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 Monday, April 1, 2019 in the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) conference room. Present were Commissioner Ralph Ross, Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner Schuyler Sweet, Financial Director Cheryl Wilkins, and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the March 18, 2019 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Sweet made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
CUSTOMER & PUBLIC CONCERNS:
Ms. Karen Keazirian, a customer at 1225 Farr Hill Road, spoke to the BOC in regard to an abatement type request in regard to excess electric usage. As a direct result of a frozen water pipe at the residence the customer needed to hire restoration contractors to clean, which incurred excessive electrical use above the normal/average bill. A homeowner’s claim was filed that included the electrical bill for this period and was denied by the insurance company because LWL invoiced the homeowner and not the insurance company.
Ms. Keazirian was of the understanding that LWL would abate these charges. She also asked that LWL remove the minimal charges from her LWL account for this consumption and send an invoice to the insurance company (the Concord Group) directly and she would like the late charges removed from her credit history as she has always maintained excellent payment history.
BOC agreed that her insurance agent should be the one dealing with these charges as part of the claim filed as it really has nothing to do with the LWL. LWL would clear up her credit history in light of this misunderstanding once the charges have been paid. Ms. Keazirian stated that she would go directly out to the front counter and pay these minimal charges and thanked the BOC for their time.
FINANCIAL DIRECTORS REPORT:
1. Mrs. Wilkins reviewed the highlights of the financial statements for the month ended February 2019 with the Commissioners. Several variances as compared to budget were discussed and explained by Mrs. Wilkins.
2. Ms. Wilkins stated that LWL recently received the Actuarial Valuation report in regard “Other Post-Employment Benefits” (OPEB) for the year-end 2018. This is an annual audit requirement under the Governmental Accounting Standard Board report 75 (GASB-75) and included as a supplement to the year-ended financial audit.
Mr. Considine stated that though LWL does not provide post-employment benefits to its retired employees LWL will incur an implicit liability of about $82,000 for the year-end 2018. This liability (on the balance sheet only) is a result of LWL participation in the NH Retirement System (NHRS).
The NHRS requires participating members to offer retired employees the option to voluntarily remain with LWL group health insurance after they retire from a participating member. In accordance with GASB-75 this benefit is considered a liability even though the retired employees pays the full health insurance premium. According to GASB the current and generally the younger employees pay a higher premium as a result of the higher risk retired employees belonging to the group. The estimated/calculated difference between what LWL employees would be paying for health care without retires in the group and the actual amount paid with retires in the group is carried as an implicit debt on the LWL balance sheet as having the retire in the group increases costs for the LWL.
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. The BOC was advised that both federal and state members of the Federal River Restoration Committee are planning to attend the May 6, 2019 to discuss their progress in regard to removing the old dam on the South Branch of the Gale River.
2. The NH Public Utilities Commission recently distributed the proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction held in March 2019 (No. 43) to LWL for disbursement. Eligible LWL customers will receive an estimated rebate in the amount of about $3.20/1,000 kWh on their April 2019 statement.
3. LWL recently collected an old outstanding debt from a person that was involved in a motor vehicle accident in June of 2017. LWL provided written documentation to the NHDMV Office of Financial Responsibility as to this person’s failure to pay for the damages resulting from a motor vehicle accident that required a full utility pole replacement. As the replacement/repair costs are significant the NHDMV suspended this person’s operator’s license for up to six (6) months or until a mutual agreed to payment arrangement was entered into. LWL recently collected 50% of the accident damages up-front and entered into a 12-month payment arrangement with this individual and also provided the NHDMV with the notarized agreement.
4. Interviews for the vacant line workers position are scheduled to begin this week and into next. The response to the advertising has been pretty good overall with the deciding factor appearing to be the response time when on-call (30-45 minute travel time radius from Littleton). Several candidates have shown a genuine interest in the position and coming to work for LWL.
GENERAL/ OTHER BUSINESS:
1. LWL was recently notified that the 2019 LED Street Light Conversion (HPS to LED) was approved to receive a $100 per fixture rebate from NHSave. The rebate or grant funds are managed by Eversource and the money provided by them through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiate renewable energy program. LWL will receive about $38,000 upon installation of the new fixtures. The project is estimated to begin in May and finish in early fall of 2019.
2. The LWL BOC reorganization of officers for the 2019 - 2020:
Commissioner Ross nominated Commissioner Cooper as President, seconded by Commissioner Sweet. The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Commissioner Ross nominated Commissioner Sweet as Secretary, seconded by Commissioner Cooper. The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Sweet made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by
Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 2:40 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.