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Wlaf1450By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The LaFollette Utility Board met on Monday evening for its workshop and July board meeting, approving the newly hired general manager’s contract, along with several resolutions, including one regarding pilot payments and another resolution for the Judy Housley Safety Grant.
TOP PHOTO: The LUB board at Monday’s meeting.
Recently hired Utility General Manager Dave Cross’s contract was approved. Cross was officially hired at a special-called meeting on July 17.
Cross is from Fentress County and has “40 years of experience in the electric business.”
Board Chairman Laura Byrge said she thought it was a well-thought up contract. Attorney Reid Troutman said the contract was satisfactory to Mr. Cross.
Interim General Manager Keith Atkins went over the resolution regarding the pilot payments. Atkins said the pilot payments are for $1,570,445.32 total, this has already been approved by the City of LaFollette. The pilot payments are made in payment in lieu of taxes on the property and operations of electric systems owned and operated by incorporated cities. The money is distributed to each taxing jurisdiction as follows: Campbell County at $304,666.39, Claiborne County at $43,972.47, Union County at $4,711.34 and the City of LaFollette at $1,217,095.12. This resolution was approved.
The safety grant is a matching grant up to $2,000 and is a grant that the utility applies for each year. According to Atkins, the grant can be used for anything safety related.
The three-phase upgrade project on Highway 63 and Glade Springs Road was also approved.
“This will fix it long-term, but as more houses get developed out there, it would be good to have a substation out there in the Deerfield community,” Atkins said.
The plan for this project is to install new 3 phase 795 conductor to increase capacity in the Glade Springs area, which feeds out to the Victory/Alder Springs/Deerfield according to Atkins.
“Currently, when our system peaks in the winter, this line will carry over 540 amps of current. The conductor that is in place is only rated for 530 amps. Overloading the conductor for an extended period of time can lead to damaging the integrity of the wire or melting the wire completely. Once the new conductor is in place it will increase the capacity to over 800 amps,” Atkins said.
The total length of the project is 1.9 miles. The budgeted amount for this project is $1.7 million, including materials.
“After factoring in the estimated cost of material and labor, we expect this project will remain well within the previously approved budgetary number,” Atkins said.
Patterson and Dewar Engineer Consultants, designed, engineered and solicited bids for this project.
“After comparing the bids and proposals, the most responsive bidder ended up being Pike Corporation. Their bid amount was $329,813.81 and the consultant has recommended an additional 10-percent contingency amount of $32,981 be added to the total to account for any rock holes or additional change orders that may be required. This brings the total amount for board consideration to $362,794.81,” Atkins said.
Also approved was the purchase of two bucket trucks. These trucks were approved in last year’s budget but were never purchased. They were then carried over to this year’s budget.
“We requested quotes through SourceWell, the quoted price we received for the trucks for both is $699,577. The utility has $705,000 in the budget for bucket trucks,” Atkins said.
Sourcewell is a government agency and national cooperative purchasing organization. They pre-vet and competitively solicit contractors to purchase equipment. It is free for public entities to register to use Sourcewell contract pricing.
The trucks that are being replaced are nearing 500,000 miles of wear. One of the trucks being replaced will be placed in surplus, while the other truck will be moved over to be used as a “spare.”
The 50-foot truck will be ready in late August, while the 55-foot truck will not be ready until late December. Both trucks will come fully outfitted for the utility, according to Atkins.
The board spoke with several LUB employees who attended the meeting regarding the need for new trucks and how it is a safety issue.
“Thank you for being here to provide input and answer questions, this is what we need,” said LUB Chairman Laura Byrge.
LUB member Mike Malicote asked what condition the 100-foot bucket truck was in.
“It is a good working truck, and it has around 17,000 miles on it, but it’s so large, we only use it as needed,” the employee answered.
Other business approved included the updating of the bank signature cards to reflect the new general manager and new board members.
Keith Atkins, Janice Walker, Joe Snodderly, and Jay Willougby will be removed from the signature cards and will be replaced with new board members and the new general manager. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/28/2026-6AM)