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08-10-2004 ERMU MIN . i ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES REGULAR MEETING OF THE UTILITIES COMMISSION August 10,2004 Members Present: Jerry Takle,President;James Tralle,Vice Chair Members Absent: John Dietz,Trustee Staff Present: Bryan Adams,General Manager;Glenn Sundeen,Line Superintendent;David Berg,Water Superintendent;Patricia Hemza,Office Manager Others Present: Pat Klaers,City Administrator 1. Call meeting to order July 6,2004 President Jerry Takle called the August 10,2004 meeting to order. 2. Consider Utilities Agenda James Tralle moved to approve the Agenda for August 10,2004,as presented. Jerry Takle seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 3. Consider Consent Agenda James Tralle moved to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: July Check Register July 6,2004 Minutes August 3,2004 Special Meeting Minutes Financials Jerry Takle seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.1 Staff Up-dates Glenn Sundeen informed the Commission that 56 new services were installed in the month of July. The August 10th electrical conversion take-over of the Connexus area along County Road 70 from County Road 21 to County Road 33 was completed without any problems. James Tralle asked if the crews were still working 9 hours a day. Glenn replied that they would be going back to 8 hour days next week. David Berg reported on the Well#7 project and was thankful to the City for their help in the landscaping. Sprinklers were installed at Well#7 and with the continued help from the City,the area will be seeded. Dave also updated the commission on the ongoing progress of the meter upgrades and the security system sales and lease to purchase. Patricia Hemza updated the Commission on the successful computer conversion from DOS to Windows. Staff is getting used to the new system and are working on trying to streamline inner office paperwork. 5.2 Review Annual Urge Tests The annual urge tests on the four diesel generation units at the power plant were reviewed. The engines are running at full potential and are being well maintained by staff. This will result in approximately$343,992 in annual payments from Great River Energy through the Power Transaction Agreement. Page 2 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission August 10,2004 5.3 Review Electric Meter Accuracy Staff has been checking all the CT meter installations and has only found five meters affecting two customers that were billed in error. Bryan Adams informed the Commission on the law requirements for the refund and reviewed the records of the billing errors. His recommendation is as follows: In the case of overbilling a customer due to a meter error,the customer shall be reimbursed the overbilled amount for the time frame the overbilling occurred. This time period is not to exceed two years based upon ERMU customer history,or six years based upon the customer providing their own records of the utility bill,whichever is greater. Discussion followed regarding the refunds and the fairness to the customer. Motion by James Tralle to adopt the above recommendation. Jerry Takle seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. 5.4 Review Water Hook Up Areas The requirement for hooking up to the Municipal water system along with the City's criteria for the sewer hook up was discussed. Pat Klaers talked about the problems involved with forcing residence to hook up to sewer and water. He also added that when selling the house the realtors help by requiring the residence to be hooked up to sanitary sewer,thus alleviating the problem. Discussion followed regarding the possibility of assessing the property or charging fines equivalent to the connection fee. Jerry Takle thought the utilities should follow the City statutes regarding the connections. Pat Klaers will convey the information discussed to the City attorney, who will be at the future joint City Council/Utility Commission meeting,to recommend the possibilities that are available. No action taken. 5.5 Review Hwy 10 Lighting Agreement The deteriorating condition of the Hwy 10 street lights were discussed along with who would be responsible for the cost of replacement. The MNDOT agreement with the City was discussed along with the liability issues. Utility staff questioned,does the agreement between MNDOT and City necessarily transfer to the Utilities without Utility concurrence? Pat Klaers said the Utilities paid for the poles to be painted years ago,but now they need to be replaced and the City does not have it in their budget. Further discussion ensued on the issues and requirements for pole type and light size along with MNDOT's requirements. This will be further discussed at the future joint City Council/Utility Commission meeting. No action taken. 6.1 Review Advisory Board& Commission Policy The recommendations from consultant Jim Brimeyer were discussed. By having a City Council member involved in each of the boards,it would alleviate misunderstandings and prevent future communication problems between the City Council and other commissions. No action taken. 6.2 Review Schedule—2005 Budget The training and travel budget was reviewed. Commission was impressed with the continued training yet keeping costs comparative to previous years. Personnel projections were discussed along with the upcoming need for additional employees. Training and personnel budget will be incorporated into entire budget and adopted at a latter date. Page 3 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission August 10,2004 6.3 Review Future Water Well Sites With the continuing development in eastern Elk River the need for additional well sites is a concern. There are two new developments, Orrin Thompson Homes and Trout Brook Estates with allocated future well sites. Bryan Adams recommended the Utilities do a test well at the Trout Brook Estates site before proceeding with a raw water line. Motion by James Tralle to go ahead with the test well and raw water line at the Trout Brook Estates site. Jerry Talde seconded the motion. Motion carried 2-0. Financials Bryan Adams asked the Commission how they liked the graph compared to the spread sheet. Commission preferred the graph as it gives them a better view of the statistics. Other Business The City would like to have a joint meeting with the City Council and Utility Commission on August 25th at 6:00 p.m. Previous issues discussed in these minutes will be covered at that time. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission will be September 21,2004. President Jerry Talde adjourned the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 5:30 p.m. .ectfully su. itt.:, I Judy McSpadden Recording Clerk