2011-07-26_PWETC_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 of 3 3 37 The Second Part of the Recommendation 38 39 Utility Needs. 40 41 Background. The fee-supported Utilities in the City with significant urn-funded capital reeds are 42 the water Utility,the Sanitary Sewer Utility, and the Stormwater Uitility. These utilities all 43 consist largely of underground piping systems that were installed over a period from the 1940's 44 to the 1970's as the City developed. In addition, the water Uitilty includes the City's water 45 tower, and the Stormwater futility includes a number of City-maintained stormwater management 46 ponds. This capital infrastructure is provided by the City to deliver safe drinking water to the 47 homes and businesses in the City,to take away sanitary sewer wastewater to the Metropolitan 48 Council's sewer system and treatment facility for safe treatment, and to safely collect stormwater 49 ran-off, treat it, and deliver it to the environment via the streams, lakes, and other waterways of o the area. 1 52 Much of the piping in these systems is approaching 50-60 years of age, and was made of 53 materials that have been found to not last much longer d=that, if even that long. The cast iron 54 of the water mains is brittle and subject to leafing and breaks as the result of ground shifting, tree roots, etc. The clay the of the sanitary sewer lines is similarly subject to leafs and breaking. 56 Since the City pays St. Paul for dxinkm" g water, each leaf or brew in a line costs the City's 7 residents and businesses higher rates to account for that un-used water we purchase. Leaks of 58 raw sewage into the ground pose a danger to the environment. 59 60 In an effort to keep current and future costs down, the City is using new materials and 61 technologies to replace or repair existing water and sewer mains. where City streets are being 62 completer replaced, the water and sewer lines are being replaced as needed) with more durable 3 materials. where streets are not programmed for replacement for many yews, the City is using 64 re-lining technology that puts a new plastic pipe inside the existing pipe, and does not rewire 65 excavation of the street. 66 67 The capital infrastructure funding gala over the next 20 years in these Utility funds is about 47 8 million out of total projected costs of 65 million. In other words, 72%of the projected costs are 9 currently un-funded. 70 71 Recommendation. The subcommittee recommends a long-term solution for funding the 72 significant capital replacement needs of these Utilities that is a combination of adding revenues 73 and transferring existing funds. 74 75 The first part of the recommendation is to increase the annual utility base fees by a total of$2.2 76 million in 2012, and to maintain that increase permanently going forward. Approximately 77 $850,000 of that amount would be dedicated to water futility capital funding, approximately 78 $830,000 to unitary Sewer Utility capital funding, and the remairung approximately$500,000 79 would be dedicated to Stormwater Utility capital funding* 80