Lamar Utilities Board Updates Equipment

The Lamar Utility Board approved expenditures for equipment not directly related to energy production.  Members approved $23,700 for a replacement copier, capable of making large-scale copies of engineering blueprints.  Light Plant Superintendent Houssin Hourieh said some of the original prints are deteriorating with age and the upgraded copier will perform more functions than the one being replaced.  Board members also approved $18,600 for increased computer information storage for the entire plant operation.  The current 3.0 Terabyte system is now 90% full and the new equipment has the capacity to grow to 16tb.  Hourieh said each purchase is budgeted and half the cost will be funded from ARPA. 

Several equipment replaces were also needed recently including a failed battery charger that provides direct current power to operate portions of the LAMSO substation, a one mile line upgrade is being replaced in the Big Bend area by light plant crews, and TRICO Wind company is on site conducting an analysis for a future report on the bearings on the plant’s T1 and T2 wind turbines. 

College Scholarship applications are being accepted by LUB.  Each year, the board offers three $500 scholarships to a qualified graduating senior from the Lamar, Wiley and McClave high schools.  The application deadline is April 20.  ARPA will match the amount for a total scholarship of $1,000 for each school.

By Russ Baldwin