Loading...
2.2 ERMUSR 08-09-2022Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 1 ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES REGULAR MEETING OF THE UTILITIES COMMISSION HELD AT THE UPPERTOWN CONFERENCE ROOM July 12, 2022 Members Present: Chair John Dietz, Vice Chair Al Nadeau, Commissioners Mary Stewart, Paul Bell, and Matt Westgaard ERMU Staff Present: Theresa Slominski, General Manager Melissa Karpinski, Finance Manager Tom Geiser, Operations Director Chris Sumstad, Electric Superintendent Mike Tietz, Technical Services Superintendent Dave Ninow, Water Superintendent Chris Kerzman, Engineering Manager Tony Mauren, Executive Administrative Manager Jenny Foss, Communications & Administrative Coordinator Others Present: Cal Portner, City Administrator 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 July 12, 2022, agenda. Motion carried 5-0 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA (Approved By One Motion) Chair Dietz asked Mr. Mauren if he should have been the one to write the summary for item 2.4, not staff. Chair Dietz explained that this is the procedure followed by the City for the city administrator’s review. Mr. Mauren responded that the item could be removed from the consent agenda and brought back for approval once Chair Dietz has had the chance to provide a summary of the General Manager Performance Evaluation. 35 Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 2 Moved by Commissioner Nadeau and seconded by Commissioner Bell to approve the amended Consent Agenda as follows: 2.1 Check Register – June 2022 2.2 Regular Meeting Minutes – June 14, 2022 2.3 Closed Meeting Minutes – June 14, 2022 2.4 Summary of General Manager Performance Evaluation Motion carried 5-0. 3.0 OPEN FORUM No one appeared for open forum. 4.0 POLICY & COMPLIANCE Nothing was presented for policy & compliance. 4.1 Annual Commission Performance Self-Evaluation Per Governance Policy G.2c Agenda Planning, and consistent with the 2022 Governance Agenda, the Commission is to conduct a self-evaluation of their own performance in the third quarter of each fiscal year. As the commissioners had completed an online survey regarding their performance prior to the meeting, Ms. Slominski presented the summary of the survey, which included comparisons to scores from the previous two years. Ms. Slominski noted that most of the scores show that commissioners agree or strongly agree that their performance is in line with expectations. Commissioner Bell shared his belief that the Commission prefers the current practice of having department managers in the room to respond to questions. Commissioner Westgaard confirmed that was also his preference. There were no further recommendations from the Commission. 4.2 Annual Strategic Plan Review Ms. Slominski presented her memo on the Annual Strategic Plan Review, noting that this year’s planning involved a new collaboration with Vision Companies, LLC and that the process of developing the plan was still underway. Ms. Slominski noted there were four themes that evolved from the planning meeting: Employees; Technology; Reliability, Rates, and Environmental Stewardship; and Safety. From those four themes four outcome statements were developed. 36 Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 3 Ms. Slominski then invited staff to highlight items that were being removed from ERMU’s dashboard, having been completed. Mr. Sumstad, Mr. Mauren, and Ms. Youngs provided the Commission with background on the completion of the Outage Communication initiative. This establishes a chain of communication and collaboration between field and office staff to provide timely and accurate information to ERMU customers in outage situations. Staff also explained the tiered system of communication that is employed depending on the scope of the outage as well as future capabilities that will come with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Commissioner Stewart asked if the practice of directing customers to ERMU’s call center for outages that last beyond business hours was to continue. Staff responded that it was. Chair Dietz asked how other utilities handle outage communications. Staff responded. Ms. Karpinski updated the Commission on the Vault Retention program which was established to efficiently utilize the “Document Vault” storage functionality of the National Information Solutions Cooperatives software. Ms. Karpinski explained that retention schedules were created for the electronic financial documents in the “Document Vault” which allow for timely retention and removal of data. Ms. Karpinski went on to explain that going forward other departments will utilize the system. Chair Dietz had process questions about the system. Staff responded. Commissioner Stewart asked if the system allows staff to put a legal hold on documents. Ms. Karpinski affirmed that it did. Mr. Kerzman presented his item on Cyber & Physical Security which is an initiative happening in conjunction with the City IT staff and the joint committee created to evaluate cyber and physical security for ERMU and the City. Mr. Kerzman noted that related policies have been created and now need to be reviewed and updated annually. Mr. Geiser presented his item on the Highway 10 rebuild, an initiative that involved coordinating electric and water infrastructure changes to accommodate the improvements of the highway. Mr. Geiser also expressed his appreciation for the working relationship staff had with MnDOT. Mr. Geiser also detailed the replacement of overhead lines with underground feeder lines, the movement of streetlights, and installation of trail lights for the project. Mr. Ninow presented his item on the Backflow Prevention Program, an initiative that consisted of the development of a policy and implementation plans for tracking and testing of backflow prevention devices to ensure contamination does not occur. Mr. Ninow explained that polices have been created and ERMU has been working with 37 Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 4 HydroCorp for tracking tests and sending notices to residents, while staff has been testing devices. Ms. Slominski then asked for commission input on the four outcome statements in her memo that staff had created during their strategic planning meeting. Chair Dietz asked if staff could utilize customer emails on file to contact individuals during an outage. Ms. Slominski responded that with the implementation of AMI it will be possible to identify which customers are out of service and potentially use that data. Commissioner Westgaard said he didn’t think there were more important topics than those selected by staff. Commissioner Bell agreed and shared his hope for the future to see specific initiatives with goals centered around AMI. Ms. Slominski responded that AMI was an important topic in planning discussions. Commissioner Bell also noted that electric vehicle infrastructure will become a bigger issue and recommended staff have that in mind for future initiatives. Chair Dietz asked if there had been requests for installing a solar garden. Staff responded that they didn’t believe there had been. There was discussion. The Commission had no further recommendations on strategic plan initiatives. 5.0 BUSINESS ACTION 5.1 Financial Report – May 2022 Ms. Karpinski presented the May 2022 Financial Report. She highlighted a 1% increase in electric usage compared to May 2021 and a less than 1% decrease in usage year to date. She also noted a 26% decrease in water usage from the previous May and a 10% decrease year to date. Ms. Karpinski added that due in large part to the increased cost in Purchased Power ERMU had accrued and billed a little over $1 million dollars for the 2022 Energy Adjustment Clause. Chair Dietz had clarifying questions. Staff Responded. Ms. Karpinski affirmed Chair Dietz’s question that most of the $1.6 million variance in electric expenses is due to Purchased Power. 38 Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 5 Chair Dietz expressed his concern that there would be a continuing trend of a negative Net Income Profit. Staff responded that a majority of other expenses are at or below budget. There was discussion Chair Dietz asked if staff is receiving questions from customers on the billed PCA. Ms. Youngs responded that questions were very rare except from large customers. Chair Dietz asked if neighboring utilities are also passing on PCAs. There was discussion. Moved by Commissioner Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Nadeau to receive the May 2022 Financial Report. Motion carried 5-0. 5.2 Field Services Facility Expansion Project Mr. Kerzman presented a memo on the Field Services Facility Expansion Project, sharing that the motion for summary judgement had been filed on July 7 with a hearing scheduled for August 5 to resolve disputed issues with the project’s original structural steel contractor. Mr. Kerzman explained that RJM Construction informed him that it typically takes 90 days from the hearing for judgement to be reached. There was discussion. Chair Dietz asked if staff believed they would be able to move into the building by September 1. Mr. Kerzman shared his opinion that they could be moving inventory in by that date, but staff would have to move in after September 1. Mr. Kerzman explained that delays were related to challenges with concrete contractor’s inconsistent presence on site and work that needs to be redone. There was discussion. Mr. Kerzman estimated that the project was six weeks behind the contractual date for substantial completion of the project. Chair Dietz asked if there was a penalty for missing the deadline. Mr. Kerzman expressed his belief that issue stemmed from failures in the scheduling of subcontractors and holding them to the schedule, but they could argue that COVID-19 and supply chain issues created the delay. Mr. Kerzman stated that ERMU’s legal advisors told him delays beyond the contractual date would be considered damages solely for costs that would not have otherwise been incurred. Mr. Kerzman sought direction from the Commission on if and how to bring that issue forward. There was discussion. Commissioner Westgaard said staff should start the conversation with RJM Construction to protect ERMU’s interests and to avoid a prolonged delay. Staff sought commission consensus on how to proceed. The Commission agreed to begin discussions on penalties. Chair Dietz had questions on the timeline for landscaping. Staff responded. 39 Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 6 Commissioner Bell recommended staff establish a drop-dead date for the project. Mr. Kerzman then asked for the Commissions opinion on authorizing staff to call a conference with RJM Construction or wait to see the progress reported at the August commission meeting. There was discussion. There was consensus to call a special meeting of the utilities commission with RJM Construction should staff deem it necessary. 5.3 Employee Appreciation Lunch Ms. Slominski requested input from the Commission on when and where they would like to have the Employee Appreciation Lunch There was consensus from the Commission to wait and hold the event at the new building, with a date to be chosen once there is a clearer timeline for completion. 5.4 MMUA Summer Conference Chair Dietz shared his opinion that ERMU should send Ms. Slominski to the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association’s (MMUA) Summer Conference, though she was not scheduled to attend, to facilitate introductions and be a resource for Mr. Hanson. Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Nadeau to authorize expenditure to send Ms. Slominski to the MMUA Summer Conference. Motion carried 5-0. 6.0 BUSINESS DISCUSSION 6.1 Staff Updates Commissioner Stewart recommended staff review the language used by the afterhours call center during the outage for clarity. Commissioner Stewart commended Mr. Theisen on completing the Community Leadership program coordinated by the Elk River Chamber of Commerce. 6.2 Future Planning Chair Dietz announced the following: a. Regular Commission Meeting – August 9, 2022 b. Quorum – Sherburne County Parade – July 16, 2022 c. Quorum – MMPA Annual Meeting and Dinner – July 26, 2022 40 Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes July 12, 2022 Page 7 d. 2022 Governance Agenda 6.3 Other Business Commissioner Westgaard informed the Commission he will not be in attendance for the August meeting. Commissioner Westgaard then provided an update from the City Council, highlighting topics such as recognition for the state champion boys volleyball team, city planning items, accessory building ordinances, city administrator performance review, and work session items. Chair Dietz had a question about ERMU’s involvement with the Night to Unite event. Mr. Geiser explained there would be two bucket trucks and the EV at the three respective city-run event locations. 7.0 ADJOURN REGULAR MEETING Moved by Commissioner Nadeau and seconded by Commissioner Bell to adjourn the regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 4:56 p.m. Motion carried 5-0. Minutes prepared by Tony Mauren. ___________________________________ John J. Dietz, ERMU Commission Chair ___________________________________ Tina Allard, City Clerk 41