12-15-2009 ERMU MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 3 Regular meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission December 15, 2009 5.2 Review and Consider Water Department On-Call The current water department on-call policy pays an employee eight additional hours (overtime rate) each week for carrying the on-call phone. If the employee is called after hours and needs to respond, they receive a minimum of two additional hours or whatever the respondent requires for time. The on-call pay for the water department amounts to approximately $18,000 per year. In recent years there have been very few call-outs not related to the SCADA system or shut-offs. ERMU no longer responds to non-emergency call-outs for shut-offs. A laptop computer has been budgeted for 2010 which will allow for responses to the SCADA alarms remotely. Well over 50% of the 2009 call-outs will be eliminated by the purchase of a laptop computer. It will no longer be cost effective to continue the on-call procedure for the water department. If a call-out is necessary and management is unavailable, a water department employee will be dispatched and compensated the minimum two hour call-out pay or whatever the respondent requires for time. Staff recommends discontinuing the water department on-call policy when the laptop computer is fully functional. Jerry Gumphrey moved to eliminate the water department on-call policy as of the closest pay period on or around March 1, 2010. Daryl Thompson seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. 5.3 Review Industry Rate and Finance Challenges At the October 13, 2009, ERMU Commission meeting, staff was directed to comment on an article published in the September 2009 Public Power magazine. Troy Adams asked the commission if they had any special topics they wanted to discuss. The Commission commended Troy for the interest he showed regarding all the topics of this article and if he has an area of interest he should bring this back to the Commission for discussion at any time. 5.4 Review and Consider Street Lighting Fee (Verbal) At a previous ERMU Commission meeting John Dietz asked staffto look into the possibility of having neighborhoods pay for their own street lighting instead of the City of Elk River. Troy Adams stated that ERMU boundaries go beyond the City limits. John Dietz asked what the street lighting cost was each month. Troy Adams stated approximately $20,000 is donated each month; the City of Elk River is not actually incurring this cost. In order for fees to be collected, ERMU would have to somehow create a way for it to pass through to the City of Elk River. The disproportion of rate payers to City tax base payers complicates that. Lori Johnson stated some cities do not have a local power company to aid in the street lighting fees and have to actually pay a vendor to maintain. The City of Elk River is in a much better situation and didn't think anything needed to be done at this time.