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ITEM # 5.4. <br />.ver <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Mayor and City Council <br />FROM: Terry Maurer, Public Works Director ,~{~ <br />DATE: November 13, 2007 <br />SUBJECT: Black Dirt Policy <br />Lori Johnson, City Administrator, was planning to prepare a memo summarizing the city <br />staff position on the requested Elk River Municipal Utilities black dirt policy, but in hex need <br />to be out of the office this week, I have been asked to prepare this memo. Prior to doing so, <br />I have consulted with Lori Johnson and other department/division heads within the City <br />Hall regarding this issue. City staff is fully in support of the Municipal Utilities' efforts to <br />reduce water consumption through various methods. If the City Council agrees with the <br />proposed black dirt policy, city staff would recommend that the Municipal Utilities prepare a <br />written policy that can be distributed with every building permit, explaining what is required <br />and how it will be inspected to determine compliance with the policy. We would then <br />recommend that an additional black dirt inspection be put into PermitWorks fox every <br />building permit. We would recommend that Bryan Adams ox his representative be <br />responsible fox performing the black dirt inspection to determine appropriate compliance <br />with the policy. Once compliance is achieved, the Utilities have access to PermitWorks and <br />can check that inspection as passed. The city building official will review all inspections <br />prior to issuing a certificate of occupancy. This is very similar to how water services and <br />water meter installations are handled currently. <br />City staff members have been discussing this issue with Bryan for 6 -8 months. City staff <br />does have a number of concerns relative to how much a policy like this will actually reduce <br />water consumption, what will be the actual cost to the end user for this type of policy, and <br />how difficult will it be to implement. The specific questions raised by city staff to Bryan <br />Adams are included in a memo from Jeremy Barnhart, Planning Manager to Bryan Adams <br />dated Apxi126, 2007, a copy of which is attached. <br />Should you have any questions of city staff relative to this policy, I will be in attendance at <br />your Tuesday workshop. <br />S:\PUBLIC WORKS\2007 CC memos\11 07 07 Black Dirt Policy.doc <br />