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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.14.08 Work Session Minutes City Council / Water Board Workshop Minutes July 14,2008 Present: Acti g Mayor Pritzlaff, Councilmembers Fogarty and McKnight Jeff eger, Tom Jensen, Allan Maguire Also Present: Pete Herlofsky, Kevin Schorzman, Todd Reiten, Lee Mann, Cynthia Muller Acting Mayor Pritz aff called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. MOTION by Mc ight, second by Fogarty to approve the agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. lant A Water Treatment Plant has been identified through the Comprehensive Plan. Lee Mann explained how a w ter treatment plant works. The Water Board discussed setting triggers to designate the need or a Water Treatment Plant. Triggers could be population size or the number of complaints recei ed for odor or bad tasting water. A trigger for population size is typically 20,000 and Farmin on is over that. The Water Board is not looking to build a plant next year. They want to start t e process to pay for it ahead of time. A plant will cost approximately $28 - 30 million. There ould have to be bonding through the City. The Water Board will be working on triggers to show when a plant will be needed. A 24 MOD plant is for ultimate growth. An increase in the n bers for iron and manganese would be a trigger. These would cause an odor and bad taste. In one day the max mum amount of water pumped is 6 million gallons. An average is 30-40 million/month. The plant would b located next to the Police Station. Lakeville, Apple Valley, Eagan and Bumsville have pI ts. It takes two years for construction. In 5-7 years the City will need a 12 MOD tanle In 200 dollars the cost for a 24 MOD plant is $28.6 million; a 12 MOD plant would cost $21 million. There is $660/RE collected through development contracts which has been earmarked for a treatment plant. C ently there is $2,040,000 in the fund. This amount would have to be raised to $1280/REU if d ne strictly through development fees. Rosemount shows line item on their utility bills for $9/quarter and specifies this is for the Water Treatment P ant. Everyone agreed with this idea. The fee would have to continue even after the plant is b ilt for operation costs. Council liked the i ea of preparing for a plant. They liked the flat rate and to not raise rates. They were conce ed with the cost, but agreed with only constructing a plant if needed. City Administrator Herlofsky will have Finance Director Roland look at the bonding issue. Council/Water Board Workshop Minutes July 14,2008 Page 2 Water Meter Replacement Process An introductory letter will be sent to residents needing a new meter. They will be instructed to call SL-serco to schedule an appointment. If they do not call, they will receive a notice with a 4- hour window for an appointment or they need to call to set a time. If no appointment is made, there will be a $150 surcharge each month until the meter is replaced. Residents are given three months to make a 20-minute appointment. Council was concerned that residents could easily receive a $1,000 water bill. It was decided to call the residents who have not made an appointment with a warning that the surcharge will be billed if an appointment is not made. There are 6,000 meters in the City and 700 are already Orion readers. This will be announced on the cable TV, City newsletter, newspapers, the company will be distributing door hangers, there could be a notice in the utility bills, and phonemaster could be used. SL-serco employees will have uniforms and have company vehicles. A picture of the uniforms and vehicles should be placed on the website. Someone 18 years of age or older needs to be home and they will need to sign a form that the meter was installed. The form will also give the current meter reading. The utility bills may go up because the meters are reading more accurately. Following the workshop with the Water Board, Council had a brief discussion on renovations of the current City Hall and change orders for the new City Hall. A list of renovation costs for the current City Hall was prepared by Wold Architects in case the building was to be used for another purpose. A list should be made of what the building could be used for. Regarding the change orders for the new City Hall, Wold has been told there are certain things the City will not pay for. The issue with the elevation was explained to Council. MOTION by Fogarty, secQnd by McKnight to adjourn at 8: 11 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~N~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant