Owatonna Public Utilities Commission March 25, 2002 4:00 p.m.
The Owatonna Public Utilities Commission met in regular session in the Commission Room. Present were Commissioners Truelson, Moen, Schreiner, and Emanuelson. Absent was Commissioner Mayhew. Also present were General Manager Kuntz, Finance Manager Bruno, Energy Conservation/Marketing Specialist Finholdt, Field Services Manager Morgan, HR/Administrative Supervisor Madson, Accountant Teresa Hottman, and Administrative Assistant Tammy Schmoll. Jodi Kvaas from the Owatonna Peoples Press was also present.
Minutes
Minutes from the regular meeting of February 25, 2002 were presented to the Commission. Commissioner Schreiner moved to approve the Minutes as submitted. Commissioner Moen seconded the motion. All Commissioners voting Aye, the motion passed.
Committee Reports
Personnel Committee – Commissioner Emanuelson reported the Personnel Committee met and continued working on the General Manager's goals. The Committee is recommending approval of the draft General Manager's goals. After a brief discussion, the Commission approved using the goals submitted. Another item discussed by the Committee was position guide justifications.
Finance Committee – Commissioner Moen reported the Finance Committee met, reviewed and approved the Vouchers and Financial Statements.
Contributed Services
A revised Contributed Services report as of February 28, 2002 was presented to the Commission. The Commission signed the report.
General Manager's Report
General Manager Kuntz read a letter to the Commission from the Partridge family and Partridge Greenhouse thanking OPU for the many years of excellent service. Mr. Kuntz also read another letter from C&L Communications.
The next item discussed was the 2001 Rate Survey graphs included in the Commission agenda packet. A discussion ensued.
General Manager Kuntz discussed the retained earnings graphs and how they fit in with the Strategic Plan.
Mr. Kuntz reported to the Commission, R.W. Beck responded with a decision regarding pro-rated billing. In their opinion, there is no merit to the pro-rated system and do not recommend implementing it due to the costly nature.
Mr. Kuntz next reported on the equipment show which was held before the Commission meeting, stated Commissioner Truelson took a bucket ride.
Next, Mr. Kuntz gave a recap of the storm outages on March 8th and 9th as well as the City wide outage on March 14th.
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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission March 25, 2002 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Kuntz reported he has contacted the Key Account customers to discuss their utility needs for the summer. Everything looks pretty stable.
Other items covered by Mr. Kuntz included the Marketing Triad and an update of issues involved with that; contributed services for the Incubator; Mayor Connor's frustration with signs being posted on power poles; the first reading of the Franchise Ordinance on March 19th; a letter from the Senior Place regarding their wireless Internet service; an Open House May 2nd and 3rd at OPU and Midwest Wireless unveiling the ClearWave product; water main flushing beginning April 15th; a substation update given by Dan Morgan and an update on the Service Territory issue. Considerable discussion ensued regarding service territory.
Commission Roundtable
Commissioner Schreiner – Nothing
Commissioner Emanuelson – Discussed being in the SCADA booth during the City wide outage on March 14th and expressed how impressed he was with everyone.
Commissioner Moen – Nothing.
Commissioner Truelson – I would like to see an update on peak demand. Thank you for the equipment display. Also, April 17th and 18th is the Steele County Safety Fair. The OPU employee of the month for March is Dave Linders.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner Moen moved to adjourn. Commissioner Emanuelson seconded the motion. All Commissioners voting Aye, the meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tammy Schmoll
Administrative Assistant