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10-08-2013 ERMU MIN ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES REGULAR MEETING OF THE UTILITIES COMMISSION HELD AT UTILITIES CONFERENCE ROOM October 8,2013 Members Present: John Dietz,Chair; Daryl Thompson,Trustee ERMU Staff Present: Troy Adams,General Manager; Theresa Slominski,Finance and Office Manager; Mark Fuchs,Line Superintendent;David Berg, Water Superintendent; Wade Lovelette,Technical Services Superintendent; Tom Sagstetter,Conservation&Key Accounts Manager; Jennie Nelson,Executive Administrative Assistant Others Present: Cal Portner, City Administrator; Peter Beck,Attorney 1.0 CALL MEETING TO ORDER John Dietz called the October 8,2013 meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. 1.1 Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 1.2 Consider Utilities Agenda Daryl Thompson moved to approve the October 8,2013 Utilities agenda.John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 1.3 Introduction of New Employee Troy Adams introduced Ed Zurn,ERMU's new Journeyman Lineworker. The commissioners welcomed him to the company. 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA(Approved By One Motion) Daryl Thompson and John Dietz had a few questions on the check register and financials,staff responded. Daryl Thompson moved to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: 2.1 September Check Register 2.2 September 10,2013 Previous Meeting Minutes Page 1 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8,2013 2.3 Financial Statements John Dietz seconded the motion.Motion carried 3-0. 3.0 OPEN MIC No one appeared for open mic. 4.0 OLD BUSINESS There is no old business. 5.0 NEW BUSINESS 5.1 Resolution Recognizing Public Power Week PUBLIC POWER WEEK is October 6-12, 2013. This national event is sponsored in conjunction with the American Public Power Association. Elk River Municipal Utilities' loyalty is to our customers and our community, not stockholders. We are proud to be a public power utility and to help make our community a great place to live and work. The Elk River City Council approved a resolution recognizing Public Power Week. Troy Adams requested that the Commission do the same. Daryl Thompson made a motion to adopt the Resolution Recognizing Public Power Week. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.2 Resolution Recognizing National Customer Service Week National Customer Service Week is also October 6-12, 2013. Troy Adams said that at our core of our mission statement is to provide exceptional customer service. We know our customers better than anyone else. It has been the focus of management for the past 5 years to celebrate our staffs commitment to providing excellent customer service. To honor our staff's efforts, staff asked the Commission to adopt a resolution recognizing NATIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK. Daryl Thompson made a motion to adopt the Resolution Recognizing National Customer Service Week. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.3 2014 Utilities Fee Schedule Staff presented the 2014 Fee Schedule to the Commission. The Commission will adopt the fee schedule and then it will be presented to the City Council to adopt with their schedule. This is then included in the City ordinance. Page 2 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8,2013 There were very few adjustments to the schedule from 2013 to 2014. John Dietz asked a few questions, staff responded. Daryl Thompson made a motion to approve the 2014 Fee Schedule. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.4 Wage & Benefits Committee Update: Health & Dental Insurance At the September Commission meeting, staff updated the commission that our health insurance received a 22%renewal rate for 2014. The Wage and Benefits Committee met to review the health insurance options. Six different alternative plans were reviewed and discussed in addition to the current plan. The Committee recommended that ERMU offer two plans and allow the employees to choose which to participate in. The Committee selected the best of the alternative plans to present to employees along with our current plan. Theresa Slominski explained the alternative plan, which is an HSA plan that is 100%coverage after meeting the deductibles of single $1,250 and family$2,500. The Committee recommends ERMU helping fund the HSA accounts for a determined amount of time. ERMU would contribute the difference between the HSA premium and the current plan premium to each employee's HSA account. John Dietz suggested contributing the premium savings for at least two years. After the two years, the contribution would be reevaluated. Troy Adams suggested contributing at least the same dollar amount in 2015 that will be contributed in 2014. John Dietz agreed. Currently ERMU is contributing 80% of the insurance premium while employees pay the remaining 20%. Daryl Thompson said that ERMU cannot afford to absorb all of the 22% renewal increase so he would like to switch from 80%/20%to 75%/25%. John Dietz agreed. Theresa Slominski also reviewed the dental insurance increase. ERMU had a 5.9% increase; however this is only approximately $2,000 in premium dollars. The Commission said that ERMU will cover their portion of the increase in the 75%premium contribution and the employee would cover their own portion of the increase with the 25% premium contribution. John Dietz made a motion to adopt an insurance plan that offers our current plan at 75%/25% contribution and the HSA plan at 75%/25% as an alternative. ERMU will contribute the premium savings to the HSA accounts for a minimum of 2 years and at a minimum of the 2014 levels. ERMU's contribution will be put into the accounts in January 2014 and 2015. Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.5 2014 Budget: Water and Electric Expenses Theresa Slominski presented the water and electric budget expenses. The revenue side of the budget will come in November when power costs are determined. Theresa Slominski outlined some of the larger changes for the budget. In the Administration budget, staff budgeted for half the costs of an IT person as the other half will be funded by the City of Elk River. This person will be a City of Elk River employee, but will have more time dedicated for ERMU needs. Two other large Administration budget items are the purchase of new billing software, Page 3 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8,2013 NISC, and the addition of a Customer Service Representative. For the Water Department, the budget also increased due to a new chemical that was going to be used. John Dietz asked a few questions, staff responded. 5.6 Assessments of Electric Services Every fall ERMU provides a list of assessments from the sewer and trash accounts to be assessed for the City, and water accounts to be assessed for the utilities. These utilities have specific statutory authority to certify delinquent charges to taxes. Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) and the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC)have presented a way for an electric or gas municipal utility to certify delinquent charges as well. ERMU's legal counsel, Peter Beck, said that there is no expressed statute that says ERMU can assess electric utilities, but a law passed in 1989 gave townships the authority to certify unpaid service charges and a 1973 law amended in 2003 stated that municipals have all of the same powers as towns. Peter Beck consulted with his legal backup and they agreed that this is legal. Given that the League of Minnesota Cities and ERMU's legal counsel supports assessing delinquent electric charges, staff will pursue this option. John Dietz asked if delinquent renter charges could also be assessed. Peter Beck said that this is the one issue—there is a statute that specifically says you cannot assess delinquent electric charges to the property owner for a renter. Property owner delinquent electric charges, however, can be assessed. ERMU will also not be able to assess delinquent electric charges for Dayton and Otsego customers. Daryl Thompson made a motion to adopt the proposed amendment to the Meter Deposits and Related Policies: Collection of Unpaid Accounts to be able to assess delinquent electric charges. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. Daryl Thompson made a motion to request staff send an amendment to the City Ordinance: Collection Fees and Charges -Electric to the City of Elk River City Council to be approved. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.7 Third Quarter Write-Offs Theresa Slominski presented the third quarter write-offs. John Dietz asked a few questions, staff responded. Daryl Thompson made a motion to approve the Third Quarter Write-Offs. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.8 Historic Water Tower Update Page 4 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8,2013 At the September Commission meeting staff was directed to obtain a budgetary quote for the demolition of the historic water tower on Jackson Street. The purpose for the request was to determine the minimum amount of money that ERMU would need to invest into the tower. Troy Adams said if all of the foundation and footings were removed with the intent of the land being available for resale, it would cost $62,000. A budgetary quote for restoration was at around $450,000. The City of Elk River has expressed that they think they could receive a grant to pay for 75% of restoration. They would have to write the grant and we would need to receive it before giving any money upfront. Daryl Thompson asked if the City would be willing to contribute money as this landmark would be preserved for the community. John Dietz said that the City would need to get the grant before doing anything. Cal Portner will be having his staff work on getting the grant written. 6.0 OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. 6.1 Staff Updates Mark Fuchs said that the new transformer at the North Substation went online and the Waco Substation was brought back online as well. There has been interest to purchase the old transformer and it will likely get between$50,000 and$100,000. John Dietz asked Theresa Slominski how the final shut-offs before the Cold Weather Rule went into effect were.The shut off was the same day as the meeting and Theresa Slominski had not heard of any large problems. John Dietz asked if we could do any shut offs during the winter and Theresa Slominski said as long as we were following the guidelines,we could. John Dietz also asked Theresa Slominski about a PCA credit that was given on the most recent bill. Theresa Slominski said that we will wait until December to see if we can pass on another credit to customers. If we get any charges passed along to us by Great River Energy,the credit might be eaten up and/or ERMU would have to pass along a PCA charge. Cal Portner said that there was a quarterly management meeting this morning with the City and ERMU staff. The police department presented Active Shooter training. There was a very good turnout and it was a very relevant topic given ERMU had shut offs that day. He also said that poles would need to be taken to Handke Pit for Hockey Day Minnesota and asked if ERMU staff could assist with that. Mark Fuchs said that he could get some guys to do that. 6.2 Set Date for Next Meeting The next regularly scheduled Commission meeting will be on November 12,2013. Page 5 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8, 2013 The Commission recessed the regular meeting at 4:55pm. 6.3 Closing of Meeting: "Meeting to be closed pursuant to MN Statute 13D.05, Subd. 3(c)(3) to develop or consider offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of real or personal property." a. Call Closed Session to Order b. Discussion c. Adjourn Closed Session 6.5 Adjourn Regular Meeting Daryl Thompson moved to adjourn the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 5:15. John Dietz seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. Minutes prepared by Jennie Nelson. VS lf, J. Y ietz Chair,E Commission „...- 101 Tina Allard City Clerk Page 6 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission October 8,2013