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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission March 25, 2024 4:00 p.m.
The Owatonna Public Utilities Commission met in rescheduled session in the Morehouse Conference
Room. The meeting was rescheduled to accommodate staff attending the MMUA Legislative Conference.
Present were Commissioner Zirngible, Johnson and Doyal. Absent were Commissioners Rossi and Vetter.
Also present were General Manager Warehime; Director, Finance & Administration Olson; Director,
Engineering & Field Operations Fenstermacher; Director, Information Technology & Metering Baum; Manager,
Gas & Water Operations Prokopec; Manager, Human Resources Madson; Supervisor, Accounting Linders;
Executive, Communications & Administration Coordinator Schmoll; Energy Conservation & Key Accounts
Officer Hendricks; OPU Employees Roger Noble, Lori Jerpbak and Shanda Meier. Other guests included
Brian LeMon and Kallie Doeden (Kallie attended virtually) from Barr Engineering.
President Zirngible called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. He then asked for
approval of the agenda and the consent agenda. The consent agenda contained the minutes from the
February 27, 2024 meeting and contributed services as of February 29, 2024. Commissioner Doyal moved to
approve the agenda and consent agenda. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion. All Commissioners
voting aye, the motion passed.
Committee Reports
Finance Committee – Commissioner Doyal reported the Finance Committee met, reviewed and approved
vouchers totaling $10,644,302.18. There was not anything else significant to come out of the Finance
Committee meeting.
Personnel Committee – Commissioner Zirngible reported the Personnel Committee met and received a staffing
update, a wage comparison report and an update on the start of union negotiations. He noted, there is one
position open for an Information Technology Operations Engineer.
City Administrator’s Report
City Administrator Busse was not in attendance.
Water Appropriations Presentation and Discussion
General Manager Warehime recapped what OPU has been doing in regard to water restrictions, growth
strategies and the potential for future water appropriations. Director, Engineer & Field Operations
Fenstermacher provided an overview of the 2023-2024 drought conditions, the DNRs drought response plans,
and policy change considerations needed for a more favorable opinion from the DNR if we need to ask for
additional water appropriations. He noted Owatonna is part of the Cannon River watershed which is part of the
bigger Black Root Water shed. In September 2023, our area was in the severe drought phase which triggers
the restrictive phase. In the restrictive phase, the DNR calls upon community systems to put measures into
place to reduce their pumping levels by 125% of their January pumping levels. Before that, we were in the
warning phase which calls for 150% of January pumping levels. Watering bans were implemented between the
hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to help reach these goals. In March, our county is in a moderate drought
area. Mr. Fenstermacher showed our average daily pumping levels and showed pumping was well over the
thresholds desired by the DNR. He further discussed the aquifer levels and noted even though the aquifer
levels bounce back in the winter, their high levels are 3 feet lower than they were in 2017.
Mr. Fenstermacher next discussed OPU’s current Water Conservation & Emergency Restrictions policy.
He noted, this policy has been in effect for several years and is part of our water supply plan. He discussed
potential changes to the policy, noting these changes are still being considered and evaluated and will be
brought back to the Commission at a later date.

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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission March 25, 2024 4:00 p.m.
Commissioner Zirngible inquired if the dropping levels of the aquifer are something to be concerned
about. Mr. LeMon replied, aquifers are the great attenuators of weather. They fall and rise accordingly but the
reaction is not seen immediately. Mr. LeMon further noted he has seen this three or four times over his career
where the levels start to drop, and then the rains come and the levels bounce back.
Mr. Brian LeMon, Barr Engineering, discussed OPU’s water capacity both at peak times and average
uses and discussed future needs based on projections of Owatonna’s potential population growth. He
discussed items OPU has already done to improve the system and noted a new well may be necessary in the
near future. He discussed water law, including appropriations and Riparian law versus western water laws.
The Riparian law covers the rights of the fish and animals living in the water. In Minnesota, the state owns the
water ways, versus property owners owning the right to the water. This eliminates the possibility of a creek or
river being diverted and completely dried up. The state gives out appropriations permits which include the total
annual amount of water an entity can take from the supply in a given year as well as an instantaneous peak
that can be taken at any given time. He discussed the process involved in modifying an appropriations permit.
Part of this process includes the DNR asking if the utility has sprinkling management measures in place. The
peak day usage, which is typically 95-99% of the time driven by irrigation, is the reason new wells end up being
drilled. The most common sprinkling management measure is odd/even watering restrictions which spreads
out the peak use. Another common measure is inclining block rates whereby the more water a customer uses,
the more it costs them.
Mr. LeMon explained the four standards the DNR will look at before approving additional
appropriations. New proposals cannot:
 Adversely affecting the aquifer’s ability to supply for future generations,
 Harm ecosystems
 Degrade water quality, or
 Interfere with use of existing wells by reducing water levels.
Mr. LeMon noted OPU is in pretty good shape in all four areas, better than most of his clients. Mr. LeMon next
discussed trigger charts and noted they are used to project growth of demand. Mr. Fenstermacher discussed
industrial requests for proposals the city has received recently. He noted, we evaluate where the customer’s
projected water capacity would fall within our supply and determine at what point a well would need to be
drilled. Mr. LeMon showed Owatonna’s projected population growth compared to OPU’s total and firm
capacity. With just the projected population growth, not taking new industry into account, a new well is not
projected to be needed in the near future. In a study conducted in 2004, a new well was anticipated to be
needed by now. Because of staff actions, including leak detection and repairs, the need for a new well has
been delayed. Also in the 2004 study, it was projected we would have a peak usage day of 13 million gallons.
Last year’s was actually 7.2 million gallons. Water conservation measures in appliances and plumbing fixtures
has also been a driving factor in the reduction of water use. Next, Mr. LeMon showed, if one 1 MGD industrial
customer was added to OPU’s system, a new well would not have to be drilled until approximately 2050. If two
were added, it moves back to approximately 2040 and if three were added, a new well would be necessary by
2030. Mr. Fenstermacher added, this data is for the whole system. A new booster station or pumps may be
needed in the industrial pressure zone to accommodate that area.
Commissioner Johnson asked if it would be beneficial to apply for, and drill, a well now versus 15 years
from now. Mr. LeMon replied, because of OPU’s location, you will probably have less of an issue getting the
appropriations than some communities around us. Mr. Fenstermacher added, it’s possible to get approval to
drill the well but approval may not be given to draw water from it.

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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission March 25, 2024 4:00 p.m.
After discussion, Commission directed staff to focus their attention on conservation and getting by with
less. They also prefer to be prepared by beginning the process of drilling a new well now. It will cost less now
than it will be in 15 years and having that access now, may help attract business and help our community grow.
Mr. LeMon added, as part of the process, the DNR will require a monitoring well be added for gathering more
information.
General Manager/Staff Reports
Mr. Fenstermacher updated the Commission on the next phases of the GRIP grant. He reminded them
of the coalition of over 60 utilities working together to apply for the grant. He noted this is the same one we
applied for last year, same program, with a very similar project. The purpose is to provide a strategic approach
to the Federal government on resiliency and reliability to the Midwest power grid. He discussed the project
pillars: Assess, Harden and Intelligence, and noted OPU is involved in the Intelligence one. OPU’s part of the
grant would go to improve system adaptability that would shorten outage durations by installing a Fault
Location Isolation and Service Restoration (FLISR) system. Part of the application process is demonstrating
community engagement.
General Manager Warehime discussed, the Wastewater Treatment plant methane recapture project.
Due to supply chain issues, this project will probably not be completed until 2025. The projections are about
20,000 dekatherms of natural gas will be produced in a year which will displace the gas we are taking off the
pipeline. For perspective, 20,000 dekatherms is about 60% of what we provide the city as contributed services
for natural gas. By capturing the gas and putting it back into the system it will save the city about $1 million in
capital improvements because without installing this equipment, they would have to run a generator. Also, by
purchasing the gas from them, it will generate about $80,000 a year for them as revenue.
Next month, a report from OPED on 2023 will be given as well as numbers for the Bridge St. building
will be available.
Commission Roundtable
The Commission thanked Barr Engineering and OPU for the information on water appropriations.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting adjourned at 5:29 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tammy Schmoll
Executive, Communications & Administration Coordinator