CC MINUTES 05131980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-3- never see the billings nor the newsletters since they are sent to the Eberhardt Company and .most of these residents have never heard of the City' s official paper, -the St. AnthonyBulletin, who the Council says gives such good coverage to City business. Since the City has always found' a way of communicating with the condominium residents - regarding other matters she urged any future newsletters be- directed to the condominium address, 4000 Foss Road as well as the building managers so the Association can alert the -residents as to information they might feel was pertinent. Mr. Preussner suggested now that the billings are on the computer, the staff should be better. able to detect false readings of water consumption -on which the sewer rate is based. He .also questioned what amount of the sewer charge to the City from the Metropolitan Waste Commission represents residential drain tile infiltration of the sewer system and the manager estimated this figure would run as high as twenty-five percent. As an alternative to -a community wide flat rate to make up for "fudged" readings, the manager then suggested that in the case of the City's inability to gain access to residents where such false readings are suspect, it might be better -.to automatically charge the property owner with the flat rate where the City is refused access to read • the meters. Another means of lowering the rate suggested by the opponents was for the City to follow the example of other utility vendors and demand immediate payment rather than allowing the exist-- ing 45 - days for payment after the billing is received. Councilman Sundland commented that he had personally felt the flat rate was unfair from the start, but felt he was alone. in. his opposition. -He was happy to see the extent of the resident input which he saw as possibly reversing the Council decision on the rate. Council members agreed it had been a welcome change to have such interest from the citizenry demonstrated where apathy towards City proposals was the rule rather than the exception. Those present were urged to .avail themselves of the excellent reporting of City affairs in the Bulletin since other larger metropolitan publications normally ignore City news. Motion by Councilman Ranallo and seconded by Mayor Haik to delay action on the sewer ordinance until further .information is provided by the Manager as to an alternative to the flat rate for dealing with the problem of inaccurate readings. ORDINANCE 1980-003 AN ORDINANCE "RELATING TO SEWER RATES AND CHARGES AMENDING SECTION 540 :00 OF THE -1973 CODE OF ORDINANCES Motion carried unanimously.