6.1.a-f. ERMUSR 02-10-2015 Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E.—General Manager
John Dietz—Chair
Al Nadeau—Vice Chair
Daryl Thompson—Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 10, 2015 6.1a
SUBJECT:
Staff Updates—General Manager
DISCUSSION:
• This past month in the history of Elk River Municipal Utilities: On January 20, 1916, the
gates on the dam were closed, Lake Orono began to fill, and electrons began to flow to
the businesses and streetlights. A History of the Elk River Municipal Utilities written by
Hess Roise and Company in 1994, states that"newspaper headlines proclaimed that the
`Long Hoped For Electric Lights and Power Now [are] a Reality and Elk River People
are Jubilant.' The paper observed that `...we now have a power plant so much superior to
those of other small towns that it is indeed the envy of all."#acenturyofservice
• I haven't heard anything more about the American Public Power Association Spring
Education Conference for which I had been asked to give a presentation on the
Performance Metrics and Incentive Compensation Policy that we'd developed in 2012. I
hope to find out more soon.
• The MMPA Board of Directors met on January 27, 2015. The duties and responsibilities
of MMPA Directors were reviewed, including how they differ from those of elected
officials. At the meeting, management presented a review of the Agency's planning,
financial, and operations activities in 2014. Preliminary financial results for 2014 were
reviewed, including net income of$7.4 million. The Board also discussed MMPA's
2013 Integrated Resource Plan, which was on the agenda for the January 29, 2015
meeting of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
• On January 23, I chaired the MMUA Solar/DG Task Force meeting in Plymouth, MN.
Tom Sagstetter is also participating in the task force with me. The task force is working
to develop the municipal approach to solar. The areas of focus include: Education;
Development of model ordinance, interconnection agreement, and standard technical
requirements; Demonstration projects,project costs, and project production data; and
Rate design.
• On Saturday January 31, I attended a Rotary Midterm Conference and President Elect
Training in Roseville, MN. In addition to the leadership training, there was general
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rotary training. To boil it down to the essence, Rotary is the joining of leaders to
exchange ideas and taking action.
• To accommodate the new cash drawers that work with our new billing software, we
needed to modify the front counter. Our previous system utilized one cash drawer for
two front counter payment computers. The new NISC system requires one drawer per
computer. The remodel allows for us to improve some other nuances of the front counter
making for a smother process and cleaner appearance. Big thanks to City IT and
Building Maintenance staff who helped with the counter remodel.
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Elk River -�-
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Theresa Slominski—Finance and Office Manager
John Dietz—Chair
Al Nadeau—Vice Chair
Daryl Thompson—Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 10, 2015 6.1b
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
DISCUSSION:
We had 2,613 credit card payment transactions in January, compared to 2,698 in December. The
fee for January should be $5,879.25.
NISC was onsite for the go-live week the first week in February. We had 3 NISC staff: a
different project manager(however, one who assisted at the onsite training visit in January),
along with another trainer and a new employee(who was shadowing but proved to be very
helpful.) We also had a visit from a VP on Tuesday who assured us that they would take care of
us for a successful implementation. The company really"stepped up",providing many additional
staff on their end to get us ready for the conversion. There are still tweaks to be done, and some
things to still test and adjust to have everything completely working.
It has been a real week of prioritization and team work. The ERMU staff have proved how
dedicated and capable they are for learning the software"on the go", as it was being tweaked
almost hourly as we went through live week. They provided valuable feedback to NISC on what
wasn't working and then moved forward with what they had. To help staff deal with the
conversion live week, we brought lunches in and allowed jeans to be worn. In spite of a rather
stressful week, everyone managed to keep a smile on their face (sometimes forced) and support
one another.
On a more positive note,we received our first MMTG transmission revenue check for the
bonding we helped finance. The process was started back in 2009 and$2,711 was our first
distribution, to be followed by many more over the next several years.
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Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Mark Fuchs—Electric Superintendent
John Dietz—Chair
Al Nadeau—Vice Chair
Daryl Thompson—Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 10,2015 6.1c
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
DISCUSSION:
• Had eight new services.
• Continue working on collecting data with the GPS for our ArcView maps as time
permits.
• Continue tree trimming.
• We are going through the map book and inspecting equipment on the overhead and
underground system.
• Working with the City of Elk River Streets Department to trim trees that are in the road
right-of-way.
• Working on testing the overhead and underground protective grounds. We are also
testing the fiberglass hot sticks. Both of these are done annually.
• Working on changing out existing light fixtures to LED fixtures on Joplin Street, Orono
Parkway and Orono Road.
• I've attached pictures of us installing a new house service with the new frost trenching
attachment on our Vermeer RTX550. In the spring we'll change out the attachment and
put the plow back on. It takes less than four hours to change attachments.
• I'm serving on the Job Training and Safety(JTS) Committee for MMUA and will not be
able to attend the commission meeting. The JTS Committee assists in setting up the
upcoming schools MMUA puts on and also involved in the planning of the 2016
Lineworkers Rodeo.
ATTACHMENT:
• Vermeer RTX550 Frost Trenching Pictures
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Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Wade Lovelette—Superintendent of Technical
John Dietz—Chair Services
Al Nadeau—Vice-Chair
Daryl Thompson- Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 10, 2015 6.1d
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
DISCUSSION:
• The Locating department had a total of 91 locate tickets in January; two of them being
emergency tickets, two cancellation, one meet, 73 normal tickets,three boundary surveys,
one non-excavation,two engineering DSG's and seven updated tickets. When Richard is
not locating he is working on map book updates and the ArcView maps.
• In January,the Security Systems Department had a total of 106 phone contacts, 10 systems
quoted, eight system sales made, 12 installs completed, 23 service calls and 10 personal
visits.
• Electric Technicians continue with the meter reading,power bill, substation checks,hanging
red-tags,meter read-outs, dealing with meter and off-peak issues, and delivering and
installing new meters to commercial customers. They continue to change out the three phase
meters to radio read meters and help with the monthly engine runs. They are also re-
programming three-phase meters in the field for commercial and industrial loads. Jeff has
been doing some infrared testing on distribution equipment.
• The power plant staff could not do the monthly engine run in January as Fratalone
Excavating is currently dredging the cooling pond for the generators. Staff did the annual
web deflections on the engines since they were down. Wheeler World Inc. was here the last
week of January to begin the engine air upgrades on engine no. 3.
• Staff continues to collect data with the GPS for our ArcView maps as time permits.
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Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Eric Volk-Water Superintendent
John Dietz—Chair
Al Nadeau—Vice Chair
Daryl Thompson—Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 10, 2015 6.1e
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
DISCUSSION:
• Delivered 3 new residential water meters.
• Sealed the water meter and took curb stop ties from 2 water services.
• Went on 6 Service calls.
• Completed 25 BACTI/Total Chlorine Residual Samples; all confirmed negative for
Coliform Bacteria.
• Completed 20 routine fluoride samples. All samples met MDH standards.
• The Water Operators have continued to perform annual well maintenance. They have
spent the last month cleaning and reorganizing Well#3,preparing Well#2 to be
sandblasted and painted, and painting at Well#7. They're making great progress towards
getting our wells into the condition they should be in.
• Since the new valves and hydrants have been added the GIS mapping system, we're now
able to get an accurate count of how many we have. We currently have 1,222 fire
hydrants and 1,454 gate valves in the distribution system.
• Well#2 has been sandblasted and painted by Slack Painting. We used Badger State
Inspections to do the sandblasting/paint inspection. The painting has exceeded our
expectations. We did come across a few more pipes that had to be removed and replaced
due to excessive pitting. We will now move onto the reinstallation of the well, and the
installation of the new VFD. To finish off the project the water operators will update the
chemical feed system. I hope to have a final update in March when the well is completed.
Attached are before and after pictures of the Well #2 filter reconditioning.
ATTACHMENTS:
• January Pumping By Well
• Before and After Pictures -Well#2 Filter Reconditioning
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Elk River .�
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Tom Sagstetter- Conservation and Key Accounts
John Dietz—Chair Manager
Al Nadeau—Vice Chair
Daryl Thompson—Trustee
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 10, 2015 6.1f
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
DISCUSSION:
• Attended the I-94 State of the Cities Luncheon. Otsego and Dayton have seen a large
increase in commercial buildings. Most of these commercial buildings are related to
trucking. The 1-94 expansion projects are being credited to the attractiveness of these
sites. The communities that were present included; St. Michael, Corcoran, Albertville,
Dayton, Hanover,Medina, Rogers, and Otsego. A recurring theme from all the cities,
except St. Michael and Corcoran, were that the available lots for new homes were low.
St. Michael listed two developments that have 672 lots that will be available starting in
2015. Corcoran is forecasting 32 new homes which is a 300% increase for them. Rogers
claimed that tax revenue increased by 9%because residential lots have doubled in price.
Medina is differing hook-up fees, and Medina will have a lower tax rate in 2015. Otsego
will be building a new community park in the Wildflower Meadows development in
2015.
• Met with Connexus Energy to discuss changes to the Conservation Improvement
Program(CIP)reporting that will begin in 2015. Starting in 2015, GRE and their
cooperatives will be leaving the CIP reporting system that has been used for years and
transfer to the software that was created by the Division of Energy Resources. This new
cloud based software was funded by all utilities in the state through annual assessment.
ERMU will use this new system to track energy savings and get reimbursed for rebate
dollars. Rebates cannot be entered until GRE provides training to do so; they will be
onsite to train us sometime in February.
• Participated in a conference call to better understand how the Division of Energy
Resources (DER) awards grants that are funded through the annual utility assessment. In
the past the grants have primarily been awarded to projects that seem to benefit investor
owned utility projects. The DER would like to see more of that funding going towards
research in areas that benefit customer owned utilities; Cooperatives and Municipals. I
will provide additional updates as they occur.
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