03-17-2015 ERMU MIN ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
UTILITIES COMMISSION
HELD AT UTILITIES CONFERENCE ROOM
March 17,2015
Members Present: Al Nadeau,Vice Chair;and Daryl Thompson,Trustee
Members Absent: John Dietz,Chair
ERMU Staff Present: Troy Adams,General Manager;
Theresa Slominski,Finance and Office Manager;
Mark Fuchs,Electric Superintendent;
Eric Volk,Water Superintendent;
Wade Lovelette,Technical Services Superintendent;
Tom Sagstetter,Conservation&Key Accounts Manager;
Michelle Canterbury,Executive Administrative Assistant;
Tom Geiser,Assistant Electric Superintendent;
Jennie Nelson,Customer Service Manager
Others Present: Cal Portner,City Administrator;Peter Beck,Attorney
1.0 CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Al Nadeau called the March 17,2015 meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
1.1 Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
1.2 Commission Oath of Office and Election of 2014 Commission Officers
Daryl Thompson stated his Oath of Office as a Utilities Commissioner. When a new
commissioner starts or an existing commissioner starts a new term,the officer positions can
change by election. The two commissioners discussed the different office positions.
Daryl Thompson made a motion to reappoint John Dietz for Chair. Al Nadeau seconded
the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
Daryl Thompson made a motion to reappoint Al Nadeau as the Vice-Chair. Al Nadeau
seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
Al Nadeau made a motion to reappoint Daryl Thompson as the Trustee. Daryl Thompson
seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
Page 1
Special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
March 17,2015
Al Nadeau made a motion to reappoint John Dietz as Chair to the Wage and Benefits
Committee and Financial Reserves and Investment Committee. Daryl Thompson
seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
1.3 Consider Utilities Agenda
There were no additions or corrections to the agenda.
1.4 Recognition of Volunteerism
Tom Sagstetter recognized the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program's(RSVP) service to the
utilities for assisting with special mailing projects. Since 2005, 74 volunteers have donated a
total of 560 hours to ERMU. The last mailing they helped with involved hand stuffing over
8,000 envelopes with fliers on energy conservation,rebate programs,and LED and CFL
coupons.
Tom presented an engraved name plate to be added to the utilities Recognition for Service
plaque to Charlotte Strei,RSVP Program Coordinator,and the 11 volunteers were present on
behalf of the RSVP group. The Commission thanked them for the Group's continued volunteer
efforts. Charlotee Strei wanted to thank the Utilities as well as they've made the volunteers feel
very welcome and very necessary in their mission. She never has any problems recruiting
volunteers for our projects;they really like coming back.
2.0 CONSENT AGENDA(Approved By One Motion)
Daryl Thompson moved to approve the Consent Agenda as follows:
2.1 February Check Register
2.2 February 10,2015 Previous Meeting Minutes
2.3 Financial Statements
Al Nadeau seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
3.0 OPEN FORUM
No one appeared for open forum.
4.0 OLD BUSINESS
4.1 2014 Electric Reliability Report—Revised
Page 2
Special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
March 17,2015
After last month's report of our reliability numbers,it was brought to our attention that some of
our outages reported to the American Public Power Association(APPA)had a discrepancy in
the customer counts. After sending them the corrected data, some of our reliability numbers
changed. Wade Lovelette gave a brief explanation on the updated numbers.
At the last meeting the Commission requested staff bring back some comparisons of our utility
with other public power utilities in our region. Wade Lovelette included APPA's published
averages in the revised report. The averages are a useful tool for utilities to better understand the
performance of their electrical system relative to other utilities nationally and to those within
their region or size class. We were unable to get averages from MMUA as they have not
received consistent data submittal from other utilities.
5.0 NEW BUSINESS
5.1 National Information Solutions Cooperative Software Implementation Update
Jennie Nelson was present to give an update on the NISC Software conversion. Jennie
shared that we have now been through our first billing and that there were definitely some
challenges. There were some things that didn't go out as we thought they would; nothing
major,just a few small things. Some of the issues may have stemmed from the Project
Manager we were assigned from NISC. We struggled with him and his lack of
understanding on how to set up our information in the system. Jennie stated that we have
also found some things that are working really well. Having NISC print the bills and send
them out has been fantastic; not to mention no more eco-envelopes. We've also received
positive feedback from our customers on the improved online payment capabilities. There
was further discussion.
Theresa Slominski spoke about the interface capabilities between the accounting and the
customer care and billing side. One of the benefits is there's a lot more data available for
reporting. They're still learning how to read and utilize all the reports and have also
identified some things they'll need some customized reports for. The volume of
information they can track for individual account postings to the general ledger side has
greatly improved. Daryl Thompson stated that it sounds like it was worth it. Staff
responded.
Troy Adams added that there are other modules that are available to us that we'll explore
once we get comfortable with what we have. These modules were not available to us with
Power Manager. Although we had significant challenges, once we're able to fully utilize
the software, we'll be light years ahead of where we were. A lot of credit should go to
Jennie Nelson who has stepped up and took on the customer care and billing side of the
conversion along with learning a whole new department. Troy announced that Jennie has
been recognized with a national award from APPA; the Robert E. Roundtree Rising Star
Award. The award is given to individuals who are recognized by peers as future leaders of
Page 3
Special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
March 17,2015
public power systems, have demonstrated a dedication to the goals and principles of public
power, and have demonstrated interest in improving management and operational skills
through continuing education. There was further discussion.
Troy Adams, Theresa Slominski and Jennie Nelson will be driving to Mandan,ND for a
post implementation meeting with NISC's executive team. Staff will be voicing their
concerns so that NISC understands the challenges we had, and continue to have,to be
better able to come up with a game plan on how to proceed forward.
5.2 Electric Cable Bids
The underground electric cable required for the 2015 capital construction projects and
maintenance has been determined and was noticed for formal bids. The bid opening was
on March 2, 2015. Staff is recommending the commission award the bid to Border States
with the firm pricing. Price,product and availability contributed to the decision to award
the bid to Border Sates.
Daryl Thompson made a motion to award the cable bid to Border States. Al Nadeau
seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
5.3 Otsego Substation Upgrade
Wade Lovelette shared that back in the fall of 2013 the Otsego substation experienced a
fault in the relay protection at the main substation transformer. GRE installed one of their
relays as a temporary replacement and is now recommending we move the relay and
related equipment into the metering building on site where it will be out of the elements.
As this project came in costing more than expected, staff will need to make adjustments to
projects for this year in the electric budget. Staff requested the commission approve
adjusting the budget to allocate monies for this project. Daryl Thompson asked what the
cost would be for the project. Staff didn't have a firm cost but estimated it coming in at
approximately $52,000. Troy Adams stated that we could easily postpone a project this
year to allocate the funds for this project.
Daryl Thompson made a motion to authorize the Otsego Substation project at the
estimated cost, and any additional costs above the estimated cost be brought back to
the commission for further authorization. Al Nadeau seconded the motion. Motion
carried 2-0.
5.4 Well#2 Project Update and Presentation
Eric Volk gave a power point presentation of the Well#2 project. The project started the
week before Christmas and was completed on March 13, 2015. The project involved
Page 4
Special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
March 17,2015
pulling and reconditioning the well, replacing old pipes, sandblasting and painting the
filter,painting the floor, and installing a new VFD. In addition to the contracted work, the
water operators put a great deal of effort into the project. They were responsible for either
repairing or replacing the following: chemical feed line conduits, chlorine booster pump,
filter isolation valves, backwash valves, pressure differential gauges, chemical feed lines,
and plumbing supply lines. In addition, one of our electric technicians replaced all the old
T-12 fluorescent lights with more efficient T-8 fluorescent lights.
5.5 2015 American Public Power Association Legislative Rally
Troy Adams provided an update on the American Public Power Association(APPA)
Legislative Rally that was held in Washington D.C. He joined with staff from Minnesota
Municipal Utilities Association(MMUA)to talk to legislative officials about topics such as
EPA's clean power plan, captive rail, and tax-exempt financing. Troy will email out
MMUA's 2015 Federal Position Statements which summarizes the topics. Troy Adams
noted that overall it was a good trip.
6.0 OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
6.1 Staff Updates
Troy Adams shared that the State Senate received a bill from Senator Dahle to remove the
exemption to the open meeting law for power agencies;this would put us at a huge
disadvantage. Troy explained that we were able to kill that bill,largely from the work of Bill
Black from Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association. There may be a time when this bill is
brought back that we'll need to reach out to our elected officials to share our story.
Mark Fuchs shared that we that we had an unplanned outage at one of our data centers due to a
gopher chewing through an underground primary splice.Mark showed the commission a
portion of the damaged wire. He explained that the rubberized protective coating they put over
the splices sometime attracts rodents. He's been researching some alternative coatings that we
may want to consider for future splices. Mark said that there are typically only two reasons why
a splice would fail;workmanship or material defects. The fact that it was caused by something
that was out of our control,an animal,was the best case scenario. Tom Sagstetter commented
on how quickly Mark and his crew got the data center up and running on a backup feeder,and
eventually on their original feeder once the ground was thawed for repairs. The data center has
asked to borrow the damaged cable to show their board. There was further discussion.
Eric Volk added that the cleaning contract was approved at the city council meeting last night.
Perfection Plus cleaning service will begin cleaning the Field Services Building on April 11th.
Page 5
Special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
March 17,2015
6.2 Set Date for Next Meeting
The next regularly scheduled Commission meeting will be held on April 14,2015.
The Commission recessed the regular meeting at 4:43 p.m.
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. Adiourn Closed Session
Al Nadeau made a motion to authorize the Chair to sign the agreement in a form
substantially similar to what has been discussed this evening,with the discretion to
recommend revisions in the interest of Elk River Municipal Utilities. Daryl
Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
6.4 Adiourn Regular Meeting
Al Nadeau moved to adjourn the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities
Commission at 5:13 p.m. Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0.
Minutes prepared by Michelle Canterbury.
\ALI,
OF J. �!ietz r
hair,ERMU Co• ' to
,_____4, iiir
Tina Allard
City Clerk
Page 6
Special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
March 17,2015