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 Monday,
February 24, 2025 in the LWL conference room. Present were Commissioner Peter Cooper, Commissioner Ralph Ross, CEO Lori Hogan and Operations Manager Justen Elliott.
Public in attendance - none
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the February 3, 2025 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Ross made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0
CUSTOMER & PUBLIC CONCERNS:
None
OPERATIONS MANAGER:
Mr. Elliott discussed challenges with the power over the weekend at the lights intersecting Meadow and West Main Street. DOT reported multiple trip breakers.
Mr. Elliott provided an update to the work completed by IC Reed behind Shaw’s and up to industrial / Burndy Substation. Total cost came in at $57k, slightly higher than anticipated.
MJ Electric is in the process of quoting the repairs to Line 30.
The purchase of the digger will be coming in the next 2 weeks. Question as to whether it should be painted to match the other trucks. The truck will be delivered white. Justen will research the cost and whether the truck can fit in the paint shop. Commissioner Cooper made a motion to transfer $300,000 from the Capital Reserve – Electric fund to the Operating Account to cover the cost of the Digger, seconded by Commissioner Ross.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0
The water crew identified a leak on West Main Street. The leak is between the curb and the main and was in the side of the road. The repair was completed last week.
The steel for the Lafayette Substation is expected to be delivered tomorrow.
Mr. Elliott reviewed the issues with the radio and discussed an upcoming meeting with Tac 2.
CEO & TREASURER:
Mrs. Hogan reviewed the financial statements for December 2024 and the results of the audit. The only change was $50k cost of the Asset Management Project was coded to fixed assets when it should have been costed to Special Projects – Water in compliance with GAAP. The Commissioners requested that a copy be provided to the Selectboard.
Mrs. Hogan outlined a discussion with the auditors about the internal control environment in 2025. Since Mr. Considine has not returned part-time there are missing reviews that need to be completed by someone other than Mrs. Hogan. They reviewed a recommendation to hire a small accounting firm to perform these reviews until we have more information about Mr. Considine’s return or we are able to address with staff. Mrs. Hogan is estimating that it would take approximately 5-10 hours per month.
The auditors have also expressed discomfort with Mr. Considine being an authorized signer. Mrs. Hogan recommends that we remove Mr. Considine and add Mr. Elliott to the operating account and Commissioner Cooper to the reserves. Recommendation was accepted and encouraged to make changes in the next few days. If Mr. Considine returns, then we can readdress.
Mrs. Hogan reviewed an email that Mr. Considine received from Convergent after they were specifically instructed not to contact any staff members. We did not respond to the email.
We met with Kearsage to discuss next steps on the solar project. Mrs. Hogan is working on an interconnectivity agreement and an application with ISO for the projects of less than 5mg. Mr. Elliot provided to the engineers to complete. We discussed the potential for Kearsage to bid on the Battery Storage project and have provided all of the original specifications for their review.
Mrs. Hogan noted that the application for the LCRR loan has been submitted. However, there are additional forms that need to be completed. The first is the Authority to Borrow form, Commissioner Ross made a motion to approve President Cooper and CEO Mrs. Hogan the authority to execute the loan and reimbursement requests related to the $1.2m Drinking Water Infrastructure Project, second by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0
The second is the Certificate of Vote to Accept Grants form, Commissioner Ross made a motion to approve CEO Mrs. Hogan the authority to accept grants related to the $1.2m Drinking Water Infrastructure Grant, second by Commissioner Cooper,
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0
GENERAL/OTHER BUSINESS:
Mrs. Hogan noted that the customer water quality report has been completed and will be sent to printers in early March.
Commissioner Ross asked about the status of the multiple open positions for 2026. Mrs. Hogan has a meeting scheduled with Daymark to advise on 2026 and 2027.
Mrs. Hogan noted that ISO has shown rate not lower than $100 mg for all of January & February. We should anticipate higher than budgeted wholesale power cost for the 1st quarter. Currently Mrs. Hogan is anticipating a minimum impact of $150k in January 2025.
Next meeting will be held on March 3, 2025, as Mrs. Hogan will be on vacation Mr. Elliott will take notes and present.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the board Commissioner Ross made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Cooper.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 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.