Minutes - Council - 05/11/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Cook explained the reason the Committee eliminated the first proposed penalty is because if it takes three or four weeks between violations when going through this process, it might not even get to the third step. Paying an extra $50 to water their lawn is not a big deal for a lot of people. Assistant Public Works Director Olson explained case six on the agenda is an amendment to impose these fines. As part of the consent agenda the Council approved the schedule for the public hearing. Staff is trying to get this moving as quickly as possible. Councihnember Kurak asked how the watering will be monitored. Assistant Public Works Director Olson replied Public Works staff will go out on a Sunday for a three or four hour period and scour the whole City. Residents will then receive their first registered letter in the mail. Councihnember Kurak commented people often think the well is going dry, but the problem is due to the holding tanks and it takes the pressure time to build back up. Councihnember Strommen suggested staff look into requiring a minimum soil depth when people are putting in irrigation systems to help with water conservation. Counci hnember Elvig explained the Committee also discussed a requirement for rain sensors. Counci hnember Zilnmennan noted they also addressed sprinklers running into the street. 6) Request for Maintenance of Private Street Councilmc~nber Zimmerman reported the Committee discussed the request of Rum River Hills to take over the private street that services their subdivision. Staff recommended that a soil boring be completed to determine an appropriate depth of road to bring this section up to City code. The final recommendation of the Committee was that the City Council hire Northern Technologies at a not to exceed cost of $400 contingent upon the Rum River Hills Townhouse Association issuing a letter agreeing to the reimbursement and allowing the soil boring to be done on their private property. Assistant Public Works Director Olson explained the association requested the City look at what it would cost to upgrade their street to City standards. They are experiencing some deterioration of their street and have asked again to have the City take over it. To put a cost estimate together it needs to be known what type of soil is beneath. There was a lot of discussion at the Committee about why this would be done if the City will not be taking over the street. He explained the City could have the soil boring done much cheaper due to its contract with Northern Technologies. Even if the City does not take the road over the association could use that information to determine what maintenance they need to do to keep the road up and make it last longer. City Council/May 11, 2004 Page 13 of 36