2014-03-25_PWETC_Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Culver noted that the concrete rehabilitation Larpenteur Avenue project from Oxford to Dale, west of Victoria street, and originally planned for 2013 would be under construction in 2014. While the County is looking to assist the City with funding for the Victoria Street and County Road B-2 projects, Mr. Culver noted that otherwise there were limited opportunities for their involvement for pathway projects. At the request of Member DeBenedet, Mr. Schwartz confirmed that there were only two proposals received for the County Road B-2 sidewalk/pathway project; and they were currently in the blind review process under Best Value Procurement procedures. Mr. Schwartz provided a brief update of last night's City Council meeting, and the names of those new members who will be serving on the newly-expanded PWETC (7 members total). 5. Ownership of Water/Sewer Service Lateral Infrastructure As noted in the staff report, at their March 24, 2014 meeting the City Council began a discussion of ownership of water and sewer service laterals in the City. Mr. Schwartz advised that the City Council had requested more detailed information and comparison information and cost participation scenarios if any from surrounding communities for ownership options, noting that in his past surveys of those policies, they varied considerably depending on specific policies for each community. At this point, Mr. Schwartz advised that staff had received no direction from the City Council until additional information was available and further discussion was held. Discussion included whether or not freeze-ups were in localized areas or spread throughout the community; water main materials used in the past and current options, as well as depth of existing lines; recognizing that this winter is not necessarily the new norm, with other options available to mitigate this extended freeze-up list beyond typical freeze-ups in more normal winters; ways to mitigate existing problem areas during pavement projects (e.g. insulating pipes as water mains area replaced, bury depths and methods, pipe bursting, and directional boring); and design considerations as watermains are replaced along wider county rights-of-way for smaller, domestic mains on the opposite side of the street from larger fire mains. Further discussion included assisting homeowners for an equitable situation, while protecting the City's liability with thawing lines through welding/stray voltage concerns or other options; contracting versus private opening of service lines; and hot water attempts with only an average 50% success rates for those attempted due to the length of those services and more exposure on roadways. Member DeBenedet opined that, from a general policy standpoint, and based on his engineering experience, his concern was that when the City hires a contractor Page 3 of 14