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Ciry Council Minutes Page 6 <br /> November 2,2015 <br /> ----------------------------- <br /> There was discussion regarding the Elk River Municipal Utilities Payment in Lieu of <br /> Taxes for utilities and the difficulty in administration of this for utilities staff. Mr. <br /> Simon stated making a change by showing the costs in each city departments budgets <br /> may help to make staff more aware of their utility usage and to seek ways to reduce <br /> those costs. The budget increase will be offset by the additional 1% payment in lieu <br /> of fees and will have no levy impact,but will adjust the department expenditures <br /> upwards for 2016. Staff will present this as a separate item to be included in the final <br /> budget adoption on December 7. <br /> There were no additional questions about the 2016 budget. <br /> 10.6 Commercial Haulers Composting License <br /> Mr. Thompson presented the staff report. <br /> Mayor Dietz expressed concerns with the new policy as it applied to commercial <br /> haulers. He stated there are elderly residents who can't pick up their leaves and <br /> branches and they need to hire the work out. He stated these residents would end up <br /> paying more because of the additional costs to utilize a private composting company <br /> and it wouldn't be fair because they also pay taxes for the city/county compost <br /> facility. <br /> There was discussion regarding how scenarios affect the issues and it was noted <br /> enforcement would be difficult without hiring additional staff. <br /> Mayor Dietz stated he spoke with Sherburne County Commissioner Bruce <br /> Anderson,who told him this matter is strictly the decision of the cities. <br /> Mr. Thompson expressed concern with Elk River allowing commercial haulers and <br /> not the rest of the county compost sites because then all the commercial contractors <br /> would come to Elk River. He stated this would cause a large increase in their <br /> workload to process the material. <br /> Staff was directed to explore other options with the Recycling Board. <br /> 10.7 Vacation Accrual Carryover Discretion <br /> Mr. Portner presented the staff report. <br /> Council expressed concern about setting a precedent but Mr. Portner explained how <br /> this was a unique situation. <br /> Council consensus was for staff to move forward with drafting language to allow the <br /> vacation accrual payout for consideration at a future NATUREJ <br />