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<br />error, but nothing further was done. She stated that the City had been waiting to see whether <br />Connexus Energy would step forward and share some of the costs for this error. She stated that <br />the City had a number of meetings with Connexus Energy to discuss this issue and Fire Chief <br />Kapler was part of those meetings. <br /> <br />Fire Chief Kapler stated that the mistake was due to a data entry error at Connexus Energy. He <br />stated that since this error was discovered, the City and Connexus Energy have created a few <br />things so this situation will never happen again. He stated that there is a report that will review <br />accounts that go up or down by a certain percentage and there is also a monthly report that sends <br />a list of new accounts to the Utilities Department to verify the data was entered correctly. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund stated that the contract with Connexus Energy is very basic <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen confirmed that the City could have contracted with Connexus Energy for <br />collections services, but opted not to. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund clarified that we opted not to have Connexus Energy work collection <br />accounts where the customer either has not paid or has left town and left an outstanding bill. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that, in this. case, the customers paid their bill, but it was the <br />wrong amount. She stated that the businesses are not to blame. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen asked why the City wouldn't just send a letter to these customers <br />explaining the situation and asking them to pay the proper amount. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated that if the City would have caught the mistake and acted within a few <br />months, he feels the businesses would not have had a problem, but he thinks that the incorrectly <br />billing happened for around a year before it was discovered and we contacted them and now, we <br />have not contacted them since 2003. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund confirmed that the City discovered the problem in September 2003 and a <br />letter was sent informing the businesses of the issue in October 2003. She stated that of the <br />under billed companies listed some have moved out and at least one has filed for bankruptcy, <br />which is Vision Ease. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich stated that to answer Councilmember Dehen' s question, the City can <br />send a letter asking for payment, but if the City wants to sue these customers, the City is limited <br />by the Statute of Limitations. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated that he understands there may be bankruptcy issues with some <br />companies, but feels the City should try to mitigate some of the damage on the bill. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that the customers have never been billed for the correct <br />amount. He stated that before the City pursues any action in court, we may want to try to collect <br />ourselves. <br /> <br />City Council Special Meeting /October 2, 2007 <br />Page 2 of 11 <br />