5.3. ERMUSR 11-12-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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..41*- Elk River Municipal Utilities 322 King Avenue phone: 763.441.2020 Elk River,MN 55330 Fax:763.441.8099 November 4, 2003 To: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission John Dietz Jerry Takle James Tralle From: Bryan Adams Subject: Water Service Line Change At the October Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission meeting, ownership and repair of customer owned water service lines were considered. The issue of qualified water utility personnel repairing water valves in customer service lines before the meter was discussed. The resolution was to allow utility personnel to continue to make these repairs as part of good customer service. Attached is section 103 of the water rules with the suggested changes underlined that would allow utility staff to make these repairs. Staff recommend adoption of these changes. The second item of our October discussion, revolved around an "insurance" policy to pay for customer water services that have failed. If a water service fails, the cost of repair is $2,000-$3,000 and many customers do not have that amount of cash on hand to pay for this unexpected expense. If we do institute an"insurance"program to pay for failed water services, the customer will not pay for service line replacement during our street rehabilitation projects, but will wait for the service line to fail and let the "insurance" pay for it. On the other hand, during street rehabilitation projects, we pay to have the non copper service line replaced from the main to the curb stop and encourage the customer to pay to have the remaining service line replaced (curb stop to house). We do not get reimbursed for our cost. Due to the fact that we can assess the property the cost of repairing a failed service line, if the customer can not afford the entire amount, although the utility fronts the initial money and is reimbursed over time. Staff recommends at this time, continuing our current policy and forego the proposed insurance programs.