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Mr. Culver did not know if the City saw substantial increases in construction costs <br />this year but next year could be very interesting. <br />Mr. Freihammer explained that every year when staff does its budget CIP they <br />project out twenty years on the Capital Replacement and try to keep it up to date, <br />especially for the lift stations, to see what they are currently paying. <br />Vice -Chair Ficek asked if the City should look at figures to see if an increase to the <br />stormwater fund to try to build a surplus and try to plan for improvements in the <br />future. <br />Mr. Culver indicated they have not. There has been internal discussion but nothing <br />has been looked at. He indicated staff should look at this because they will end up <br />spending the capital dollars in the future. For next year's CIP process they should <br />probably bump up the expenditures in some of the out years, looking five years and <br />beyond. <br />Member Collins indicated he had a question about the storm sewer system. He <br />understood staff has not pinpointed all of the problems yet, but he wondered if staff <br />had an idea of where they would start if they had to. <br />Mr. Culver explained one of the big liabilities out there is the ponds. Staff knows <br />they have a lot of ponds that need dredging. Unfortunately, a lot of the costs related <br />to that is the disposal of the material. It needs to be tested for contamination and <br />then it would need to be placed in a landfill, which is very expensive. Staff has a <br />decent idea about the cost. The other side is staff is seeing some sink holes and <br />outlet structures that are separating from the pipe that are very difficult to get to. <br />Staff has a growing list of known issues that will need to be taken care of. Staff <br />does not have a handle on the magnitude of that at this time, particularly the pipes <br />themselves underground. <br />Mr. Freihammer indicated on the storm sewer system the City is very reactionary <br />and when the City does a road mill and overlay the only thing that might be <br />upgraded is the catch basins because there are usually inspections done on those <br />and, if failing, they get replaced. Very rarely is the mainline pipe excavated and <br />replaced. <br />Chair Wozniak asked if there is any relationship between how much the City spends <br />on stormwater management and how much precipitation the City gets in a year. <br />Mr. Culver explained what is interesting is with the changes in climate there are <br />more intense rainfalls and rain events and that does actually have an impact on the <br />stormwater system. A lot of the requirements the City has for new developments <br />and redevelopments or even reconstruction are because of that. The City recognizes <br />that the current stormwater system is under designed for today, and certainly for <br />tomorrow, as the rain events become more intense. It is not that the City is getting <br />Page 3 of 6 <br />