Stars in their eyes, clouds in their minds

The most ridiculous situation of last night was the Commission being obligated to vote on additional funds to rebuild the TPTL-2 transformer in the amount of $59,975. I equate this to your car mechanic giving you an estimate on repairs and he "discovers" another problem. We all have experienced that one!

Back on July 7, the Commission, voted to spend $565,000 to re-build the power transformer. They chose to believe the City Manager and Utility Director who said they needed it for the summer load. We now know that this won’t even be rebuilt for at least 5-6 months, well into Winter. There was no question that something was wrong with the transformer because gases were present in the transformer oil. It was reported by the Utility Department that it was caused by internal arcing. They contacted NuCat to provide a diagnostic and NuCat said onsite repair was impossible because it couldn’t be taken apart on site and repaired or rebuilt. They sent the transformer on to GE in Bradenton. GE Energy took it apart and said that it needed to be re-manufactured or re-built. What else do you suppose they would say? They are in business to rebuild these things.

It was pointed out during commentary in July, even I asking the question, is this transformer insured and what are the conditions of our insurance policy…has the insurance company (The League of Cities) given the Utility Department any requirements in order to be able to pay for this transformer under the policy coverage? Well, as it turned out, there were/are requirements. The insurance provider wanted the unit flushed out first and if that didn’t solve the problem, then Lake Worth Utility could send it on for repair with the City having to spend a $300,000 deductible. This would have been a delay of about three weeks.

So, if we had complied with insurance procedure we only would have spent $300,000.

Allocated or already expended in this process are the following:

1. Nu/Cat, $14,433
2. Nu/Cat, $27,333 for dismantling and transport
3. Beyel Bros, $31,300 for crane and transport
4. GE Energy, $38,832 for de-tanking, disassembly and diagnostics
5. FMPA payment of $30,000 for at least 6 months (the city's estimate) or $180,000
6. Nu/Cat $30,000 for re-assemble
7. GE Energy $565,000
8. Additional repairs charged by GE of $59,975

But now, instead of paying the insurance deductible of $300,000, the city now has to pay $946,873 --$646,873 in costs that we NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAD TO PAY because the city didn’t follow simple insurance procedure. And that doesn’t include the legal fees incurred by the city in trying to get the insurance company to pay what it has already said it will not pay.

The only Commissioner asking any questions last night was Retha Lowe. It's time for a reality check and the City has a whole lot of explaining to do.