07-14-2015 ERMU MIN ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
UTILITIES COMMISSION
HELD AT UTILITIES CONFERENCE ROOM
July 14,2015
Members Present: John Dietz,Chair;Al Nadeau,Vice Chair;and Daryl Thompson,Trustee
ERMU Staff Present: Troy Adams,General Manager;
Theresa Slominski,Finance and Office Manager
Mark Fuchs,Electric Superintendent;
Eric Volk,Water Superintendent;
Mike O'Neill,Technical Services Superintendent;
Tom Sagstetter,Conservation&Key Accounts Manager;
Michelle Canterbury,Executive Administrative Assistant;
Tom Geiser,Assistant Electric Superintendent
Others Present: Cal Portner,City Administrator;Peter Beck,Attorney
1.0 CALL MEETING TO ORDER
John Dietz called the July 14,2015 meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
1.1 Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
1.2 Consider Utilities Agenda
Troy Adams requested to remove agenda item 1.3,Recognition of Employee Achievement,and
to move up agenda item 5.1,Jackson Street Water Tower to right before the Consent Agenda.
Daryl Thompson moved to approve the amended July 14,2015 Utilities agenda. Al
Nadeau seconded the motion.Motion carried 3-0.
5.1 Jackson Street Water Tower
Zack Carlton, Planning Manager with the City of Elk River,updated the Utilities
Commission on the restoration status of the Jackson Street Water Tower. Collaborative
Design Group(CDG) submitted the final draft of the Jackson Street Water Tower
Conditions Assessment earlier this month. The report summarized their evaluation
procedures, along with their observations, conclusions regarding the current condition of
the water tower, and recommendations for repairs. The draft included a preliminary
estimate of$85,000 to restore the structure; significantly less than previously thought.
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Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
July 14,2015
Troy Adams added that ERMU had budgeted and set aside $60,000 to be applied towards
either the restoration or demolition of the Jackson Street Water Tower. There was further
discussion. John Dietz wanted to know if there were grants available for this type of
project. Zack Carlton responded that city staff would be evaluating grant opportunities to
aid in the restoration.
2.0 CONSENT AGENDA(Approved By One Motion)
John Dietz had a few questions on the financials,staff responded.
Al Nadeau moved to approve the Consent Agenda as follows:
2.1 June Check Register
2.2 June 16,2015 Previous Meeting Minutes
2.3 Financial Statements
2.4 Renewal Premium for LMCIT Property/Casualty Insurance
Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
3.0 OPEN FORUM
No one appeared for open forum.
4.0 OLD BUSINESS
4.1 Electric Service Territory
As staff prepares for the acquisition of Connexus customers this fall,there are numerous areas
that will be discussed with the Commission. At this point of time,the key points of discussion
are: electric rates,integration of electric utility infrastructure,and customer data migration.
Electric rates—Tom Sagstetter shared that there have been some concerns with the commercial
customers we'll be acquiring and what the rate increase will be for them. We've reached out to
them and have scheduled joint meetings with the business owner and the Chamber of
Commerce to address their concerns.The meetings have gone very well and we have hopefully
put some of their fears to rest.We are still in the fact fmding stage. The bottom line to the
commercial customers depends heavily on their demand usage,but based on the numbers for the
commercial customers we've already analyzed,the rate increase would be approximately 6%.
Staff has been looking into options for rate relief to help in the transition.There have already
been a number of options that appear to be feasible. Staff will be using a third party rate
analysis to help us develop these few options which we'll bring back to the commission.
There was further discussion. The timeline for communication is:a joint letter from ERMU and
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Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
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Connexus will go out August 1st,at which time we'll start engaging with the customers.Based
on their rate,customers will receive a second letter from us with more specifics. And,we'll
send a final communication right before the changeover happens to help coordinate the
scheduled outage blink.
Integration of electric utility infrastructure—Mark Fuchs has been working with Connexus on
the integration process. We've identified some problems with the phasing and have determined
how we can get everyone switched over with as little interruption as possible.Mike O'Neill will
be working on changing the meters out. There was further discussion on the meter conversion
process and expense.
Customer data migration-we had NISC here to talk to them about how we could implement
some rate relief. We're also working with them to come up with a program that will help pull
data over versus having to manually input it. Troy Adams pointed out that the customers in the
residential area we'll be taking over in September are already our water customers so we have
them in our system.A majority of the commercial customers we'll be taking over in October are
not in our system, so that will involve a lot more data entry or migration.
4.2 Vision Committee—100th Anniversary Planning Update
Tom Sagstetter gave an update on the 100th anniversary plans. A page has been added to the
ERMU website that is dedicated to the 100th anniversary celebration. The page will be updated
as more activities are firmed up and additional information becomes available.The history
report is the in the process of being printed and bound and is nearly complete. It will be
presented to the City Council and the Utilities Commission in early August. The permit
application for the event has been added to the July 20 consent agenda for city council approval.
Advertising signs will be rented a few weeks prior to the event and will be positioned on major
roadways to help inform customers of the event. ERMU will be participating in the Sherburne
County parade this Saturday,and will be promoting our upcoming celebration by handing out
fliers and candy to people in attendance. We'll also be displaying two large banners with details
of the event on the bucket truck.
5.0 NEW BUSINESS
5.2 Second Quarter Delinquent Items
Theresa Slominski presented the delinquent items for the second quarter. Theresa explained
that we are working with NISC on our reports for write-offs, and the internal write-off
process to make it less manual. The process precedes the report and this is turning out to
be a slow process as we are doing a lot of testing along the way. Based on the schedule we
have in place,we should be able to include an actual report with the third quarter write-off
presentation. Theresa also noted that we may not be able to include the assessment
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Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
July 14,2015
customers on the report, as this process is only done once a year in the fourth quarter. As
we continue to create our process with NISC, we hope to be able to identify these amounts
throughout the year. The commission had a few questions on assessments and the process.
Staff and Peter Beck responded.
Troy Adams shared that we just had a customer that signed up for new service that was
required to pay a security deposit. The customer wanted to know if we would consider re-
checking their credit at a later date to determine if a deposit would still be required. Troy
reached out to the commission for their thoughts on our current deposit policy. There was
further discussion. The commission was in consensus to keep the policy as it currently is.
Al Nadeau made a motion to approve the 2015 first quarter delinquent items. Daryl
Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
6.0 OTHER BUSINESS
6.1 Staff Updates
Theresa Slominski gave an update on the NISC visit. Eric Minard,who is our Customer Care
and Billing Support Project Consultant,was onsite July 6- 10. Theresa shared that our
Customer Service Manager,Jennie Nelson,will be out of the office for several weeks at the end
of July and Eric Minard will be a valuable resource for us during that time. Michelle Lee,our
Billing Specialist,has been working closely with the Customer Service Manager and had the
opportunity to meet and work with Eric Minard while he was here to help prepare for the leave.
Mark Fuchs added that we had some lighting hits with the storm that came through last night.
We had approximately 50 customers that were without power. There was further discussion.
Eric Volk stated that we had our Field Services Space Needs Study kickoff meeting with Kodet
Architectural Group last week and it went very well. Staff extended an invitation,and requested
that a Commissioner take part in the five meetings that will be conducted during the study. Al
Nadeau volunteered to attend the meetings.
Tom Sagstetter added that the two face-to-face meetings he's had with concerned local business,
regarding the territory acquisition and our rates,were very positive.
6.2 Set Date for Next Meeting
The next regularly scheduled Commission meeting will be held on August 11,2015.
6.3 Adjourn Regular Meeting
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Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
July 14,2015
Daryl Thompson moved to adjourn the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal
Utilities Commission at 4:27 p.m. Al Nadeau seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
Minutes prepared by Michelle Canterbury.
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Tina Allard
City Clerk
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Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
July 14,2015