Lamar Utilities Board meeting of July 14, 2026

The Lamar Utilities Board met July 14, 2026 for a regular bi-monthly meeting   All board members were present.  Minutes from the June 23, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously.  Purchase Orders 2025-05686 through 2025-06073 totaling $650648,552.52 were approved.  Of this amount, $628,920.92 needed board approval.  The June estimated power purchase from ARPA amounted to $625,200.98 of this amount.  Wind turbine parts purchased from Wind Solutions., LLC made up the other $3,719.94 of that total.  The payment of bills totaling $219,647.57 were approved unanimously.  $81,809.55 payable to CIRSA was the largest component of that amount, for insurance.

Bid #2085 was awarded to Western United for raptor protection and line materials, in compliance with the department’s Avian Protection Plan.  Western United submitted the lowest of 5 returned bids, in the amount of $19,082.42.  There were again no monthly financial reports available due to the ongoing Tyler software conversion.

Superintendent Hourieh’s System Operation Report read: “The line crew replaced a 40-foot wooden pole with a Class II ductile iron pole that was damaged by high wind on the east end 25kv circuit at CR JJ and 26.5.  The crew completed the upgrade of 3 phase, 4kv circuit between 5^th and 6^th streets, from Park to Chestnut St.  The upgrade included replacing a 40-foot wooden pole, installing a 25 kva pole mount transformer, fiberglass crossarms and reconductoring the circuit with No. 4 ACSR wire.  The crew is also in the process of installing 1000 ft. of underground, 25 kv circuit that will power 1000 kva 277/480 v service ro the new McClave School.  With Renew Energy on site, our crew completed the replacement of the wind turbines yaw puck system.  The process takes about 5 hours for each turbine.  Each turbine has 18 pucks that work with the yaw bearings.  Linear Labs continues to monitor and collect data on T-2.  They are planning on installing the new plc code on July 15^th which will help improve efficiency and faults mitigations.

By: Barbara Crimond