The Board meets on the first and third Monday of each month. Meetings begin at 1:00 p.m. and are held in the department conference room at 65 Lafayette Ave, Littleton. Board meetings are open to the public and time is allotted for public comments at each meeting.
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The regularly scheduled Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting began at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 in the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) conference room. Present were Commissioner Eddy Moore, Commissioner Perry Goodell,Commissioner Ralph Ross, Financial Director Cheryl Wilkins, Administrative Assistant Sharon Hampson and
Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the December 19, 2016 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Goodell made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. Superintendent Considine stated that LWL will most likely be placing a load limiter on a customer’s electric meter this week as the customer is not expected to make the agreed upon payment. Though winter rules are in affect the available power supply would be limited by the device, the residence will have sufficient power to run the heating system but little else.
2. LWL on call personnel while in the process of responding to a trouble call report of no power at about 0430 hours on Tuesday, December 27, 2016 slid off the side of Perkins Landing Road into a deep roadside ditch. Due to the location of the incident, cell phone signal reception was intermittent, after several failed attempts contact was made with Superintendent Considine who set recovery operations in motion. Contact between the stranded LWL crew and LDPW road maintenance crew(s) was attainable via FM radio though LDPW crews allegedly refused to offer direct communications assistance between the LWL crew and LWL management. A heavy wrecker was needed for the recovery of the line truck several hours later. No personal injuries were sustained and no vehicle (truck 502) damage was observed and truck 502 returned to the shop under its own power.
3. The BOC reviewed and discussed a report that contained the results of the Sanitary Survey/Inspection that NH DES conducted on December 6, 2016. The inspectors reviewed/ audited the monthly documents submitted by the LWL that contained the daily operator’s logs and water sampling reports and documentation.
Each water distribution site from Brickyard Well to Gale River was inspected by NHDES personnel for compliance with USEPA Safe Drinking Water Standards. No deficiencies were found or annotated though NHDES offered several suggestions with regard to system safety and reliability.
4. The results of the 2016 Physical Inventory count errors were reviewed with the BOC. The auditor verified several large dollar items in December that corroborated the LWL physical count and overall inventory monetary adjustment. A specific error that needs to be addressed is how LWL personnel verify the total delivery amount. This was the area that had the most costly mistakes when taken off the delivery truck.
5. Superintendent Considine asked the BOC to approve a 2.8% Cost -of- Living Allowance (COLA) for LWL non-union staff. The suggested COLA increase mirrors the amount that union employees are slated to receive in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Commissioner Ross made a motion to extend authority to increase non-union wages to Superintendent Considine at his discretion, seconded by Commissioner Goodell.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
GENERAL/ OTHER BUSINESS:
1. A credit/rebate of about $2.28 per 1,000 kWh of energy consumed will show up on the department’s January 2017 invoice for all accounts that had energy usage in the prior month. The department received about $13,700 from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction 34 through the NHPUC that tasked with distributing the auction proceeds.
2. The BOC discussed and reviewed the Capital Project and Equipment proposals for 2017 submitted. Superintendent Considine stated that the roof over the garage and parts of the office has been leaking again and is not on the 2017 CIP list of proposals as the funds have previously been encumbered. He is going to have the roof condition assessed in the spring with regard to repairing or replacing. The last replacement estimate received was provided by Rodd Roofing for about $150,000. Of the proposal being reviewed for 2017 the major items being considered are a replacement network server, confine space mitigation at the Mann’s Hill pump station, replacement 1-ton utility truck (water) and the delivery of the new bucket truck that was approved last year. The execution of small dollar items/projects will depend on budgetary constraints.
Commissioner Ross asked if there were any material changes to the 2017 proposed operating budgets as proposed and previously reviewed by the BOC. Mrs. Wilkins stated there were no significant changes.
Following some additional discussion Commissioner Goodell made a motion to accept the 2017 water (dated 12/2/2016) and electric (dated 12/13/2016) operating and maintenance budgets and the capital construction project and equipment proposals (dated 12/30/2016) as presented by LWL management, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Superintendent Considine stated that he would return to the BOC prior to executing the proposed capital items for further BOC deliberation and situational awareness.
3. Commissioner Goodell expressed a concern with the recent hacking report at the Burlington Electric Company in Burlington Vermont and inquired as to LWLs vulnerability to the same.
Superintendent Considine stated that LWL has just implemented new protocols with the online payment portal and has recently installed an improved Cisco Firewall with the aid of our IT support. The additional capabilities of the new firewall places LWL in full compliance with PCC-PCI requirements. At the close of each month the LWL network both internet and intranet are stringently scanned by risk assessment software that probes our firewall and online processes for vulnerabilities. A detailed report is provided to LWL and First Data (credit card processor) with regard to the analysis and or deficiencies detected.
Network/ main frame access by employees through the firewall from outside is limited to management and generally pertains to SCADA software on an as needed basis. No malicious emails are accessed from any remote location.
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Ross made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by
Commissioner Goodell.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 2:03 p.m.
The regularly scheduled Commissioner’s meeting is held twice monthly on the first and third Monday, at 1:00 p.m., in the Department’s conference room.