Laserfiche WebLink
<br />2) Utility Billing <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund stated that representatives from Opus 21 are present to talk about the <br />utility billing services that they can offer to the City. She introduced Mike and Lynn Shuba, <br />founders of Opus 21 and Tim Taylor, the Chief Operating Officer of Opus 21. She stated that <br />she had put together a cost comparison between Connexxus, Opus 21 and in-house billing that <br />she will review after Mr. Shuba makes his presentation. <br /> <br />Mr. Shuba stated that he feels Opus 21 can provide the City with a viable alternative to the <br />existing utility billing and would give the City full control and access to customer data. He <br />stated that the payments would be remitted daily into the City's primary bank, customer service <br />hours could be expanded and calls would be answered with the City's identity. He stated that <br />they would act as an extension of the City's office. He stated that in the future, they would also <br />offer electronic billing options to customers, which would result in a cost savings for the City <br />also. He stated that Opus 21 is based in the Twin Cities with offices in Woodbury, as well as in <br />the states of Florida and Colorado. He stated that they work with Cottage Grove, Savage and <br />Big Lake who have all converted from the Banner environment that Ramsey currently has, so <br />much of the conversion work needed has already been done. He stated that they would provide <br />management of the data based on the City's business rules. He stated that they have a full range <br />of services that they offer so the City can pick and choose which services they need. He stated <br />that they do not conduct meter readings themselves, but would contract with a company called <br />RMR, which is also who Connexxus contracts with for this service. He stated that this company <br />also provides the meter readings in Cottage Grove and Big Lake and has stated that they would <br />be willing to share the equipment that was acquired for Big Lake, which would cut down on <br />some capital investment dollars. He noted that the average implementation of a conversion takes <br />about 90 days. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec asked if there would be a fee charged for bill inserts. <br /> <br />Mr. Shuba stated that there would not be an additional charge for inserts as long as it was under 1 <br />ounce so the postage costs would not change. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig asked for a brief profile of the company such as their gross revenue, <br />number of employees and years in business. <br /> <br />Mr. Shuba stated that they currently have about 45 contracts, but not all are data hosting. He <br />stated that there was more information about other services they offer in the brochure. He stated <br />that they have about 30 full time employees but also utilize a lot of contract programmers part <br />time. He stated that they added Tim Taylor as their COO about 1 ~ years ago. He stated that he <br />and his wife, Lynn, started the company about 9 years ago. He noted that they had a strong <br />relationship with Connexxus until about 4 years ago when they created their own software. He <br />stated that their revenues are just a little under $3 million. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session /December 3,2007 <br />Page 3 of9 <br />