Agenda - Public Works Committee - 12/21/1999

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PW CASE # 4 UPDATE ON STORM DRAINAGE UTILITY IMPLEMENTATION By: Steve Jankowski, City Engineer Background: On November 23, 1999, the City Council introduced an ordinance creating a storm drainage utility. The adoption of this ordinance should have been scheduled for the December 14 Council meeting, but was omitted from the agenda due to an oversight. The adoption of the ordinance will be placed on the December 21, 1999, Council meeting agenda. The funds generated by this utility are anticipated to fund a number of construction projects in 2000 including (1) cleaning of County Ditch 43, (2) the Juniper Ridge Drive storm sewer, (3) the 149th Avenue storm sewer, and (4) the 164th Lane storm sewer. It is therefore important that the City initiate collection of the utility charges as soon as possible. The purpose of this case is to provide an overview of what tasks need to be completed before charges can be placed on quarterly utility bills, and provide a schedule for completing those tasks. A secondary goal is to solicit committee input on informing the public of the impending charges and the function of the storm drainage utility. The first opportunity for billing will occur in the April 2000 utility billing. The storm drainage utility charge will be added to five other City charges that appear on local utility billings. These charges include sanitary sewer, municipal water, subdivision streetlights, priority streetlights, and recycling. One major task facing staff will be to detemfine the areas of commercial properties subject to the storm drainage utility charge. We have a listing of approximately 350 utility customers who are classified as commercial accounts. We believe the actual number of commercial accounts that should be subject to the storm drainage utility rate to be about half of this number. One reason for the difference stems from the fact that there may be multiple meters on the same property. Another factor is that strip malls and multi-tenant facilities have many individual utility accounts. A second task will be to identify those parcels having on-site ponding, which should receive consideration for a reduction in their charges. Staff is estimating that with the assistance of a part-time employee, perhaps the environmental specialist, these tasks could be completed by mid-March. Once the proper information is supplied to Connexus, only two to three weeks is estimated to be required to update their billing system. Finally, staff believes some information should be provided to the public before the implementation of the charge. An article in the Ramsey Resident would be appropriate; however, additional advertisement may be desirable such as a special mailing or a cable TV program. Committee Action: None required. Reviewed by: City Administrator Director of Public Works Finance Officer PW: 12/21/99