2011-07 AMENDING CITY CODE - CHAPTER 74 - SANITARY SEWER SERVICE AND CONNECTIONS

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PUBLIC WORKS MEMORANDUM NO. 2011-02 DATE: February 3, 2011 TO: Honorable Mayor McElroy and City Council Members FROM: Ryan P. McCrady, City Manager Richard G. Marley, P.E., Public Works Director SUBJECT: Sanitary Sewer System SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council approve the attached Ordinance to amend City Code 74, increasing the sewer user charge 12 cents per one hundred cubic feet of water used per year for the next 5 years beginning May 1, 2011. The increase would cost the average sewer user about 87 cents per month but would allow a significant amount of work to be done to fix problematic sewers throughout the city.The City Code Amendment will also combine all City Ordinance requirements concerning sanitary sewers into one City Code Chapter. SANITARY SEWER: The current sanitary sewer user charge is not sufficient to adequately maintain and rehabilitate the sanitary sewer system,which over the years has meant that residents in a number of city neighborhoods are regularly forced to deal with sewer backups in their homes and yards.As most people know,backups are especially problematic following heavy rains as our current sewer lines are leaky meaning that water enters the sanitary sewer lines, forcing sewage out of pipes and into homes. The City's sanitary sewer user charges of 34 cents per one hundred cubic feet of drinking water for residential,commercial and light industrial customers and 45 cents per one hundred cubic feet for one large industrial customer have not changed since the fees were established in 1998. As such,the City has not been able to perform sewer system maintenance and upgrades to a desirable level due to limited funding.The City's sanitary sewer user charge has approximately 27,700 customers and currently generates approximately$2,000,000 per year. Four system priorities must be addressed in the near future: • Critical Large Diameter Sewer Rehabilitation: The critical sewers range in diameters from 3 to 7 feet Failure of the critical sewers is possible and would have dire consequences for the City such as a loss of service for a large number of customers, pollution of the lake and our drinking supply,very high repair costs,andon ssibly significantrip 'vate property damage. • Sanitary Sewer Overflows Due to Inflow and Infiltration: During rain events inflow and infiltration enters the sanitary sewers in many areas exceeding the capacity of the system. When capacity is exceeded basement backups and sanitary sewer overflows can and do occur. This pollutes streams, rivers,possibly the lake and violates USEPA and Page I 1