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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br />April 11, 2006 <br />Page 4 <br />1 commence a 5 -year Surcharge Program starting in 2007. St. Anthony is to be charged for I/I in <br />2 excess of set MCES limits. That surcharge for St. Anthony is $1,197,000 or $119,700 annually <br />3 for ten years. Rebates and credits on surcharges will be given for City initiated I/I reduction <br />4 programs. He advised that an additional demand charge will begin in 2013 for future violations <br />5 of MCES limits. Mr. Hubmer listed St. Anthony's current I/I reduction programs and presented <br />6 a graph that showed the occurrences of violation of the Metropolitan Council standard from 1995 <br />7 to 2004, noting it is now less than five occurrences which is a significant reduction. <br />8 <br />9 Mr. Hubmer explained how the pilot study identified non-compliant homes. Visual inspection <br />10 was done of 60 homes, 45 allowed inspection, and 17 noncompliant connections were found. <br />11 The inspections found 12 homes that already had corrected an improper connection. He stated <br />12 that there remains about 830 non-compliant connections and if the City can remove them, it <br />13 would come into compliance with the Metropolitan Council standards. He <br />a resented picture <br />p <br />14 showing an incorrect sanitary sewer inflow connection and described how it can be corrected, at <br />15 a cost of $1,500 to $2,000. Mr. Hubmer explained how the proposed I/I Reduction Plan will <br />16 gain that level of compliance and the anticipated schedule. <br />17 <br />18 Mr. Hubmer described financing and anticipated MCES costs as well as costs eligible for <br />19 surcharge credit. He stated the City will apply for credits against the 2007 surcharge for all <br />20 projects that have reduced I/I since 2004. <br />21 <br />22 Mayor Faust asked if St. Anthony has been part of the flow to Lake Pepin. He noted there have <br />23 been newspaper articles about trying to construct a new system to stop flows into Lake Pepin, <br />24 which is impaired waters. Mr. Hubmer stated that is one of the reasons for the surcharrr ge <br />25 program from the Metropolitan Council. Now the focus is on the sanitary sewer systems; <br />26 however, in the next year or two, they will be talking about Lake Pepin and impact of stormwater <br />27 runoff from St. Anthony. <br />28 <br />29 Councilmember Thuesen asked about an approximate time span of noncompliant houses with <br />30 passive drainage systems. Mr. Hubmer stated if the house was built before 1970, there is <br />31 potential that it has a passive system. Councilmember Thuesen stated that is a large percentage <br />32 of homes built in St. Anthony. Mr. Hubmer advised that about 65% of the homes in St. Anthony <br />33 have passive systems. <br />34 <br />35 Councilmember Thuesen asked if the City will be in compliance upon completion of this <br />36 program. Mr. Hubmer stated that is the goal. <br />37 <br />38 Councilmember Thuesen asked if they know which pipes have issue with infiltration. Mr. <br />39 Hubmer stated if the City gets 830 homes corrected, it will meet theoals of the Metropolitan <br />g p <br />40 Council and the City will not to pay the surcharge. However, if St. Anthony has a large rainfall, <br />.41 they will be fined for I/I, as would many other cities. <br />42 <br />43 Mayor Faust asked when the ordinance was instituted and how much the Metropolitan Council <br />44 fee could cost the City. Mr. Hubmer stated the ordinance was adopted in 1997 and it would have <br />45 cost the taxpayers $50,000 and 70,000 a year. Mayor Faust noted the investment being made <br />46 would reduce that $50,000 to $70,000 per year cost. <br />47 <br />5 <br />