NEWPORT-In monthly session Thursday morning, the board of directors for Newport Utilities (NU) heard updates, approved rules and regulations, and accepted a bid.
Board members Dan Lindsey, Jane Myers, Dennis Thornton, Bill Lewis, and Bill Whitson were in attendance. Board members Brad Davidson and and Freddie Gregg were absent.
For the electric department, Jimmy Robertson gave a transmission line update. He said 98 percent of the materials needed, with the exception of poles, have been delivered.
Upon his request, the electric rules and regulations, which had been discussed in a workshop, were approved. They will be forwarded to TDEC for approval.
Upon Topper Allen's request, the water rules and regulations were approved. They had been discussed during a recent workshop.
Allen explained valve installation is now complete. He said the bid was awarded in February, and Linten Atkins had negotiated the price down even further, to about $50,000.
At the request of Carrol Proffitt, wastewater rules and regulations were approved. These had also been discussed during a recent workshop.
Sherry Frisbee did a presentation of the April financials and a budget update. She said the budget is ready and has a five-year plan included. She said the budget would be discussed at the June meeting.
Carmen Lichty reported for customer relations. She said NU's customer service department received 3,442 calls during April with the service levels remaining above 90 percent. She said 22,462 total bill payments were made during the month.
Upon the request of General Manager Ron Fugatt, the board approved spending $19,939 for a stand-by generator from Affordable Generators. The price includes shipping.
Fugatt explained the generator would not only operate the computers and phone system during a temporary power outage, but would keep the entire building functioning. He said $30,000 had been budgeted for the project.
Fugatt said the generator would be located in front of the transformer behind the building and would automatically turn on when needed, with only a short interruption.
He said currently a battery system keeps the phones and computers operating for as long as 20 minutes during a power outage.
Responding to questions from board members, Fugatt said the generator has a diesel engine and will automatically exercise itself weekly. He said NU employees could perform maintenance on the generator, such as changing oil.
Dennis Balch reported for business operations. He said currently 16,152 Tantalus meters had been deployed by the end of April. The in-house read, which means the information is automatically transmitted to NU without someone going out to read the meter, was at 97 percent.
The next board meeting is set for Thursday, June 16, at 10:30 a.m. in the conference room at NU.