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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission May 28, 2024 4:00 p.m.
The Owatonna Public Utilities Commission met in regular session in the Morehouse Conference
Room at the Owatonna Public Utilities. Present were Commissioners Zirngible, Rossi, Doyal, Johnson,
and Vetter (attended virtually). Also present were General Manager Warehime; Director, Engineering &
Operations Fenstermacher; Director, Finance & Administration Olson; Director, IT & Metering Baum;
Manage, Electric Operations Deering; Manager, Gas & Water Operations Prokopec; Manager, Human
Resources Madson; Supervisor, Accounting Linders; Executive, Communications & Administration
Coordinator Schmoll; Key Accounts & Energy Conservation O(cid:431)icer Hendricks; OPU Employees, Lori
Jerpbak and Shanda Meier. Other guests included Brian Maciej, President of Lime Valley.
President Zirngible opened the meeting by leading the Pledge of Allegiance. He then asked for any
changes to, and/or approval of, the agenda and consent agenda. The consent agenda items included the
minutes from the April 23, 2024 meeting, the Contributed Services report as of April 20, 2024, Union
Contract ratifications and non-union wage adjustments. Commissioner Rossi moved to approve the
agenda and consent agenda items. Commissioner Doyal seconded the motion. All Commissioners
voting Aye, the motion passed.
Election of Officers
A slate of officers with Commissioner Zirngible as President and Commissioner Rossi as Vice
President was presented to the Commission. Commissioner Rossi moved to approve the slate as presented.
Commissioner Doyal seconded the motion. All Commissioners voting Aye, the motion passed.
Commissioners Rossi and Doyal will serve on the Personnel Committee with President Zirngible as an
ex-officio member. Commissioners Johnson and Vetter will serve on the Finance Committee with President
Zirngible as an ex-officio member.
Committee Reports
Finance Committee – Commissioner Doyal reported the Finance Committee met, reviewed and approved
disbursements totaling $6,429,006.70. Mr. Doyal also reported four work orders were closed in April coming in
under budget estimates. The Committee approved a change to a work order for maintenance work on a water
tower. The change consisted of moving up the date of the maintenance work to take advantage of current
pricing.
Personnel Committee – Commissioner Rossi reported there is one open position for an IT Operations
Engineer. Seven people were interviewed. An Engineering Intern started; his name is Ethan Walter. Mr.
Rossi further reported the committee discussed union negotiations and it was reported to him right before the
meeting, Ryan Deering, Manager, Electric Operations will be leaving OPU after 29 years to work for SMMPA.
Manager, Human Resources Madson reported an offer for the IT Operations Engineer has been extended to
someone who has accepted and is currently in pre-employment screening.
City Administrator’s Report
City Administrator Busse was not in attendance.

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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission May 28, 2024 4:00 p.m.
2024/2025 Gas Improvement Project Bid Tab
The attached bid tabulation was presented to the Commission for the 2024/2025 gas system
improvement project. Staff recommended awarding the bid to the apparent, and evaluated, low bidder Q3
Contractors in the amount of $1,413,740.75 over the course of the two-year project. Manager, Gas & Water
Operations Prokopec noted Q3 performs a lot of their own work such as concrete and boring, so they can
provide lower bids. After discussion, Commissioner Rossi moved to award the bid to Q3 Contracting in the
amount of $1,413,740.75. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion. All Commissioners voting Aye, the
motion passed.
OPU Logo Redesign Presentation
Executive, Communications & Administration Coordinator Schmoll introduced Brian Maciej, President
of Lime Valley, a Mankato based advertising company. Lime Valley helped with the development of OPU’s
website the last time it was updated. They are currently helping OPU with the redesign of the logo. It has
been over 40 years since the logo has been updated. Standard is about every 30 years. With the 100-year
anniversary celebration coming up, now is a good time to look at refreshing it. Mr. Maciej discussed the
process the team has been working on and presented 10 potential logo concepts to the Commission. After
extensive discussion, direction was given to try to use as much of the current logo as possible, maintain a
circle type concept to represent the “O” in Owatonna. Based on feedback, Mr. Maciej and his team will present
more concepts at the June Commission meeting.
Reserves Discussion
Director, Finance & Administration Olson presented to the Commission regarding OPU’s current
reserves policy, the reason for having reserves, setting appropriate reserves, and some proposed changes.
Staff felt having this discussion now is timely with the potential purchase of the building on Bridge St. Mr.
Olson noted, utilities have financial reserves for the benefit of the customer in that they mitigate financial risks,
pay for capital projects without having debt, reduce the impact of rate fluctuations, and maintain and/or improve
credit rating which helps if the utility needs to borrow money for larger capital projects such as building a water
tower. He further noted there are three types of reserves: operating reserves, capital reserves and rate
stability reserves. He discussed each one in detail and noted proposed changes. The operating reserves
policy currently allows for a working fund of 38 days plus 10.4% of the largest monthly commodity expense.
Proposed changes would include 30 days plus 100% of the largest budgeted monthly commodity expense.
There are not any proposed changes to the capital reserve. Proposed changes to the rate stability reserve to
help insulate rates from commodity cost volatility include increasing the amount of funds in the reserve in the
electric and natural gas areas. Mr. Olson further discussed how OPU currently manages the reserve balances
and discussed potential changes in each of the individual utilities.
Mr. Olson is proposing bonding for the purchase of the building on Bridge St. and paying for the
upgrades to it out of reserves. After discussion, Mr. Olson will check on a few more things and come back to
the Commission.
General Manager/Staff Report
Director, Information Technology & Metering Baum discussed new IT metrics graphs included with the
packet.

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Owatonna Public Utilities Commission May 28, 2024 4:00 p.m.
General Manager Warehime noted he will be meeting with the owner of the Bridge St. building to begin
negotiations and he thanked Mr. Deering for his years of service at OPU.
Commission Roundtable
There was not anything further from the Commission.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tammy Schmoll
Executive, Communications & Administration Coordinator