2.2 EMRUSR 10-08-2024ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE UTILITIES COMMISSION
HELD AT THE UPPERTOWN CONFERENCE ROOM
September 10, 2024
Members Present: Chair John Dietz, Vice Chair Mary Stewart, Commissioners Paul Bell, Matt
Westgaard, and Nick Zerwas
ERMU Staff Present: Mark Hanson, General Manager
Sara Youngs, Administrations Director
Melissa Karpinski, Finance Manager
Tony Mauren, Governance & Communications Manager
Tom Geiser, Operations Director
Chris Sumstad, Electric Superintendent
Mike Tietz, Technical Services Superintendent
Dave Ninow, Water Superintendent
Jenny Foss, Communications & Administrative Coordinator
Others Present: Jared Shepherd, Attorney; 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 Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Bell to approve the
September 10, 2024, agenda. Motion carried 5-0
1.4 Resolution Recognizing 2024 Public Power Week
Mr. Sumstad presented his memo asking the Commission to recognize Public Power Week
2024. Mr. Sumstad explained that ERMU is proud to be a public power provider with a goal of
providing reliable, affordable power that is beneficial to the community. Mr. Sumstad also
highlighted how well public power utilities support one another, citing a recent example with
mutual aid provided to those utilities in the area with outages after major storms in August.
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September 10, 2024
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Moved by Commissioner Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Bell to adopt
Resolution 24-8, recognizing Public Power Week, October 6-12, 2024. Motion carried 5-
0.
1.5 Resolution Recognizing 2024 Customer Service Week
Ms. Youngs presented her memo and requested commission adoption of Resolution 24-9 to
recognize 2024 Customer Service Week.
Moved by Commissioner Zerwas and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to adopt
Resolution 24-9, recognizing Customer Service Week, October 7-11, 2024. Motion
carried 5-0.
2.0 CONSENT AGENDA (Approved By One Motion)
Commissioner Bell sought clarification on the minutes for the item 5.1- 2024 Compensation Study
Update with regards to the Utilities Performance Metric Incentive Compensation (UPMIC). There was
discussion.
Moved by Commissioner Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Bell to approve the
Consent Agenda as follows:
2.1 Check Register —August 2024
2.2 Regular Meeting Minutes —August 13, 2024
Motion carried 5-0.
3.0 OPEN FORUM
No one appeared for open forum.
4.0 POLICY & COMPLIANCE
4.1 Commission Policy Review — G.2h — Independent Advisors to the Commission
Mr. Mauren presented his memo to review the policy. The Commission had no
recommended changes or updates to the policy.
5.0 BUSINESS ACTION
5.1 Financial Report —July 2024
Ms. Karpinski presented the financial report for July 2024 which showed usage for electric
and water being down.
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Ms. Karpinski also noted there will be an adjustment in October from correcting the
underbilling of a large customer from the middle of March to July 31. Ms. Karpinski stated
that adding the $229,000 to electric finances will also improve numbers.
Ms. Youngs explained that under statute the underbilled customer would have as many
months as the underbilling had occurred to pay the balance. There was discussion.
Moved by Commissioner Stewart and seconded by Commissioner Bell to receive the July
2024 Financial Report. Motion carried 5-0.
5.2 2025 Annual Business Plan: Capital Protects & Equipment Purchases, and 20-Year Capital
Protections
Ms. Karpinski presented for review a portion of the 2025 Annual Business Plan with the entire
plan to be approved in December. Ms. Karpinski explained that some of the reserves would
be spent on some of the major projects as expected.
Chair Dietz asked if there was still going to be an interfund loan from the water department
to the electric department to cover a portion of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)
project as the Commission had previously discussed.
Ms. Karpinski explained the loan had not occurred yet as ERMU is still waiting for most of the
electric meters to be delivered.
There was discussion about the Water Main Construction line item listed at $1,450,000. Mr.
Ninow explained that a good portion of the pipe in the Upland Street/ Meadowvale Road area
is from 1960, undersized, and needing to be replaced.
Commissioner Westgaard inquired about the $185,000 for Highway 169 Redefine project
which is expected to be complete in late 2024.
Staff explained this amount was being carried over for an eventual settling of unanticipated
expenses at the project completion.
5.3 Decommissioning of ERMU Power Plant
Mr. Hanson presented his memo and resolution to decommission the ERMU power plant.
Moved by Commissioner Zerwas and seconded by Commissioner Westgaard to adopt
Resolution 24-10, authorizing the decommission of the ERMU Power Plant. Motion
carried 5-0.
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September 10, 2024
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There was discussion about future plans for the building and the engines within. Mr. Hanson
explained that he would look to work with an architect to create a high-level cost estimate to
make the space usable for other administrative functions which will be presented to the
Commission at a future meeting. Mr. Hanson shared the engines could likely be sold.
5.4 Advanced Metering Infrastructure Update
Mr. Tietz presented his memo adding that Allegiant Utility Services, the company
performing electric and water meter installations, forecasted a four -and -a -half -month
completion timeline, though Mr. Tietz added his opinion that it would likely take a little
longer.
Chair Dietz asked if Archer Plumbing was doing all the commercial water meter
replacements.
Mr. Tietz responded that Allegiant was changing the small commercial water meters and
Archer would do the larger commercial meter change outs.
Chair Dietz asked how often ERMU staff must perform a meter exchange that Allegiant is
unable to do.
Mr. Tietz responded that it has been a rare occurrence.
Regarding the delay in receiving the latest shipment of electric meters, Chair Dietz asked if
any of the available meters had been installed. Staff responded that around 1,400 electric
meters had been installed by ERMU staff.
Chair Detz asked staff if they expect there to be electric meter supply issues throughout
the project.
Mr. Tietz responded there are signs of improvements, but the issues are seeming to
continue.
There was discussion about the installation process.
6.0 BUSINESS DISCUSSION
6.1 Staff Updates
Mr. Hanson informed the Commission there would be an update on the settlement with RJM
Construction for the closeout of the field services building project at a future meeting.
The Commission chose to host a Staff Appreciation Lunch at the field services building on
October 8.
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Mr. Geiser informed the Commission that Temporary Lineworker Adam Jurek had been hired
on as full-time staff to fill a vacancy.
Mr. Tietz informed the commission that the system engineer position had been posted on
several hiring outlets.
6.2 City Council Update
Commissioner Westgaard provided a City Council update.
There was discussion about applying the appropriate service rate for residential customers
operating a business on their property. Staff expects future discussion on this matter.
6.3 Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association Summer Conference Discussion
There was discussion about the MMUA Summer Conference. There was consensus that the
content of the conference was beneficial, and it was a good learning opportunity.
6.4 Future Planning
Chair Dietz announced the following:
a. Regular Commission Meeting— October 8, 2024
b. 2024 Governance Agenda
6.5 Other Business
Chair Dietz noted that Commissioner Bell was to be named the City's Volunteer of the
Month and presented his plaque as he would not be able to attend the council meeting.
7.0 ADJOURN REGULAR MEETING
Moved by Commissioner Bell and seconded by Commissioner Stewart to adjourn the regular
meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission at 4:30 p.m. Motion carried 5-0.
Minutes prepared by Tony Mauren.
John J. Dietz, ERMU Commission Chair
Tina Allard, City Clerk
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