Etna Green Continues Power Issue Discussion
October 14, 2020 at 2:21 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
FastTimes Fabrication Custom Sheet Metal Shop owner Heath Roberts initially went to the council in July with electrical issues.
Some of the issues Roberts described was blinking lights inside his business when he uses some of his heavier equipment and the power spikes between his warehouse and his business building.
Bill Castrodale, senior project engineer for Impa Service Corp., did two reports and presented the results to the council with Roberts in the audience. One of the reports dealt with power quality and the other report was on the utility power in the alley behind FastTimes.
Castrodale said his recommendation would be to install a soft starter in Roberts’ business. Castrodale said a soft starter is a way to minimize the maximum current when an engine starts up.
Castrodale said the quality of Roberts’ business was studied over two weeks. Roberts said the power quality study was done during a time when he had a very light work load and was not as high as could be under normal conditions. He also said he has plans to bring more equipment into the building in order to grow and be more profitable. He said he was worried he’s not going to have enough power.
Castrodale said if Roberts was going to add more machines, an upgrade to his service would have to be done.
Councilman Jason Hanes noted that an estimate to deal with the utility pole was not included in Castrodale’s reports. Castrodale said that it wasn’t included because removing it was not seen as a safe option.
In order to fix the utility pole issue, a pole could be set up between the alley and the parking lot.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon said Roberts wouldn’t have to give up any property due to the easement. Rigdon asked Wastewater/Street Superintendent Andy Cook to work with him to figure out what needs to be done to secure the easement.
Both Roberts and Hanes said they wanted the issue to be resolved.
Any decision of what to do with the electrical issue was tabled until next month.
In other business, the council:
• Set its trick-or treat hours for Oct. 30 from 5 to 7 p.m.
• Approved the 2021 budget. The budget is $306,778. The rainy day fund is $1,900. The general fund is $166,627. The local road and street fund is $13,390. The motor vehicle highway fund is $32,900. The park and recreation fund is $1,854. The economic development income fund is $80,000.
• Learned there will be hydrant flushing Oct. 20-23.
• Approved a resolution for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to automatically withdraw funds from Etna Green’s accounts for line of credit of $1 million between the USDA and Winona Powder.
The council signed a line of credit between the town and the USDA for the line of credit. Winona Powder signed a line of credit between the business and the town to cover the debt.
FastTimes Fabrication Custom Sheet Metal Shop owner Heath Roberts initially went to the council in July with electrical issues.
Some of the issues Roberts described was blinking lights inside his business when he uses some of his heavier equipment and the power spikes between his warehouse and his business building.
Bill Castrodale, senior project engineer for Impa Service Corp., did two reports and presented the results to the council with Roberts in the audience. One of the reports dealt with power quality and the other report was on the utility power in the alley behind FastTimes.
Castrodale said his recommendation would be to install a soft starter in Roberts’ business. Castrodale said a soft starter is a way to minimize the maximum current when an engine starts up.
Castrodale said the quality of Roberts’ business was studied over two weeks. Roberts said the power quality study was done during a time when he had a very light work load and was not as high as could be under normal conditions. He also said he has plans to bring more equipment into the building in order to grow and be more profitable. He said he was worried he’s not going to have enough power.
Castrodale said if Roberts was going to add more machines, an upgrade to his service would have to be done.
Councilman Jason Hanes noted that an estimate to deal with the utility pole was not included in Castrodale’s reports. Castrodale said that it wasn’t included because removing it was not seen as a safe option.
In order to fix the utility pole issue, a pole could be set up between the alley and the parking lot.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon said Roberts wouldn’t have to give up any property due to the easement. Rigdon asked Wastewater/Street Superintendent Andy Cook to work with him to figure out what needs to be done to secure the easement.
Both Roberts and Hanes said they wanted the issue to be resolved.
Any decision of what to do with the electrical issue was tabled until next month.
In other business, the council:
• Set its trick-or treat hours for Oct. 30 from 5 to 7 p.m.
• Approved the 2021 budget. The budget is $306,778. The rainy day fund is $1,900. The general fund is $166,627. The local road and street fund is $13,390. The motor vehicle highway fund is $32,900. The park and recreation fund is $1,854. The economic development income fund is $80,000.
• Learned there will be hydrant flushing Oct. 20-23.
• Approved a resolution for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to automatically withdraw funds from Etna Green’s accounts for line of credit of $1 million between the USDA and Winona Powder.
The council signed a line of credit between the town and the USDA for the line of credit. Winona Powder signed a line of credit between the business and the town to cover the debt.
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