HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-08-28 Weekly Board LetterTruckee Donner Public Utility District
BOARD LETTER
August 28, 2015
Dear Board Members:
Directors
Joseph R. Aguera
Jeff Bender
Bob Ellis
Tony Laliotis
Paul Warmerdam
General Manager
Michael D. Holley
Included in this week's Board Letter are some updates on items that I think are of interest to the
Board.
Out of Office: I will be out of the office this afternoon until Wednesday morning. Steve Hollabaugh will
be the Acting General Manager in my absence. Should you have any questions please call Shanna
Kuhlemier at 582-3980.
Electric Meter Replacement Program Pilot: District staff met with representatives from Aclara
Technologies on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 to discuss the implementation of the meter replacement
program pilot project. The pilot project includes approximately 300 electric meters, 2 data collection
units, and software including an integration into the District's NISC billing system. The pilot project is
being provided at no cost to the District. The collector units and software are scheduled to be installed
by the first week in October. The meters are projected to be installed and operational by the end of
October. A three-month District evaluation period for the pilot project system will begin immediately
subsequent to the installation of all the meters.
Donner Lake Substation Rebuild Project: The District's contractor is progressing on -time and within
budget with the work to rebuild the substation. Construction started at the substation in late June of
this year. A major milestone was accomplished this week with the successful delivery and installation
of the substation transformer. The substation transformer is the single most expensive and largest
piece of substation equipment, weighing in at about 50,000 lbs. It took an entire day to set up the
crane (largest one in northern Nevada) and off-load the transformer from the truck onto its new
foundation home. Attached are a few pictures depicting the process.
C
n
11570 Donner Pass Rd, Truckee, CA 96161 — Phone 530-587-3896 — www.tdpud.org
CATT Requests Workshop: Fire flow calculations required for single family residential fire sprinklers
are required by the State of California. The District has the responsibility and the expertise to create
and prepare these calculations based on actual field conditions. The District's water engineer, Neil
Kaufman (PE) has implemented a calculation and a procedure to ensure safety for our customers and
community while complying with the mandate. CATT is requesting a Board workshop to discuss our
professional opinion on this issue. Staff has communicated with CATT numerous times answering
questions and addressing their concerns. Staff concerns are responding to CATT's request would
benefit their builders businesses at the expense of public safety. Consequently, staff has directed
CATT to utilize the protest procedures provided for in District Code should they want to address the
Board. The request is included as Attachment 1.
Michael Holley
General Manager
11570 Donner Pass Rd, Truckee, CA 96161 — Phone 530-587-3896 — www.tdpud.org