City council discusses natural gas and electric projects

Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 5:22 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 5:22 p.m.

The Lexington City Council met at the Lexington Police Training Center on Tuesday for its annual retreat. City Manager, Alan Carson said the two-day meeting will serve to look back on the past year's accomplishments and to look forward to new challenges. He emphasized that the retreat is for informational purposes only and there are no votes or final decisions made concerning the upcoming budget.

"There are a lot of positive things to discuss," Carson said. "It is amazing everything that gets accomplished when everyone is working together. The purpose of this retreat is to give detailed reports on complex issues. It is an opportunity to get together and share ideas as we move forward."

Director of Public Utilities for the City of Lexington, Chris Smith, outlined the upcoming projects, past accomplishments and goals for the natural gas and electric department during the retreat. According to a report from the city manager's office, Lexington utilities services make up $79 million out of the annual budget, which is 76 percent of the overall budget.

Smith said upcoming priorities for the natural gas department are adding new customers, extension of natural gas lines in Welcome, Linwood and Southmont, the Winston Road bridge replacement and the GIS mapping projects.

"We had a lot of activity in natural gas and we are still expanding," Smith said. "We are building as people are coming to us. We are seeing more extensions are because of the popularity of natural gas."

Smith said the natural gas department added 2,012 new services from 2003 and large additions came from the Welcome/Arcadia main-line extension, which was completed last year.

He said the replacement of the Winston Road Business I-85 overpass will require reconfiguration of some of the existing natural gas pipeline. Smith said a majority of the project, in relation to the natural gas lines, is estimated at $240,000 but $160,000 should be reimbursed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Smith said the gas department want continue research into private and public fleets of natural gas vehicles; continued implementation of the federal distribution integrity management plan (DIMO) using a GIS system as an analytical tool to maintain compliance and to identify threats to the integrity of the pipeline and discussion on line extension to the proposed I-85 industrial park project adjacent to Belmont Road.

During the presentation on the electric department, Smith said the department is continuing with its capital improvement plan to enhance reliability and plan for future load growth. The main project is the second phase of the utilities operation project, which includes a new electric operations building and warehouse. Smith said they hope to begin this final phase by 2016.

Read the original post:
City council discusses natural gas and electric projects