Public Utilities Commission

Owatonna Public Utilities Commission August 25, 2020 4:00 p.m. The Owatonna Public Utilities Commission met in regular session via Microsoft Teams. Present were Commissioners Doyal, Keilman, Kottke, Rossi and Johnson. Also present were General Manager Warehime; City Administrator Busse; Director, Finance and Administration Olson; Director, Engineering Johnson; Chief Information Officer Keltgen; Manager, Human Resources Madson; Supervisor, Accounting Linders; Executive, Communications & Administration Coordinator Schmoll and Key Accounts/Energy Conservation Officer Hendricks. Also present was Christian Fenstermacher, new employee. President Doyal called the meeting to order and asked for approval of the agenda, including consent agenda items. The consent agenda items included the Minutes of the July 28, 2020 meeting and the Contributed Services report as of July 31, 2020. Commissioner Kottke moved to accept the agenda as presented. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion. On roll-call, all Commissioners voted Aye, the motion passed. Committee Reports Personnel Committee – Commissioner Rossi reported the Personnel Committee met, and received a staffing update. He reported, all positions have been filled, including the Director, Engineering & Operations. He further reported, one position, the electric engineering technician, will be put on hold and reassessed after the new Director gets on board. Commissioner Rossi further reported, in regards to the COVID pandemic, OPU has not had any cases with employees, or employees who have had to quarantine. Finance Committee – Commissioner Kottke reported the Finance Committee met, reviewed and approved vouchers totaling $6,284,011.03. Commissioner Kottke further discussed a substation work order that was anticipated to run over. After review, the work order will run over, but it will be within the 10% threshold and will not require any further Commission action. Commissioner Kottke updated the Commission on the City Attorney’s findings regarding the large water meter order. The City Attorney recommended filling out and approving a Contract Single Source Request form and recommended going forward, even though there may only be on vendor, to go out for formal bids anyway. This situation was unique it that the order for the water meters was just a piece of the overall AMI larger project. After discussion, Commissioner Kottke moved to complete and approve the Single Source Request form for the large water meter order associated with the AMI project per the recommendation of the City Attorney. Commissioner Rossi seconded the motion. On roll-call, all Commissioners voting Aye the motion passed. City Administrator’s Report City Administrator Busse updated the Commission on the collaborative group called OPED. She noted it stands for Owatonna Partners for Economic Development and focuses on economic development for the City of Owatonna. She further noted, it is comprised of members from the City of Owatonna, Steele County, Owatonna Public Utilities, the Chamber of Commerce and the Owatonna Area Business Development Center. She discussed the 2019 Annual Report (attached) and updated the Commission on the current efforts of the group. Some of the efforts being focused on currently include housing and work force, including a job shadow program for students to introduce them to all the job opportunities Owatonna has to offer. Their strategic plan is constantly being reassessed and some things have been pushed back in order to bring more important items to the forefront. Ms. Busse concluded, work is being done with Riverland Community College to assess what the education needs in the community should be. It is a great group to be involved in and believes it is unique to Owatonna. Commissioner Keilman complimented the OPED group on their collaboration within the community. Page 2 Owatonna Public Utilities Commission August 25, 2020 4:00 p.m. Steele Waseca Coop Electric Joint Service Territory Agreement General Manager Warehime discussed and requested the Commission authorize him to sign the “Agreement to Terminate the Joint Venture Agreement and Permanently Transfer Electric Service Territory”. He discussed the background of the joint venture agreement and discussed the terms of the new agreement and covered the benefits. He noted the territory will be permanently transferred to OPU. After discussion, Commissioner Rossi moved to give authority to General Manager Warehime to sign the Agreement to Terminate the Joint Venture Agreement. Commissioner Kottke seconded the motion. On roll-call, all Commissioners voting Aye, the motion passed. Coronavirus Relief Grant Key Accounts/Energy Conservation Officer Hendricks presented to the Commission on the Coronavirus Relief Grants. He noted, we are asking for the Commission to approve a resolution authorizing OPU staff to create and administer the Coronavirus Relief Grant Program to disperse up to $100,000 of the City of Owatonna’s CARES funding to residential OPU customers in accordance with all federal, state and local rules and regulations. Mr. Hendricks explained how the grants would work, the benefits of the program, and other utilities who are doing similar programs. After discussion, Commissioner Kottke moved to adopt the resolution as presented. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion. On roll-call, all Commissioners voting Aye, motion passed. Operations/Scorecard There was not anything notable on the scorecard. General Manager/Staff Report Chief Information Officer Keltgen updated the Commission on OPU’s cyber security measures. He noted, we did a tabletop exercise and simulation. The idea was to test our incident response plan and to fill in any gaps. Mr. Keltgen went through the simulation with the Commission. Commissioner Kottke praised the group for going through these steps to keep OPU secure. Commission Roundtable Commissioner Doyal complimented the OPED group and remarked it is a huge benefit for Owatonna. He also thanked Mr. Keltgen for his presentation on cyber security. Audience Comments Christian Fenstermacher remarked he is looking forward to joining the OPU team. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting adjourned at 5:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tammy Schmoll Executive, Communications & Administration Coordinator