06-12-2018 ERMU MIN ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
UTILITIES COMMISSION
HELD AT UTILITIES CONFERENCE ROOM
June 12,2018
Members Present: Chair John Dietz;Vice Chair Al Nadeau;Commissioners Paul Bell and
Mary Stewart
Members Absent: Matt Westgaard
ERMU Staff Present: Troy Adams,General Manager;
Theresa Slominski,Finance and Office Manager;
Mark Fuchs,Electric Superintendent;
Mike Tietz,Technical Services Superintendent;
Eric Volk,Water Superintendent;
Tom Sagstetter,Conservation&Key Accounts Manager;
Michelle Canterbury,Executive Administrative Assistant;
Jennie Nelson,Customer Service Manager;
Rachelle Oien,Customer Service Representative;
Michelle Venema,Billing Specialist;
Mike Langer, Water Operator
Others Present: Peter Beck,Attorney;and Steve Downer,MMUA Associate Executive Director
1.0 GOVERNANCE
1.1 Call Meeting to Order
The regular meeting of the Utilities Commission was called to order at 3:30 p.m.by Chair Dietz.
1.2 Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
1.3 Consider the Agenda
There were no additions or corrections to the agenda.
Moved by Commissioner Nadeau and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to approve the
June 12,2018,agenda. Motion carried 4-0.
1.4 Introduction of New Employee
Ms.Nelson introduced Rachelle Oien as the new Customer Service Representative.Ms.Oien shared
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a little bit about her customer service background and the places she had worked. The Commission
welcomed the new employee.
1.5 Recognition of MMUA Tom Bovitz Memorial Scholarship Second Place Winner
Mr.Downer,Associate Executive Director with Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association
(MMUA),was at the meeting and thanked ERMU for their support of MMUA and the Tom Bovitz
Memorial Scholarship Award Program.Mr.Downer stated that the big difference between public
power and other utilities is an idea that electricity is a service to provide,not a commodity to profit
from,and that this service is best provided locally by those most affected and concerned.He went
on to say that Alyssa Nielsen captured this in her essay. High school senior Alyssa Nielsen,who had
placed second in the statewide contest,was present to receive her certificate of achievement;her
mother was also in attendance.The award carries with it a$1,500 scholarship from MMUA. Staff
noted that this was their first winner in MMUA's contest.The Commission congratulated Ms.
Nielsen on her achievement.
1.6 Recognition of Employee Achievements
As Dave Ninow,who was on the agenda to be recognized for receiving his Class A Water Operator
License,was unable to attend the meeting Mr. Volk suggested tabling this item until next month.
Ms.Nelson introduced Michelle Venema and announced that she recently graduated from the
Chamber of Commerce Leadership Elk River Program.Ms.Venema shared that she appreciated the
opportunity to participate in the program and is looking forward to coming back next year to teach
one of the sessions to the new group of people participating in the program.
Mr.Adams introduced Michelle Canterbury and shared that she had recently been awarded with the
designation of Minnesota Certified Municipal Clerk.Ms.Canterbury shared some high-lights of the
three year program she completed and the requirements for certification. She also expressed her
appreciation to ERMU and the Commission for their support of on-going training and education to
help better their employees.Mr.Adams commented that Ms. Canterbury immediately applied the
things she learned and is very committed to it.Attorney Beck added that it's really beneficial for
Ms.Canterbury to have this training and that she's a great asset to the utility.
The Commission congratulated the employees on their achievements.
2.0 CONSENT AGENDA(Approved By One Motion)
Moved by Commissioner Bell and seconded by Commissioner Nadeau to approve the Consent
Agenda as follows:
2.1 May Check Register
2.2 May 8,2018 Regular Meeting Minutes
2.4 2017 Consumer Confidence Report
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2.5 Organizational Values Policy
Motion carried 4-0.
3.0 OPEN FORUM
No one appeared for open forum.
4.0 POLICY&COMPLIANCE
There was no policy and compliance business.
5.0 BUSINESS ACTION
5.1 Financial Report—April 2018
Ms. Slominski presented the April 2018 financial report. Chair Dietz questioned if the electric
maintenance expense line item would be continuing to trend as high as it has been. Ms.
Slominski responded that she believes it's just front loaded at this point and that it should level
off as we move through the year. Chair Dietz stated that he was surprised that the electric
purchase power increase from this year to last was only$340,000. Staff shared that it has to do
with the fact that Great River Energy had a zero percent rate increase while we had a rate
increase;the difference is only from the increase in kWh sold. There was comment on the sales
for the month being down. Staff pointed out that there was a 20 to 25 degree temperature
difference from this year to last for the month of April. There was discussion.
Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Nadeau to receive and
file the April 2018 Financial Report. Motion carried 4-0.
5.2 2017 Annual Report
Mr. Adams provided some background on how staff has historically produced the annual
report. He spoke to the value of the product, the process in which it has been produced and
distributed, and the timing and relevancy of the information. Mr. Adams shared that after
analyzation from the leadership team regarding some concerns on the breadth of distribution
and the depth of information, compared to the expense and value,the following was
determined: by moving to a smaller more concisely communicated annual report it would
lower printing costs thus making it economically feasible to distribute to all of our customers.
This approach will be implemented for the 2017 annual report which will be distributed as a
bill insert with the July billings.
Mr. Adams also shared that in moving forward, it was determined that the timing of the annual
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report does not need to wait until after the audited financial report is received by the
Commission. By producing the annual report separately, it will allow for the report to be
produced earlier in the year so the information is more relevant from a timing perspective. This
will be implemented in 2019.
Mr. Adams presented the 2017 annual report. He shared that Ms. Canterbury had worked with
Prime Advertising to put together the report. The Commission had a few questions. Staff
responded.
Moved by Commissioner Bell and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to receive and file
the 2017 Annual Report. Motion carried 4-0.
6.0 BUSINESS DISCUSSION
6.1 Staff Updates
Mr.Adams provided an update on the Great River Energy(GRE)annual meeting he attended on
June 6.He also shared the rate forecasts that GRE had announced at the meeting.There was
discussion.
Mr.Adams announced that Minnesota Municipal Power Agency(MMPA)will be hosting their
Annual Summer Meeting and Dinner on July 24,2018 at Rockwoods in Otsego.Mr.Adams noted
that Commissioners would need to RSVP for the event with their meal selection.
Ms. Slominski noted in her staff report that per the contract,MMPA is requesting the final buy-in
payment for membership on September 28,2018. Chair Dietz inquired as to whether we know
what that amount is yet.Ms. Slominski responded that they would be providing us their estimated
final amount around July 12.There was discussion.
Mr.Fuchs shared that his department recently installed a new downtown streetlight on Main Street
in front of the Bank of Elk River. The streetlight is LED dark sky compliant and features a more
sleek contemporary design than the lights that are currently there.This new design is something
that's being considered for the replacement of the existing downtown lights and lights in Otsego.
There was discussion.
Mr.Fuchs also provided an update on the outage that occurred the previous night.The outage,
which lasted less than an hour,was the result of a squirrel in the substation which caused it to go
down.Chair Dietz mentioned that a couple of residents had told him that when they called into
ERMU to report the outage they received a message saying all circuits are busy.There was
discussion on this and the phone rolling procedures.
Included with Mr.Volk's staff report was an accumulated precipitation and daily temperature graph
for May 2018.After observation of the record low precipitation levels and high temperatures for the
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month of May,Commissioner Stewart inquired if there was a point where the water department
becomes concerned. Mr.Volk spoke to our peak pumping times and what our pumping capabilities
are to keep up with those demands. There was some discussion on the future Minnesota Department
of Transportation Highway 169 project and how that would affect ERMU.
Mr. Sagstetter reported on the June 4 City Council and Energy City Commission work session he
attended and the input they received on future initiatives.
In reference to the newly installed Level 2 charger in the ERMU/City Hall parking lot,
Commissioner Stewart inquired as to how charging costs are handled when ERMU uses the charger
for their electric vehicle. Mr. Sagstetter responded that we pay for the connection and energy charge
just as any other customer would.
6.2 Wa2e&Benefits Committee—1st Quarter 2018 Update
Mr.Adams stated that the Wage&Benefits Committee(W&BC)met on May 30,2018.The
primary focus for this meeting was routine review of staffing levels,personnel projections,and
succession planning.Additionally,the committee discussed:vacant budgeted Specialist positions;
vacant budgeted Information Technology(IT)Technician position;changes to the Executive
Administrative Assistant position;retirement notice for Foreperson position and related succession
planning.Mr.Adams talked through each of the discussion points as outlined in the memo. There
was Committee consensus on the following:
Vacant budgeted Specialist positions—After discussing a number of options,including the
possibility of combining the two vacant full time positions into one full time position,the committee
had consensus for staff to re-evaluate all five Specialist positions concurrently for essential duties
and work flow.The results of the evaluation will be discussed at a follow up committee meeting.
Vacant budgeted IT Technician position—After discussion,the committee had consensus for staff to
continue with the proposed redevelopment of this position as an OT Superintendent by developing a
new job description and working with the city on a memorandum of understanding for contracted IT
services.A progress update would be discussed at a follow up committee meeting.The proposed
timeline for hiring would place onboarding into September 2018.
Evaluate changes in the essential job duties and responsibilities for the Executive Administrative
Assistant position-After discussion,the committee had consensus for staff to conduct an evaluation
of this position and report back at a follow up meeting.
Retirement notice for Foreperson and related succession planning—After discussion,the committee
gave consent to the development of the two job descriptions for the two foreperson positions. The
committee discussed the budget impact of an advanced hire of the replacement foreperson to train
with the employee who had given notice.The committee recognized the additional costs resulting
from the proactive replacement hire fall within the defined spending authority delegated to the
General Manager.And the committee discussed and recognized that in this instance,those
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additional costs would be covered by recognized savings from three vacant positions.The
committee had consensus for the General Manager to move forward with the replacement
foreperson in June to take advantage of the training opportunity.
Following the W&BC update,Mr.Adams announced that our Engineer has given notice,and that
based on some feedback received from the employee exiting the position,we would want to come
back and re-evaluate that position and the person we're looking for before moving forward with
replacement.The next W&BC meeting has been scheduled for June 27.
6.3 Future Planning
Chair Dietz announced the following:
a. Regular Commission Meeting—July 10, 2018
6.4 Other Business
Chair Dietz brought up a situation that he had been made aware of last week regarding a
disgruntled customer who was shut off for non-payment. Some of the issues they had with our
policy on disconnections were: not taking payments out in the field at the time of disconnect,
being disconnected for a relatively small past-due dollar amount, and the cost of our
disconnect/trip charge fee. There was discussion. Chair Dietz requested that staff conduct a
survey on what the neighboring utilities charge for disconnect/reconnect fees and how those
compare to ours, and report those findings back to the Commission.
The Commission recessed the regular meeting at 4:23 p.m. and went into the closed meeting.
6.5 Closing of Meeting: Meeting closed pursuant to MN Statute 13D.05, Subd.3(c)to develop
or consider offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of real or personal property -
PID #75-128-4305 and #75-128-4206
The Commission reconvened the regular meeting at 4:34 p.m.
7.0 ADJOURN REGULAR MEETING
Moved by Commissioner Nadeau and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to adjourn the
regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 4:35 p.m.Motion carried
4-0.
Minutes prepared by Michelle Canterbury.
Jo i'".Die, ,ERMU 'ommission Chair
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Tina Allan.,City Clerk
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