Lamar Utilities Board Meeting of January 14, 2025

All Board members were present for the meeting.  The first item of business was the reorganization of the board for the present year.  Elected as chairman was Doug Thrall.  Elected as Vice-chairman was Jay Brooke. Elected as Superintendent was Houssein Hourieh. Lance Clark was appointed as Attorney.  Authorized for check signing were all five board members, Linda Williams and Kristin Schwartz.

Minutes from the December 10, 2024 meeting were approved, as were purchase orders 630487 – 630563.  Purchase orders totaled $1,032,489.79, of which $994,893.84 needed board approval.  December electricity estimate to ARPA was $660,223.03, cost of gas line abandonment to Campos EPC was $205,204.00, which were the two largest amounts.

As an annual “housekeeping item”, approval was made for a designated open meeting posting area at the front entrance of Lamar Light and Power, 100 North Second St., Lamar, Colorado, 81052.

The November 2024 Financial Report was presented to the board.  The Balance Sheet shows no significant changes.  Cash is up $114,508 from October and accounts receivable decreased by $104,831.  The total operating revenue for the month is $1,112,483 with operating costs of $993,933, resulting in gross operating income of $118,550.  When the non-operating revenues and expenses are taken into consideration, there is a net loss for the month of $36,888.  The year-to-date income statement shows total operating revenues for the year of $14,315,242 and total operating costs were $12,501,218, resulting in gross operating income of $1,814,024.  When the non-operating revenues and expenses are taken into consideration, there is a net income of $68,021 year to date.  The YTD comparison with last year shows that revenues from retail sales are up approximately $966,023 or 7% comparing November 2024 to November 2023 and overall operating expenses are up approximately $894,823 or 8%, resulting in a net income of $68,021 for the year.

Superintendent Hourieh’s System Operating Report shares that for 2025, the department will continue their effort in upgrading the 4kv substation equipment.  Already upgraded were seven 4kv feeder protection relays and repairs and maintenance have been completed on all 25 kv circuit breakers.  Also completed was the decommissioning of 37 miles of 4-inch and 6-inch natural gas pipeline system that is no longer needed.  This year’s plans include upgrading the remaining 9 electro-mechanical feeder protection relays and starting the process of mapping the distribution system using ESRI-ARCGIS mapping system.  To date, 5,556 AMI meters have been installed.

The next meeting of the Lamar Utilities Board is Tuesday, January 27, at noon.

By Barbara Crimond