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City Administrator Norman stated that Attorney Goodrich would like Council to direct him to <br />research what would be the authority to go back the five years and bill the customer. <br /> <br />Public Works Lead Person Nelson presented a residential and a commercial meter and explained <br />how they should have been read. He pointed out that Connexus Energy did not set up the <br />number right in their computer system. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig inquired what costs the City has against this. He noted that the City pays <br />a fee to the Metropolitan Council for sewer and he wondered if the fee is based on the usage or <br />the meter reading. <br /> <br />Finance Officer LUnd stated that the Metropolitan Council takes a reading off of the City meters; <br />therefore, the City has paid the fees on the actual water usage. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson stated that when he prepared the water appropriation report, he found out he was 90 <br />million gallons off. He researched the problem and realized there were 31 businesses whose <br />meters were recorded incon'ectly. <br /> <br />Councilmember Zimmerman expressed concern about preventing this from happening again. <br /> <br />Mr. Nelson assured Council that the problem is fixed now; however, he proposed checking it on <br />a yearly basis. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated he could not see "forgiving" the amounts, and suggested collecting extra <br />dollars quarterly until the business is current. <br /> <br />Councihnember Strommen suggested that the businesses should have been budgeting for water <br />usage all along. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec asked if it was the consensus of the Council that the City has to recoup these <br />dollars, to which Council replied yes. <br /> <br />Consensus was to direct City Attorney Goodrich to research the issue to make certain the City <br />has legal ground to back bill the customers, and following that, work out a payment plan for the <br />businesses who owe the money. <br /> <br />Director of Public Works Kapler offered that Public Works staff would double check the <br />businesses meter reading/water usage. <br /> <br />2) Content of Meeting Minutes <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson explained that staff has been developing guidelines for <br />TimeSavers, who the City contracts with for taking meeting minutes, regarding what information <br />needs to be captured in the minutes. The entire staff report is being put in the minutes and we <br />are paying at a per page rate of $10.30. Because the staff report is cut and pasted into the <br />minutes instead of the general overview given by staff at the meeting, some of that language is <br />being removed during the proofing of the minutes. This has amounted to removal of sometimes <br /> <br />City Council Work Session/September 15, 2003 <br /> Page 2 of 10 <br /> <br /> <br />