[Escoordminutes] ES Div Coordination Minutes-- May

[Lew Serna]

Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting held on Tuesday, June 
1, 2006, at 10:30 am, in the LL CB conference room.  Attending were Lew 
Serna, Ramon Gutierrez, Selfa Lucero, Bob Broilo, Jon Thunborg, Gene 
Cole, and Charley Chavez.

BUDGET —Three Az bearings have been sent for repair pending an 
inspection to determine if they can or cannot be repaired.  $50K will be 
allotted to Facilities Infrastructure Account # 53362 to replace two 
HVAC units for the AOC correlator.  $25K has already been allocated to 
the Facilities Infrastructure Account #53362 to upgrade the VLA lift 
station.  Any savings realized from these two projects will be used to 
fund other projects needed at the VLA such as sandblasting area, AAB 
office remodel, VLBA SC tool container or TS break room improvements.

VLBA TT Trips— Shipping the container to St Croix is extremely 
expensive, so we propose to ship a container one way with all the parts 
needed to repair the antenna and with tools needed for future tiger team 
visits.  The existing container is fairly beat up and should be replaced 
since it may not be acceptable for shipping much longer. A new sea 
worthy container should be purchased soon to make the trips from here on 
out. Shipping costs for the container round trip is around $12K. Ramon 
estimates the cost for tools and a container is around $22K. The tool 
cost may be reduced by shipping some of the necessary tools in a box 
each visit instead of purchasing these tools and keeping them at St. 
Criox. Ordering of containers and tools may occur towards the end of the 
fiscal year (September).

The 2006 VLBA KP visit is complete; the MK visit is scheduled for July 
19-26; and the visit for HN tentatively scheduled for September 20-27.


AZ Bearings--  An estimated three weeks in the AAB are required before a 
bearing change can occur.  Parts from the bearings removed from antennas 
are needed for measuring and fitting of new parts and should be stored 
until they are scheduled to be shipped to Rotek for repair. Antenna 14, 
16 & 18’s bearings have been shipped to Rotek for possible refurbishment 
this year.  There is an 8-9 week lead time for delivery on a refurbished 
bearing.

Antenna 26’s bearing was changed in May 2006. Grease samples show that 
antennas 28, 10, 20, are good candidates for the next bearing changes. 
Large metal pieces were recently found on Antenna 28’s AZ bearing 
grease.  This bearing will likely be replaced next(in FY2007). There is 
one good Azimuth bearing on hand. One spare bearing should be maintained 
at all times in the event a catastrophic failure occurs. If possible 
bearing replacement will occur at a rate of one per year in order to 
maintain the EVLA outfitting schedule.


NEW PROJECTS:
Control building Stairways— The Control Building Stairways will be 
replaced due to repeated unsuccessful attempts to prevent their rusting. 
  The stairways will be replaced with an improved design conforming to 
ADA. Materials have been ordered and drawings are being sent to the 
Machine Shop and the Weld shop for fabrication of parts.   A new 
concrete landing will have to be poured at the base of the eastern 
stairway. The stairs will be repaired one flight at a time so the work 
can be fit in along with EVLA work.  The eastern stairway is now deemed 
unsafe due to trip hazards.  A barricade preventing the use of the 
eastern stairway will be installed. The western stairway is usable.  Due 
to the amount of work scheduled for the Welding and Carpentry shops 
further work on this project will be delayed until such time that these 
groups can get caught up.

LWDA (Long Wave Development Array) — The University of New Mexico and 
the Naval Research Laboratory are leading a research project called the 
Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array, which will be installed within the 
VLA site central square mile.  ES Division has provided access to the 
site and installed a fiber optic cable that will be connected to VLA’s 
west arm trunk at CW7.  Fiber terminations at CW7 are complete and 
terminations at the Control Building and at the LWDA site will be made 
by the fiber group.  ES Division has been asked to trench the fiber 
about 20 feet further to the junction box and to install a ground grid. 
This work should be finished by Wednesday 6/7/06.

Transporter Axles – The transporter axles are exhibiting several cracks 
which are being rubbed out to prevent their propagation.  This is a 
temporary fix as more cracks will eventually reappear. These axles 
should be replaced in the next 10 years with axles made of a different 
material and design to increase their life.  They are currently lasting 
about 12-14 years and were last replaced in 1992.  There are 12 axles 
per transporter and each axle will cost around $3K to replace. There is 
one spare axle of the existing design available. A plan to purchase 3 
newly designed axles per year to replace all transporter axles in 8 
years time is being proposed.  It is worthwhile to investigate the cost 
of having these built up at one time by an outside shop. The last two 
inspections of “repaired” axles (in service for about 2 years) revealed 
no cracks.  This project is on hold pending further monitoring.


VLBA Gearbox and Wheel Assy.  One Wheel assembly is built, parts are 
available for a second. The second will be built as time permits.  Also 
there should be enough spares to repair the spare VLBA Gearbox that has 
been cannibalized.  If the parts have been expensed the gearbox should 
be restored.  Steve Aragon will check on spare parts to make sure that 
they have been expensed and withdraw the necessary parts to restore the 
VLBA Gearbox.

SEWAGE LIFT STATION— The VLA sewage lift station is in need of an 
upgrade.  The upgrade will bring all pumps and controls above ground 
eliminating the confined space entry for almost all required 
maintenance.  Only a couple of check valves will remain below the 
surface.  This upgrade is funded in Account #53362 and work is in 
progress.  Any savings realized from this project will be used for other 
ES projects such as sandblasting area, AAB remodel, VLBA container etc..

VLBA CORRELATOR HVAC—The VLBA correlator HVAC System at the AOC is very 
old and in need of replacing.  The funds for this project which will be 
included our Facilities Infrastructure Budget Account #53362.  Any 
savings realized from this project will be used for other ES projects 
such as sandblasting area, AAB remodel, VLBA container etc..

TS BREAK AREA—the Tech Services break area has been in operation since 
the building was built in the ‘70’s and is in poor condition. 
Contribution from ES and Electronics Division has made a renovation 
possible. Work in progress.

SANDBLASTING AREA— There is a need for a sheltered sandblasting area at 
the paint booth.  With the sandblasting area we can recover and reuse 
the sandblasting media and organize Paint Booth work more effectively. 
It is possible that this project may be funded through savings from the 
VLBA correlator and Sewage Liftstation projects.

AAB OFFICE/BREAK REMODEL--  A plan to remodel the AAB office space and 
break area is being devised.  Work on this project is pending savings 
from the VLBA correlator HVAC project. It is possible that this project 
may be funded through savings from the VLBA correlator and Sewage 
Liftstation projects during the last quarter.

EVLA STATUS ;
EVLA COLD STORAGE FENCE. In order to alleviate the storage of EVLA 
materials, a 40’ X 50’ X 6’ high fence will be erected just outside the 
EVLA Cold Storage Warehouse. Outdoor equipment and material will be 
stored there making room inside the warehouse for equipment needing 
sheltering.  The fence material should arrive next Tuesday (6/6/06) and 
erection should begin shortly thereafter.

Correlator Room-- work remaining includes Electrical Lighting and HVAC 
work.  A modification of the Shielded room doors is being designed to 
prevent accidental injury to personnel during the automatic closure of 
the doors.

EVLA Antennas: Antenna 24 is due to vacate the Master Pad in about 2 
weeks (mid month June).  Antenna 26 mechanical overhaul is slightly 
behind schedule but is expected to move to the Master Pad by the end of 
June.  The current overall plan for EVLA outfitting is to do 5 antennas 
per year.

SAFETY REPORT Safety officer not present.

OTHER
TEMPORARY HELP—Due to several employees on limited duty status or out 
for of medical reasons and all the summer work planned in the Site & Wye 
and Antenna Mechanical groups it is desirable to hire two Temporary 
employees for 6 months.  One temp is required for the Track Crew and one 
for the Antenna Mechanic Crew.  Lew Serna will make a request for the 
additional personnel.

BUS REPAIRS--  With the acquisition of the MC5 bus, an option of using 
it for a backup and running the Blue and Yellow MC9s everyday is 
possible.  In this case the rental of the white GSA bus is no longer 
necessary.  In order to bring the newly acquisitioned bus online a few 
minor repairs and upholstery work would be necessary.  The auto shop 
will get estimates together to see what the cost will be.  Every effort 
will be made to make the bus repairs and implement the above plan.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Supervisors should send all PEP reviews to Jon Thunborg by Wednesday 
morning (6/7/06).  The Division Head will review and approve them by the 
Friday (6/9/06). Supervisors can then schedule and conduct their 
evaluation meetings with employees.

2005 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROCESS TIME LINE
June 1 Supervisor reviews completed performance appraisal forms with 
division
head and receives approval. Supervisor begins scheduling and holding 
evaluation meetings with employees.

June 31 Due date for all evaluation meetings to be concluded and 
appraisal forms signed by the employee. Employees should be given 
sufficient time (at least 24 hours) to review and comment on the 
evaluation. Based on information provided by the employee, Supervisors 
should make corrections and changes as appropriate.

July 5 All of the original completed and signed appraisal forms must be 
forwarded to the appropriate Human Resources Office. A copy of the 
signed appraisal should be provided to the employee.