By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

On March 11 and March 17, Los Alamos was unceremoniously kicked off not only the internet but cell phone service. In response, Deputy Utility Manager for the Engineering Division James Alarid explained to Los Alamos County Council March 25 why everyone’s  Wifi and cell phone service bars vanished.

The outage was due to cut fiber lines in the N.M. 4 Water Transmission Line Replacement/Fiber Conduit Installation Project along N.M. 4 between N.M. 502 and Rover Boulevard. Alarid said the project is about 67 percent completed; the expected completion date is in June. Another 3,700 feet is needed to be trenched adjacent to the fiber optic line, he added.

“We found out that the damage that took place on the 11th of March was the fault of the contractor and on the 17th of March, that was a bad locate so it was the fault of the utility, which is Lumen,” Alarid said.

In response, Alarid said the County has requested that Lumen give more support to the project; it is the County’s wish that there be a full-time person on the project site. Lumen agreed but as of March 25, Alarid said no additional effort has been seen.

Despite that, he reported that communication between the locator and the contractor has improved, and the contractor has made adjustments to slow down with digging lines and get frequent visuals whenever there is any doubt about a fiber optic line.

“They’re finding that the fiber optic and the locate wire are periodically not close enough to trust,” Alarid said. “State law says you have to be within 18 inches of your mark, otherwise it’s the utilities’ fault if it gets damaged. We’re well beyond that in a lot of areas but we did a little bit of … our engineering plans didn’t have the fiber optic line identified in most of the alignment where it turned out to be … so we followed up with our engineers so their due diligence is to … call in design locates and the utilities have to come out there and paint the ground. It wasn’t done for most of this alignment. Lumen painted some of the ground, but it didn’t identify the majority of it.”

To address this issue, Alarid said there will have to be negotiations between the County and the contractor. He did note that one method discovered to reduce risk is to “sleeve” new pipes by inserting them into existing pipes since the new one are smaller than the original ones.

County Manager Anne Laurent pointed out that the fiber optic installation project is not a County-owned project; the water line installation project is. She further noted that through the fiber optic installation, a redundant line will be provided.

In a somewhat related item, council unanimously approved a County $2 million matching grant for the San Ildefonso Pueblo’s Connect New Mexico Grant for the middle mile fiber optic line.

In unrelated business, Council:

• Unanimously approve to direct the Arts and Public Places Board to hold a special meeting to reconsider purchasing ‘The Boys of Pajarito Plateau’ painting and make a recommendation to Council no later than April 30. This was in response to a citizen petition provided by Mark Rayburn.
• Heard an update on the Los Alamos Little Theater fire suppression project. Public Works Manager Eric Martinez explained the project originated at the request of the Los Alamos Fire Marshall. Then, asbestos was discovered in the theater, but the fire suppression project was still considered feasible, he added. There are four main steps to the project, Project Manager Sobia Sayeda said: vacate the building, abate the asbestos, install the fire system and finally replace abated elements. The budget for the project is being finalized, she said. The plan is for the project to begin in June and allow the Little Theater back into the building in November. She added regarding other things needed in the building, work is moving forward with architects and engineers for historic buildings to explore grant opportunities for future work such as upgrading the electric and HVAC systems.
• Weighed in on revising the County’s LEDA program. Laurent and Economic Development Administrator Shanna Sasser proposed modifying the LEDA program to better serve local retailers that require smaller amounts of money. A minimum of $20,000 to a maximum of $100,000 is being considered. Another modification being investigated is shorter turnaround times for determining eligibility and as well as the second phase of the LEDA applications. To help with the process, a group of County staff and community partners are collaborating. Sasser said the desire is to set up the program to be successful. Businesses should be talked to before filling out an application and the security collateral piece needs to be figured out, she said. Councilor David Reagor said a big issue is security – how much risk does the County want to take. He added he felt that it was the Council’s job to decide the risks in the security. Council Vice Chair Suzie Havemann said she liked the idea of using a template for LEDA requests, adding this could be something that could be improved as time goes on.
• Tabled a discussion on the proposed Metropolitan Redevelopment Act (MRA) for the eastern part of downtown. Council will be discussing this issue again during Tuesday’s meeting.