Loading...
2.2 ERMU MINUTES 10-21-2014ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES REGULAR MEETING OF THE UTILITIES COMMISSION HELD AT UTILITIES CONFERENCE ROOM September 9, 2014 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; Eric Volk, Water Superintendent; Wade Lovelette, Technical Services Superintendent; Tom Sagstetter, Conservation & Key Accounts Manager; Michelle Canterbury, Executive Administrative Assistant Others Present: Cal Portner, City Administrator; Peter Beck, Attorney; Jim Stremel, WSB & Associates; Jeremy Barnhart, City Community Operations and Development Deputy Director; and Kristin Mroz, City Environmental Technician 1.0 CALL MEETING TO ORDER John Dietz called the September 9, 2014 meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. 1.1 Pledge of Alleeiance The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 1.2 Consider Utilities Agenda Troy Adams added agenda item 5.6, Paid Leave Donation Policy to New Business. Daryl Thompson moved to approve the amended September 9, 2014 Utilities agenda. Al Nadeau seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. 1.3 Introduction of New Employees Theresa Slominski introduced the two new Customer Service Representatives, Meridee Romie and Christy Schallock. The commission welcomed the new employees. 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA (Approved By One Motion) John Dietz had a few questions on the new financials, staff responded. Page 1 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 27 Sep -14 Electronic Transfers SALES TAX 182,617.00 FED/FICA WITHHELD 79,677.91 STATE WITHHELD 13,446.86 DEF COMP 13,436.31 PERA 44,500.15 333,678.23 * There were 3 payroll deposits in September 26 Daryl Thompson moved to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: 2.1 August Check Register 2.2 August 12, 2014 Previous Meeting Minutes 2.3 Financial Statements 2.4 Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association 2014-2015 Safety Program Contact 2.5 Extended Customer Payment Arrangement Al Nadeau seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. 3.0 OPEN FORUM No one appeared for open forum. 4.0 OLD BUSINESS There is no old business. 5.0 NEW BUSINESS 5.1 Elk River Gravel Minine Area Land Use. Transportation, and Utility Plan Stakeholder Engagement Workshop The City of Elk River has contracted with WSB & Associates to conduct a study on the Land Use Transportation and Utility Plan for the Elk River Mining Area. Jim Stremel, Project Manager with WSB & Associates, was at the meeting to give an overview of the study and to give the commissioners and utilities an opportunity to give input on the master plan; in particular to the water distribution. Jim Stremel explained that the goal of the study was to come up with a long-range, 30-40 year, master plan for the 2,600 acre area. The plan will include: eventual land uses, transportation routes, final reclaimed grades for efficient operation of sanitary and storm water collection/treatment, and water distribution. One of the top priorities is the water distribution. With that they'll be looking at water supply, storage, interconnection and final reclaim grades. Discussion followed. The next steps in the study are to develop three land use scenarios, vet each scenario with public engagement, finalize one scenario with transportation, utilities and grades, and give a final presentation to the City Council, Planning Commission, and Park Commission. The project should be completed by January/February 2015. 5.2 Wade and Benefits Committee Update —Proposed Position Changes Page 2 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 P*] On August 11, 2014 the Wage and Benefits Committee met to review personnel projections relating to planned organizational growth. The Committee also discussed anticipated changes to positions relating to the National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) software conversion. A number of the changes discussed are expected to happen after the Customer Care and Billing (CC&B) module of the software go live in February 2015. There were also a number of changes that could be required immediately that relate to the Accounting and Business Solutions (ABS) module that went live in August. The Committee had consensus on the need for these discussed changes and gave direction to management to further analyze the specific details of the changes and the expected changes to labor costs and bring that back to the Commission for consideration. Three position changes have recently developed as critical and time sensitive, the Billing Specialist, hiventory/Maintenance Person, and the Bore Rig Operator/Groundsworker. Troy went over the proposed changes and asked if the commission had any questions. John Dietz asked for further clarification on which positions were just adding job duties to the existing positions and which one involved hiring someone new. Staff responded. There were also questions on what the duties would be for the proposed Accountant we'd be hiring to backfill the vacant Billing Specialist position. Troy Adams explained that the Accountant would assist during the software implementation and provide much needed backup for the Purchasing Specialist and the Accounts Payable/Payroll Specialist. After the implementation, the accountant position would transition into more routine duties while continuing to provide the essential backup coverage. The 2014 increased cost in labor to make all three proposed changes would be approximately $7,300, and the increased cost in labor for 2015 would be approximately $32,000 based on 2014 wages. The only item not factored into these dollar amounts is the cost of contracting out the custodial duties for the Field Service Building. Al Nadeau made a motion to approve the replacement of the Billing Specialist with an Accountant; approve the change for the Inventory/Maintenance Person to become the proposed Inventory Person; and approve the change for the Bore Rig Operator/ Groundsworker to become the proposed Lead Bore Rig Operator. Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. 5.3 2015 Buduet• 10 Year Capital Projections; 2015 Capital Projects and Equipment Purchases; and 2015 Conservation Improvement Plan Troy Adams presented the 2015 Capital Projections, Capital Projects and Equipment Purchases and the Conservation Improvement Program. Notable items for the Electric Department are a new feeder to the Courthouse, replacing a bucket truck, and upgrading the bore rig. Troy Adams commented that the money we had budgeted in 2014 for a garage expansion may need to be put aside for that project next year. Troy said due to another recent break-in to our trucks down at the plant, that it may be wise to use some of the garage expansion funds this year to fence in and secure the property. Daryl Thompson Page 3 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 0401 inquired what dollar amount we set for the garage project. Troy Adams responded that $185,000 had been set aside. Notable items for the Water Department are Gary Street Water Tower interior paint update, facility improvements and replacing a pickup truck. Tom Sagstetter went over the Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) Budget. John Dietz had a question on the new Explorer in the CIP budget. Tom Sagstetter explained that the Compass will be transitioned over to the mail/bank run vehicle as the van we currently use is shot. Notable Items for the Technology Services and Administrative are the Landfill Expansion Project and the new software costs. Tom Sagstetter shared that he earmarked $40,000 for design and planning and another $200,000 in case they break ground for the expansion in 2015. Waste Management is requesting grant money from the county, and if they receive a grant, our portion would be roughly 25%. Troy Adams shared that we have the buy in to MMPA in 2018 and we'd like to use the assets we have as a buy in, therefore the Landfill Gas Plant is a perfect fit with MMPA. The first part that we already own, coupled with the phase two expansion, could potentially cover half of our buy in cost. Wade Lovelette shared some additional information on two of the bigger items in his budget, the diesel engine modification, and the purchase of a new FC300 hand held reader. Theresa Slominiski went over the Administrative portion of the budget. She offered further clarification on the $76,000 that was being budgeted for software in 2015. Theresa Slominski also explained the estimated cost of $45,000 for our portion on the phone system. 5.4 Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association Annual Summer Conference Update Troy Adams gave a recap on the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) Annual Summer Conference. Some of the highlights included: The Board approved the creation of a Solar and Distributed Generation Task Force, Planning for the 2015 APPA Lineworkers Rodeo, EPA Proposed Pollution Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources, Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative (SMEC) update, 2014 "UnSession" Legislative Report. They also had presentations on Electric Vehicle Tariff Design and on the effects of Roof top Solar Deployment on Local Rates. Troy Adams also shared that MMUA will have an increase in dues for next year. The application of the increase to individual members is based on a formula involving a number of factors and for ERMU results in a 2.69% increase. Also, Troy will be President Elect next year. Al Nadau also attended the conference and said that there were good sessions for Board Members and Commissioners. He was able to attend a great closed meeting on territory acquisitions. He also commented that the trade shows were very interesting with all the new products they're coming out with to save energy. Page 4 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 30 5.5 Access to Private Property At the August 12`h Commission meeting, during a request from a customer for a special arrangement for the repayment of past due charges, the customer voiced concern for ERMU personnel having entered his private property for access to ERMU equipment. It was requested that the topic of access to private property be added to the agenda for discussion. Troy Adams gave an overview of the policies that are in place regarding access to ERMU meters on private property. He explained that we have long used door hanging notices and more recently utilized an automated phone dialer to proactively communicate with customers. ERMU practice has been to provide notification of access to private property in advance when applicable. However, there are some times when advance notice is not given prior to access because of safety concerns for ERMU employees. For example, during service disconnections due to non-payment, metering failures, or suspected meter tampering. In these situations history indicates the potential for hostile or irate customers. In talking with Peter Beck about this topic, it's come to our attention that there's a concern when our equipment is behind a gate. Because we require the meter be located on the front comer of the garage, there shouldn't be a significant amount of homes where this will be an issue. There was discussion on access to ERMU equipment located on private property behind a locked gate. Peter Beck shared that we're going to look into this further and work to develop policies that comply with the Constitution as well as our needs to protect public health and safety. There was further discussion. Al Nadeau suggested having something we could hand out to customers telling them what are policies are. Tom Sagstetter is currently working on something like this which will be included in new customer packets and added to our website. 5.6 Paid Leave Donation 6.0 Troy Adams distributed copies of the proposed Paid Leave Donation Policy. We've taken the cities, and after working with Attorney Mark Mathison, have updated that policy to reflect the utilities. Staff is looking to have this policy adopted and have it added in as a section to our employee handbook. The commission had a few questions, staff responded. Al Nadeau made a motion to approve the Paid Leave Donation Policy. Daryl Thompson seconded it. Motion carried 3-0. There was no other business. Page 5 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 31 6.1 Staff Updates Troy Adams was asked to fill in for Jack Kegel at the (Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MRSA) Manager Meeting last week. The intent was to offer out a hand to try and cooperate and improve our relationships with the co-ops. Troy Adams had one other update on the Elk River Municipal Utilities By -Laws. As we're looking at our policies, we're also looking at our by-laws that haven't been updated in a long time. Peter Beck will be working with staff endeavoring to bring back some more concise updated policies beginning with the by-laws. Theresa Slominski had a few updates. The Accounting Business Solutions (ABS) final training and processing has been moved back one week to September 29h through October P. Theresa added that she did receive the PCA for August and it should be a credit. We're going to wait to give a credit back to customers right away in case there are other PCA charges down the road; but ideally we'll give that back to the customer at some point of time. Theresa Slominski went over the Paymentus buyout information. John Dietz had some questions on whether we could pay the payoff amount in monthly installments or pay 1/2 this year and Y2 next year. The Commission directed Theresa to go back to Paymentus and request that we split the payoff amount between this year and next year. John Dietz requested the Paymenus buyout be placed on the next commission agenda for a final decision on whether we pay up front or in installments. Theresa Slominski shared that she attended the annual insurance pool meeting where she received our 2015 renewal projections for our health insurance; there will be a 9.9% increase. The Commission was in consensus to stay with the current insurance plan. Eric Volk said that the Zylstra Harley Owners Group (HOGS) painted the hydrants this past weekend. We'll invite them to our October commission meeting for recognition. Eric gave an update on the Morton Avenue watermain breaks. He shared that his whole crew, Mike, Angela and Pete did a really good job repairing the watermain. By doing the repairs ourselves, he estimates we saved over $15,000 in parts and labor. When you add that to the $25,000 we saved earlier this year by doing the valves at Well #7 ourselves, we've saved over $40,000 by doing the work in house. That's the direction he's pushing the department. Tom Sagstetter shared some details on what would be involved with installing hydroelectric generation on the Lake Orono Dam. Tom also sat in on a conference call sponsored by NISC to learn about the different approaches for pricing community based solar projects. John Dietz asked how the updated history report of Elk River Municipal Utilities was coming along. Troy Adams responded that it's in draft stage and that we're looking at sitting down with them to review the draft and to make sure we have our story woven throughout the report. The plan is that we have it back this year so that we can talk about having it published and bound to hand out for our 100 year anniversary next year. Page 6 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 32 6.2 Set Date for Next Meeting The next regularly scheduled Commission meeting will be cancelled due to scheduling conflicts and a special meeting will be held on October 21, 2014. The Commission recessed the regular meeting at 5:17 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 6.4 Adiourn Regular Meeting Al Nadeau moved to adjourn the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 5:26 p.m. Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. Minutes prepared by Michelle Canterbury. John J. Dietz Chair, ERMU Commission Tina Allard City Clerk Page 7 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission September 9, 2014 33