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Hugo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 15, 2016 <br />Page 5 of 7 <br />Discussion on Waters Edge Stormwater Reuse Project and Approve Agreement with Rice <br />Creek Watershed District <br />Intern Taylor Richter provided background on the grant RCWD received from the Met Council, <br />for the Storm Water Reuse Project to be located in the Waters Edge Development. The grant is in <br />the amount of $200,000 and will provide partial funding for construction of a stormwater reuse <br />system that will draw from a stormwater basin within the Water's Edge residential development <br />for irrigation purposes, which will reduce groundwater appropriation demands and will reduce <br />the introduction of phosphorus and other pollutants to waters. The grant is awarded through the <br />RCWD because of Met Council rules. The RCWD is the applicant and grantee by name only. <br />The City is responsible for the project and will receive the entire grant amount under a <br />Memorandum of Understanding with the RCWD. The project will connect the existing irrigation <br />system to stormwater, and the City will work with the homeowner's association on system <br />construction, operation, and maintenance. <br />WSB Engineer Erin Heydinger provided information on the work plan that was submitted to the <br />Met Council. The estimates for construction were $434,000 with $87,000 of indirect fees. It is <br />anticipated the City will receive an additional $30,000 from the RCWD. The City costs were <br />estimated at $292,000, which would come from the water fund. The City and the Home Owners <br />Association will have an agreement establishing a water rate for the water pumped from the pond <br />to reimburse the City for the initial investment as well as cover maintenance costs. The City <br />would own the system to the water meters, and the HOA would own it to the irrigation system. <br />Construction would take place next year. <br />The Council questioned whether there would be any budgetary impacts and whether Water's <br />Edge was paying anything toward the system. Staff responded they would not; however, <br />discussions were being had with the HOA about selling the water to them at a lower cost to <br />recoup money the City has put into the system. <br />Klein made motion, Miron seconded, to approve the Memorandum of Agreement for the Water's <br />Edge Stormwater Reuse Project. <br />All Ayes. Motion carried. <br />Discussion on Utility Billing for Rental Units <br />Administrative Intern Taylor Richter explained the request to amend the City's Utility Ordinance <br />due to the increasing amounts of administrative time in regard to the utility billing for <br />approximately 128 rental properties. The City has been sending the utility bills to the tenant if <br />requested, but staff has had difficulty with tenants who don't pay, and time is spent on frequent <br />tenant changes, which requires extra meter reads. Current ordinance required the property owner <br />to be responsible for the bill; however, it had not been the practice. Staff requested an <br />amendment to the ordinance to bill the property owner only. <br />