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PUC hires MMUA for governance review to update policies and operations
Summary
The commission authorized MMUA consulting (not to exceed $24,750) to conduct an internal policy, governance and process review, including a case study of late‑year operational issues and recommendations for organizational changes.
The Hibbing Public Utilities Commission voted to authorize a policy and governance review by the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA), approving consulting services not to exceed $24,750.
Commissioners discussed the scope of work and asked MMUA consultant Carlene Koss (participating remotely) whether the engagement would include both employee policy review and administrative/process improvements. Koss said MMUA would begin with an independent review of the situation that raised concern at the end of last year, use that as a test case to identify systemic issues, interview staff and relevant commissioners, and present recommended fixes. The engagement is intended to produce a governance and operating manual, clarify procedures, and include sessions with staff and commissioners to align expectations and communications.
Commissioner Sandstedt emphasized that the review should not be limited to employees only and stressed the need for the review to cover exempt and non‑exempt employees and interactions across departments. Commissioners requested sample organizational charts from other municipal utilities; Koss said MMUA had verbal consent to share anonymized org charts with position titles and would provide those as part of the engagement. The general manager and commissioners agreed MMUA's work should be collaborative and tailored to Hibbing Public Utilities' needs.
The commission approved the engagement by voice vote. Commissioners asked staff to schedule the work and to circulate sample org structures and the preliminary review findings to the commission prior to subsequent working‑session discussion.
