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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,March 24, 2014 <br /> Page 34 <br /> whether they had notified the City, with the receiving home obviously having to <br /> run a continuous stream of water; with both homes potentially receiving a credit; <br /> and the receiving house and providing house credited for the amount of water the <br /> neighbor was using as well. <br /> Councilmember Willmus spoke in support of the $20 per month credit and for the <br /> neighbor to neighbor hook-ups as well. At the request of Councilmember <br /> Willmus, Mr. Schwartz confirmed that staff was working with neighbors to bro- <br /> ker these options as applicable. <br /> Councilmember Etten spoke in support of the credits, opining that it was only <br /> common sense to care for residents. <br /> Councilmember McGehee spoke in support of the first two requests by staff; and <br /> sought additional information on the third request of staff. <br /> Mr. Schwartz clarified that the City typically and historically had under 100 prop- <br /> erties on its annual freeze-up list, many that had been listed for a number of years <br /> and often based on past road projects that may have altered roadway grade eleva- <br /> tions or experienced some other change that affected occasional freezing in colder <br /> winters. Given the extent of new freeze-ups this winter, Mr. Schwartz advised <br /> that staff was recommending a supplemental list for extreme winters, separate <br /> from the historical freeze-up list; and only notify that group to start running water <br /> when the frost is typically in the 5' range or lower, with those on the historical list <br /> notified when frosts are at the 3' range. <br /> Consensus was agreement with all three of staff's recommendations as presented. <br /> Mitigation of Known Freeze Account Issues <br /> Mr. Schwartz reviewed mitigation efforts by staff from the historical freeze-up list <br /> to insulate pipes when roadways were resurfaced as part of a PMP project, at <br /> which time the homes were removed from the list. <br /> With the new list, Mr. Schwartz recommended continued monitoring for future <br /> extreme winter weather conditions for potential notification; and to pursue system <br /> design considerations for replacement of water mains, especially on wider rights- <br /> of-way as snow cover is lessened and for those experiencing freeze-ups. Mr. <br /> Schwartz noted other issues with expense for service laterals under County roads; <br /> and including such projects in the CIP, along with other tools (e.g. double main <br /> right-of-way if Ramsey County was not anticipation reconstruction in the near fu- <br /> ture) and other ways to find cost-effective solutions versus digging up the water <br /> service connections, with a smaller supplemental water main beyond the fire ser- <br /> vice line on the other side and installed through soil borings. Mr. Schwartz ad- <br /> vised that mitigation efforts could be explored as opportunities arose in the future. <br />