Government : VMCU hears updates on iVinton

The VMCU and VMEU boards met (Vinton Municipal Communications Utilities and Vinton Municipal Electric Utilities) in their regular meeting last week.

Chairman Rich Hainstock opened the meeting with three members Kim Meyer, Rich Hainstock and Mike Barron present and Alan Woodhouse absent.

They approved the agenda and approved the minutes, invoices, January Financial Report.

Dave Fridley with Farr Technologies reported that the contractors will be back in town as soon as possible when the weather cooperates. 

For those unaware, Alliant Energy has been running conduit in the northeast part of town which has really caused a lot of damage to lawns and hit a water main. There has been one report of a damaged sidewalk from the work Alliant has been doing. Just to clarify this is NOT part of the iVinton project. 

Fridley explained changes that were being made in the plans for building the fiber network through town. The company made recommendations to add another FSC which is a cabinet that makes expansion for the network possible. It will be located near Vinton Family Dental in the right of way. The estimated cost would be around $34,000 to do this. Fridley explained that should any company come into town with 5G they would probably ask to hook into the box and iVinton would be able to charge for that access. The area is also going to be doing more growing so there will be a need to increase traffic. 

There are also testing the network in a few homes and at the iVinton office to make sure that it's functioning properly. 

The ImOn representative updated the board on the progress that they made on the technical end of coordinating the data coming in as well as the search for employees is underway. 

Because of the really early winter arriving in October, the completion date has been pushed back another few months, because it all depends on the weather. The hope is that it will be in Spring. There were also some regulatory delays. It is thought that at the best estimate is that 90% of the behind the scenes work is done with the bugs being worked out. As soon as the weather warms there will be several crews in town to begin hooking homes up as soon as possible. 

General Manager, Tom Richtsmeier updated the board that as of February 6th a total of 1,505 site surveys have been completed and probably more have been done since then. If you are a renter check to see if your landlord has contacted iVinton. There have been over 500 people sign up for service.  

Richtsmeier reminded everyone in the meeting that as well as the conduit you also need to sign up for the service to have fiber run to your house. Once the trucks leave it will cost to have that run to your house as well, and it also might take some time to hook your house up. If you are still under contract with another provider, he suggests that you still contact the iVinton office to see if something can be worked out for you. (Editor's note: Just a reminder, there is no contract requiring a contract from subscribers through iVinton. Sign up, try it for a few months, I bet you'll love it!)

Anderson Creek Addition was also discussed. It was estimated to run fiber in the addition it would cost $120,000 to but because they were able to partner with the electric utilities, it only cost $55,641 so the utilities saved over half of the estimated cost.

As part of the VMEU board meeting, the board reviewed minutes of the previous meeting and invoices, filed the January financial report, approved the energy adjustment factor. 

The board discussed posting a position for a generation position. Right now there are 3 employed, but Richtsmeier explained that he'd like to have another employee on to give them time, he estimated 2-3 years to learn the job before losing another employee. 

As part of his report to the board, he reported that the line crews have been working with Alliant to locate lines in the ground. He reiterated that Alliant has been working in the right of way and causing a lot of damage and this is not related to the iVinton project.

Crews have been trimming trees in town clearing branches from the overhead wires. A couple of the employees have attended training and are in testing stages now in preparation for the 2400/4160 volt conversion project to make voltage across town uniform. Much of the material is in and waiting to be hooked up. Richtsmeier estimates that it will take 4-5 years to complete the project. 

Repairs were finished on the No. 8 unit electric generator, the largest in the plant. Insurance covered 90% of the cost at $874,698.69. The cost to the plant for their deductible is 10% of the loss with a $25,000 minimum of the cost of the repair, bringing the cost to $97,188.74. 

The plant brings roughly $100,000 in per year by generating power.

A problem was brought to Richtsmeier's attention concerning electric meter billing going to the wrong people. The owner of a downtown business with an apartment above the business had owned both electric accounts. The mistake came when the two accounts were split. The account numbers were not accurately attributed to the correct occupants, so the city is required to go back at least 5 years to settle the overcharges. The board moved to forgive a little over $560 for incorrect billing.