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��i <br />Elk River <br />Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING <br />TO: <br />FROM: <br />ERMU Commission <br />Tony Mauren — Governance & Communications Manager <br />MEETING DATE: <br />AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br />January 14, 2025 <br />6.1d <br />SUBJECT: <br />Staff Update <br />ACTION REQUESTED: <br />None <br />DISCUSSION: <br />• Bill inserts for January 2025 include 1/3 sheet residential and commercial rebate flyers <br />and the SmartHub Auto Pay Program flyer (attached). <br />• In addition to bill insert topics, social media posts this month feature the commission <br />meeting notice, holiday office closures and garbage service delays, 2025 rates, tree <br />trimming, and scholarship information. <br />• The ERMU student scholarship has been updated for 2025, as we now independently <br />offer up to two $1000 scholarships to high school seniors in our service territory who <br />plan to further their education towards a career in water, electric, or conservation <br />related fields (application flyer attached). This approach to the scholarship program is a <br />departure from previous years when we partnered with Minnesota Municipal Utilities <br />Association's (MMUA) Tom Bovitz Scholarship. MMUA is in the process of reevaluating <br />its scholarship program and have confirmed it will no longer run through local utilities. <br />• Communications staff updated the residential and commercial new customer packets to <br />include the Who Owns What infrastructure flyers (attached). These inserts were created <br />in 2022 and have previously been distributed to customers. Adding the inserts to their <br />respective packets is intended to ensure that customers begin their service with ERMU <br />having a solid understanding of ownership responsibilities. <br />• On January 6, Communications Coordinator Jenny Foss and I sat down with safety, grant <br />writing, and communications staff from MMUA to discuss a new community safety <br />training initiative. As a group we discussed MMUA's intention to roll out a program <br />funded by a Susan Harwood Training Grant, bringing free OSHA training on chemical <br />safety to local businesses as a means to enhance the way ERMU serves its community. It <br />was a great discussion where our staff was able to provide insight on how to best <br />communicate with utility customers as well as offer recommendations for logistics like <br />registration. We will provide updates on this initiative as it develops. <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />79 <br />