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to be used with economic development. Troy asked the managers to provide some bullet <br /> points on the things they accomplished this past year. <br /> Tom Sagstetter—For energy efficiency we issued over 3,100 residential rebates totaling <br /> $66,000 rebate dollars, and 45 commercial rebates totaling$107,000 in rebate dollars. <br /> Tom explained that the savings the residential customers will see by making these changes <br /> will be 507,000 kWh, or about$64,000 in equivalent energy costs for 2015, and the <br /> commercial customers will save 1,360,000 kWh and approximately 328 kW, equating to <br /> approximately$165,000 in annual energy savings. Tom shared that for the low income <br /> segment ERMU met their spending requirement of over$20,000. The bulk of the spending <br /> was to CAER Food Shelf in the amount of$12,000 for upgrading their freezers and <br /> refrigerators. For Energy City, we provided tours to over 520 visitors and worked with city <br /> staff to participate in Green Step Cities to achieve a level 3 status. For economic <br /> development we worked with the city and achieved a certified shovel ready site with <br /> DEED. We also worked with a commercial property owner to put together a USDA grant <br /> that could possibly bring a solar PV installation to downtown Elk River. <br /> Eric Volk—The big project for 2015 was the addition of 2,500 feet of watermain along <br /> County Road 13 (Twin Lakes Road). The new watermain will aid in the distribution of an <br /> additional 1,125,000 gallons per day. The water department did Sodium Permanganate <br /> upgrades; which involved switching from a powder to a liquid. They also began working <br /> on Fluoride upgrades. The first year of the private hydrant program was a success. There <br /> are a total of 214 private hydrants, of which 163 of those are on our program. Eric shared <br /> that he is very proud of his water operators for all the work and repairs they were able to do <br /> themselves versus contracting it out; he estimated it saved approximately$60,000. The <br /> department also completed their GIS mapping for the water distribution system. John <br /> Dietz had a question how much it cost to switch from a powder to a liquid. Staff <br /> responded. <br /> Theresa Slominski—On the customer service side we added a new Customer Service <br /> Representative in anticipation of the potential Connexus acquisition. We had the software <br /> conversion which we'll reap further benefits from of as we get more comfortable with the <br /> system. Our customers have seen the immediate benefit of SmartHub and being able to <br /> view more information about their account online. As we move forward with mobile <br /> workforce, we'll be able to have more efficiency on the backend so that we can provide <br /> even better customer service. On the financial side, a few big items were the refunding of <br /> the bonds and the Aa3 rating Moody's assigned to us. Troy Adams added that the <br /> Commission's decision to look at a new wholesale power provider was a legacy decision. <br /> The Commission had a few billing questions. Staff responded. <br /> Mark Fuchs— Some of the bigger projects were rebuilding Baldwin Avenue and Line <br /> Avenue by replacing rear lot line overhead with front lot line underground; built feeder 74 <br /> out of our west substation site; rebuilt an overhead line on Hwy 169,north of County Road <br /> 33, in anticipation of what we'd be taking over on the south side; rebuilt River Ranch in <br /> Page 4 <br /> Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission <br /> May 12,2015 <br /> 28 <br />