[Escoordminutes] ES Coordination mtg. minutes-- Oct. 3, 2006

[Lew Serna]

Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting held on Tuesday, 
October 03, 2006, at 10:30 am, in the LL CB conference room.  Attending 
were Lew Serna, Ramon Gutierrez, Charley Chavez, Doug Whiton, Jon 
Thunborg, and Brent Avery.

BUDGET — All PO’s submitted will be charged to this year’s budget.  Do 
not charge to account #’s 53361, 53362, or 53363 unless specifically 
instructed to do so.  A new budget report will be distributed using the 
same budget allocations as last year.  Please spend at a rate assuming 
80% of those allocations until the real budgets are known (possibly as 
early as Jan 2007).

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 will be replaced 
since it may not be acceptable for shipping much longer. This container 
will be outfitted with tools and shipped to SC to be left there.  A new 
sea worthy container has been purchased to make the trips from here on 
out. Shipping costs for the container round trip is about $15K. Ramon 
estimates the cost for tools to be about $20K. 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. A 
similar situation exists with the MK and HN site where shipping costs 
are about $12K minimum.  A permanent container may be desirable for 
these sites as well.

The 2006 VLBA KP, MK and HN visits are complete ending a cycle of 
visits; the task list should be reviewed and updated.

An effort to replace all old style wheel assemblies during Maintenance 
visits will be investigated.  Quotes for machining axles from and 
outside shop are desirable.

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 refurbishment.  There 
is a 12-14 week lead time for delivery on a refurbished bearing. 
Delivery of these bearings would be around September – October of 2007.

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 however, it may 
be acceptable to use this bearing in early summer if we are assured of 
getting the other three bearings in late summer. 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 are being 
replaced due to their rapid deterioration.  The stairways will be 
replaced with an improved design conforming to ADA. Materials have been 
ordered and drawings have been 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 EVLA work scheduled 
for the Welding and Carpentry shops the project has been delayed until 
such time that these groups can get caught up.  We will resume work on 
this project.

Transporter Axles –This project is ON HOLD pending further monitoring.

VLBA Gearbox and Wheel Assy.  The one spare Wheel assembly that was 
built was installed on the MK antenna; parts are available for a second. 
Another spare should be built as soon as possible.  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 withdraw the necessary parts to restore the 
VLBA Gearbox.

SEWAGE LIFT STATION— The VLA sewage lift station upgrade is in progress. 
  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.  The building has 
been erected.  Remaining materials were ordered and charged to Account # 
53362.  Work is in progress.

SANDBLASTING AREA— there is a need for a sheltered sandblasting area at 
the paint booth with more storage space for better organization.  With 
the sandblasting area we can recover and reuse the sandblasting media 
and organize Paint Booth work more effectively.  The concrete floor has 
been poured and the storage bins are in place.  Work on the roof will 
proceed as time permits.  The sandblasting area is functional now and 
should be completed this week.

AAB OFFICE/BREAK REMODEL— A plan to remodel the AAB office space and 
break area is being devised.  Work on this project is funded. Materials 
must be expensed before the end of this fiscal year. Use account #53362. 
  Electrical PO’s are in but still need Carpentry and HVAC.

BUS REPAIRS— The newly acquired MC5 bus needs minor repairs before it 
can be put into service.  This project is funded on the Auto Account # 
53341. Repairs are in progress and nearing completion. Once this bus is 
placed in service we can return the White Bus to GSA.  The MC5 bus will 
become a backup bus in the event the Blue or Yellow MC9’s break down.

Hatch Gear PM— Time for a 6-8 hour outage to perform this PM has been 
scheduled with operations for September 22, 2006 beginning at 7:00am. 
Use Account #53363 for this project. This work is completed.

Waste Oil Storage Tank— The two old storage tanks behind the Generator 
building will be replaced with a one double wall storage tank bringing 
us into HAZMAT compliance.  Concrete bases will be necessary to set the 
tank down and plumbing will be required. This is a safety originated 
project.

EVLA STATUS ;
Correlator Room— The EVLA Correlator FM200 Fire System was accepted on 
10-3-06.  A Training session will be scheduled over the next 2-4 weeks 
with EMI.  James will coordinate this part of the job.  Training will be 
documented for future training purposes.

EVLA Antennas—Antenna 26 will be moved to the north arm.  Antenna 23 
will be moved from the AAB to the master pad.  Antenna 17 will be 
brought into the AAB for mechanical outfitting.

SAFETY REPORT
Accident Report:
There have been a total of 12 Accidents reported this year. There have 
been 8 accidents attributed to the ES Division.

2006-001 ES Div. Carpentry Shop    Employee injured while replacing 
floor tiles.
2006-002 ES Div. Servo Shop    Employee injured back while moving shop 
around.
2006-003 ES Div. Secretary    Employee injured head while getting into a 
vehicle.
2006-004 ES Div. Track Crew     Employee damaged to prosthetic leg.
2006-005 Business Div.  HR     Employee has possible carpel tunnel in 
right wrist.
2006-006 ALMA PSI Group    Employee received an electrical shock from a 
400 VAC
2006-007 ES Div. Carpentry Shop    Employee injured hand with pneumatic 
nail gun.
2006-008 Computing DIV. CID     Employee tripped over raised edge of 
floor tile
2006-009 ES Div. Transporter Shop Employee injured while attaching new 
feed cone in Ant 26
2006-010 Ops     Employee strained mid left back
20060011 ES Div. Track Crew Employee received flash burns to both eyes
2006-012 ES Div. Ant Barn Employee received lacerations to left wrist 
that required stitches

Incident Report:
There have been a total of 7 Incidents reported this year. There have 
been 3 incidents attributed to the ES Division.

Next Monthly All Hands Safety Meeting:
The next site safety meeting will be held on October 31 @ 3:00 PM in the 
VLA Cafe.
     The last site safety meeting was over Health and Hygiene for 
Industry. This meeting has brought up some questions concerning 
employees being sick on the job and what can be done about an employee 
if they are on medication. Is it a safety problem or a HR problem? I 
will be bringing it up at the next safety meeting with Jody and the rest 
of the ES&S Div.

Arc Flash Program:
The program is in a hold mode awaiting Jaime to have the time to work 
with me on the SOP’s and the program.

Incident in Ant 5:
There was an incident on antenna 5 that required the replacement of the 
transformer in the fire alarm panel. There was not a fire as reported, 
but there was an issue with the electrical wiring in the antenna and at 
BW5. The wiring has been corrected and new SOP are in place. They have 
not been documented as of yet.

Emergency Services:
     EMS:
     Last month the EMS group had an election to vote in a new Chief and 
Training Coordinator.      Richard Murillo was voted in as the new Chief 
and Facio Gomez was voted in as the Training Coordinator.
     Training: There will be a training class for the new first 
responders starting Oct 23rd and ending on Oct 27th. There will be eight 
employees attending this training. There will also be a CPR training 
class for the eight employees on Oct. 11th starting around 7:00AM.

OTHER:
A quarterly update of time cards will be made to try and keep track of 
employee effort on project accounts.  Time Cards should reflect the 
percent of time you work on certain projects such as EVLA or VLA.  Check 
your time cards to make sure your time is charged to the proper account. 
   If you see discrepancies or are unsure of what to look for contact 
your supervisor.

EVLA electronics training—Rob Long will plan on having a training 
session on EVLA electronic modules at the VLA in the next week or so. 
Rob will check on available times for the cafeteria conference room and 
let everyone know when it will be held.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The AUI Board will meet at the AOC on October 10-12-- AUI board meeting 
October 11 and 12, 1 1/2 hour tour of EVLA antennas and control room 
then 1:00 lunch for
site.  This is the day that the No Host lunch is normally held and AUI 
has generously offered to buy lunch for all employees that are working 
at the site on this day. A bus will be required.

A group of CORF members will tour the VLA on 10/17, a bus will be 
required.  CORF group are largely responsible for keeping radio 
frequency channels clear for radio astronomy use.

PAN’s – Personnel Action Notices for raises will be distributed this week.