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Mounds View City Council December 11, 2000 <br />Regular Meeting Page 8 <br />Council Member Stigney indicated the City could charge the water service repairs as a special <br />assessment on the property allowing residents time to pay for those repairs or could use the <br />interest earned on the TIF funds. <br />Council Member Stigney indicated he would first like the program defined and then discuss how <br />to fund the program. Charging the residents $16.00 a year to fund the program is fine if residents <br />don't mind paying but some do and he would have liked to have residents polled for more <br />resident input. <br />MOTION/SECOND: Stigney/Thomas. To Table the Second Reading and Adoption of Proposed <br />Changes to Ordinance 673, Chapter 906 of the Municipal Code, Section 906.04, Entitled <br />"Liability for Repairs" Until the Issues Council Member Stigney Raised in Discussion are <br />Discussed and Resolved at a Work Session. <br />Ayes - 2 (Stigney/Thomas) Nays - 3 (Quick/Marty/Coughlin) Motion failed. <br />Council Member Quick indicated the only way to survey all residents would be to pay a <br />professional survey company to conduct a survey. Council Member Stigney has expressed an <br />unwillingness to pay for said services. <br />Council Member Stigney indicated surveying residents through water bills would have been <br />sufficient due to the fact that this is a change to water services and all residents receiving water <br />services receive a water bill. <br />Mayor Coughlin clarified that this program has been likened to an insurance program and <br />referred to as such by residents. Staff and Council have not referred to the program as an <br />insurance program. In his opinion a targeted fee set to go to a specific fund is easier to pay than <br />a fee going into the general fund to purchase miscellaneous items for the City. In reference to the <br />franchise fee 2% of the franchise fee has been dedicated to specific street reconstruction. <br />Regardless of which fund the money comes from it is or will be paid by the residents of Mounds <br />View in some way, shape or form. The City has been discussing this issue off and on since <br />earlier in the year when a resident addressed Council to discuss the hardship placed upon her <br />when her water service broke twice within two weeks. Mayor Coughlin praised City Staff for <br />their diligence and hard work in developing a program to assist residents with the high cost of <br />water service repair. <br />Council Member Marty reiterated the Mayor's comments that this program came out concern for <br />assisting residents with large water service repair bills. There are people in the City on fixed <br />incomes who cannot afford to pay to have their water service repaired. Even those not on a fixed <br />income would have a hard time coming up with such a large amount of money to pay for an <br />unexpected repair to water service. Council Member Marty indicated he believed the program <br />makes sense and there is support for it. <br />• <br />