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Member Lenz opined she found this fascinating, admitting before appointment to <br />the PWETC, she had been unaware of her responsibilities as a homeowner for this <br />infrastructure. <br />Member Seigler opined he was ready to sign up now. <br />At the request of Member Cihacek, Ms. Shiwarski advised the agreement between <br />their warranty firm and a municipality was three years, with a 90 -day opt out for <br />either party. <br />Mr. Culver asked, if the city decided for whatever reason to discontinue the <br />program after initially approving it, what would happen to those residents enrolled <br />in the warranty program or whether they would be automatically removed from the <br />program. <br />Ms. Shiwarski advised that any current customers would continue their service <br />provided they continued their monthly premium payment; but no new customers <br />would be enrolled. <br />Motion <br />Member Cihacek moved, Member Lenz seconded, recommending to the City <br />Council that they pursue a potential agreement for this warranty opportunity <br />with Utility Service Partners. <br />At the request of Member Seigler, Mr. Culver reported that he saw many positives <br />for this warranty program and the only staff concern or negative he was aware of <br />to -date was removing any incentive for residents to think long-term and consider <br />proactive maintenance of their system. Mr. Culver opined that any resident <br />subscribing to this warranty program would see no need to spend money on their <br />line to protect against any current or future problems (e.g. root invasion). <br />Chair Stenlund concurred, noting that lack of interest would also be evident when <br />a street construction project in area provided a good opportunity for that proactive <br />maintenance or line replacement. <br />Mr. Stenlund advised that participation in this program would come into play with <br />the City's I & I issues and requirements of the city by the Metropolitan Council to <br />respond to and reduce that sanitary infiltration and inflow. If residents were not <br />incented to be proactive in lining their sanitary lines, those cracked lines would <br />continue to seep into the groundwater. However, Mr. Culver noted that the issue <br />could still be resolved by implementing a point-of-sale requirement such as done <br />by the City of Golden Valley and other municipalities. Mr. Culver advised that the <br />city could work toward that even with this program in place and provide a financial <br />savings to residents as well as easing their peace of mind. As Ms. Shiwarski stated, <br />Mr. Culver agreed that the city was the first call made by a resident. Mr. Culver <br />Page 15 of 18 <br />