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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance - 2-2018 - CenterPoint Energy Franchise Fee - 01/11/2018 CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA ORDINANCE NO. 2-2018 NATURAL GAS FRANCHISE FEE ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE IMPLEMENTING A GAS ENERGY FRANCHISE FEE ON CENTERPOINT ENERGY MINNESOTA GAS ("CENTERPOINT ENERGY") FOR PROVIDING GAS ENERGY SERVICE WITHIN THE CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY EDEN PRAIRIE, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA ORDAINS: SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. Definitions. For the purposes of this Ordinance, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) City means the City of Eden Prairie, County of Hennepin, State of Minnesota. (2) Company, means CenterPoint Energy Minnesota Gas ("CenterPoint Energy"), its successors and assigns. (3) Franchise Agreement means the franchise agreement between the City and Company pursuant to City Ordinance 20-2012. (4) Notice means a writing served by any party or parties on any other party or parties. Notice to Company shall be mailed to CenterPoint Energy, Minnesota Division Vice President, 505 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55402. Notice to City shall be mailed to the City Clerk at 8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55344. SECTION 2. PURPOSE. The Eden Prairie City Council has determined that it is in the best interest of the City to impose a franchise fee on those public utility companies that provide natural gas and electric services within the City. Pursuant to the Franchise Agreement the City has the right to impose a franchise fee on Company. SECTION 3. FRANCHISE FEE STATEMENT AND SCHEDULE. A franchise fee is hereby imposed on Company commencing with the April, 2018 billing month, and in accordance with the following fee schedule: Customer Classification Amount per Account per Month($) Residential $ 4.00 per month Firm A $ 5.00 per month Firm B $ 12.50 per month Firm C $ 55.00 per month Small Volume, Dual Fuel A ("SVDF A") $ 55.00 per month Small Volume, Dual Fuel B ("SVDF B") $ 55.00 per month Large Volume, Firm and Dual Fuel ("LVDF") $ 55.00 per month SECTION 4. ACCOUNT FEE. This fee is an account based fee and not a meter-based fee. In the event that an entity covered by this ordinance has more than one meter, but only one account, only one fee shall be assessed to that account. In the event any entities covered by this ordinance have more than one account, each account shall be subject to the appropriate fee. In the event a question arises as to the proper fee amount for any account, the highest possible fee amount shall apply. SECTION 5. PAYMENT. Franchise fees are to be collected by the Company and submitted to the City as follows: January—March collections due by April 30. April—June collections due by July 31. July— September collections due by October 31. October—December collections due by January 31. SECTION 6. RECORD SUPPORT FOR PAYMENT. The Company shall make each payment when due and, if requested by the City, shall provide a statement summarizing how the franchise fee payment was determined, including information showing any adjustments to the total made to account for any non-collectible accounts, refunds or error corrections. The Company shall permit the City, and its representatives, access to the Company's records for the purpose of verifying such statements. SECTION 7. PAYMENT ADJUSTMENTS. Payment to the City will be adjusted where the Company is unable to collect the franchise fee. This includes non-collectible accounts. SECTION 8. SURCHARGE. The City recognizes that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission may allow the Company to add a surcharge to customer rates to reimburse the Company for the cost of the fee, consistent with the Minnesota Public Utility Commission's March 23, 2011 Order establishing franchise fee filing requirements in Docket No. E,G999/CI- 09-970. SECTION 9. DISPUTE RESOLUTION. If either party asserts that the other party is in default in the performance of any obligation hereunder, the complaining party shall notify the other party of the default and the desired remedy. The notification shall be written. Representatives of the parties must promptly meet and attempt in good faith to negotiate a resolution of the dispute. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days of the written notice, the parties may jointly select a mediator to facilitate further discussion. The parties will equally share the fees and expenses of this mediator. If a mediator is not used or if the parties are unable to resolve the dispute within 30 days after first meeting with the selected mediator, either party may commence an action in District Court to interpret and enforce this ordinance or for such other relief permitted by law. SECTION 10. EFFECTIVE DATE OF FRANCHISE FEE. The effective date of this Ordinance shall be after its publication and ninety (90) days after sending written notice enclosing a copy of this adopted Ordinance to Company by certified mail. Collection of the fee shall commence as provided above. SECTION 11. RELATION TO FRANCHISE AGREEMENT. This ordinance is enacted in compliance with the Franchise Agreement and shall be interpreted as such. SECTION 13. PERMIT FEES. The Company will administer the collection and payment of franchise fees to the City in lieu of permit fees, or other fees that may otherwise be imposed on the Company in relation to its operations as a public utility in the City so long as the following requirements are met: (1) The Company applies for any and all permits, licenses and similar documentation as though this provision did not exist. (2) The Company requests the fee to be waived at the time of application. SECTION 14. REPEAL OF FRANCHISE FEE ORDINANCE NO. 21—2012. Ordinance 21- 2012 is repealed effective as of the date of commencement of the franchise fee provided for herein in April, 2018 as specified in Section 3. FIRST READ at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Eden Prairie on the 121h day of December, 2017, and finally read and adopted and ordered published in summary form as attached hereto at a regular meeting of the City Council of said City on the 2nd day of January, 2018. ncy yfa-1d&eijWayor ATTEST: Kat een Porta, City Clerk CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE HENNEPIN COUNTY,MINNESOTA SUMMARY OF ORDINANCE 2-2018 AN ORDINANCE IMPLEMENTING A GAS ENERGY FRANCHISE FEE ON CENETRPOINT ENERGY MINNESOTA GAS ("CENTERPOINT ENERGY"), FOR PROVIDING GAS ENERGY Affidavit of Publication SERVICE`WITHIN THE CITY OF EDEN PRAIRIE Summary: The Ordinance implements,commencing in April, Southwest Newspapers 2018,a gas energy franchise fee on the Company for providing gas energy within the City.The Franchise Fee schedule is: chm Bnumfwa $4.00 Minnesota ) Fi mA $5.00 )SS. Fimg $12.50 Fim C $55.00 of Hennepin ) 9=RVolm r,D dFadACSV13FA") $55.00 SmonVah ms.DealFadSC5VI3FS') $55.00 Imp Vc m r,Fim sod Dud Feel CTVMn $55.00 artmann, being duly sworn, on oath says that she is the authorized agent of the Effective Date:The effective date of the Ordinance shall be after the newspapers known as the Eden Prairie News and Lakeshore Weekly News and its publication and ninety(90)days after the sending of written fledge of the facts herein stated as follows: notice enclosing a copy of the adopted Ordinance to the Company by certified mail. vspaper has complied with the requirements constituting qualification as a legal Nancy Tyra-Lukens,Mayor s provided by Minnesota Statute 331A.02,331A.07,and other applicable laws,as ATTEST: Kathleen Porta,City Clerk (A full copy of the text of this Ordinance is available from City Clerk.) (Published in the Eden Prairie News on Thursday,January 11,2018; ed public notice that is attached to this Affidavit and identified as No.; No 3286) d on the date or dates and in the newspaper stated in the attached Notice and said Notice is hereby incorporated as part of this Affidavit.Said notice was cut from the columns of the newspaper specified.Printed below is a copy of the lower case alphabet from A to Z,both inclusive,and is hereby acknowledged as being the kind and size of type used in the composition and publication of the Notice: abcdefghbklmnopgrstuvwxyz y: Laurie A.Hartmann Subscribed and sworn before me on this day of 018 t F( JYMME JEANNErrE BARK 0 NOTARY PUBLIC•MINNESOTA N Public MY COMMISSION EXPIRES 01131123 RATE INFORMATION Lowest classified rate paid by commercial users for comparable space...$31.20 per column inch Maximum rate allowed by law for the above matter...................................$31.20 per column inch Rate actually charged for the above matter...............................................$12.97 per column inch