INFORMATION #3 08-07-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission July 11, 2006 David Berg said tIlere were 11 new security accounts added in Jlll1e and most of those were :fi:onl referrals. Sununer staff is painting hydrillltS. The spin doctor is being utilized for the water valves and recording the GPS coordinates alollg with the valve operating torque for future referellce. Theresa SlonUnski infanl1ed the Commission of the new employee hired to replace the previous employee that decided not to return fraill maternity leave. Theresa is working with the City regarding a CDL policy and will keep the Commission apprised. R.W. Beck is doing a rate study and in conjUllction with this, cash reserves will be addressed. Theresa will be bringing cash reserve information back to the Corrnnission for approval after the investment committee meets. There will be a Minnesota Sales and Use Tax audit the end of July. Several other utilities llave been audited and llave had to pay monies related to donated utilities not belllg taxed. 5.2 Revie\v Co Rd 40 Rebuild Proiect With tIle Co Rd 40 rebuild project scheduled to start soon, the cost associated with the trunk water main installation has been projected at around $800,000. As in past discussions, the issue has been who would be financing this project. After further discussion with Lori Johnson, City AdmiI1istrator, she indicated that the City would fund the trunk water main. The remaliUng question is if there will be allY interest payments assessed to the utilities. Lori Johnson said the trunk water main issue is a special circumstance and as long as the future developnlent progresses as projected there should not be a long period of time before the trunk \vater main cotlld be assessed. Jo1m Dietz added that this was a urllqlle situation and didn't feel tile City would require interest payments on this trunk water main at this time if it remained short term, however, lle did feel that Elk River Municipal Utilities should have proper reserves for future instances like this. 5.3 Consider Community Wide Internet System TIle last couple of conunission meetings have included discussiollS regarding a COl1U11tmity wide broadballd internet system. Currently there are tlrree providers in the market ill Elk River and they are Qwest, Charter COlmnunicatiollS, and NortIlstar Access. Discussion followed as to the requirenlents needed if Commission desires to proceed with tIus service. TIle 900 Mhz wave is tmlicensed and, therefore free but there are other wireless devices that can cause lllterference, such as baby monitors and garage door openers. Bryan Adams said Nortl1star Access is waiting for a possible 700 Mhz system to become available. Discussion followed regarding the current 900 Mhz that is being utilized by Buffalo and acknowledging that there are interferen~e problelTIs. Tllere is a possibility of leasing an antelula from GRE for a pilot project covering a 2 to 3 mile directional radius on the north east side of Elk River. Bob Pearson discussed the possibilities and problems involved with the 900 Mhz systeln. J anles Tralle felt tlus should be looked into further and brought back to a future COlnmission meeting what the costs and probabilities would be.