6.1i ERMUSR 07-12-2022��i
Elk River �
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO: FROM:
ERMU Commission Mike Tietz —Technical Services Superintendent
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
July 12, 2022 6.1i
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• In June, the locators processed 650 locate tickets. These consisted of 3 emergency
tickets, 550 normal tickets, 69 updated tickets, 14 cancellations, 7 meets, 5 non-
excavation, 1 correction, and 1 boundary survey. This resulted in a 0.8% increase of
tickets from the previous month and a 3.7% decrease from the prior June.
• Electrical technicians completed 369 service order tasks, updated the power bill,
addressed customer meter issues and off-peak concerns. They also completed the
inspection and reprogramming of the solar production meters within our system.
• On June 29, staff ran generators #1  without incident. Engines #3  were turned
over but not ran. The replacement exhaust bellow for Engine #4 should arrive before
the next monthly generator run.
• Mapping department has been busy working on GIS updates, and GPSing splices/assets.
• The substation apparatus technician has been busy performing annual substation
maintenance and preparing plans for upcoming equipment replacement projects that
have been budgeted for this year.
• We have received pricing and lead times for the replacement of the Otsego transformer.
Currently, the estimate is $850k (+/-10%) and the lead time is 36 months. This will move
the project out to fall of 2025 for its replacement at the earliest.
• In June, the Advance Metering Infrastructure team, with the help of our consultants,
were able to eliminate two of the four vendors from the shortlist. We have requested
reference checks for the remaining vendors and have reviewed those that have been
received. We are also requesting further clarification about the functionality and
operation specifics on the meters from each of the vendors. We are still on track to have
a vendor selected in July and will work through contracts at that time.
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