WSTE celebrates 75 years of service to members

RESIDENTIAL RATE COMPARISON PER 1000 KWH
Dr. Francis Cefalu President
Charles Hill General Manager
Washington-St. Tammany Electric Cooperative
P.O. Box 697 Franklinton LA 70438 (839-3562)
[email protected] • www.wste.coop
2013 Rate Comparison 1000KWH
140.00
120.00
WSTE celebrates 75 years of service to members
100.00
80.00
CLECO
ENTERGY
WST
60.00
40.00
20.00
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In the Board Room
Regular Board Meeting
TUESDAY, DEC. 11, 2012, AT 4:30 P.M. The Board of Directors of Washington St. Tammany Electric Cooperative, Inc., held
a board meeting on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 4:30 p.m. at the Franklinton, WST
office.
Rev. Hickman gave the report of the Bid Committee, noting an extensive list of bids
received by the Cooperative for various projects. Six different bids were received for
right-of-way work, with some bidders submitting a bid on all circuits and some on only
certain circuits. After review of the bids, motion was made by Mr. Jourdan, seconded
by Mr. Bateman to take the bids under advisement and review bids on a circuit basis,
awarding the contract to the lowest qualified bidder meeting technical requirement.
Motion passed unanimously. Bids were also received for the Hackly and Clifton substation site work. Bids were received for fencing at the Hackly and Clifton substations.
Board President Francis Cefalu called upon finance committee chairman, Mr. David
Shaw to present the report of the budget committee. Mr. Shaw presented a packet of
materials to the board regarding the 2013 operating and capital purposed budget. The
documentation reviewed purchases and sales, capital budget operating revenue and
expense projections as well as projections concerning employees, employee additions,
budget projects and statement of cash flows. The board reviewed charts and other information reflecting expenses and revenues. Mr. Walt Sylvest gave a substantive presentation concerning this information along with Mr. Shaw.
Manager Charles Hill gave the managers report. (Acct. No. 70305102)
Manager Hill presented the administration and finance report including a review of
the RUS Form 7. The board reviewed the year-to-day key ratios which reflected 9.8 consumers for mile of line and cost for KWH purchased at 4.55 cents.
Motion was made by Rev. Hickman, seconded by Mr. Singletary to go into executive
session to discuss personnel matters. Motion passed unanimously. Executive session was
held. Motion made by Mr. Bateman, seconded by Mr. Glass to come out of executive
session. Motion passed unanimously.
Manager Hill gave the engineering and operation report which reflected a total of 153
staking jobs conducted in the month of October. Aid to construction totaled $5,378.00.
Total system peak for the month of October totaled 181.646 MW, a slight increase over
last October. The board reviewed WST and Contractor overhead and underground work
in both the southern and northern district, with Mr. Hill noting that the crews remain
busy completing work orders and service orders throughout the cooperative’s territory.
Overhead and Contractor areas of concentration was at HWY 25 North, River Road
Clifton Substation and South Fitzmorris Road. The board also reviewed the 2012 rightof –way maintenance report which reflected right-of-way maintenance work in the Enon,
Folsom, Savannah Branch, Bolivar, Eastfork, Isabel, Lacombe, Pearl Acres and Angie
substation areas.
Mr. Hill presented the marketing and safety report, with review of the marketing
department’s efforts being made in the cooperative’s service area. Manager Hill noted
that Chad Angelo is the new Safety Director having moved over from the staking operation of the cooperative. Safety meetings were held in both the northern and southern
districts with the main topic of the month being bucket truck rescue presented by ALEC.
All operations employees attended the training.
Manager Hill noted that the annual meeting for the NRECA is scheduled in New
Orleans from February 14-21.
Mr. Chuck Hughes presented the legal report including a discussion of possible bylaw amendments for the cooperative. Information was distributed for consideration and
possible future action by the Board.
Page 6 • Louisiana Country • February 2013
Washington-St. Tammany Electric Cooperative, Inc.
received its charter from the State of Louisiana to operate
as a non-profit corporation on Feb. 4, 1938.
The name of this new corporation was Washington St.Tammany Electric Membership Corporation. On Oct.
25, 1940 the corporation was converted to a cooperative
and changed its name to Washington St. Tammany Electric Cooperative, Inc.
In 1938, WST opened its first office and began its
commitment to the service of its members in its service
area covering the parishes of Washington, St. Tammany,
and Tangipahoa in a building on Washington Street
owned by Maurice Magee Furniture Store.
The Cooperative has operated out of offices in the
Waverley Rock House on Cleveland Street, the Warren
Gas Building on 11th Avenue, the Prentiss Magee building on Main Street and since 1948 at the present location
located on the corner of Pearl and Lee Streets.
WST presently has three branch offices, all located
in St. Tammany Parish. Locations are, Folsom Branch
Office on Highway 40 in Folsom, Abita Springs Branch
Office on Mire Drive in Abita Springs and Slidell Branch
Office on Gause Boulevard in Slidell.
WST’s first branch office opened in 1960 in Slidell
and was located in a rented building on Highway 190
near the present North Side Shopping Center. In May
1960, WST
purchased
a house and
property located in the Log
Cabin Subdivision on Gause
Boulevard. The
property was
large enough
to house a
pole yard and
Branch Office
operated out of
the office build- Washington-St. Tammany Electric has operated out of its headquarters office on the corner
ing. The Slidell of Pearl and Lee Streets since 1948.
Branch Office
points, two transmission switching stations and 33 suboperated out of these facilities until September 1979. In
stations. (Acct. No. 32010000)
September 1979, the present office building on Gause
Boulevard in Pearl Acres Subdivision was dedicated. The Washington-St. Tammany Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s
main goal and objective since the establishment of the
new property on Gause Boulevard contained six acres
Cooperative is to provide its members with the best serthat now houses the Slidell Branch Office Building, pole
vice at the lowest available cost.
and equipment yards and the Pearl Acres Substation.
In March 1974, WST purchased a site on Mire Drive
near the Town of Abita Springs for the establishment of
a branch office with a pole and storage yard. This office
was opened to serve the members of this area in the summer of 1974.
In January 1979, WST purchased a site on Highway
40 in the Village of Folsom for the establishment of
branch office. This office was opened to serve the members of this area in April 1979.
WST Electric Cooperative, Inc., serves residents and
businesses located in the areas of Washington, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes.
The Co-op has grown from an organization of two
employees and no members and no electric lines to the
present organization of 128 employees that serves over
50,000 accounts, has 183 miles of transmission lines,
over 4,905 miles of distribution lines, seven delivery
Notice to all members
The Annual Membership Meeting of Washington-St Tammany Electric Cooperative,
Inc. will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013, 10:00 A.M. at the Franklinton High School in
Franklinton, Louisiana.
The purpose of the meeting is to conduct the business of the membership and elect
three (3) members to the Board of Directors. Election of members to the Board of Directors will be held by mail ballot.
One-third (1/3) of the Washington-St.Tammany Cooperative, Inc. Board of Directors
(3 Directors) shall be elected to a three (3) year term on Saturday, May 4, 2013. Two (2)
of the directors to be elected shall be a resident of St. Tammany Parish and one (1) of the
Directors to be elected shall be residents of Washington Parish.
Any incumbent director may be a nominee by filing a letter of intent with the Cooperative by 4:00 P.M. on Tuesday, the 12th of March 2013, at which time nomination of such
directorship is to be closed. Any other member of the Cooperative may be nominated by
filing a petition, which can be picked up from the Administrative Assistant in Franklinton,
La. at 950 Pearl Street between the hours of 7:30 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. Petitions must be
returned to the Cooperative office by 4:00 P.M. on Tuesday, the 12th of March 2013, containing the signatures of fifteen or more members in good standing of the Cooperative as of
that date.
ALL NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORSHIP
SHALL BE CLOSED AT 4:00 P.M.
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013
Look for TWO lucky account numbers!
Washington-St. Tammany Electric is offering its members two opportunities to win the Co-op’s monthly Lucky Account Number contest by publishing two account numbers somewhere on pages 6-7 of Louisiana Country. Look for your account number hidden somewhere on these pages. To
win you must locate your account number (listed on your electric bill) on
these pages and then contact the Co-op within seven working days of that
issue. To claim your prize call 985-839-3562.
February 2013 • Louisiana Country • Page 7
WSTE News
Pages 6-7 • Feb. 2013
Vol. 29 No. 11
WSTE celebrates 75 years
of service to members