2.2 ERMUSR 01-10-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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section 2 of Policy G1.1, which covered the topic of joint meetings to be held with the City Council and the Commission. John stated that he couldn't remember the last time one of these meetings had been held. There was discussion on the benefits of conducting the joint meetings and the frequency in which they should occur. Troy shared that at a minimum the next four policies will be ready for review in January, and the intention is to have the core Governance Manual ready for adoption in early 2017. 5.0 NEW BUSINESS 5.1 Otsego Street Lighting Staff has been contacted by Hakanson Anderson, the City of Otsego's engineering firm,to discuss street lighting in Otsego. The City of Otsego would like to explore options with ERMU to transition/transfer all of the "behind the meter" street lights they own within the ERMU electric service territory to a similar arrangement as they have with the security lights. Some of the reasons for this are: maintenance, forever changing products, and lack of city staff expertise to effectively manage their street lights. Troy Adams stated that before committing significant time researching options, staff wants to make sure the Commission is in support of it. The Commission had some questions on the financial aspects and the amount of staff time involved in taking on the additional street lights. Staff responded. After discussion,the Commission was open to the idea of working with the City of Otsego,provided it was mutually beneficial to ERMU and would not over-extend our workforce. 5.2 Policy Review—Access to Private Property Troy Adams provided an overview of the policies that are in place regarding access to private property where ERMU equipment is located. Troy explained that in accordance with the National Electric Safety Code requirements staff has been conducting audits and physical inspections of all equipment including meters. The audits and inspections of meters are to verify equipment installation for public and employee safety as well as to identify and prevent theft of electricity. It was noted that over 5%of the meters inspected this year indicated signs of meter tampering. Troy shared that we recently had a customer voice their concern regarding an ERMU employee inspecting an electric meter on his property. The electrical technician had attempted to access the ERMU electric meter in the backyard behind a locked gate. The customer has also claimed that the gate was damaged during the attempt to gain access. Troy explained that the employee who inspected the electric meter had followed ERMU's policy regarding access to utility equipment on private property. The Commission had a few questions. Staff and legal counsel responded. Page 5 Regular Meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission December 13,2016 28