ERMUSR HANDOUT #1 06-12-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MMUA also produced the 2011 MMUA Directory, position statement booklets for the APPA Washington Rally and the MMUA Winter Legislative Conference, and the MMUA Leg- . slative Directory. Publications staff also contributed to the nual Legislative Report, and produced materials related to MMUA's training programs and meetings, including a meetings /training calendar. Advertising for MMUA publica- tions was solicited and administered. An MMUA brochure was refined and a new general brochure on municipal utili- ties was produced, as well as various maps and PowerPoint presentations. Downer played a number of other roles, including: • Presentations before city councils, utilities commissions, community colleges, etc., on a variety of topics relating to municipal utilities and their operation. • Maintained the MMUA website (along with Charles An- derson). Conducted 15 on -line surveys to gather information for members. • Administered committees, the MMUA Tom Bovitz Memo- rial Scholarship Award and the MMUA Drug and Alcohol Testing Consortium. Omonitored and influenced low- income and telecom issues while serving as chair of the Salvation Army HeatShare Ad- visory Board and as a member of the Blandin Foundation's Broadband Strategy Board. �l Other Activities Finance Program. For a number of years MMUA has operated a finance pro- gram to assist members in financing local projects. Because all existing funds had been committed, and the current state of the public finance market is not conducive to pool bond finance programs, MMUA conducted an RFP process to identify a financial institution to provide a new, direct loan version of the finance program. U.S. Bank was selected as provider for the new program, which is now fully operational. If you are interested in ex- ploring another option for project finance, contact Bob 1a- gusch at MMUA. Surveys. Like any business, a municipal utility needs to know how it stacks up against its peers. Survey data is one of the best ways to obtain this important business intelligence. MMUA conducts a variety of surveys on a regular basis and distrib- utes the results to the membership. In 2011 MMUA's Rita Kelly conducted the annual salary and benefits survey. Listening Sessions. In 2011 MMUA conducted a number of listening sessions with members. Most were held in conjunction with safety management and gas circuit rider meetings. We found these sessions very valuable and received a lot of good feedback and suggestions, both in the meetings and in the questionnaires returned by session participants. ofessional videographers from StoryTeller shot some footage for a video on Irnicipal utilities at the Lanesboro dam. Video Project. In 2001 MMUA began development of a video highlighting the value and benefits of a municipal utility. The project is nearing completion and will be distributed to the membership later this year. Association Software Project. MMUA completed the development of a new, more robust data base and the imple- mentation of new software for accessing and maintaining the database and auto- mating many administrative functions. We began the development of a new web site that will be more user friendly and provide members access to their data. 2011 Year in Review - 15