OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Board of Public Utilities Approves Contracts, Affirms Open Meetings Resolution, and Elects Officers on January 15, 2026

County Council & Boards — Thursday, January 15, 2026
BodyLos Alamos County, New Mexico
SessionCounty Council & Boards
DateThursday, January 15, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:06:37

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Welcome to the uh January 14th, 2026 Board of Public Utilities regular meeting.

0:07

Welcome to another evening and another year of fun and frolic with the Board of Public Utilities.

0:13

The uh our first order of business is public comment.

0:18

Do we have any public comment this evening?

0:21

I don't see any in chambers.

0:23

Thank you, Chair Gibson.

0:25

For members of the public who are joining us tonight on Zoom, when Chair Gibson calls for public comment, please use the raise hand function.

0:31

And if you're participating by phone, you can press star nine to raise your hand.

0:35

Would anybody like to make public comment right now?

0:40

Nobody has their hand raised, Chair Gibson.

0:42

Okay, thank you very much.

0:43

Next would be approval of the agenda.

0:46

And I would like to amend the agenda to move item 8A1, the introduction of our new council liaison to be the next item on the agenda instead of being way down on the list.

1:00

Other than that, um is there are there any other amendments to the agenda suggested?

1:10

I don't see any.

1:13

Oh, Charlie?

1:14

Actually, I just would like to pull.

1:16

Can we pull stuff off the consent agenda?

1:18

Sure now.

1:19

Yeah.

1:19

So I would like to pull um, I think item four e off the consent agenda, just to have a slight discussion of that.

1:28

Okay, you say slight discussions.

1:29

Well, I mean, I'd like to learn more about it's a it's a large, it's a large um dollar amount, and I just wanted to hear a little bit more about that.

1:37

Okay.

1:39

So we should move that to department business then.

1:43

Okay.

1:44

Um we'll do that then as the uh we'll do that as the first item of department business.

1:54

And the AMT presentation will follow it.

1:58

All right, any other suggestions, comments, questions, amendments.

2:07

Do we have a motion to approve the agenda as amended?

2:11

I I uh move that we approve the agenda as amended.

2:15

Second.

2:16

Okay, moved and seconded.

2:17

Any further discussion?

2:19

All in favor.

2:21

I see four here.

2:22

Matt, are you on board with thank you?

2:26

Okay.

2:26

I see a thumbs up from Matt.

2:28

So we have motion passes five to zero.

2:31

Thank you, Matt.

2:33

With that, we move on to the excuse me.

2:36

We move on to introducing uh our new uh council liaison.

2:42

Uh Susie decided to leave us early because for some reason she thought that spending time with a new granddaughter was more fun than being here.

2:51

I I don't understand that, but uh Rin uh started her term a little bit early.

2:57

Thank you.

2:58

Welcome aboard.

2:59

Thank you very much.

3:00

No grandchildren.

3:03

Not expecting any.

3:05

So the uh well, thanks for uh joining us and uh please don't hesitate to uh let us know if there's anything we can do to help you do your job.

3:15

Thank you very much, Chair.

3:17

Okay, now we move to consent agenda.

3:21

Uh and we've already pulled one item off of it, and I have a minor, very minor amendment to the minutes of the December 10th meeting, which were handed out here.

3:34

Um so we now have a draft number two.

3:41

And so uh what I guess I would like to do is just make a friendly amendment that the uh motion for approval of the minutes read.

3:55

I move that the board of public utilities approve the December 10th, 2025 meeting minutes as presented or as amended in draft number two.

4:09

Charlie, you look at the okay.

4:15

Well, let's see.

4:16

That uh what we need is a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████████21%
Utilities Management█████████████████17%
Electric Distribution███████████████15%
Procedural█████████████13%
Economic Development█████5%
Public Engagement███3%
Contract Management██2%
Energy Management██2%
Environmental Protection██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities Meeting - January 15, 2026

Note on date discrepancy: The agenda and transcript indicate the meeting was held on January 14, 2026, but the provided source metadata states the meeting took place on January 15, 2026. This summary uses the date as given in the instruction.

The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) convened on January 15, 2026, at 5:30 PM in the Municipal Building Council Chambers. Chair Robert Gibson presided. The board approved several consent agenda items, recommended a major services agreement for water system mechanical repairs, affirmed the annual Open Meetings Resolution, heard the annual Asset Management Teams (AMT) presentation, and elected officers for 2026.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of December 2025 meeting minutes: Approved as amended (draft #2).
  • Amendment No. 2 to AGR22-68 with Molzen Corbin: Extends the engineering services agreement for the Water Production Facilities Electric and Mechanical Upgrades Phase I Project through December 31, 2026, with no additional cost. Approved unanimously.
  • Budget Revision 2026-34 for Task Order No. 3 with Souder Miller & Associates: Allocates $70,433 for potable water storage tank inspection and maintenance services, required to address 36 corrective actions identified by NMED by April 7, 2026. Approved unanimously.
  • Award of Bid IFB 26-24 to TSI Tower, Inc.: $559,395 plus $83,910 contingency ($643,305 total) plus GRT for fiber optic line installation in Guaje Canyon and Bayo Booster to upgrade SCADA communications. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 4.e (AGR26-15 with Armystick, LLC): Pulled from consent for discussion; see Discussion Items.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were offered during any of the public comment periods.

Discussion Items

  • Approval of Services Agreement AGR26-15 with Armystick, LLC: The board discussed and recommended approval of a $1,000,000, seven-year task-order agreement for water systems mechanical devices rehabilitation and support. Deputy Utility Manager James Alarid explained that the contractor, Bill Curb (Armystick/Curb Services), is a specialized provider for pressure-reducing valves and other mechanical components. The contract was competitively procured. The board voted unanimously to recommend approval to Council.
  • Annual Asset Management Teams (AMT) Presentation: Senior Engineer James Martinez presented a summary of the December 17, 2025, Asset Management Governance Team meeting, covering seven teams: Electric Production, Electric Distribution, Gas Distribution, Water Distribution, Water Production/Non-Potable Water, Wastewater Collection, and Wastewater Treatment. Key highlights included:
    • Electric Production: Rebid hydro condition assessment for Abiquiu and El Vado (initial proposal was twice the budget); arc flash study in progress; Abiquiu crane analysis needed; wildfire planning; decommissioning El Vado Butte communication tower.
    • Electric Distribution: Goal to bring SAIDI under 1 hour; improve system maps; plan underground replacements; replace switch at Diamond/Trinity; add SCADA function to office; design new substation for Los Alamos townsite.
    • Gas Distribution: Increased O&M due to dedicated crews; investigate isolated steel sections; meet operator qualification requirements; study alternatives for Pueblo Canyon gas and sewer bridge crossing.
    • Water Distribution: Continue hydrant replacements (20–40 per year); address Northern Community bolt corrosion leaks; manage waterline breaks and overtime; PRV maintenance (linked to Armystick contract); replace old galvanized services and meters.
    • Water Production: Tank piping upgrades ($900K); Jemez Fire Protection project (Phase I completed, Phase IV near completion, Phase II ongoing, Phase III to bid); well mechanical/electrical upgrades ongoing; San Ildefonso Road and East Road water line replacements; North Mesa tank altitude valve project; SCADA fiber projects (LA Canyon completed, Guaje/Bayo bid awarded, West Road in design); sanitary survey of water tanks (18 of 36 corrective actions completed, need diver for remaining).
    • Wastewater Collection: Lift station rehabilitation (North Road done, Los Arboles in progress, Quemazon and East Gate under contract); shift capital to rehab existing VCP lines to reduce O&M and tort claims; sewer drops in Pueblo Canyon and North Mesa need replacement; vactor issues continue.
    • Wastewater Treatment: Staff achieved certifications; need a heavy-duty truck to haul solids; will use $2M RIP loan for UV system replacement, aeration basin crack repairs, fine screen repairs, and blower improvements.
  • Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2026: The board re-elected Robert Gibson as Chair (unanimous). For Vice Chair, Matt Heavner was elected over incumbent Eric Stromberg by a vote of 3–2 (Members Hollingsworth, Heavner, and Gibson voted for Heavner; Members Nakhleh and Stromberg voted for Stromberg).

Key Outcomes

  • Votes:
    • Approved consent agenda as amended (4–0, member Nakhleh absent initially but later present).
    • Affirmed Open Meetings Resolution No. 26-01 (5–0).
    • Recommended approval of AGR26-15 with Armystick, LLC to Council (5–0).
    • Elected Robert Gibson as Chair (5–0).
    • Elected Matt Heavner as Vice Chair (3–2).
  • Other actions:
    • Introduced new Council Liaison Ryn Herrmann.
    • Noted that Deputy Utility Manager James Alarid announced his retirement, effective in a few months.
    • Discussed future agenda items including balcony solar (added to parking lot), final fleet conversion plan, and waste-to-energy presentation.
    • The board will hold a budget work session in February for FY2027 and FY2028 budgets.

Public Hearing

  • Affirmation of Open Meetings Resolution No. 26-01: The board affirmed the resolution, which establishes minimum standards for public notice for all county meetings, as required annually. No public comment was received. Motion passed unanimously.

Board Reports

  • Utilities Manager Philo Shelton reported on: White Rock substation transformer foundation design; LANL tie-line construction starting next week; PNM mutual aid agreement signed; Elk Ridge green tags at 60 (out of 180) with scheduling challenges; recruitments; James Alarid retirement; ECA review progress; Foxtail Flats commercial operation date moved to June 18, 2027; chromium plume updates (NNSA may restart one extraction well at 60 gpm); and two-mile canyon water line leak repair plans.
  • County Manager Anne Laurent reported on: upcoming state legislative session; new PIO Dave Kruger starting Feb 2; federal funding for new well; and community dashboard revamp.
  • Council Liaison Ryn Herrmann reported on the previous night's Council work session, including North Mesa Recreation Master Plan ($13M, 26 acres), Metropolitan Redevelopment Area commission discussion, and a waste-to-energy presentation by Mozart DevCo.
  • Environmental Sustainability Board Liaison Sue Barns reported that the ESB reviewed the fleet conversion and EV charging plans, drafted a 2026 work plan, and noted a $1.2M EPA grant for food composting (stalled due to DOE/NMED issues).

Status Reports

  • The board reviewed monthly status reports for November and December 2025, including electric reliability (SAIDI at 93 minutes for 2025), accounts receivable (over 90 days past due total $11,970.34), and risk/safety (14 OSHA recordable injuries in 2025, incidence rate 15.81 vs. national average 1.8). Chair Gibson noted improvement in receivables.

Upcoming Agenda Items

  • The tickler file for January–March 2026 was reviewed, with items including the DPU FY2027 budget presentation (February), annual report, and various updates. The board agreed to add balcony solar to the parking lot.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the uh January 14th, 2026 Board of Public Utilities regular meeting. Welcome to another evening and another year of fun and frolic with the Board of Public Utilities. The uh our first order of business is public comment. Do we have any public comment this evening? I don't see any in chambers. Thank you, Chair Gibson. For members of the public who are joining us tonight on Zoom, when Chair Gibson calls for public comment, please use the raise hand function. And if you're participating by phone, you can press star nine to raise your hand. Would anybody like to make public comment right now? Nobody has their hand raised, Chair Gibson. Okay, thank you very much. Next would be approval of the agenda. And I would like to amend the agenda to move item 8A1, the introduction of our new council liaison to be the next item on the agenda instead of being way down on the list. Other than that, um is there are there any other amendments to the agenda suggested? I don't see any. Oh, Charlie? Actually, I just would like to pull. Can we pull stuff off the consent agenda? Sure now. Yeah. So I would like to pull um, I think item four e off the consent agenda, just to have a slight discussion of that. Okay, you say slight discussions. Well, I mean, I'd like to learn more about it's a it's a large, it's a large um dollar amount, and I just wanted to hear a little bit more about that. Okay. So we should move that to department business then. Okay. Um we'll do that then as the uh we'll do that as the first item of department business. And the AMT presentation will follow it. All right, any other suggestions, comments, questions, amendments. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda as amended? I I uh move that we approve the agenda as amended. Second. Okay, moved and seconded. Any further discussion? All in favor. I see four here. Matt, are you on board with thank you? Okay. I see a thumbs up from Matt. So we have motion passes five to zero. Thank you, Matt. With that, we move on to the excuse me. We move on to introducing uh our new uh council liaison. Uh Susie decided to leave us early because for some reason she thought that spending time with a new granddaughter was more fun than being here. I I don't understand that, but uh Rin uh started her term a little bit early. Thank you. Welcome aboard. Thank you very much. No grandchildren. Not expecting any.

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