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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes October 13, 2009 Page 3 should be to penalize residential water use outside of the home, such as washing cars, lawn sprinkling, etc. 4 Councilmember Stille commented that the discussion of implementing a tiered water rate is 5 already affecting some of the residents. He was contacted by a resident that is a similar user to 6 him, and appears to be using about 75% more water than he. As they flush out some of these 7 issues people will likely fix leaks, etc. He suggested publishing the average water use of a typical 8 family of four for residents to note. 9 10 Councilmember Thuesen commented that implementing a tiered water rate structure will likely 11 grab the attention of the consumers and require them to think about how much water they use. 12 13 Councilmember Roth questioned if a rate increase would have been necessary regardless of the 14 law enacted by the DNR in order to generate additional revenue to cover expenses. Finance 15 Director Larson replied that a rate increase would have been very minimal at this time. 16 17 Councilmember Gray stressed that the intent of the tiered rate structure is not to raise revenue. 18 The rates that are collected are to cover the expenses associated with providing water and 19 necessary capital improvements. 20 21 Mr. Dennis Cavanaugh, 2919 St. Anthony Boulevard, addressed the City Council and stated the 22 City Council has made an environmental statement about how they feel about water with the 23 water reuse facility. This tiered pricing slides right into a continuing theme the Council is 24 developing. Mr. Cavanaugh shared information about a leak in his pool of approximately 200 25 gallons per day. The estimate to fix the leak was about $1,000, while the cost to him for the leak 26 was about $15 per month. He noted with the DNR proposed rate structure his last quarter's water 27 bill would have increased $225. This is the type of impact that will address water conservation. 28 Mr. Cavanaugh outlined the following three options he sees before the Council: 1) Do nothing; 29 2) Implement the options being proposed which really do not get the attention; 3) Implement a 30 broad water conservation ordinance. 31 32 Mr. Cavanaugh provided information on the following recommendations to address water 33 conservation in the City: 1) Establish a goal, such as reducing water consumption by 20% in five 34 years; 2) Water softening done by the City (Mr. Cavanaugh shared expenses and cost savings 35 associated with this recommendation); 3) Incentive program for users of city water to change out 36 water softeners; 4) Incentive program to change out toilets and shower heads; 5) Requirement for 37 sprinkler systems to be intelligent. 38 39 Mr. Cavanaugh also suggested that the City move to an on-line monthly water billing which 40 would provide feedback on water use on a more current basis. 41 42 Mr. Ken Brown, 3422 Silver Lane, addressed the City Council and stated the one thing that 43 never seems to come up with this topic is how much revenue is projected by the new tier rates. 44 Sewer rates will need to be raised to cover the deficit. He questioned why water and sewer are 45 not combined, with the additional revenue that may be raised by the water rate increase going to 46 offset the sewer rate deficit. He suggested including the tier on water bills, with a note on the 3