Laserfiche WebLink
They recognize that dumping outside in the winter could cause a problem with icing and <br />amended the ordinance to require a permit for the right to discharge in the winter, subject <br />to yearly spot inspections in the Spring and Summer. Inspection was done internally and <br />by all counts went very smoothly. One of his comments was to treat everyone with <br />respect, even if there was hostility involved. <br />Curt Punt, Utility Supervisor <br />City of Detroit Lakes <br />Detroit Lakes faced a crisis in the summer of 1992 with excessive I &I due in part from an <br />extremely wet summer. Their city council passes an ordinance that summer that charged <br />every homeowner an additional $20 per month until the homeowner could prove that they, <br />were not pumping into the sanitary sewer. They also allowed for a waiver for those who <br />had a wet basement problem in the winter, which are very few in number. Detroit Lakes <br />has a population of 7000. <br />Tom Kaldunskil Public Works Director <br />Farmington <br />Tom Kaldunski gave a comprehensive presentation highlighting their very successful I &I <br />reduction program that kicked off in March of 1993. They knew they had a big problem <br />with I &I especially during the wet months of the year. Tom estimated that they were <br />treating about 1 million gallons of water a day from I &I. Their program involved a <br />newsletter explaining the program and the benefits to the citizens of reducing I&I, and a <br />letter describing the program and requiring every homeowner to submit for inspection <br />within a three month period. During the inspection period different sections of the city <br />were inspected during the hours of 12 noon to 8pm. If a homeowner was not home they <br />left a hanger on the door that stated that they were inspecting their area and to call the city <br />for an appointment. Inspections were contracted out to Visusewer. Only two <br />homeowners refused inspection and are now paying the additional $100 per month charge. <br />The emphasis on their program was that the city recognized that every home was different <br />and that they were willing to sit down and help the owner come up with the right solution <br />for their situation. In most cases they supplied the homeowner with a diagram showing <br />how to install a PCB rigid pipe to the outside. In some cases they recommended running a <br />tile to the curb. After all the homes were inspected they were able to map the problem <br />areas and target those areas for improvements. Their solution was to install a 4 inch tile <br />pipe behind the curb in the problem areas, allowing for direct hookup. They estimated the <br />cost of running a standard PCB rigid pipe to the outside to be $50 and the cost to run a <br />pipe to the curb at $500. <br />After the home was inspected the they filled out a form noting whether the pump was in <br />compliance or not (most rerouted their discharge after learning about the program). If <br />they were out of compliance they had several weeks to reroute the pipe and pass <br />Page 105 <br />Page 12 <br />