[Escoordminutes] ES Division meeting minutes -- April

[Lew Serna]

Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting held on Tuesday, April 
24, 2007, at 10:30 am, in the LL CB conference room.  Attending were Lew 
Serna, Ramon Gutierrez, Paul Savedra, Bob Broilo, James Sullivan, Gene 
Cole, Jim Ruff, Guy Stanzione, and Jon Thunborg.

BUDGET — A request has been submitted for additional money for the HN 
Visit ($30K) and transporting steel for antenna counterweights ($12.9). 
A St Croix painting project will be funded for this fall. EVLA loads 
will require that both generators come on line in order to operate the 
array under generator operation. It will be necessary that the VLA site 
generators receive a major overhaul at a cost of around $126K to $228K 
(depending on condition of internal components) to help ensure that both 
generators will come on line. It is possible that we will receive funds 
for this activity.

VLBA TT Trips—Several
Tiger Team Trips in 2007 are scheduled for FD (05-01-07 to 05-07-07) and 
BR (07/25/07 to 07-31-07). The OV trip scheduled for 09/20/07 has been 
postponed due to the St Criox painting trip.  The HN foundation repairs 
and the subreflector replacement will take place on 07/25/07 – 07/31/07 
at the same time as the BR TT trip. MK dish panels on the down side are 
damaged.

The current plan is to send 2 antenna mechanics on TT trips from here on 
out in an effort to maintain the EVLA schedule.  In addition care should 
be taken not to schedule TT trips during the moves to avoid manpower 
conflicts. We plan to replace one wheel assembly at each of this years 
TT visits (FD and BR) and replace one at SC towards the end of the 
painting trip.  Each of these sites needs one more wheel assembly to 
finish up.

AZ Bearings –No Bearing replacement will occur in FY 2007 due to factory 
backlogs.  Bearing replacements will resume in summer of 2008.


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.   The western 
stairway is complete. A new concrete landing will have to be poured at 
the base of the eastern stairway. The eastern stairway is now deemed 
hazardous and is currently barricaded to prevent its use but a more 
substantial barricade is still needed. Work on the eastern stairway will 
be done as the workload permits.

AAB OFFICE/BREAK REMODEL— PROJECT COMPLETE

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.  The tank will arrive in three 
to four weeks with tentative installation in July.

HANCOCK SUBREFLECTOR & HANCOCK ANTENNA FOUNDATION— These projects are 
scheduled to be completed by the end of July. Bob Broilo will be the 
engineer in charge.  Repair team will likely consist of Bob B., Ramon 
G., 2 antenna mechanics and 2 Site & WYE personnel.

VLA WAREHOUSE SAFETY Rail.— Railing is required on top of the rooms in 
the warehouse where parts are being stored. Welders will have to 
fabricate and install.  Materials are ordered on a Business division 
account at an estimated cost of $275. This project is in progress.

SC CONTROL BLDG ROOF.— The roof on the SC building is corroded badly 
along the eave and needs to be repaired.  The Site Techs can repair the 
roof in the manner that is commonly used at St Croix for this type of 
damage. PROJECT COMPLETE.

ST Croix Painting.— St. Croix Antenna has severe corrosion problems 
which will require extensive repair and painting.  A plan to begin 
repairs and painting in the fall are underway.  Jon attended a corrosion 
control symposium in March to prepare for the fall painting of the VLBA 
telescope at St. Croix.  It is possible that contractors will be used 
for much of this work depending on costs.

VLA ANTENNA FOUNDATION MOVEMENT— A problem with north arm antenna 
foundation movement needs to be addressed.  It appears that the two 
rearward pillars have been slowly separating over the years at several 
stations (2 or 3).  They have separated far enough in about 33 years 
that 2 bolts can no longer be used to secure the antenna pads to the 
foundation pillars.  A plan to investigate and correct or stop the 
movement will be initiated in the near future.

EVLA STATUS;
Correlator Room— the DC power plant for the Correlator was installed by 
ES Division Electrical group.  Several; batteries were found to be bad 
and replacements are arriving this week.   The Correlator Room will be 
turned over to the Correlator Group (Electronics Div) soon.  Restricted 
access to the correlator room will begin soon.

The Control Building EVLA UPS-- Installation of this UPS will require 
splitting the work into two double maintenance periods. The first would 
be an all-day shutdown to do the major wiring changes needed, possibly 
connecting the old UPS with temporary hookups.  The second would be to 
install the new UPS, which may take one or two days depending on the 
tasks required by the field engineer.

EVLA Antennas— Antenna Mechanical outfitting is on schedule.  L-Band 
fabrication and assembly is on schedule.  S-band rings are cut and ready 
for assembly this week.

PERSONNEL ARE REMINDED TO BE SURE AND CLEANUP THEIR MESS, PICK UP THEIR 
TOOLS AND REMOVE THEIR LOCKOUT LOCKS WHEN THEY LEAVE THE ANTENNA SO THE 
ANTENNA IS IN AN OPERATIONAL (TIPABLE) STATE, WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

SAFETY REPORT –*2007 Accident Reports:*
There have been three (4) accident reported this year.

2007-004- Elec Div- Employee’s foot was caught by door of vertex room do 
to wind.

*Incident Report:*
There have been a total of 9 Incidents reported this year.

2007-IN-007-Elec Div- Employee ran the toe of another Elec. employee 
over with van tire. Employee was not injured
2007-IN-008-SS Div- Employee had non work related seizure.
2007-IN-009-ES Div- GSA vehicle was damaged by an out side vendor.

*VLA Site Safety Meeting:*
There was one safety meeting in the month of March concerning HazCom. 
The meeting had 33 employees in attendance.

*Arc Flash Program:*
This program/policy is in works. The PPE has been ordered and should 
arrive sometime in May. Need SOPs from Jaime Montero.

*Training: *
_Bloodborne pathogen training_ was provided to the janitors but not to 
the HVAC group, EMS and Firefighters.

_Forklift refresher training_ for VLA site employee and select AOC 
employees. This needs to be completed; it is only about ¾ done. We still 
need to train the employees that missed the first round of refresher 
training.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Clint Janes former ES Division Head is retiring this week and a farewell 
party is being held this Thursday.  Please inform your supervisor if you 
would like to attend.

OTHER:
The HVAC/Plumbing shop is in the process of creating a source water 
protection plan for the VLA site.  Any employees of NRAO with any 
questions or comments about the protection plan can contact the HVAC 
Leadman, Shane Baca at ext. 7323 or e-mail at sbaca at nrao.edu.

FM-200 – Responsibility for the FM200 is transferred to the HVAC group. 
  The will be responsible for scheduling preventive and corrective 
maintenance.

Smoke alarm programming—fire alarm programming to include new EVLA 
additions need to be scheduled to incorporate new equipment and new 
smoke detectors.


2007 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROCESS—
The performance evaluation process is intended to be a continuous 
process of communication between employees and supervisors. Training is 
available upon request for supervisors who will be required to complete 
these evaluations. If you have questions or need additional information 
please contact Allen Lewis.

April 2----- Supervisors begin soliciting information about employee 
work performance from other supervisors and coworkers
May 1----- Due date for employees to return the self-appraisal forms to 
their supervisors with the appropriate sections completed. Supervisors 
begin writing employee evaluations based on their observations, coworker 
feedback, and the self-appraisal completed by the employee. Supervisor 
reviews the draft goals for the coming year and modifies as appropriate.
June 1----- Supervisor reviews completed performance appraisal forms 
with division head and receives approval. Supervisor begins scheduling 
and holding evaluation meetings with employees.
June 29----- 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 6 --- 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.

_