Committee of the Whole Meeting

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE City Hall – Council Chambers March 7, 2022 The Committee of the Whole met at City Hall at 7:03 p.m. on March 7, 2022, with the following Committee persons in attendance: Mayor Robert Green and Councilmembers Susan deBuhr, Kelly Dunn, Dustin Ganfield, Simon Harding, Daryl Kruse, Gil Schultz and Dave Sires. Staff members from all City Departments and members of the community attended in person. Mayor Green called the meeting to order and introduced the only item on the agenda, Infiltration & Inflow Reduction Program and introduced David Wicke, City Engineer and Mike Nyman, Water Reclamation Manager. Mr. Wicke introduced the North Cedar Heights Area road reconstruction and Park Drive infiltration and inflow project and explained why reconstruction is needed: narrow existing roadways, no curb, minimal storm water control, sanitary lines are dated, and Park Drive lift station is inundated from wet weather and to re-define roadway/Right of way (ROW). The project will start in 2022 and end in 2026. Mr. Wicke introduced Mr. Nyman; Mr. Nyman explained that I&I stands for infiltration and inflow of clean water into the sanitary sewer system. Clean water is either ground or rain water that flows into the sanitary system that’s not in the storm water system (two separate systems); the water gets into the sanitary system by cracks, manholes, water mains, or by direct inflow of a pipe with a direct connection to the sanitary sewer. Pump stations are unable to move an overabundance of water and can cause overflow in pipes, manholes and the pump stations, this causing backup into homes. Normal flow at the Park Drive station is 25,000-30,000 gallons/day but in extreme wet weather could be up to 900,000 per day. Back-ups and overflows are prohibited by IDNR (Iowa Department of Natural Resource). For over 25 years the City has been lining sanitary sewer lines, rehabbed manholes and a new lift station at Park Drive. City staff is proposing to change the code of ordinances to remove wording in section 7-196, pertaining to Ordinance No. 1275 that was adopted February 10, 1969. A proposed policy for removing illegal connections is proposed; this policy is intended to set a process for eliminating illegal connections in conjunction with street reconstruction projects going forward. The definition of an illegal connection is any foundation drain, footing drain, footing tile, sump pump, roof drain, etc. that discharges into the sanitary sewer. This will only address issues in the Park Drive area. The process will happen during street reconstruction; Engineering and Water Reclamation will coordinate inspections, new sub-drain or storm sewer for reconnection; then the owner has 60 days from end of road reconstruction project to hire a plumber to correct connection, and owner will schedule a city inspection to verify proper disconnection and reconnection. Financial assistance to the owner may be reimbursed up to $4,000 of actual cost; illegal connections must be corrected within 60 days and must submit an application within 30 days of final city inspection. If building owners do not correct illegal connections they will be charged $100/month and it will be assumed that an illegal connection exists in all buildings if owner refuses to allow an inspection. The next steps in the process: March 21, first consideration of ordinance change; April 4, second consideration of ordinance change; April 18, final consideration of ordinance; in-home inspections for North Cedar Heights area to begin in April/May. Mayor opened for questions from Council. Councilmember Kruse has concerns with contractor’s bids that may be above City’s allowable funding; Chase Schrage, Director of Public Works stated bids from three plumbers were acquired for pricing and averaged. Mr. Schrage reiterated the main focus will be the Park Drive lift station area for the next five years and after 1969 developments have proper connections, no cross connection. It was moved by Kruse and seconded by Harding that the meeting be adjourned at 7:22 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Minutes by Kim Kerr, Administrative Supervisor