Utilities director outlines projects

While the city is already working to improve its power system, more projects that have not been approved yet could further improve the reliability and stability of the system, City Utilities Director Bill Cefalu said Wednesday.
The city’s steam plant substation and utility substation are now at “smart phone status,” Cefalu said during the city council meeting. That status means that the substations are connected to the city’s fiber optic loop, Cefalu said.
By the end of January 2015, the East Boulevard substation should be at that status while the La. 70 and Federal Avenue substations will take another year to get to that status, Cefalu said.
The city’s new transformer went online at the Capacitor Bank Substation in June, two years after the city’s transformer at the Joseph Cefalu Sr. Municipal Steam Plant caught fire and exploded on June 26, 2012.
In 2013, the council put in place a power surcharge to put a breaker in front of the transformer and provide for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition or SCADA system, he said. “We’re probably going to be about $200,000 short on the SCADA system,” Cefalu said. Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said $200,000 is included in the 2015 budget to finish the data system along with $100,000 to clear trees away from power lines.
The system is necessary to complete the city’s fiber optic loop in order to allow city workers to isolate certain parts of the city in the event of a power outage.
Cefalu presented some additional projects to the council that are necessary to bring reliability to the power system, he said. “These are some necessities to ensure the integrity of the system, the reliability of the system and, of course, the stability of the system,” Cefalu said.
Cefalu provided the council with a list of reliability concerns for the city’s utility system. Among those concerns are projects estimated at $75,000 to $100,000 each for the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard substation, La. 70 substation and Federal Avenue substation, the report stated.
A project in Lakeside Subdivision would cost another $200,000 to $300,000 while improvements in Auburn Subdivision would cost $100,000, according to the report.
Also at the council meeting, Morgan City Substitute Fire Chief Mark Stephens, who began leading the Fire Department in November, gave a report to the council.
The department is working to get a new fire truck in 2015, Stephens said. To show the rate that the cost of fire trucks are increasing, Stephens said a $220,000 truck now will cost about $336,000 in 2037. “As you budget things going forward, it’s something that the mayor and council needs to know,” Stephens said.
Stephens described a plan to provide fire protection and first response for the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival. There are 179 commercial and residential structures in the area, Stephens said. Some problems exist with congestion in that area to maneuver fire trucks through, he said.
Stephens proposed using a four-wheeler that the city already owns equipped with a medical bag, portable fire extinguishers and specialty extinguishers to respond to emergencies, he said. Stephens’ plan would also allow an off-duty firefighter to quickly direct incoming fire engines, Stephens said.
Stephens wants to use the on-duty firefighters at city hall who could assist Acadian Ambulance with medical calls, he said. Councilman Louis Tamporello, also a member of the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival Board, asked Stephens to present his plan at a board meeting.
In other business, the council:
—Approved a resolution of support for the city to apply for Local Government Assistance Program funding of up to $50,000 to be used for signage and cones for the police department and two insert-a-valves and a 16-inch water valve.
—Approved the appointment of Theresa Mitchell to the Morgan City Housing Authority Board.