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 5, 2010 in the Littleton Water and Light Department (LWL) conference room. Present were Commissioner Ralph Ross, Commissioner Eddy Moore, Commissioner Perry Goodell, Financial Services Director Cheryl Wilkins, Operations Manager Richard Herrington and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of March 15, 2010 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Goodell made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Moore.
The vote was in favor 3-0-0.
CUSTOMER CONCERNS:
Mr. Vincent Leavitt (Sampson Road resident) stated that his electrical service was disconnected for non payment previously that morning and proceeded to explain to the BOC the circumstance to why he could not pay his utility (along with many other) bill. Mr. Leavitt present the BOC with several delinquent notices and documentation from other service providers of not paying for services and explained that he is a cancer patient and needed his power restored for medical reasons.
Superintendent Considine presented the BOC documentation with regard to his payment history and stated that he has not had a zero (0) balance since early in 2008.
The Commissioners questioned Mr. Leavitt as to why the LWL should restore service in light of his outstanding balance and poor payment history.
Mr. Leavitt (became obviously aggressive, obstinate and very irritated with the BOC questioning) did not satisfactorily address the BOC questions and threatened the BOC. Mr. Leavitt stated that he would get his medical doctor to order the LWL to restore his power, “because he has cancer” and that he would “sue” the Department unless LWL turned the power on and allow him make minimal payments.
Superintendent Considine stated that he had missed an arranged payment of $200 previously and that he would never catch up making minimal payments and the LWL would incur further debt and another invoice was pending for March 2010 consumption.
Mr. Leavitt stated that he left a message on our answering machine as to why he could not make the payment but did not expect that the power would be turned off because he could not make the payment.
The BOC agreed and told Mr. Leavitt that unless he made the $200 payment as promised that the lights would remain off.
Mr. Leavitt stated that the Department was rude and that he was going to “sue”.
Superintendent Considine stated that a load limiter would be placed on Mr. Leavitts service if the balance owed was not zero dollars.
OPERATIONS MANAGER REPORT:
Mr. Herrington briefed the BOC as to the status of the Westside Substation (WSS) replacement transformer and the Department’s plan for a temporary/ interim power transformer.
The replacement substation transformer Request for Proposal (RFP) bid documents went out to prospective bidder on Friday, March 26, 2010 with a planned bid opening on April 22, 2010. The anticipated delivery date to LWL is on or about October 7, 2010. Separate bids were solicited for salvaging the existing transformer though this contract has not been awarded to date.
In the interim and due to the anticipated increase in loads going forward (through the summer) and the lack of capacity and redundancy the Department feels that it is wise to have an interim power transformer available (in service) of suitable size. A portable substation alternative was researched and a suitable one is not readily available in our immediate region.
Superintendent Considine stated that the economical constraints that are typically associated with operating a portable station are excess and in the Department’s opinion is not a viable option or solution for interim measures. Monies spent to rent/ lease one could never be recouped.
The Department proposes to purchase ($108,000) a Cooper transformer (5/ 6.5 Mva) that was manufactured in 2008 that will provide power to the Westside circuits as an interim measure. When the new replacement transformer is placed in service LWL will keep the Cooper as a spare in the event another transformer fails.
Superintendent Considine said that the proposed Cooper transformer has capacity enough and could be used in any of the Departments existing substations once the 15Kv conversion is finished. The Department would have a viable and economically temporary power supply for many years and having one on hand would maximize power restoration efforts.
Following discussion the BOC agreed that LWL was taking on allot of risk if another substation transformer should fail before the new one arrives. Business and residence would mostly likely incur a significant amount of lost revenue which would accumulate quickly and the Department would be scrutinized negatively.
Commissioner Goodell made a motion to purchase an interim Cooper transformer as recommended by the Department. Seconded by Commissioner Moore.
Vote in favor 3-0-0.
FINANCIAL DIRECTORS REPORT:
1. Mrs. Wilkins reviewed the financial statements for the month ended February 2010 with the Commissioners. Several discrepancies as compared to budget were discussed and explained by Mrs. Wilkins.
2. The IWEB payment portal is in the coordination and testing phase. They expect to be operational soon.
SUPERINTENDENT/ MANAGERS REPORT:
1. A water leak was repaired by Department personnel on the Trudeau Road water transmission main on March 18, 2010. The leak was discovered just below PRV vault and was adjacent to a road culvert that was installed incorrectly over the 12” water main. A longitudinal split (about 40”) was discovered on the top of the pipe and the Department suspects that the damage was caused by truck impact loading directly on the pipe in the frost zone. The damage did not appear to happen recently and the Department suspects that any leaking water from the break went immediately into the culvert. Recent adjustments made to the water main flow caused an increase in system pressures which we suspect made the leak more noticeable.
2. A Rate-Of-Flow (ROF) valve was installed and the existing altitude valve and vault were replaced at the Apthorp reservoir. This ROF valve automatically regulates the maximum amount of water flow through the water main resulting in a steady state hydraulic system with balanced flows and manageable pressures. The ROF valve mimics the old system flow characteristics that emptied into the stone reservoir prior to the installation of the steel tank though it is much more user friendly.
3. Lafayette office renovations are continuing and everyone seems pleased with the progress to date. The IT room with the exception of the flooring is complete and work on the new conference room has begun. Most LWL employees have been involved in the project in one aspect or another and have eagerly assisted to keep the cost of the renovations manageable.
OLD BUSINESS:
The BOC continued there discussions relative to implementing a public fire suppression fee schedule. The BOC requested additional information in regard to the anticipate revenue projections. No vote taken.
NEW BUSINESS:
The BOC discussed a recent email message from La Capra Associates in response to Commissioner Ross’s inquiry into locking in open power supply resources.
Significant savings as compared to budget would be attainable by locking in the heat rate power for the remainder of 2010, all of 2011, and even more saving as compared to budget are expected in 2012 and beyond.
The BOC agreed and authorized Superintendent Considine to lock in 1MW for the remainder of 2010, 1 MW for 2011 and investigate the supply contracts for 2012 and beyond but not exceeding 50% of our anticipated load.
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Moore made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by
Commissioner Goodell.
The vote was in favor 3-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 3:00 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.