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Page 3 <br /> Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission <br /> January 15,2008 <br /> James Tralle moved to approve the proposed Water Service Abandonment Agreement with Elk <br /> River United Methodist Church for the three lots. Jerry Takle seconded the motion. Motion <br /> carried 2-0. <br /> 5.4 Review Climate Change Material <br /> There is a lot of discussion on climate change and renewable energy in the news media and <br /> within our electric industry. Whatever legislation has passed and implemented will have a huge <br /> impact on our industry. The included material was reviewed and discussed. <br /> 6.1 Review Annual Report to City Council <br /> On an annual basis,all departments of the City of Elk River provide annual reports to the city <br /> council. These reports are also completed in digital format and placed on the Cities website so the <br /> general public can view these reports. Bryan Adams reviewed the past years progress and the <br /> future goals. <br /> 6.2 Review Annual Electrical Outage Report <br /> The Minnesota Energy, Security and Reliability Act enacted in 2001,contains a distribution <br /> reliability section. One section of this legislation requires,on an annual basis,an outage report be <br /> submitted to their governing bodies,which in our case,is the Elk River Municipal Utilities <br /> Commission. In 2007 there were only 47 outages. The major causes of this year's outages were <br /> animals(squirrels),fuse failures,3rd party dig-ins,trees,and vehicles hitting poles. The fuse <br /> failures are caused by a manufacturing material issue on the cutouts. Staff is in the process of <br /> acquiring quotes to replace the porcelain cutouts with polymer cutouts. <br /> 6.3 Review APPA Electric Rate Study <br /> On an annual basis APPA completes an electric rate comparison. The information is derived <br /> from US Department of Energy form E1A-861,that all utilities file on an annual basis. Elk River <br /> Municipal Utilities rates as in previous years are still competitive for the residential and <br /> commercial rate,but the demand customer rate remains 8%- 10%higher. <br /> 6.4 Energy Expo Request <br /> The Energy Expo will be held at the City Fire department complex on Orono Road on April <br /> 19th. Mayor Stefanie Klinzing is asking the Utilities to donate funds for this Energy Expo. Bryan <br /> Adams was informed that Connexus was donating$1000. <br /> Jerry Takle moved to approve a$1000 contribution to the Energy Expo. James Tralle seconded <br /> the motion. Motion carried 2-0. <br /> 6.5 Review Proposed Flexible Benefit Plan Policy <br /> Since 1988,Elk River Municipal Utilities has offered a Flexible Benefits Plan to its <br /> employees to be able to exclude from tax the medical and dental premiums,and also participate in <br /> dependant care,and medical expense reimbursement plans that offer tax savings. These plans fall <br /> under the IRS regulations for Section 125 Cafeteria Plans. In August of 2007 the IRS released a <br /> comprehensive set of proposed regulations that apply to Section 125 Cafeteria Plans. These new <br />