[Escoordminutes] ES Div. Coord. Minutes March '04

[Lew Serna]

Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 
2004, at 10 am, in the LL CB conference room.  Attending were Ramon 
Molina , Lew Serna, Jon Thunborg, James Sullivan, Tom Frost, Pat Lewis, 
Brent Avery, Paul Savedra, Patty Lindsey, Gene Cole, Bob Broilo, Jim 
Ruff, Ramon Gutierrez, and Mark McKinnon

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR PART IN HELPING TO ACHIEVE THE 
“FIRST INTERFEROMETRIC FRINGES” MILESTONE IN THE EVLA PROJECT!


BUDGET---Serna.
Final budget numbers are still not in but are expected in the next 3 
weeks or so.  There is a line item in the NRAO budget for track repairs 
and hopefully funds for this should appear as early as next year. 
Continue holding project spending until the budget is known.  Projects 
that should proceed include; Antenna Bearing changes, Antenna Pedestal 
Platforms and Water Tank Repairs.  Hold all others for approx. three 
weeks.  Personnel vacancies are frozen unless a very strong case can be 
made to fill the position.

AZ Bearings.
Antenna 14, the second prototype EVLA antenna and is the next candidate 
for a bearing change around May.  A second antenna will be scheduled for 
bearing replacement at the end of summer around September.  Preparations 
for antenna 14 should be made for a May bearing change. Materials 
required to change 5 bearings have been purchased and should arrive 
around March or April.  Antennas 14,16,18,20 and 26 all have bad 
bearings that will eventually need to be replaced.  A spare should be 
maintained. An estimated three weeks in the AAB are required before a 
bearing change.  May Antenna moves could delay the bearing change by a 
week or so.  A couple of staff members from the Jodrell Bank 
Observatory, in the UK are very interested in witnessing our bearing 
change and will likely visit us for Antenna 14's change.

Foundation Platform Status:
Antenna foundation platforms are being modified to increase safety. 
Material has been purchased to continue with A Array repairs. This 
project should be done by April 15.

NEW PROJECTS:
Control Building Transformer.––The replacement of the Control building 
Transformer is necessary.  This transformer should be replaced with the 
new Chiller and correlator loads and a history of prior problems.  The 
order has been placed and we are awaiting delivery.
A separate meeting will be called by Bob Broilo to discuss its 
replacement and related civil work.

Shop Space–
ES Division is in need of at least 5,000 square feet of shop space to 
adequately address the needs of the VLA site shops. . There is also a 
need for a warehouse to store bulk EVLA equipment and material.  A 5,000 
sq. ft. metal building will be erected NE of  the Generator Building. 
Once EVLA  storage requirements are ended, this building may be used for 
shop space. It is expected that  Grounds, Track and HVAC will be moved 
Technical Services area.  Almost every ES Div. shop will be impacted by 
additional shop space. Building Bids have arrived this week. The 
sprinkler bids (separate from the building bids) arrived too late and a 
sprinkler re-bid is likely.  It is hoped to have the building erected by 
the end of June so it can be ready to accept storage equipment and 
material by then.

WATER TANK REPAIR--
Although the tank is generally in good condition it may take about a 
week to complete spot paint repairs.  Downtime should be scheduled 
sometime in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2004.  Water reserves are required 
for adequate fire protection and tankers should be filled. A meeting 
will be called in April by Guy Stanzione to determine course of action 
for repairs this year.

SAFETY HANDRAIL ON ROOF STORAGE AT AAB- A safety rail is required around 
the perimeter of the roofs of several AAB shops since they are used for 
storage.  Work has begun.

CONCRETE TIMBERS-
The track crew has built prototype concrete timbers to replace wooden 
timbers which are used at every intersection that accesses an antenna 
station. The original wooden timber design is a high failure design and 
timbers and planks are often broken under the weight of a transporter 
carrying an antenna. It takes a six man crew about two weeks to replace 
the timbers & planks and to repair an intersection. An intersection 
requires repairs on average about every 5 years.  The track crew will 
repair from 3-5 intersections per year due to broken timbers.   The 
longevity of concrete timbers should be at least 10 times that of a 
wooden timber. The cost for material to renew an intersection is around 
$3,000. The new design could save about ½ the cost in material and 
numerous man-hours in labor.

EVLA Status----
Control Building Chiller Replacement- Chiller replacement will occur on 
April 13 and April 14.  A continuous 48 hour downtime is required.  Both 
original 25 + year old chillers are being replaced with newer more 
efficient chillers.

John Delgado will visit Socorro next week to meet with people who will 
be making bulk EVLA purchases.  It is recommended that other EVLA 
purchases be made in quantities of 2 or 3 antennas worth.

The EVLA vertex room mock up will under go changes that should be the 
standard for all remaining EVLA antenna vertex rooms.  Rob Long will be 
responsible for making the mockup changes happen.

Quarterly Report Update ---- P. Lindsey
Please update & return to Patty.  Report due on April 2.

SAFETY REPORT ...James Sullivan
5 accidents to date this year.  3 attributed to ES Division personnel. 
First responder tests were held in February with all participants 
passing the test.  PSI inspectors have visited the site and tested fire 
hydrants and sprinkler systems.  Sprinkler heads in the Computer Room 
are obsolete because they are automatic a  resetable type and must be 
replaced.  Replacement of these heads will occur with the construction 
of the new shielded room.  An all hands safety meeting on Blood Borne 
Pathogens will be held at 3 pm on March 31.

OTHER Discussion (Other)
ALL HANDS Meetings– In order to improve communications at the VLA an All 
Hands Meeting for all VLA personnel is being considered.  The forum is 
to discuss company policy, current events, brief safety issues and a 
brief open discussion about any topic.  The opportune time for meetings 
of this nature seems to be on months which do not coincide with the AD 
All Hands meetings or AOC newsletter months; i.e. Every other month 
beginning in April unless there is an AD All Hands meeting.  If the 
frequency of these meetings is too frequent, an adjustment would be made 
(perhaps quarterly).  The meeting would be held at the cafeteria 
possibly following the monthly lunch (second Wednesday of the month) and 
will be hosted by the ES Division Head or Deputy Division Head or both 
and possibly a guest speaker at times. The date for the first meeting
will be announced at a later time

PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS –
March 31- Evaluation meetings to be concluded.
April 5- All original signed evaluation forms must be forwarded to HR.

TRAVEL POLICIES
         In general, VLA standard working hours are from 0630 to 1630 
(10 hr shift). An employee who travels from home before the regular 
workday and returns to his/her home at the end of the workday is engaged 
in ordinary home-to-work travel, which is not work time. Employees are 
not paid for travel time or costs between home and work, except for 
emergency call-in.  Travel to the AOC and back to the site for NRAO 
business may be done on work time. Likewise, AOC-based employees do not 
get paid for travel between home and AOC, but can travel to the site on 
work time.  Two exceptions are the bus driver and the array operator, 
both of whom are required to perform certain errands and to prepare 
their vehicles for travel. Other shuttles/vehicles are provided for 
employees whose duty station is at the VLA and who are on an 8 hour work 
shift or holiday shift. These shuttles and vehicles are self driven on a 
voluntary basis and are non-compensable.
     If an employee’s  assignment is to transport personnel or cargo 
after normal working hours, the employee will be paid while performing 
company business. An employee that is assigned by their supervisor to 
deliver material to Socorro from the VLA after working hours and to 
return the vehicle back to the VLA by the start of the following workday 
will be paid for all the travel time associated with the task. A 
supervisor should always try a conclude company business by the end of 
the workday.
     An employee’s “time paid” period ends when the company business is 
concluded for the day. For example, if an employee has worked late at 
the VLA and has concluded company business, he/she must find a way home. 
If a company vehicle is available the employee may use the vehicle for 
transportation to go home with the following understanding;

A more detailed discussion of Travel policies will be conducted at an 
All hands Meeting.

TIME CARD REPORTING– David Hubbard is working on improving reporting 
methods so that accurate up to date information about project costs and 
who is working specific projects at any given time is readily available. 
  This means that time card reporting will likely become computerized. 
Currently all ES Division groups have easy access to a computer.  Most 
large groups have a community computer station with a desk and a chair. 
  A computer type station would work fine with the possibly of touch 
screen capability, although that would not be a requirement so long as 
it was user friendly; i.e. point and click so that the employee can 
enter his own time.  All in all supervisors feel comfortable with a 
computer type setup for time card reporting.
     Unanimous agreement about not saddling the Supervisor (or anyone 
else) with entering written time card data although they wouldn't mind 
helping a few people out if necessary. A method of approval at two 
levels (leadman then Supervisor) was desirable.

Announcements:
ALMA BOARD MEETING APRIL 1st– An ALMA board meeting will be held in the 
cafeteria on Thursday April 1st.

SHUTTLE SERVICE– On days that the normal 9:00 am shuttle driver cannot 
drive, Christine will assign a driver for the shuttle from Socorro.  The 
shuttle will become a self driven shuttle and will be driven by a 
volunteer who has to go in to Socorro at noon.  If only Magdalena 
employees need a ride in on those days someone will transport them to 
Magdalena.