6.1.a. ERMU 01-13-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E.—General Manager John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: January 13, 2015 6.1 a SUBJECT: Staff Updates—General Manager DISCUSSION: • January 13 is an important and sad date in ERMU's history. On this date in 1921, F.D. Waterman passed away. Waterman as a private businessperson incorporated the Elk River Power and Light Company in June of 1915. As described in A History of the Elk River Municipal Utilities, written by Charlene Roise and Deanne Weber, "Many stores and businesses closed during his funeral two days later to allow all to pay tribute to the man who had brought power to Elk River. In addition, according to a contemporary newspaper account, `as the words of eulogy were being spoken over [Waterman's] body at the church, the power wheel at the power plant was shut down and for fifteen minutes the wires and motors which he had first furnished with electric energy were cold and dead." • I have been working with Suzanne Fischer, the City of Elk River Community Operations Director, on her initiative to develop guidelines for equipment sharing. Suzanne is overseeing the creation of an operations committee that will represent operational utilities and city department which will review/maintain the equipment list and sharing guidelines. This committee will also be a platform for improved coordination at an operation level between the utilities and city departments. I am excited about this because of its proactive approach to improving our local government operational effectiveness. This will also be great for developing future leadership from within. • I have been asked by the American Public Power Association to be a speaker for their Spring Education Conference. They would like me to give a presentation on the Performance Metrics and Incentive Compensation Policy that we'd developed in 2012. There will be a conference call in late January to discuss the details before committing. • The Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association will have their 2015 Legislative Conference February 4-6. If you are interested in attending, please let me know as soon as possible. IIN POWEOEO er Page 1 of 2 NATURE Reliable Public N �V Power Provider P O W E R E D To S E R V E 123