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.
View Meeting Minutes for: | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
The regularly scheduled business meeting of the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) Board of Commissioners (BOC) began at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 1, 2022 in the LWL conference room. Present were Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner Ralph Ross, Commissioner Linda MacNeil and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the July 18, 2022 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner MacNeil 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 & PUBLIC CONCERNS:
Mr. Bruce Hadlock addressed the BOC about his ongoing effort regarding the lawsuit between LWL and the town.
Commissioner MacNeil recused herself from this discussion and exited the conference room.
Mr. Hadlock stated that he feels that the money that both LWL and the town has spent on legal fees which totals to almost $100,00 is ridiculous and both the LWL and town are wasting both ratepayer and taxpayer money.
Commissioner Ross reminded Mr. Hadlock that LWL is the defendant in this matter and that he should vent his frustration on the Select board. The BOC could not allow the town to manipulate LWL and its ratepayers.
Commissioner Cooper stated that the BOC had to protect the LWL ratepayer, LWL had to fight they could not just roll over, there was too much at risk.
Mr. Hadlock stated that the Town did not provide the answers to his question about the town goal in bring the lawsuit against LWL. He does not believe that the selectmen know what is going on regarding the lawsuit. He stated that he has asked the selectmen to produce documents that show that the selectmen voted to bring a lawsuit against LWL and that authorized the former town manager to execute the lawsuit on behalf of the selectmen.
Also, there are 129 residents of Littleton that are not on LWL electric system that get no direct benefit as owners (taxpayers). He feels that LWL should compensate these residents by paying their annual membership fee to NH Electric Cooperative which is $40/ month.
Mr. Rudy Gelsi stated that in his opinion a sitting town Selectboard member should not be appointed to serve as a LWL Commissioner as this is a conflict of interest.
Mr. Hadlock stated that someone should introduce several petition warrant articles and have the taxpayer vote. One should prohibit selectboard members from being appointed as an LWL Commissioner and another to prohibit the town from taking LWL operating and reserve funds.
There was some back-and-forth discussion between the BOC, Mr. Hadlock and Mr. Gelsi regarding the legitimacy of the Town lawsuit. If the selectmen never voted to authorize the former town manager to take this action is the case legitimate.
Both Mr. Hadlock and Mr. Gelsi thanked the BOC and exited the meeting at about 1:50 p.m.
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. The results of the recently completed 12th sampling round in accordance with EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule was discussed with the BOC. Overall LWL passed and is in full compliance with the Rule. Of the 20 locations sampled only one (1) site exceeded the maximum contamination level. Each of the sites that submitted a sample to LWL for testing received their sample results or the reason why their sample was rejected in writing from LWL. The next round (13th) of compliance testing for LWL will be in 2025.
2. Next Era Energy recently approached LWL about the potential of installing a PV ground mounted array on the old landfill property. They reviewed the site and inquired whether or not LWL would be interested in their results.
GENERAL/OTHER BUSINESS:
1. Justen Elliott, LWL Line Supervisor, addressed the BOC about installing two (2) 5-inch electrical conduits along the Industrial Park Road under the I-93 overpasses for future use. The project would be the beginning of the second phase of relocating the 21 circuit from Burndy Substation towards Meadow Street along the Industrial Park Road.
The installation of the conduits would be in conjunction with Littleton DPW plans to reclaim (remove existing pavement, reshape/grade, new pavement) this section of the Industrial Park Road later this month.
It makes sense to take advantage of the DPW efforts, so LWL does not have to damage the new pavement in a year or two. Normally this project request would be approved through the annual capital project planning, but LWL is trying to time construction activities around the DPWs paving plan for 2022. The preliminary cost estimate is about $15,000, this includes the conduit and contractor excavation.
Following some follow-up questions and answers Commissioner Ross made a motion to approve the requested capital fund expenditure as requested to install the conduits in advance of the towns paving project. Seconded by Commissioner MacNeil.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
2. The BOC continued their previous discussion about the implementation of a Smart Metering or Advanced Metering Interface (AMI) pilot program. It is believed that smart metering technologies will be mandated in the future as an energy conservation measure similar to what is beginning to happen with Vermont municipal electric companies.
LWL received a proposal from AvCom, Inc. (LWL’s metering vendor) in coordination with Tantalus Technologies for $27,000 to implement a 50-meter AMI pilot to gauge the potential of the system in LWL’s service area. A similar type of project was approved in the 2022 Capital Improvement Project and Equipment (CIPE) for 2022 for $12,000 though slightly different equipment and a lesser scope proposed at that time.
Superintendent Considine recommended that the 2022 CIPE could be amended. Some of the funds that were allocated for driveway repairs ($25,000) could be reallocated to fully fund the AMI pilot and the driveway repairs reassessed.
Following some additional discussion about the needed driveway repair Commissioner MacNeil made a motion to authorize the reallocation of funds in the amount of $15,000 from the 2022 CIPE approved driveway repair project to the AMI pilot project. Seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
3. The Avaya office telephone systems has been causing intermittent problems. Upon investigation it appears that the local desktop that acts as the host server appears to be at the end of its useful life and support systems are beginning to fail. Northland Technologies was contacted to access the telephone network and VoIP infrastructure.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the board Commissioner MacNeil 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 2:53 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.