Meeting Tuesday at its St. Thomas headquarters, the governing board of the V.I. Water and Power Authority approved a new five-and-a-half-year contract extension to current executive director Hugo Hodge Jr.
The proposed contract, approved in executive session, offers Hodge an annual salary of $210,000, but further details of the contract were not included in the Wednesday afternoon release.
“Securing Mr. Hodge’s continued service with the authority is a vital component of the governing board’s continued commitment to provide affordable and reliable service to the residents of the Virgin Islands,” the release stated.
Hodge is currently off-island and was not present for the board meeting.
“I have every intent on executing a new contract with the Water and Power Authority,” Hodge said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “I appreciate the confidence that they have in me.”
In addition to the contract offer to Hodge, the board took action on employee benefits, approving establishment of a 457 (b) retirement savings plan for employees of state or local government organizations. The plan allows employees to put away up to $16,500, tax-deferred, of their salary.
This plan allows the authority to offer employees an added alternative to the Government Employees Retirement System, according to the request for action from the board.
WAPA, however, does not offer matching funds to its employees, according to spokesperson Lynnette D. Moreland.
Tuesday also saw WAPA taking actions to reduce its own energy costs.
Using $1.7 million of a $2.5 million grant from the V.I. Energy Office, WAPA approved purchase and installation of a street-light-management system that will provide for energy, man-hours and materials savings.
Power for the territory’s streetlights is financed by property taxes, with 4.6 percent of residential taxes going to keeping the lights on. The infrastructure, such as the poles, lamps and lines, are owned by WAPA.
The control system, engineered by CIMCON Software will control WAPA’s new LED (Light Emitting Diode) street lights, which not only uses less power than a similar lumen-producing high pressure sodium light, but with a considerably longer life span. The longer life span means fewer maintenance calls for WAPA crews, further reducing costs for the utility.
The control system tracks energy consumption as it happens at each lighting point, alerting monitoring staff to alarms. In addition, the central monitoring allows scheduling for different seasons and other circumstances, such as Carnival, that require changes to the schedule.
WAPA anticipates a start up date for the new system around September 2011.
In a number of other actions, the board:
– approved a $440,000 expenditure to move overhead lines underground on Long Bay Road on St. Thomas. The effort will relocate the eyesore of overhead lines in the area between the Paul M. Pearson Gardens exit and the Lucinda Millen Home, improving reliability and providing for faster service restoration following a disaster.
Since roadwork is currently under way in the immediate area, the board took advantage of the opportune time for the underground work and approved using the current contractor, Bryan’s Electrical Contracting Corp.
– approved spending $582,000 for materials for Phase I of the Christiansted underground electrical cable project; 25 percent of the funds for the project come from a hazard-mitigation matching grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
– approved dipping into the authority’s line of credit for $1.8 million to finance inspection and required repairs for Unit #23. Performed by General Electric, the work will return the unit to normal operating condition, perform manufacturer-recommended inspection and repair, increase turbine efficiency and load output.
-approved rehabilitation of the Richmond Storage Tank using $1.3 million in EPA DWINSA (Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment) funds. Last inspected in 2007, the tank will receive recommended structural, mechanical, painting and labeling improvements. The project is forecast to take six months to complete.
