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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20130311 UC MinutesUTILITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 11, 2013 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the regular Utility Commission meeting of the City of Rosemount was called to order on March 11, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in the Conference Room of the City Hall, 2875 145th Street West, Rosemount. President Harmsen called the meeting to order with Commissioner Mulhern, City Administrator Johnson, Executive Director Brotzler, Finance Director May, Council Member Demuth and Recording Secretary Kladar attending. Commissioner Speich was absent. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA None AUDIENCE INPUT None APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION by Harmsen to approve the minutes of the November 19, 2012 regular Utility Commission meeting. Second by Mulhern. Ayes: Mulhern and Harmsen. Nays: None. Motion approved. OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS 6a. Set Meeting Dates for 2013 -2014 Brief discussion held regarding the schedule for Utility Commission meetings in 2013 and 2014 noting that the November 2013 meeting date was moved to the 18th due to a holiday. MOTION by Mulhern to adopt the meeting schedule. Second by Harmsen. Ayes: Harmsen and Mulhern. Nayes: None. Motion approved. 6b. Utility Billing On -Line Bill Pay Update Finance Director May provided an update regarding the City's on -line bill pay system which was recently implemented. The City began receiving on -line payments in February of 2013 and UTILITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 11, 2013 customers can see two years of history in addition to the current year to date history. Finance Director May expects to have 30 -40% utilization by customers. Commissioner Mulhern raised the issue of late fees for those customers learning the new payment system. Finance Director May pointed out that City does have a courtesy grace period and customers can still pay by credit card over the phone. A substantial change in cash flow with the new payment system is not expected. Finance Director May stated there are fees associated with the new system. To date the City is absorbing those costs along with credit card costs without passing on to the customers. Executive Director Brotzler apprised the Commission that there would likely be subsequent discussion before the Commission as to whether the City will continue to send out overdue notices for utility bills. Finance Director May estimates the cost of paper, envelopes and postage to be approximately $3,000 per year excluding staff time. City would still impose a late fee but just add it to the customer's subsequent bill. 6c. Groundwater Article Update Executive Director Brotzler is bringing this topic to the Commission for discussion in response to an article published in the Star Tribune in February regarding groundwater and its use by communities in the metro area. Executive Director Brotzler has contacted several surrounding communities and an informal meeting is scheduled for March 26 to exchange information. There is a possibility of forming a more formal water user group similar to the Southwest Water Supply Group. In the future, additional members could be invited such as the DNR or Met Council. Discussion ensued regarding long term implications of water consumption from aquifer. Industrial and agricultural use of water were discussed. Executive Director Brotzler stated that the City and schools are always top consumers of water due to irrigation. Discussion about how the aquifer recharges. It doesn't appear that the study accounted for the fact that City infiltrates their water which isn't factored into the recharge rates. The challenge for cities is to balance doing things independently thereby differentiating them from neighboring cities versus trying to act regionally. The place to start may be irrigation. A few years ago the City went to tiered structure for water rates based on consumption. However, there may not be any significant reduction in consumption until rates are high enough for residents to notice. The Met Council has a 2010 Metro Water Supply Plan which was a result of state legislation. This legislation led to the creation of the Metropolitan Water Plan and Advisory Committee. The Plan contains information on aquifers and also discusses current underutilization of surface water. The information and maps contained in the Star Tribune article appear to have come from a presentation the Committee made in October 2012. Currently the Met Council has no authority relating to water supply but there is a possibility they could develop a regional water supply system similar to their Sewer Collection and Treatment System. 2 UTILITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 11, 2013 Discussion ensued about the water issues surrounding White Bear Lake. Communities in that area have discussed moving toward a regional water supply and have received funding. Savage and Burnsville are in the Southwest Water Supply Group. Commissioner Harmsen noted that Burnsville went to surface water and has had problems with that. Commissioner Mulhern pointed out that this issue could change the future water treatment plant. Executive Director Brotzler advised that the City recently installed monitoring equipment due to a grant. The groundwater issue will be placed on a future agenda for further discussion after more information is obtained. 6d. Water Meter Replacement Executive Director Brotzler presented information about new regulations regarding allowable lead content in drinking water. The new regulations will impact the City's procedures for repairing and replacing existing water meters. The law provides that the existing meters are grandfathered in and do not need to be upgraded unless it's removed for repair or replacement. All meters distributed by the City since September 2012 are in compliance with the new standards. On average the City replaces 100 to 120 meter repairs per year which will result in an estimated cost of $40,000 to $45,000 per year. Irrigation meters are pulled every year as part of winterization. Initially it was thought that they would have to replace those meters immediately. However, irrigation meters are exempt from the new regulations as they are not a potable water supply. 6e. Generator Upgrades Executive Director Brotzler reported on new maintenance and reporting practices of RICE NESHAP which is the acronym for the EPA rule for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. The City has three generators that fall under the regulation of this new rule. Wells 9 and 12 have a stationary generator and there is a portable generator at Well 7. These three generators participate in Excel Energy Electric Rate Savings peak demand program. In this program the City switches to standby power during peak demand in exchange for lower usage rates. The City's savings by using the peak demand program is approximately $13,720 annually. The cost to upgrade the generators is estimated at $120,000. This upgrade is necessary to stay in the Excel program. There would also be ongoing annual maintenance of $15,000 plus some additional costs for the new generators to maintain compliance. Executive Director Brotzler pointed out that if the City is to use the generators for standard power and non - emergency situations then the City must upgrade. If the City chooses not to upgrade the generators, we must withdraw from the Excel program and the generators would be considered as emergency use only. 3 UTILITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 11, 2013 Discussion ensued about the potential savings versus the cost of upgrading the generators. Savings under the Excel program is $13,000 to $14,000 per year. It could take 20 years to break even. One option may be to give six months' notice to withdraw from Excel rather than updating the equipment. The deadline for installation is May 3, 2013 with a temporary allowance for May 3, 2014 as long as temporary generators are not used more than 50 hours in one year. In the past the City's generators have been under this 50 hour time period. Executive Director Brotzler indicated that he anticipates this subject coming back for discussion in near future. 6f. Abandoned Wells 4 & 5, Sealing Requirements Update Executive Director Brotzler advised the Commission that the City was notified by Dakota County that two former wells that were abandoned do not have well sealing records on file with the Minnesota Department of Health or Dakota County. These are listed as Wells 4 and 5. Staff found information in the previous minutes stating that the wells were located in Chippendale Park. There is currently no mandate to do anything yet regarding these wells. However, the Minnesota Department of Health rules state the City should address and the City's Wellhead Protection Plan also covers this issue. This problem can be expensive to rectify. The City is aware of the issue and will begin by trying to identify grant and funding opportunities to offset the cost. Commissioner Mulhern stated that if the wells were abandoned and not sealed they could possibly be converted into observation wells. Regarding wells 1 and 4, the sealing records on file with Minnesota Department of Health are not for the two former municipal wells which would have been at the former City Hall and hardware store sites. The well sealing records are for two domestic wells. There are no sealing records with Minnesota Department of Health for former municipal wells 1 and 2. It has been discovered that there is some discrepancy with respect to well numbering. The well sealing record numbers don't show that Wells 1 and 4 are sealed and the wells are now on private property now. Executive Director Brotzler will have Staff research City files to identify when the wells were abandoned, when the sale to a private party was made and if there was any well disclosure made to buyers. It also needs to be determined whether the wells were properly sealed as they may have been cut off and capped. Commissioner Mulhern recommended contacting Joe Walsh (previous Utility Commission member) for information about these wells. PRESIDENT'S REPORT President Harmsen did not have anything new to report. UTILITY COMMISSION MINUTES March 11, 2013 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 8a. Project Update Executive Director Brotzler summarized the project update that was included in the packet. 8b. Informational Attachments February 2013 Interim Financial Report No comment by the Commissioners. 2013 Well Pumping Record A brief discussion was held on the pumping record which showed a slight increase over 2012. The increase could be attributed to more ice rink flooding due to the colder temperatures this year as compared to last. 8c. SET NEXT MEETING AGENDA FOR APRIL 8, 2013 • Potential changes to the utility billing policies and procedures for overdue accounts • Updates on the potential generator upgrades • Review and authorize the scope of services and fees for the new MS4 permit ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Harmsen to adjourn. Second by Mulhern. Meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m. Re sp tfuny Submitt c�, Karin Kladar Recording Secretary 5