5.3 ERMUSR 02-08-2022Review of theStrategic Plan
All policies, decisions, initiatives, and tasks by ERMU on behalf of our consumer owners should
be in direct line withERMU’s Mission. All planning is conducted through a process which
categorizes initiatives under commission-adopted planning themes aligned with our mission,
vision, fundamentals, and values. This framework clearly defines how ERMU is expected to
operate. This process is intentionally transparent to our consumer owners.
The following include highlights, challenges, and results from the 2021 initiatives as well as
forward-looking initiatives and goals:
Theme 1: Communication – Improve the effectiveness of our communications inside the
organization, with our customers, and with the community.
Live Chat System – This initiative was created as a 2022 project to explore options for a
Live Chat system to be utilized by customers and supported by staff.
Disaster Recovery Plan – Staff established a 2019 initiative to develop a utility specific
DisasterRecovery (DR) plan that would complement the existing City ofElkRiver
Emergency Operations Plan. While the existing city plan is focused more on emergency
restoration efforts following a disaster, the utilities DR plan will be comprehensive,
identifying all-hazards facing the utilities, utilizing best practices found within the
National Incident Management System (NIMS), and following Incident Command System
(ICS) structures. Included as part of this plan will be a component addressing Business
Continuity throughout the recovery effort. This work is being coordinated with the Fire
Chief’s efforts to update the City of Elk River Emergency Operations Plan. The ERMU DR
plan development continued into 2021 and will be a continuously evolving document as
it is tested during annual exercises and real incidents.
Customer Satisfaction Feedback Tools – In the past, we have utilized an in-house
developed customer survey to evaluate our customers’ satisfaction with our service.
There was very low participation in these surveys and data was usually skewed by
recent complaints rather than a true representation of our total customer base. This
initiative was developed to research, evaluate and revise customer satisfaction feedback
processes and tools for better utilization and data. A consultant was selected, and two
surveys will be completed in 2022 and evaluated to determine success and future
direction.
Theme 2: Personnel and Governance – Develop our most valuable and vulnerable assets, our
commissioners, employees, leaders, and future leaders.
Develop Succession Plan for General Manager Retirement – This initiative was created
to be proactive with the replacement of the General Manager retirement 12/31/2022.
Baker Tilly was selected as the consultant to coordinate the executive search and work
has begun early 2022 with hope of replacement around mid-year.
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Develop Succession Planning Procedure – The initiative to develop a succession planning
and staff addition procedure for use by the Wage & Benefits Committee (W&BC) was
initiatedin 2019 andis still on the list forcompletion in 2022.
Inventory Assistant – This has been a desired position as ERMU has grown. With the
new Field Services Facility, we will have the office space for this new position and the
capability for secured inventory necessitating the new position to manage. The position
should be filled in the first quarter 2022 to allow for onboarding and training prior to
moving into the new facility.
Governance Policy Manual – There was significant progress completed during 2020 and
2021 in the continuation of this multiyear initiative. There are still two smaller policies
to be created relating to evaluation of the mission and values of the organization with
competitive rates and margins.
Wellhead Protection Plan Amendment – This initiative follows the required review of
the Wellhead Protection Plan to evaluate updates needed, implement, and submit the
plan amendment to MDH in 2023. A consultant was selected to help complete the plan
and work will continue through 2022.
Theme 3: StrategicThinking – Create a culture of strategic thinking and ensure line of sight from
mission to vision.
Landfill Gas Plant – As the current Landfill Gas Plant contracts expire in 2022, the future
of this project is being evaluated with this initiative. Staff has worked with Waste
Management and other stakeholders to determine the possibilities of future operations
of the facility past 2022 and has had positive feedback. Staff is currently working with
stakeholders on the transition process.
Volt/VAR Control – This initiativewas createdto investigate methods to identify and
predict peak usage times and implement Volt/Volt-Amps Reactive (VAR) control
strategies to reduce peak usage. Information gathering started in 2020 and will be
picked up again after the implementation of AMI.
Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) Redevelopment – With the Energy
Conservation and Optimization(ECO)Act passed into law May 25, 2021, three
workgroups were established to implementit. ERMU staff continueto participate in the
work group stakeholder process to provide comments on effective implementation of
the new legislation.
System Forecasting – This initiative was started in 2021 to develop 5 and 10 year
forecasting models for Water and Electric system growth and related resource planning.
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This istabled for now and will be resumed after implementation of AMIand models can
be completed.
Theme 4: Technology – Implement the prudent use of technology to improve efficiency and
increase customer choice,communication, andvalue.
ESRI GIS Mapping – Work continued on the transition from paper maps to electronic
mapping forall ERMU field staff. After an unsuccessful transition to a third-party
integration softwarein 2021, weare back to utilizingESRI’s Portal platform to
accomplish this. The project will integrate the GIS models with National Information
Solutions Cooperative (NISC) softwaredatabases to provide additional map functionality
and efficiencies as well as make GIS data available to all ERMU employees. The future
roadmap will include transitioning from a geometric network to ArcGIS Utility Network
which is the next evolution of GIS.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Grid Analysis – Staff continues to
moveforward with analysis on this multi-year initiative. This year staff is working with a
consultant researching communication platforms and vendorselection.An RFP will be
ready by the end of Q1 with an implementation timeframe of late 2022 to early 2023.
Meter Data Management System (MDMS) – After the selection of an AMI vendor, the
next step is to coordinate with our software vendor, NISC, to implement the MDMS
solution, which needs to occur before the installation of the new meters. NISC has been
contacted about information they will need for the MDMS project.
Mosaic Utilization – This initiative was created to take advantage of an NISC tool for
interactive displays and graphs to help present financial and other detailed information.
We have not been successful in carving out time for the training and implementation of
this module but hope to in 2022. An NISC virtual hands-on training will be attended
February 8-10 to facilitate creating custom report/charts, create calculations, and learn
how to query data. This training will also provide a security overview that should be
beneficial as well.
Outage Management and Communications – This initiative coordinated with Field and
Office staff to establish a system to relay outage information to impacted customers in a
timely manner. Guidelines and processes were developed internally and then
communicated with staff to implement in November 2021.
Vault Retention – This initiative is to research and create/setup retention policies in the
NISC Document Vault. The ABS (Accounting) module in NISC will be a beta project for
analyzing folder setup and parameter settings. Once completed, tested, and determined
successful, setup can be completed in the CIS (Customer Service) and other modules.
Cyber & Physical Security –The goal of this initiative is to evaluate all cyber and physical
security and then develop comprehensive policy as needed, working with a joint
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committee. ERMU IT and the City of Elk River IT have reviewed theindividual policies
that came out of the analysis from a third-party consultantand metwith the full
committee in June 2021to review.Cyber & physical security will always be an ongoing
project but theoriginal initiative has been completed.
ERMU Fiber Backbone Buildout Plan – This initiative seeks to plan for having a fiber
network to all our facilities. In 2021 we extended fiber to Well #3, and the North
Substation is a 2022 project. Additional fiber ring extensions are being planned and
coordinated with the City.
NISC Module Integration – There are many modules in NISC that staff is exploring
including: Meter Data Management System (MDMS) which is required to implement
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Outage Management Systems (OMS), Mobile
Workforce and AppSuite, etc. Analysis for these modules for potential future
implementation is based on need, return on investment, and other delivered value. NISC
conducted a technology roadmap analysis for ERMU in 2018. The initiative to implement
Mobile Workforce and AppSuite went live February 3, 2020. Staff will be working on the
MDMS and AMI implementation as we move forward with AMI the next few years.
Theme 5: Growth – Assess the growth curve to make decisions regarding organizational change.
Field Services Facility Expansion Plan & Site Preparation – This has been an initiative in
the works for several years that will finally be completed in 2022. As ERMU has grown,
we needed more office space, more shop space, and amenities like locker roomsand
laundry facilities for our workforce. We will also be able to have our inventory and
vehicles under one roof to better preserve these assets.
Highway 10 Rebuild – This initiative was created to plan for the work of coordinating
water and electric utility infrastructure changes to accommodate this project and was
completed in 2021.
Highway 169 Redefine – This initiative was created to plan for the work of coordinating
water and electric utility infrastructure changes to accommodate the Highway 169
project. There was much preparation to do in 2021 for the road project to begin in 2022
and continue through 2024.
Backflow Prevention Program – With the delegation of authorityto ERMU for testing
backflow prevention devices on the system, this initiative was created to develop the
policy and implementation plan to track and test the backflow prevention devices
including Reduced Pressure Zones and Pressure Vacuum Breakers. We have partnered
with HydroCorp to track and report testing and have hired a Water Utility Worker to
help perform residential irrigation device testing. We have certified two staff members
in 2021 and expect to certify two more in 2022.
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New Substation – This initiative was created to help identify land and construction
options for a future substation to serve growth in the southeastern part of Elk River
along Highway 10, and to help facilitate the Highway 169 Redefine project.We are
planning to build a substation on the Cargill property and have budgeted for this in
2022.
Evaluate Water Model – Our current water model has been maintained by a consultant
and it is on outdated software. The water model needs to be updated and converted to
modern software and this initiative was created to research and evaluate this option.
Future Otsego Planning – This initiative was created to help evaluate options for future
load growth in the Otsego area, including potential site locations for a future substation.
Theme 6: Process, Measurement, and Financial Health – Improve processes and measurement
to better determine and report efficiency and effectiveness of organization and to ensure
financial and organizational health.
Organizational Effectiveness Survey – This will be an ongoing initiative over multiple
years. The first survey was done in 2018 and produced eight initiatives. Several
initiatives were started in 2019, some were completed in 2020 and some additional
ones were started in 2020. We have Employee Training that will continue through 2021,
and Leadership Development will start in 2021 and continue through the next two
years. Many of these initiatives are going to integrated into ERMU processes and
budgets indefinitely. We will conduct additional surveys to gauge our effectiveness in
years to come and evaluate the changes that we are making along the way. A survey will
be conducted in 2022 to evaluate progress and determine the current state of
organizational effectiveness.
Schedule of Charges/Aid to Construction – This was a new initiative to review our
standards and procedures for construction charges, and then update our
documentation and make any fee changes necessary. As this involves multiple
standards, it will take a few years to complete. In 2021 we reviewed neighboring
utilities’ methodology and compared to ours. The documentation of our philosophy and
updating any charges is the next step.
Review of the 2021 Annual Business Plan
The purpose of reviewing the 2021 Annual Business Plan is to evaluate the budget as a tool in
addition to performance. By evaluating the usefulness of the tool, staff will be better able to
provide monthly information and reports tohelp the commission evaluate the organization
health and direction. Understandingand exploring the areas of risk and sensitivity factors
improves the governing body’s ability toset policy redirecting an organization toward the short
term and long-term goals. The Annual Business Plan review should help the commission identify
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areas ofhigher risk, evaluate options to mitigate risk, establish their comfort level withrisk, and
help the commission clearly communicate expectation in handlingthe risk.
Overall Electric Utilityperformance for 2021 was positive. Unaudited financials indicate that
revenues were up 5% from budget ($39,820,488 budget and $41,830,737 actual) and expenses
were up 4% from budget ($38,468,940 budget and $40,154,847 actual), for a 4% margin overall.
With capital projects, reserve uses, bonding, and depreciation, we outperformed budgeted
reserves contributions (a budgeted reduction of $166,968, versus an actual increase of
$177,453.)
Overall Water Utility performance for 2021 was very positive. Unaudited financials indicate that
water margins of 30% outperformed budget (-$314,973 budget, $1,346,642 actual).Revenue
was up 59% ($2,778,731 budget, $4,419,823 actual) while annual water expenses were down
1% ($3,093,705 budget, $3,073,181 actual). Net to reserves was higher than budgeted
($306,843 budget, $2,032,499 actual).
An overview of 2021 budget verses actual (unaudited) for both electric and water is provided in
the attached summary.
Summary
The Strategic Plan and the Annual Business Plan are long-term and short-term tools for the
commissionto use in governing the organization, establishing policy to clearly communicate
goals, and helping the commission lead ERMU toward the organizational vision. These tools
should evolve with the commission’s needs to effectively evaluate and govern. It is important to
annually discuss these tools for their function; separate from the review of the data they
contain.
The results and progress from the organization’s 2021 initiatives were positive, and it is good to
recognize our successes.
An important component to organizational health is communication. Communication is critical
in all areas of an organization, both external and internal. This includes communication
between the commission and management, communication between management and staff,
and communication between departments. Specific to communication between the
commission and management, does the commission have what they need to govern ERMU to
sustainable success? Are these tools providing the information the commission needs to
effectively evaluate the organization? Are these tools clearly identifying the areas of highest
risk, enabling the commission to effectively monitor, evaluate, and take corrective action when
needed? Are these tools providing the information needed for the commission to effectively
lead the organization toward our mission and vision? Staff looks for commission discussion
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regarding the 2021 resultsandfor discussion regarding the effectiveness of thetools used to
provide the commission with meaningful and timely information.
ATTACHMENTS:
ERMU Mission/Vision/Fundamentals/Values/Themes
ERMU Summary Comparison 2021 Budget vs Actual (Unaudited)
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OUROUR
MISSIONVALUES
To provide our customers with safe, reliable,
INTEGRITY
QUALITY
OUR
COMMUNICATION
VISION
SAFETY
OUR
A culture that protects our
FUNDAMENTALS
COMPETITIVE
Provide the best value for the
ERMUMN.COM | 763.441.2020 | 13069 ORONO PARKWAY | PO BOX 430 | ELK RIVER, MN 55330-0430
72
OUR
PLANNING THEMES
1 | COMMUNICATION
2 | PERSONNEL AND GOVERNANCE
3 | STRATEGIC THINKING
4 | TECHNOLOGY
5 | GROWTH
6 | PROCESS, MEASUREMENT AND FINANCIAL HEALTH
ERMUMN.COM | 763.441.2020 | 13069 ORONO PARKWAY | PO BOX 430 | ELK RIVER, MN 55330-0430
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UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:FROM:
ERMU Commission Chris Kerzman –Engineering Manager
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 8, 2022 5.4
SUBJECT:
Field Services Facility Expansion Project –Award and Assign Construction Contract
ACTION REQUESTED:
Adopt resolution 22-2, Awarding and Approving the Assignment of Construction Contract to
RJM Construction.
BACKGROUND:
During the original bid opening, RJM Constructiondid not receive any quotes for the Vehicle
Wash Equipment category. RJM carried an allowance of $57,787 in the budget for Vehicle Wash
Equipment, and resolicited quotes from the vendors.
DISCUSSION:
Attached is a letter of recommendation to award the vehicle wash equipment to Lube-Tech
Reliable Plus, Inc. The quoted amount was $59,476.88, compared to the allowance of
$57,787.00. The difference will be taken out of the construction contingency funds. Staff is
requesting that the commission adopt Resolution 22-2, Awarding and Approving the
Assignment of Construction Contract to RJM Construction.
Over the past month, the plumbers and electricians have made good progress on the below
grade installation throughout the building. Window installation began during the week of
January 24 and has been going well. The roofing contractor has been making good progress as
weather allows and is finishing up detailing over the garage and inventory sections before
moving on to the roof over the offices.
Upcoming work is expected to include roofing over the office area, continuing window
installation, framing installation, electrical and plumbing work. If weather conditions are
favorable, we expect to begin pouring the floor at the end of February.
ATTACHMENTS:
Letter of Recommendation from RJM Construction – Award of Quote Category 11A –
Vehicle Wash Equipment
Resolution 22-2 Awarding and Approving Assignment of Construction Contract to RJM
Construction for the ERMU Field Services Facility Project
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