09-06-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 6,2011 APPROVED 136 The council requested that the Charter Commission Chair and Vice chair be invited to 137 attend the public hearing on the amendments. 138 139 4. Discuss Current Conservation Water Rate Structure—The mayor noted that he 140 requested a discussion about the City's water rate structure. He recalled that the council 141 previously received a study on water rates, was asked to change the rate structure and did 142 so. However the impetus of the change was to impact use and he doesn't believe that has 143 happened. He still has a concern; Lino Lakes is a family oriented community and the new 144 rate structure seems to punish families. He suggests that a plan that encourages water 145 conservation is a better way to address the situation. 146 147 City Engineer Wedel explained that in 2008 the Minnesota Department of Natural 148 Resources required a tiered rate structure in order for the City to keep its authority to 149 continue with new wells. The idea at that time wasn't to penalize families but to get at 150 the "big irrigators". There is benefit to the city in conservation because infrastructure 151 costs can be avoided (much infrastructure is built to serve peak times). Is the new tiered 152 rate structure working? He suggested that it is difficult to say since this has been a year 153 of lots of rain and the economy is down. He provided a chart indicating rate variations in 154 other cities—he doesn't think the City is out of line with other communities. Tim 155 Hillesheim, Utilities Supervisor for the City, explained that he doesn't think that families 156 are punished by the rates because 95% of the city's residential water users consume 157 30,000 or less (remaining in the lower rate). He added that the city has not been able to 158 see the result of the rate change because the past two summers have been wet. Mr. '"-- 159 Wedel remarked that the city could certainly review the rate structure in 2012 if that's the 160 council's desire. Public Service Director DeGardner distributed additional information 161 indicating that over 99% of Lino Lakes' families fall within the first two tiers (lowest) of 162 the rate structure in the winter and that 82% of Lino Lakes families fall within the first 163 two tiers in the summer. The city is doing what it can to keep from having to add more 164 very expensive infrastructure that will in fact raise rates. 165 166 The mayor thanked staff for the discussion. He'd like to take a look at the rate structure 167 again in 2012 to ensure fairness. 168 169 5. Comprehensive Plan Update—Community Development Director Grochala 170 recalled that in May of 2011 the council gave preliminary approval to the 2030 171 Comprehensive Plan and it was approved by the Metropolitan Council with authorization 172 to put the Plan into effect. At this point it is back to the council for final Plan approval. 173 He has attempted, in his staff report, to identify the major changes to the Plan over the 174 past few years, including decreasing the amount of units forecast in the next twenty years, 175 reduction of the affordable housing goal, and modifications to the utility staging plan by 176 dividing the staging areas into five year phases. In addition the council modified the Plan 177 to reintroduce an annual average new housing growth benchmark, limit city financial 178 assistance to meet regional housing goals, modify residential development densities and 179 reduce net residential density proposed. When the Plan is approved as final by the 180 council, staff will begin the process of updating the city's official controls such as the 4