Minutes - Public Works Committee - 01/20/2015

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Motion by Chairperson Riley, seconded by Councilmember Johns, to recommend that the City Council approve the City of Elk River's revised cost -share proposal. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Riley and Councilmember Johns. Voting No: None. Absent: Councilmember Shryock. 6. CONIlV 1TTEE / STAFF INPUT 6.01: Update on Water Supply Planning Efforts City Engineer Westby reviewed the staff report. He also reviewed a PowerPoint presentation. He noted the City has a design capacity of 10.73 million gallons per day. The average daily consumption is 1.72 MGD. The highest has been 5.16 MGD. The city does have emergency capacity of 1.2 million gallons per day. He pointed out there is a storage capacity of 4 million gallons. Based on this, there should be sufficient capacity for years to come. He said no new wells are included in the 5 -year CIP. He explained the staff has been informed that ground water can continue to be used for water supply needs and new wells may be allowable if staff can show that it is not cost effective to utilize surface water. He said cities around the metro are drilling new wells to meet their needs, but they are also being asked to consider surface water supply in place of, or in addition to, ground water supply. City Engineer Westby noted the City has regional water supply partnerships with the Anoka County Municipal Wellhead Protection Group, the Anoka County Water Resources Management Task Force and the Northwest Metro Water Supply Work Group. Staff is planning to request Council authorization to formally joining the Anoka county Municipal Wellhead Protection Group. This group is composed of eight cities in the northern metro area. He explained the Anoka County Water Resources Management Task Force includes a group of representatives from across Anoka County, which meets regularly. The Northwest Metro Water Supply Group has been one of the stronger groups their goal is to provide guidance for local water supply systems and future regional investments, as far as alternatives to groundwater supply in the northwest area. He mentioned St. Cloud has tapped into the Mississippi River for water supply. He stated Staff believes the Ramsey area could be a good spot for a regional water treatment plant. The City of Ramsey is working to keep on top of the situation so that when improvements are needed, there will be direction and good partnering opportunities with other cities. Chairperson Riley asked City Administrator Ulrich if he is in agreement with the status of the water supply efforts. City Administrator Ulrich said he agrees. He added there was some indication from the DNR that if we wanted to consider another well, they may not approve. The DNR encouraged Staff to look at alternatives. He explained groundwater cannot be mixed with river water due to temperature and chemical differences. Either a groundwater system should be used exclusively, or surface water sources exclusively used. This effort must be regional or statewide in order to make it cost effective. It is not feasible for the City of Ramsey to spend large dollar amounts to build a large system to work with surface water. It may be better to apply for permits and see if Public Works Committee / January 20, 2015 Page 5 of 8