Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Franchise Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lake Elmo adopts electric and gas franchise ordinances and fee schedule, sets franchise-fee revenues to two reserve funds
Summary
Council adopted franchise ordinances with Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy and approved franchise-fee ordinances intended to generate roughly $500,000 annually; council also adopted resolutions to publish the ordinances and to deposit collected fees 50% to infrastructure reserve and 50% to park/reserve fund.
The Lake Elmo City Council adopted franchises granting Northern States Power Company (Xcel Energy) and CenterPoint Energy permission to place and maintain electric and gas facilities in city right-of-way and approved ordinances that impose franchise fees on those utilities.
Kennedy & Graven attorney Robert Volz explained that franchises function as both ordinances and negotiated contracts that supplement the city’s right-of-way management code. He said negotiation topics frequently include relocation costs, permit-fee waivers and other operational terms; the council was offered compromises including a three-year limit on city-paid relocations for repeated moves of the same facilities and a narrow waiver of right-of-way permit fees only.
Xcel Energy representative Mike Wilhelmi participated and said Xcel views the agreements as a reasonable compromise for their business and ratepayers. The ordinances before council implement franchise fees intended to produce about $500,000 of new annual revenue for the city from the two utilities’ local customers.
After adopting the franchise ordinances and the fee ordinances, the council approved resolutions authorizing publication of the ordinances by title and summary. The council then adopted a resolution committing the franchise-fee revenues to a specific purpose and amended the staff recommendation on the floor to deposit collected franchise-fee revenues 50% to Fund 409 (Infrastructure Reserve) and 50% to Fund 405 (Park Reserve). That amendment passed by voice vote and the council approved the amended resolution.
City staff and attorney said most disputed franchise terms were negotiated to limit potential city costs while preserving the city’s right to manage the right of way. Staff noted the city can still require relocations and impose conditions through the final construction-plan review process and other permitting, subject to the limitations negotiated in the franchises.
The ordinances and resolutions adopted this evening require subsequent administrative steps (publication and bookkeeping) and will generate recurring revenue the city intends to use for capital needs, with the immediate split set at 50% infrastructure reserve and 50% park reserve.
