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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, February 24, 2014 Page 21 Mr. Schwartz responded affirmatively, noting that those were the most difficult situations, since they were typically wider roadways. Councilmember Willmus noted changes over the last few years made to the City's sewer policy due to similar issues, and moving forward with a preventative back- flow device. Councilmember Willmus suggested a similar preventative for ser- vice line installations or road projects in areas we know may have problems, and taking steps to insulate those lines at that time. Mr. Schwartz clarified that the City had a freeze-up list prior to this year of which they were aware, and as road projects came up, they addressed those issues through added insulation. Mayor Roe calculated that, if the average cost for unfreezing a line is $850, the cost for fifty-five homes to-date could cost the City $40,000 to $50,000. Mayor Roe agreed that, if people were running water to help solve the issue, the cost should be spread across all rate payers, as cheap insurance. However, Mayor Roe noted that there should be a sign up program to know who those people were. Mr. Schwartz noted that there was another problem, as he and Finance Director Miller had discussed, referencing a newspaper article last week about the City of Winona, and residents credited over a certain time period at 500 gallons of water per day, with a cost to that City of$1.3 million. Mr. Schwartz cautioned the City Council to give considerable thought to the terms to allow credit without knowing how to control the stream of water. Mr. Schwartz noted that the cost was not lim- ited to the actual water used, but also the City's treatment costs of that water to the Metropolitan Council. Given how unusual this circumstance is, Mayor Roe opined that it was unlikely to experience 100% of the City's water users participating. Mr. Schwartz concurred, noting that the potential was there to have a significantly higher number of freeze-ups, anticipating even double or triple the current number over the next few weeks. Mr. Schwartz advised that the City could not be aware of which ones may be problems, although a certain pattern was developing in freeze-ups in areas with sandier soils, and certain neighborhoods. Mr. Schwartz advised that staff suggested a direct mailing to those neighborhoods at a minimum advising them to leave a stream of water running. Councilmember Willmus noted, in identifying or targeting those specific areas, if the City determined the amount of flow needed to keep water lines open, the City could specify that it wouldn't compensate beyond whatever that formula was based on— a certain number of gallons per day for that quantity of usage on their bill.