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<br />City Council Regular Meeting - 08/28/06 <br />Minutes - Page 24 <br /> <br />Utilities Division (w/s) <br />Mr. Schwartz advised that the budget maintained eXlstmg <br />maintenance programs, and contained inflationary or higher <br />expense increases for St. Paul Regional Water Services <br />(SPRWS) and Metropolitan Council Environmental Services <br />(MCES) being the major impact on budget items. <br /> <br />Mr. Schwartz reviewed several capital funding requests included <br />in the budget for sewer main lining and inflow-infiltration <br />reduction; camera system for the jetter to identifY needs for the <br />capital program; SCADA (electronic data monitoring for alarms <br />and pump flow equipment) to allow on-call staff 24 hours a day <br />year-round response time to any failures, serving as a critical <br />component in the service delivery; and consideration of future <br />automated meter reading implementation for commercial <br />accounts, with further study for residential properties. <br /> <br />Central Garage & Building Maintenance <br />Mr. Schwartz noted that this reflected the current level of <br />services, which would also be impacted by energy costs for the <br />fleet and building consumption; and addressed the need to <br />further study as a City ways to reduce energy demands for both. <br />Mr. Schwartz also addressed the 3.4% increase in street lighting <br />costs, related to increased energy costs, noting that last year <br />projections were under budget, and hopefully providing a <br />cushion for this year. <br /> <br />Successes <br />Mr. Schwartz reviewed successes within the department (i.e., <br />Pavement Management Plan consistencies and improvements in <br />pathway pavement conditions) and recommended broadening the <br />PMP concept with other infrastructure, making implementation <br />of necessary repairs and/or improvements less painful and less of <br />a major impact to the taxpayer. <br /> <br />Discussion included existing pathway maintenance; priorities for <br />new pathway construction and need for an updated pathway <br />plan; the Community Visioning process related to future <br />priorities; and improvements with available grant funding and <br />