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, June 6, 2016 in the Littleton Water and Light (LWL) conference room. Present were Commissioner Eddy Moore, Commissioner Ralph Ross, Financial Director Cheryl Wilkins and Superintendent Thomas Considine.
MINUTES REVIEW:
The minutes of the May 16, 2016 regularly scheduled Commissioners meeting were reviewed. Commissioner Ross made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Commissioner Moore.
The vote was in favor of the motion 2-0-0.
APPOINTMENTS:
Mr. Robert Dufresne representing the Dufresne Engineering Group discussed the results of the water transmission main evaluation recently completed. Mr. Dufresne reviewed briefly section one (1) (Conclusions and Recommendations) of the preliminary engineering report with the BOC.
Mr. Dufresne stated that in his opinion the overall condition of the water main is very good and that there are no immediate concerns that need to be addressed at this time. The system could be enhanced which will improve system reliability and the report contain several recommendations/ suggestions that would improve restoration time of water service in the event of a water main shear break. The most susceptible section of line is just north of the Bethlehem Hollow adjacent to the river. This is the lowest portion of the transmission water main and subject to the highest system water pressures. Historically, this section has had the most water leaks due to ground movement and high system pressures in this section. Accessing this section is tough which will complicate expediting a water main repair especially during winter months as it is critical that the water remains moving due to lack of adequate cover over the pipe to prevent freezing.
Several alternatives that would increase the level of reliability/enhance repair time and the estimated construction cost(s) associated with these betterments were discussed with the BOC.
Following some general discussion Mr. Dufresne thanked the BOC for the opportunity to work with LWL on this project and looked forward to assisting LWL in the future. Mr. Dufresne left the meeting at about
1:45 p.m.
SUPERINTENDENT/ GENERAL MANAGERS REPORT:
1. LWL on call personnel responded (at about 3:00 am) to a report of a water main break on Mann’ Hill Road Saturday, May 28, 2016. The tank was completely drained (about 100,000 gallons) during the incident causing a zone wide pressure drop and loss of water in most of the area. The pipe was found to have a thirty (30) inch crack and repairs were completed with the assistance of Dodge Contracting and service was restored before noon. This is the fourth break in the water main that is in relatively close proximity of each other. The control data suggests that the system was operating normally prior to the main breaking as nothing was discovered that could be attributed to why the main failed.
As a direct result of the break a large volume of water caused significant scour and erosion damage to nearby properties driveways below the failure point (169 Mann’s Hill Road). The majority of the area was cleaned and any scour damage to the driveway was repaired the same day. A resident located in close proximity and downhill of the break appeared to have sustained some amount of water damage (potentially) as water entered the basement (masonry rock wall with dirt floor) of the home through the foundation. LWL personnel entered the home (pictures were taken) and found no obvious damage resulting from the water in the basement. The high water mark within the basement did not appear to have caused any equipment damage (nothing obvious at that time).
Due to the nature of the incident and the potential of collateral property damage may have occurred an insurance claim was filed with the Property Liability Trust.
2. LWL personnel will be working on water service lines on School Street and Hill Street in advance of the towns proposed construction projects. Water curb stops and stands are being moved out of the travel way and any galvanized water service lines in the roadway are being replaced with copper.
GENERAL/ OTHER BUSINESS:
1. The BOC reviewed the results for the Government Accounting Standard Board (GASB) Statement 45 actuary valuation that was recently completed by the Nyhart Company. The actuary is a requirement and is part of the annual audited financial statement. The GASB 45 statement is used to account for post-employment benefits provided by LWL to pre-Medicare retirees. The results (about $5,700) were deemed to be “non-material” and implicit only (implied benefit of being in the LWL healthcare group) as no direct payment ($0.00) is made by LWL towards retiree health benefits.
The final actuarial evaluation report will be supplied to the auditor and the finding will be annotated in the appropriate financial statement and discussed in the management discussion and analysis report.
2. A short discussion took place with regard to the most recent proposal submitted by NH Solar Garden in regard to placing a PV solar array on the old landfill and wheeling the output to the grid. The BOC agreed that renewable energy discussions were going to keep taking place and LWL jurisdictional status needs to be determined to appropriate address whether wholesale wheeling is even a consideration. Following some discussion the BOC agreed to solicit a legal opinion with regard to LWL remaining a non-jurisdictional entity under the NHRSA. If LWL engages in wholesale wheeling to the grid does that venture compromise LWL municipal status under the NHPUC.
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Ross made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by
Commissioner Moore.
The vote was in favor of the motion 3-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 2:25 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.