Loading...
2.2 ERMUSR 11-10-2020ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES REGULAR MEETING OF THE UTILITIES COMMISSION HELD AT THE ELK RIVER FIRE STATION EOC CONFERENCE ROOM October 13, 2020 Members Present: Chair John Dietz, Vice Chair Al Nadeau, Commissioners Mary Stewart, and Matt Westgaard Members Absent: Commissioner Paul Bell ERMU Staff Present: Theresa Slominski, General Manager Melissa Karpinski, Finance Manager Jennie Nelson, Customer Service Manager Tom Sagstetter, Conservation & Key Accounts Manager Michelle Canterbury, Executive Administrative Manager Mark Fuchs, Operations Director Tom Geiser, Electric Superintendent Mike Tietz, Technical Services Superintendent Dave Ninow, Water Superintendent Chris Kerzman, Engineering Manager Tony Mauren, Communications & Administrative Coordinator Others Present: Peter Beck, Attorney 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 Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to approve the October 13, 2020, agenda. Motion carried 4-0. 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA (Approved By One Motion) Moved by Commissioner Nadeauand seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 1 33 2.1 September2020 Check Register 2.2 September 8, 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes 2.3 Data Practices Policy - Responsible Authority and Data Practices Compliance Official Appointments 2.4 Authorization to Execute Final Plat Documents for Field Services Facility Expansion Motion carried 4-0. 3.0 OPEN FORUM No one appeared for open forum. 4.0 POLICY & COMPLIANCE Nothingwas presented for policy & compliance. 5.0 BUSINESS ACTION 5.1 Financial Report – August 2020 Ms. Karpinski presented the August 2020 financial report as outlined in her memo. Chair Dietz asked about the increase in water sales. Mr. Ninow responded that the hot dry summer along with an increase in lawn irrigation were factors. Ms. Karpinski noted that even with suspended disconnections due to the COVID-19, ERMU’s over 90-day bucket for aging accounts receivable for September is lower than last year. Chair Dietz had a few questions. Staff responded. Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Nadeau to receive the August 2020 Financial Report. Motion carried 4-0. 5.2 2021 Annual Business Plan: Water and Electric Expenses; and Conservation Improvement Program Ms. Karpinski presented the preliminary Water and Electric Expenses; and Conservation Improvement Program budgets for 2021. Chair Dietz inquired as to why expenses are down. Ms. Karpinski responded staff had been able to find various savings opportunities in the budget. Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 2 34 Commissioner Stewart had a question on accounting for equipment that is being removed for the Highway 169 Redefine project prior to being fully depreciated. Staff responded that they would need to be able to identify the assets in order to accurately account for their removal. The previous system of accounting for assets was done by a third party and their records combine many of the work orders. Staff noted that moving asset accounting to National Information Solutions Cooperative has improved tracking. Chair Dietz had a question about the timeline of work to be done for the Highway 169 Redefine project. Staff Responded. Ms. Karpinski also noted next month’s business plan presentation will include a change in depreciation for the landfill gas plant which will be replacing three engines next year rather than this year. Chair Dietz asked about the timeline for replacing the engines in relationship with the length of ERMU’s contract with Waste Management. Mr. Sagstetter responded that the contract ends in October of 2022. Chair Dietz had questions on potential changes to the Conservation Improvement Program budget. Mr. Sagstetter responded. There was discussion about the incentives offered to commercial customers. 5.3 Wage & Benefit Committee Update Ms. Slominski presented her update and provided background on the request from some employees to provide an alternative health insurance plan with a higher deductible and lower monthly premiums. Ultimately the insurance broker informed Ms. Slominski that if ERMU entered the Small Group Market (SGM) it could reducecosts and premiumswith a higher deductible plan. Ms. Slominski also presented plan comparisonsand breakdowns of the potential savings for ERMU based on its percentage of contribution towards premiums and deductibles. Ms. Slominski requested that the Commission approve the option to fund 85% of the premium, and at least 85% of the deductible, allowing for $60,817 in savings for the company. Commissioner Stewart noted that this option would be beneficial for retaining current employees and recruiting new staff. Ms. Slominski noted that ERMU has not met its retention goal in multiple years. There was discussion. Chair Dietz presented a document with his proposed breakdown of the shared costs, showing ERMU keeping its premium coverage at 75% but increasing its coverage of the deductible by 5 percentage points to 80%. He shared his opinion that while the company should continue to analyze these percentages every year, staff’s recommendation was too large of an increase in one year. Ms. Slominski provided clarification to Chair Dietz on the net savings to employer that were being calculated in his proposal. There was discussion. Commissioner Stewart shared her appreciation for Chair Dietz preparing his proposal but supported staff’s recommendation. Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 3 35 Chair Dietz pointed out that all employees would need to move over to this new plan as opposed to being offered as an alternative, which was the initial reasoning for seeking plan options. He expressed his preference of not forcing staff to change plans. Commissioner Westgaard offered that in most situations the employer vets the options and decides on staff’s behalf. Commissioner Westgaard requested input from the leadership team present at the meeting on what they believed staff would prefer. There was discussion. Chair Dietz noted the large increase in the out-of-network deductible. Ms. Slominski responded that only one staff member had accessed out-of-network services in 2019-2020. There was discussion. Ms. Nelson commended Ms. Slominski on the research she put into finding a plan that would benefit everyone. Commissioner Westgaard commented that Ms. Slominski had gone over and above to research plans, noting there would be a process of presenting this decision to staff. He added that staff’s recommendation offered an opportunity to save employees money, improve recruitment, and give back to the rate payers. Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to approve an 85%/15% premium share and deductible funding as recommended by staff. Motion carried 3-1. Chair Dietz opposed. Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to approve changing to the Small Group Market Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plan as recommended by staff, effective January 1, 2021. Motion carried 4-0. 6.0 BUSINESS DISCUSSION 6.1 Staff Updates Ms. Slominski corrected her previous staff update where she stated the HR generalistwould begin work on October 26. The new start date is October 29. Commissioner Stewart commended Ms. Karpinski and her department for implementingthe Accounts Payable Workflow for paperless processing from National Information Solutions Cooperative. Ms. Karpinski acknowledged it was a group effort. Chair Dietzasked for further details about an item from Ms. Nelson’s update on not penalizing delinquent accounts during the Peacetime Emergency Order. Ms. Nelson shared that she wanted the Commission to be aware that ERMU is still not charging penalties, but that she has Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 4 36 seen some commissions changing their policy. Ms. Nelson added that if the Commission decided to change its penalty policy, she would prefer to give customers one-month notice. Mr. Geiser highlighted the last item on his update regarding the budgeted 2021 replacement digger truck. Mr. Geiser recommended submitting ERMU’s name into the order cue in2020 to ensure a timely delivery in 2021.Mr. Fuchs noted that ERMU could always remove itself from the order cue should it need to. There was discussion. Moved by CommissionerNadeau and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to approve submitting ERMU’s name into the order cue in 2020 for the 2021 budgeted digger truck, to help ensure delivery in 2021. Motion carried 4-0. Mr. Kerzman noted that one of the options to reduce costs in the Field Services Building Expansion involves significant changes in the plans. Due to the changes, city planning staff has asked ERMU to postpone its application for a Conditional Use Permit. The City Council will still be able tovote on easement vacation, rezoning, preliminary plat, and final plat while ERMU decides how the project will proceed. Mr. Beck offered some options for moving the process forward. There was discussion. 6.3 Future Planning Chair Dietz announced the following: a. Regular Commission Meeting – November 10, 2020 @ EOC Fire Station Conference Room b. 2020Governance Agenda With Mr. Fuchs’ official retirement date of December 31, 2020, Chair Dietz suggested future planning be placed on next month’s agenda. Ms. Slominski shared that the position had been posted internally. 7.0 ADJOURN REGULAR MEETING Moved by Commissioner Nadeauand seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to adjourn the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 4:38 p.m. Motion carried 4-0. Minutes prepared by Tony Mauren. ___________________________________ John J. Dietz, ERMU Commission Chair ___________________________________ Tina Allard, City Clerk Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes October 13, 2020 Page 5 37