted CMEEC Executive Director Drew Rankin to ask that his stipend be cut in half this year. He plans to donate half of his $250 committee meeting stipend, or $125, to the rate-stabilization fund and then donate half of the remaining portion to the soup kitchen. He said he would retain $62.50 per meeting after his donation to the soup kitchen to cover his time and expenses attending sometimes lengthy and highly technical meetings that rotate among the member utilities in the state.
“When we have to go to Norwalk, that takes the whole day,” Groner said.
Groner said he volunteers three days a week at the soup kitchen and calls it “the charity of my choice.”
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