Duluth Public Utilities Commission.

411 West First Street City of Duluth Duluth, Minnesota 55802 Unofficial Actions - Final Duluth Public Utilities Commission. Tuesday, October 24, 2023 5:15 PM WLSSD Board Room, 2626 Courtland Street NOTE: This was not an official meeting and no actions were made as there was no quorum. CALL TO ORDER President Ryan noted the absence of a quorum and opened the floor to discussion at 5:18 p.m. ROLL CALL Members Present: Erin Abramson, Councilor Mike Mayou, Carrie Ryan, Councilor Terese Tomanek (left at 6:00 p.m.) Members Absent: Chris Adatte, Andrea Crouse, Councilor Noah Hobbs Staff Present: Jean Coleman, Cyndi Falconer, Leanna Gilbert, Chris Ostern, Tom Pfeffer, Howard Smith, Kerry Venier Others Present: Marianne Bohren, Executive Director of WLSSD; Caroline Clement, WLSSD Manager of Operations and Maintenance; Brandon Kohlts, WLSSD Manager of Planning and Technical Services; Cathy Remington, WLSSD Director of Finance NEW BUSINESS 2024 WLSSD budget DPUC118 Indexes: Attachments: 2024 Budget WLSSD dated 09282023 Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) staff gave an overview of their organization and operations. They also explained their budget, cost allocations, and year-end adjustments and answered questions from commissioners and City staff. City of Duluth Page 1 Printed on 11/29/2023 Duluth Public Utilities Commission. Unofficial Actions - Final October 24, 2023 Water public education Since there were only three commissioners present at this time, President Ryan suggested waiting until the next meeting to discuss this topic. She did recommend changing the graphs that were added to the water system presentation to something easier to understand like bar graphs. UPDATES FROM STAFF Cyndi Falconer reported that the 8th Street project is almost done. Our other lead projects are ready for next spring, and we are working with the State on funding for those. We are planning more projects for emergency or high priority lead replacement and for coordination with street projects. We are still identifying lead services, sending letters to customers, and giving out filter pitchers. Kerry Venier mentioned that the communication from WLSSD about their 2024 budget increase was great. Tom Pfeffer reported that projects are finishing up for the year. We would normally be going into design mode, but we will be having an office move and are using a lot of staff for lead inventory. Howie Smith mentioned that the water projects for next year were designed last year and not constructed this year. Commissioner Mayou asked about the results of the EPA visit at the water treatment facility. Cyndi stated that we are working through the items that were discussed. She doesn’t believe that we have received a final report yet. COMMISSIONER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS President Ryan mentioned a request from Citizens’ Climate Lobby to give a presentation to the Commission and suggested having them at the January or February meeting. UPCOMING COUNCIL ACTIONS No upcoming actions were mentioned. PREVIEW OF UPCOMING BUSINESS The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 5:15 p.m.; however, the meeting may be moved to November 28 in order to have a quorum. The Commission will review the revised water system presentation and discuss the public education portion of the water rate process. KNOWN ABSENCES FOR FUTURE MEETINGS Commissioner Mayou is not available on November 21, but he would be available on November 28. ADJOURNMENT The discussion ended at 6:39 p.m. City of Duluth Page 2 Printed on 11/29/2023