CC PACKET 04121988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ai n hon Ila e DATE : A P PR QVA L : April 8, 1988 TO : Mayor and Councilmembers FROM David M. Childs City Manager : IC EM : LETTERS FROM ELMWOOD AND NATIVITY CHURCHES, RE: SEWER CHARGES The attached letters request that the sewer ordinance be changed to treat churches the same as single family residential users when calculating sewer charges. Currently, the quarterly sewer charges for single family residential users are fixed for the year based on the first quarter of consumption. for commercial , industrial , and multi-family users, sewer charges are based on water consumption during the quarter - and thus vary with water usage. The problem appears to be that when the churches water their lawns heavily, they pay higher sewer rates. There are four churches in St. Anthony. Two of them have installed separate water meters for lawn watering purposes and thus do riot face these extra charges. (St. Charles is on the Minneapolis water system, but I understand that the same system applies. ) The remaining two churches could easily avoid these charges by installing a separate meter for lawn watering and air conditioning. Many businesses and industries have done this. The costs of amending the ordinance to the City would include legal , publication and three readings before the Council . It may be less expensive to install separate meters than to reimburse the City for the cost of amending the ordinance. In Nativity's case, 1987 was probably an unusual year due to new sod. The savings of $42.18 they could have had in 1986 doesn't really justify changing the ordinance, especially since other churches have already installed meters and an ordinance change would make their meters useless.