03/11/1996 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 12, 1996 answer any questions that the City Council or citizens may have regarding electric reliability. Police Chief Pecchia noted that the Police Department has received calls from residents asking who they should call in the event that their power is out. Mr. Lamb said that residents should call 282-1000. Council Member Neal asked if anyone ever answers at that number. He said the number rings and rings. Mr. Lamb explained that when there is a major outage, thousands of customers call this number and there is a problem getting to someone at NSP. Normally, calling that number should not be a problem and you should reach someone at NSP or the automatic answering machine. Based on the telephone number you are calling from the system automatically registers an outage at the residence where you are calling from. However, if you are not calling from the house with the outage, you will have to stay on the telephone line and follow the "prompts" given over the telephone. Council Member Kuether asked is there old power lines or old equipment in Lino Lakes? Mr. Lamb explained that the circuit that serves Lino Lakes is extremely long and has a lot of exposure to the environment. When an ice storm occurs, the longer circuit will experience more problems. NSP is addressing this problem by "beefing" up the construction and making sure the lines are clear of trees. Mr. Ahrens explained that the Police Department has had a lot of problems with the power fluctuating. This has caused a lot of computer problems. He asked what is causing this problem. Mr. Lamb said that this situation could be discussed at length. Whenever there is a lot of activity on the system, lights will flicker and the power will flicker. Lino Lakes could be affected by a "system event" in Minneapolis or as far away as Canada because all the systems are tied together. Mr. Lamb said that if the power is fluctuating during non -storm times, he should be notified and it will be investigated and a solution will be found. He explained that if the problem occurs, it is important to note the time and date of the problem. The problem will be fixed or at least an explanation for the problem will be determined. Mayor Landers thanked Mr. Lamb and Mr. Theis for coming this evening. Council Member Kuether asked Mr. Tesch to invite Meredith Cable to come before the City Council and explain why the cable TV has been down so many times. Mr. Tesch explained that many of their problems were caused by construction in the area. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES January 22, 1996 - Council Member Kuether moved to approve these minutes as presented. Council Member Neal seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. CONSIDERATION OF DISBURSEMENTS PAGE 2