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 business meeting of the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) Board of Commissioners (BOC) began at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 in the LWL conference room. Present were Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner Linda MacNeil, Director of Finance Lori Hogan, LWL consultant Schuyler Sweet and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the August 16, 2021 regularly scheduled Commissioner’s meeting were reviewed. Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0
DIRECTOR of FINANCE and HUMAN RESOURCES REPORT:
1. The results of the NH Department of Labor (NHDOL) and Littleton Fire Department life safety inspections were reviewed and discussed with the BOC. The inspectors found eight (8) housekeeping type violations: the bottle eye wash station need to be upgraded to a 15-minute eye wash station adjacent to each chemical preparation area (5 of the total violations cited were remote sites), lighted or reflective exit signs, emergency lighting and railing heights around some storage area. Several recommendations/upgrades were also made that LWL may consider in the future (i.e., heat sensors above vehicles). LWL needs to respond in writing to the NHDOL by October 1, 2021 as to how the violations will be mitigate/addressed.
2. Mrs. Hogan reviewed the highlights of the financial statements for the month ended July 2021 with the Commissioners. Several variances as compared to budget were discussed and explained by Mrs. Hogan.
3. The NH Public Risk Management Exchange (property and liability coverages) for LWL and NH Health Trust (medical and dental coverages and some other coverages) announced that they expect to return surplus funds to member participants by November of this year. LWL is anticipating surplus returns of about $11,000 and $38,000 respectively according to the summary provide by both companies.
Mrs. Hogan stated she and Mr. Considine discussed how the surplus was treated in 2020. Rather than placing the total health insurance surplus back into the general fund that the portion paid directly by employees was returned to the employee to off-set cost. This would mean that about 10% of the surplus received in 2021 would be applied to employees 2022 health and dental insurance premiums to defer expected premium increase.
Following some additional discussion Commissioner MacNeil made a motion that the Health Trust portion of the expected surplus paid by LWL employees be applied towards the employees 2022 health care and dental premiums, seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. Mr. Considine stated that he would be attending the planning board meeting tonight as the T&T Investment Corp (Presby Construction) has applied for an excavation permit for the old Highland Croft property located at 786 West Main Street. Tonight’s meeting a continuation as the project was considered a regional impact as the drainage area flows into the Ammonoosuc River and will affect downstream activities. Mr. Considine stated that he wants to make sure that the necessary measures are taken to protect the water quality and capacity of the Brickyard wellhead from construction and blasting activities. A significant amount of work was conducted by LWL and NHDES in 2010 when the previous owner approached the zoning board (see ZBA10-14). Measures were established under ZBA10-14 that the owner needed to satisfy before construction activities commenced to protect the wellhead. T&T investments stated previously that the scope that they are proposed is only one-third (1/3) the size of previous owner and that they anticipate quarry operations to take up to five (5) years. This timeline may change if someone shows interest in purchasing and developing the property.
Following some additional discussion Commissioners Cooper and MacNeil stated that they also plan to attend the hearing.
2. The primary operating distribution voltage on the West Main Street and Farr Hill Road overhead electrical circuit is scheduled to be converted to a higher voltage on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Expected outages will commence at 8:00 a.m. and it is expected that all customers will experience an interruption in service from 2 ½ to 4 hours in duration as service will be restored in phases. LWL will concentrate restoration efforts along West Main Street and the commercial customers to minimize the service interruption. This initial conversion work will progress generally in an easterly direction towards the Lafayette substation.
3. Another cogeneration/net metering facility on the Brook Road will soon be interconnected to the LWL overhead electric distribution system and selling excessive generation back into the LWL system. When the Brook Road system is placed in service more than 100 kW of the customer owned cogeneration will be interconnected to the LWL electrical system through the net meter program.
GENERAL/OTHER BUSINESS:
1. The BOC reviewed and discussed a second abatement request submitted by Corey’s Mobile Home Park (CMHP) that is considered an exception to policy/past practice. CMHP was provided a credit of $240.34 on August 31, 2021 for excessive water consumption in connection to a water service line leak within CMHP earlier this spring. The credit amount was determined by multiplying the difference between the retail water rate and the cost of the transmission and distribution expenses by the excessive water consumption for the period(s) in question.
Following some additional discussion, a review of the LWL worksheet as to how the previous credit was determined the BOC agreed that CHMP was treated fairly and equitably in accordance with LWL policy and past practice therefore the BOC did not authorize any additional abatement and denied the exception to policy.
2. Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to enter nonpublic session to discuss a matter that may involve attorney client confidential information and a pending litigation in accordance with RSA 91-A:3, II(e). Seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
Commissioner Cooper called for a roll call vote to enter in nonpublic session.
Commissioner MacNeil – yes and Commissioner Cooper- Yes.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0. Entered nonpublic session at 1:35 p.m.
Public session reconvened at 2:05 p.m.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the board Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 2:06 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.