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07-24-18: It was tough having the power off for 5.5 hours on Monday, but it allowed all the crews to get their work done in a timely and safe manner. First, of course, the PUD crew came and turned off the old power and then connected all the new power feed lines to the new meter cabinet. They also tied in a new primary feed for the north side of phase I. This new feed line is buried in a conduit which will protect it better from being accidentally hit when we might have to dig, to say nothing of protecting us from the possibly electrical hazard should we have dug into an unprotected line.
While the power was out, we had Ford Electric doing two major tasks in the park. First they ran a new secondary feed to three lots on the south side of Perimeter. The existing feed was only buried about 2 inches in some places and the last time Ford worked on it, they got shocked just digging near it. This secondary feed is also now in conduit. We have been wanting to do this replacement for several years, but were unable to get it done. We would have had to have PUD turn the power off to do this task, so it made sense to do it while the power was already off, thus avoiding a $363 charge from PUD to turn power off and back on.
Ford also replaced three electric meter stanchions in the park. These had rusted out at the bottom and were major safety hazards for the members and their guests. These also would have required the power to be off. Ford also repaired another stanchion that was in bad shape.
Thanks to Tom Radford, Terry Stark, and Orville Aas for all the work with these projects!
But we weren't done! We have had an ongoing project to replace the old 4 digit dial meters in the park. To replace the meters, we have to turn the power off to the member's unit first, then swap the meter. With the power being off in the park, it was a great time to replace some of these. This effort was done totally by volunteers! Greg Allen led the crew of John Landry, Dick Santoro, Tony Buzzard, and Gil Bader. During the time the power was off, this crew replaced 28 meters! Well done guys, and many thanks!
We can now lift the moratorium on new park models coming into the park and any building permits requiring more electricity! Next project is to install new landscaping out front.
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