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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Special Meeting May 4, 2020
The non-regular* business meeting of the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting began at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2020 in the LWL conference room. Present were Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner SchuylerSweet, Commissioner Ralph Ross, Director of Finance Lori Hogan and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
*Note: This meeting was held in accordance with the State of NH Emergency Order 23 during the LWL stand down to address the Covid-19 pandemic and LWL's continuedwork effort and future abatement.*
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the March 16, 2020 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Sweet made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0
CUSTOMER AND PUBLIC CONCERNS:
Commissioner Cooper stated that to his knowledge he has not been reappointed to the LWL BOC. This is due to the poor response received by the selectmen vacancy advertisements and that very few people applied for vacant town wide committee and board position vacancies. The BOC agreed to proceed with the meeting.
FINANCIAL DIRECTORS REPORT:
Mrs. Hogan presented and reviewed a spreadsheet with the BOC that summarized LWL's accounts receivable (AR) as of the month ended April 30, 2020. The impact of the ten (1 0) percent abatement in April amounted to almost $ 78,000 and the AR aging(arrears) is about 4 ~ percent higher this year as compared to April 2019. Mrs. Hogan stated that LWL is still in a strong financial cash position overall.
Commissioner Sweet inquired as to what the impact was to the current fiscal year operating margins due to the abatement.
Superintendent Considine stated that on average if all expenses and revenues hit their budgeted projection the gross impact of the abatement on this fiscal year would reduce LWL combined margin by to more than thirty-one (31) percent.
(Discussion relative to the abatement continued below in General Business)
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. Superintendent Considine discussed the on-going capital projects (i.e. ROW hi-lineclearing, driveway apron and Lafayette Well development) with the BOC with regard to scaling back capital expenditures.
Following some discussion the BOC agreed that the on-going capital projects and those remaining are critical to LWL operations and its ability to deliver our essential products and services and no reduction is work effort is necessary.
2. Preparations and plans are being made to begin standing LWL back up and to return the staff to full and begin normal operations as soon as LWL can safely do so. The Governor late on Friday, May 1, 2020 presented the State of NH's new reopening guideline "Stay at Home 2.0" that governs what and how all business (including essential) need to follow to open/remain open safely. LWL will make a good faith effort to follow these guidelines.
3. The customer lobby will remain closed to the public. Superintendent Considine recommended that a glass protective enclosure be installed to provide LWL customer service representatives a physical barrier between them and direct contact with the public. This was also discussed during last years (2020) capital project and budget review by Commissioner Sweet as an added security measure and now appears to be an appropriate time to have it installed due to the coronavirus.
The BOC agreed to enclose customer area as recommended. Commissioner Cooper added that they would prefer not to have sheets of Plexiglas hanging from the ceiling panels. Superintendent Considine stated that he plan to contact Top Notch Glass and plans to maintain the current theme that is in place now that that the enclosure would be done tastefully and look appropriate for an office setting.
GENERAL/ OTHER BUSINESS:
1. The BOC discussed the ten (1 0) percent abatement that they agreed to an authorized via email on March 17, 2020. The abatement is intended to provide the community some financial relief from the burden placed on the community as a direct result of thestay at home and business closing orders mandated by the Governor to mitigate the coronavirus. A press release was also issued and carried by the local newspapers.
Commissioner Sweet made a motion to ratify the BOC March 17, 2020 electronic agreement with regard to authorizing an abatement of ten (10) percent is applied to all LWL customer charges and billing classes in the month of April 2020 to lessen the financial burden caused by the covid-19 pandemic, Seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Following some discussion with regard to the ongoing covid-19 impact to the surrounding community and the presentation by the financial director above with regard to LWL's financial position and whereas the State of NH has extended their Emergency Stay at Home order through the end of May 2020 the BOC agreed to extend the abatement for another month.
Commissioner Sweet made a motion that LWL extend the ten (10) percent abatement for another month (May 2020), seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
2. Superintendent Considine stated that today's BOC meeting was not noticed but felt that LWL had some latitude due to the State of NH Emergency Order 23. No new business was discussed or action taken.
Commissioner Sweet stated that a "waiver of notice" could be signed by the BOC attesting that due to the current pandemic, no public access to LWL meeting room and LWL reduced operating posture that the meeting was not publically noticed.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the board Commissioner Sweet made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 2:20 p.m.