Agenda - Council - 03/13/2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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commissioned to assess the economic potential of whether an aggressive water conservation program could reduce a community's expansion of water supply to meet future residential needs. City Engineer Westby noted that based on current water use data and project population growth, Ramsey ranks 19 out of all Twin Cities metro cities as a potential candidate community for economic analysis of potential peak water demand reduction. The Metropolitan Council believes the City of Ramsey can potentially benefit from such an analysis and would like to know if the City is willing to be included in the study. City Engineer Westby presented alternatives for the Committee's consideration and stated staff recommends approval to participate in a Metropolitan Council Water Efficiency Potential Project. He suggested that action be made contingent upon a favorable response from the Metropolitan Council on whether the participation would not be related to required mandates. Chairperson Riley agreed that is a very real concern or question. He stated that the best way to avoid that would be to not participate. He noted that one of the City's closest neighbors, Andover, is number one on the list and therefore the City could ask to see the recommendations from that City to determine what could be done in Ramsey. Councilmember Kuzma noted that the population of Andover is higher than Ramsey. City Engineer Westby agreed that Andover is 1.5 times larger than Ramsey in terms of the population served. He agreed that Andover may participate and could have some telling results. Councilmember Johns noted that there could be some unique factors that could be helpful to the community, such as business makeup and peak times. City Engineer Westby stated that it would be helpful to have apples to apples comparison for information but acknowledged that the results from Andover will be helpful. He stated that the City is working to increase water conservation efforts through the RCP program. He noted that staff does work directly with the Metropolitan Council on numerous water related issues. He stated that he would not be comfortable bringing this forward to the City Council without a favorable response from the Metropolitan Council. Chairperson Riley stated that he would prefer not to participate and simply ask to see the results from Andover. Councilmember Johns stated that if participation would be helpful and would not have a cost to the City, other than a few hours of staff time, and would not have any requirements that come along with it, she would support participation. Councilmember Kuzma stated that if there is a favorable response that the City will not be required to do anything outside of the study he would support participation. He asked if participation in this study would gain additional support from the Metropolitan Council on regional water solutions. Public Works Committee / January 16, 2018 Page 10 of 14