Draft Minutes - 10-29-12 Regular

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—OCTOBER 29, 2012 3 had used. With the new equipment being more accurate and able to detect lower-volume usage, the new billing has been a bit of a shock for some. Public Works Director Maurer stated that a few people have expressed concern over the accuracy of the new equipment. He assured the Council that the equipment is accurate. If people are convinced that there is a problem, they can pay $130 to have their water meter tested. If testing proves the equipment is accurate, they are not reimbursed their testing fee. If the equipment is not found to be accurate, the problem will be resolved and the customer will be reimbursed the $130 testing fee. He also noted that a few problems have been detected with leaking fixtures within residents' homes. Councilmember Werner stated that he does not have a concern with the water usage, but with the sewer rate. Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson explained that the sewer rate is fixed based on water usage during the months of January, February, and March, which are the lowest usage months of the year, and that is the rate that is charged for the rest of the year. Councilmember Holden stated that she was someone who was shocked by her bill, but when she compared it to past usage, she knows that she truly consumed the amount of water that she was billed. Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson noted that she spoke with one resident who had purchased a house and never checked how the sprinkler system was programmed. When he researched the programming of the system, he discovered that his sprinklers were running for five hours per day. Public Works Director Maurer stated that he spoke with someone who was using 9,000 gallons of water per day when the irrigation system was turned on. That customer is now using 7,000 gallons per month now that the irrigation system has been turned off for the year. Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson stated that on a positive note, some people have found leaks that they never knew they had. Public Works Director Maurer noted that the Council had asked staff to aggressively contact the people who had not converted their water meter readers. He explained that during street sweeping time, there is some "down" time. During that time, doors were knocked on and as a result, they were able to complete more reader conversions. Public Works Directed Maurer also noted that an added benefit with the new meter readers is the fact that the Finance Department will receive alerts of properties that never go down to zero for usage. This will be useful for the `snow birds' that do not live here during the winter months in assisting in the detection of water leaks. Mayor Grant stated that he would like to find out from staff how much water the City buys from Roseville, and he would like to have a future discussion on that topic.