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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,April 16,2012 Page 10 Public Works Superintendent Duane Schwartz introduced the City's Assistant Finance Director in charge of loss control, Brenda Davitt. Mr. Schwartz apologized for the error in the packet materials originating from his department; and reiterated Mayor Roe's comments that the purpose of this initial discussion was to receive City Council input to staff as to whether they should continue to proceed along these lines. Mr. Schwartz noted that there were several items still pending additional staff research, including backflow devices, the permit process and code requirements for major work on sanitary sewer systems, as well as additional insurance information as previously re- quested by the City Council. Discussion included benefit of having a City contractor versus private contrac- tor in ensuring a timely clean-up to protect the health, safety, and welfare of res- idents, with the City being able to positively identify and control those costs through a contracted service, and anticipated bid process in seeking clean-up contractors serving periodically on an on-call basis and providing competitive pricing at the lowest possible cost for all parties. It was noted that this process would be similar to that used by other communities with such programs in place; and staff estimating that the annual cost of such a contract would be $3,000 - $8,000, and hopefully offset some of the time currently spent by staff on damage claims. Further discussion included what would be involved in such a clean-up from a mediation standpoint to ensure the health, safety and welfare of residents versus cost of materials involved in finished lower levels; and how to identify what was and what was not covered. At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Ms. Davitt estimated that the typi- cal cost, based on staff's experience to-date, would be $5,000 to $10,000 de- pending on how much of the lower level of a home was finished. Councilmember McGehee suggested further discussion consider whether a limit of$5,000 per incident or per resident should be applied; ensuring that compe- tent and timely removal and disinfection was provided, but not remodeling are- as. At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mr. Schwartz estimated that most episodes rarely saw more than 1-2 inches of back-up, and mostly affected car- pets and floor coverings, not sheetrock and insulation materials. Councilmember Johnson noted that basically there were two (2) types of con- tractors: that of clean-up remediation services, and those services provided by a construction service, with the City clearly needing to define their involvement