COUNCIL COMMITTEES
The Council Committees Meeting was held on September 25, 2000, at 6:30 p.m., with Council President Christiansen presiding. Members of Council present were Mr. McGlumphy, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Gorman, Mr. Truitt, Mr. Carey, Mr. Salters, Mr. Weller and Mayor Hutchison. Mrs. Malone was absent.
AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS
Mr. Carey moved for approval of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Salters and unanimously carried.
LEGISLATIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
The Legislative and Finance Committee met with Chairman Salters presiding. Members present were Councilmen Carey and Gorman, and Mr. Merritt. Mr. McGlumphy was deputized to serve in the absence of Mrs. Street.
Purchase of 2001 Dodge Ram 3500 Cab and Chassis
Since employees of the City’s Maintenance Shop are required to respond to road calls, it has become necessary to purchase a diesel truck. After researching the various trucks available, staff recommended that the 2001 Dodge Ram 3500 Cab and Chassis State of Delaware Spec “L” be purchased for this service, at a cost of $26,083. It was noted that I.G. Burton is the dealer under the State Contract for the purchase of this vehicle. Funding for this purchase is available through the City’s 2000/2001 budget for the Maintenance Shop.
Mr. Carey moved to recommend approval of staff’s recommendation, seconded by Mr. Gorman and unanimously carried.
(Note from City Clerk’s Office: In response to concerns of members, Mr. O’Connor submitted a memo explaining that the body needed was not found in the State Contract; therefore, it was determined that a body would be made to meet these needs. After the purchase of the chassis and cab, the truck will be delivered to Mastercraft Welding in Camden and a truck body designed by our shop foreman will be installed. The cost for the body will be approximately $2,500.)
Mr. Carey moved for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Gorman and unanimously carried.
Meeting Adjourned at 6:37 P.M.
UTILITY COMMITTEE
The Utility Committee met with Chairman Weller presiding. Members present were Councilmen Pitts and Truitt, Mr. Lambert, and Mr. Nichols.
Proposed Canopy for Mailbox Clusters - Clearfield Apartments (Wedgewood)
Members considered a request of Clearfield L.P., equitable owner of the Wegewood Apartment complex located on Haman Drive, to construct a canopy within the City’s right-of-way. The proposed canopy will cover the existing mailbox cluster which serves the 95 apartment units within the Wedgewood Apartment complex. The canopy is designed to dress up a rather unsightly cluster of mailboxes and provide protection from the elements for tenants getting their mail and waiting for public transportation.
In accordance with Section 19-6.1 of the Dover Code, the City Manager is authorized to grant approval for the placement of canopies and awnings within the City’s rights-of-way without Council consideration; however, it is only applicable to commercial establishments. The Wedgewood Apartment complex is currently zoned residential.
In reviewing the request, staff felt that the placement of the canopy in the proposed location would not impede either vehicular or pedestrian traffic in the area and that the result would be an improved benefit to the neighborhood for the purpose of sheltering tenants and other persons from the weather. Staff recommended approval of the request to construct a canopy within the City’s right-of-way on Haman Drive to serve the Wedgewood Apartment Complex, stipulating that the applicant, Clearfield L.P., abide by the conditions as outlined in Section 19-6.1 of the Dover Code for granting an approval for a canopy within the City’s right-of-way.
Mr. Todd Breck, Breckstone Group (architect and engineer for Clearfield L.P.), provided members with diagrams depicting the design and location of the proposed canopy. Responding to Mr. Nichols, Mr. Breck stated that the canopy will include lighting for security purposes.
Mr. Lambert moved to recommend approval of the request of Clearfield L.P. to construct a canopy within the City’s right-of-way as recommended by staff. The motion was seconded by Mr. Truitt and unanimously carried.
Dover Downs Substation Transformer
Due to the planned additions to the Dover Downs Raceway (1,000 slots; 20,000 grandstand seats; and a 500-room hotel) and the continued growth in the northwest area of Dover, a new substation is required to accommodate this increase in load. The additions to Dover Downs will impact the distribution system considerably, and additional capacity is required. Dover Downs has informed the Electric Department that the increase in load is estimated to be up to 8 megawatts.
Mr. O’Connor advised members that Dover Downs has agreed to provide the required property for this substation at no cost to the City. Duke Engineering Solutions will provide the engineering services required to build this substation. This service is an in-kind contribution by Duke to the City as per the agreement, and the City will not pay any cash for this service. Conceptual drawings and the transformer specification have been completed. Since additional substations are required in the Long-Range Plan for the Electric Department, this design will become the “standard substation design package” for all future substation projects. This standardization will expedite future substation equipment procurement and construction.
The plan is to construct a 20/28/33 MVA 69/12kv four-circuit distribution substation on Dover Downs property. Due to the cost and extended delivery time, authorization to purchase the transformer only is being requested at this time. Requests for the substation switchgear, 69kv breakers, control house, and substation construction will be submitted at a later date. After completion, the substation will provide four 8-megawatt 12kv distribution feeders to the area, with a separate feeder dedicated to each - Dover Downs Raceway, Dover Mall, Delaware State University, and another for the anticipated load growth in the northwest area of Dover (Persimmon Tree Lane and Leipsic Road). This substation will also provide the seriously needed relief and backup for the already loaded feeders at McKee and Frazier Substations. In addition, the existing 69kv loop has limited fault isolation capabilities, which means the loss of several substations when a fault occurs on the 69kv line. As an added benefit, this substation shall be designed to insert a “zone of protection” which will improve system reliability by providing added fault isolation capabilities on the 69kv loop. This method of design shall be adopted with the addition of future substations as determined in the Electric Department Long-Range Plan.
Bids were solicited for the transformer and received as follows:
Vendor Price Delivery
GE/Prolec $428,859 4/01/2001
Delta-Star $449,608 5/01/2001
ABB $486,751 7/15/2001
Kulman $508,006 8/01/2001
Funding for this project is available in the Electric Department Improvement and Extension Fund. Staff recommended awarding the bid for the purchase of the power transformer from the low bidder, GE/Prolec, at a cost of $428,859.
Mr. Nichols moved to recommend approval of staff’s recommendation, seconded by Mr. Lambert and unanimously carried.
SCADA Master Station
The major goal of the Electric Department is to improve the overall operation of the transmission and distribution system. The most effective method of improving system reliability is by reducing outage occurrence as well as minimizing outage extent and duration. Re-designing the Electric Department Dispatch Center to a fully functional System Operations Center is the single most important task which will achieve this goal. The heart of this newly designed System Operations Center is the SCADA Master Station.
The existing SCADA Master Station is a proprietary system in which all hardware, software, and technical support can only be provided by one vendor. Presently, the Electric Department is totally dependent on this vendor. Upgrading the SCADA Master Station will enable the Electric Department to solicit bids from other vendors which will insure competitive pricing on hardware and software. In addition, the existing system is a stand-alone system which severely limits the transfer of data for reporting analysis and engineering studies. The new upgraded system will be a PC-based system enabling full data transferability to any PC in the existing City network. Furthermore, the upgraded Master Station will fully utilize the newly installed fiber optic backbone thereby increasing data communication speed and reliability. Because of technological advancements in the industry and development of improved products, support for the existing SCADA Master Station is becoming extremely limited. The present vendor has already notified users that software and hardware support for these older systems has been terminated.
The plan is to purchase and install the SCADA Master Station upgrade as an integral part of the new System Operations Center. This installation will coordinate with several projects ongoing in the Electric Department: 1) the newly installed fiber optic backbone, which will provide the communications media required to utilize the full potential of the new SCADA hardware; 2) the implementation of the T1 multiplexers (substation fiber optic electronics), which will connect to the fiber optic backbone and provide the required high-speed communication electronics at each substation; and 3) coordination with the construction of the new System Operations Center where the new systems will come together to improve system operations. These new systems will work together to improve system reliability by increasing data collection, expediting fault identification and isolation, minimizing outage extent and duration, and providing more accurate trouble crew dispatching.
Bids to provide the required hardware, software, and training for a PC-based SCADA system were solicited and received as follows:
Vendor Price Delivery
QPL Quindar $113,996 20 weeks
TeleGyr $117,000 10 weeks
QEI Inc. $122,683 20 weeks
C3-ilex $213,325 22 weeks
Advanced Control Systems $224,161 26 weeks
Due to the shorter delivery time and compliance with the general requirements without exception, staff recommended that the bid for the purchase of the new SCADA Master Station be awarded to TeleGyr in the amount of $117,000.
Mr. Nichols moved to recommend approval of staff’s recommendation, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.
Mr. Truitt moved to adjourn into executive session for personnel matters, seconded by Mr. Carey and unanimously carried.
Meeting Adjourned at 6:52 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin R. Christiansen
Council President
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