05-23-2012 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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/trite otviaat4 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117-1000 (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 76(3-4048 www.ci.lit tIe- canada. mn. us MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener & Members of City Council FROM: Bill Dircks, Public Works Superintendent DATE: May 17, 2012 RE: Water Ordinance Revision MAYOR 13111 nlesener COUNCIL Rick Montour John l(els M IdUICl McGraw Shelly Boss ADMINISTRATOR Joel R. Hanson The City's water ordinance states, "1/ shall be the responsibility of the consumer or owner to maintain the service pipe from the wader main into the house or building." Staff recommends that the ordinance be revised to read, "it shall be the responsibility of the consumer or owner to maintain the service pipe from the curb .stop box into the house or building." In nearly all cases in the City the water main was laid as part of the original street project or as a separate project after the street was already in place. When the water main was installed water service pipes were run to the right -of -way line of each existing or prospective property and a curb stop was installed so the City can shut the water off from outside the house. As a separate project, a contractor then ran a service line from the curb stop to the house or business. It is this portion of the water line that property owners /builders need to get a permit for and City staff inspects to ensure it meets the set standards for installation. In most cases the property owner was not involved in the installation of the line from the main to the curb stop. See diagram. 'typically, the service line from the main to the curb stop is located at least partially in the street. Therefore, any repairs to this section of the water service line require digging up the street as well as digging in the right-of-way adjacent to the street. There are numerous private utility lines located in this area and digging can be very difficult and expensive. These types of excavations can be very difficult to perform and staff feels the City should handle these cases to ensure the street and potentially concrete curb are restored properly and private utility lines are protected during the excavation. One item to note is there have been very few instances where there has been a leak in the water service line between the main ancl the curb stop. In fact, there have been very few 1