5.2. ERMUSR 12-14-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River ^-, Municipal Utilities 13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 Elk River, MN 55330-0430 UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING Phone: 763.441.2020 Fax: 763.441.5099 TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission David Berg -Water Superintendent John Dietz, Chair Jerry Gumphrey, Vice Chair D 1 Thom son, Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: December 14, 2010 5.2 SUBJECT: Hirin of R lacement Water O erator BACKGROUND: At the November 17, 2009 meeting, the Commission was informed of the resignation of one of the water department's operators. At that time the recommendation to the Commission was to hold-off on replacing the operator in the short term, assess the workload, and return to the Commission in the ls` quarter of 2010 with a request for permission to implement a replacement strategy. DISCUSSION: Although past the 1 s` quarter of 2010, the water department superintendent and employees have recently discussed the workload issues related to operating shorthanded for this extended period of time. The water department is recommending replacing the water operator at this time. This action is budgeted in the 2011 plan and is necessary to accomplish the following goals: water meter change-outs, well up-keep, system maintenance, customer service, irrigation, tower maintenance, and implementation of conservation programs. Under the current staffmg levels, the water department staff has been unable to meet the Water Distribution Maintenance Program schedule as adopted in ERMU policy, even with the water superintendent shifting focus to perform water operator duties. Replenishing the water department staffing to the previous level through the hiring of the requested water operator will free up the water superintendent's time to address more strategic issues, versus being time limited to address only day-to- day workload concerns. To support this request, refer to the Municipal Utility Benchmarking Analysis included under agenda item 5.1. ERMU services 72% more customer meters per FTE (full-time equivalent) than the average of the 16 utilities in the benchmarking analysis. Per the same analysis, ERMU also maintains 28% more miles of water mains per FTE and pumps considerably more gallons per day than the other utilities in the benchmarking. ACTION REQUESTED: At this time, the utilities is seeking the Commission's approval to hire a replacement water operator in an expeditious manner for the position left open with the departure of a water operator in Nov. of 2009.