CM Scott posed the following questions & responses were provided by Tyler Hjorth, Interim Director of Utilities:
How many crews/maintenance staff does SMEU have? What percentage of the work does this contract cover compared to the work our SMEU crews perform?
Council approved additional budget for a fourth crew in the electrical distribution division in FY20. This addition allows SMEU to have full time capital improvement project participation. FY21 was the first full year with equipment and crew, and over $1,000,000 of CIP was performed in house resulting in savings that paid for the crew expansion. Because of the extensive CIP work, we also had two contract crews employed throughout FY21. FY21 we brought approximately one-quarter of CIP costs in house. We use contract crews because we don't have the same CIP workload each year. When we asked for the additional fourth crew, we offered that if it went as well as planned, we could look at one more crew in the future, but I don't think one year's data point is sufficient to bring in house.
What work are the City crews doing day-to-day that prevents them from doing CIP work?
Our crews build new services and construct line extensions, troubleshoot customer power quality problems, replace aged and/or failed transformers, perform infrared surveys of the distribution system, perform all system switching for in house or contractor needs, inspect/test wooden poles and replace those failing inspections, repair City and interstate roadway lighting, install animal guarding, and much more maintenance and reliability work.
How much does a City crew cost versus a private contract crew?
Full costs are approximately $400 per hour for contract and $250 per hour in house.
