5.2. ERMUSR 08-11-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'* . Elk River ......, Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: FROM: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Eric Volk—Water Superintendent John Dietz—Chair Al Nadeau—Vice Chair Daryl Thompson—Trustee MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: August 11, 2015 5.2 SUBJECT: Petition for Water Main Looping and Extension Variance BACKGROUND: 13296 Mississippi Road is in the planning process for development. The lot is going to be split into three different lots. The developer, Alex Bodnar, is required to loop the water main when it's installed. The plan to loop the water main from Gary Street to Joplin Street has already been approved by city council. Troy and I were approached by Alex Bodnar to see if ERMU would consider paying for some of the installation to complete the loop. We informed him that all water main extension petitions must be determined by the utilities commission. DISCUSSION: In the past ERMU has not paid for any installation of new water main in a development. There are a couple of policies already in place requiring the installation of loops, and who should pay for them. • Section 105 of the ERMU Water Rules dictates that the cost rests on the developer. • ERMU Policy 5.2 states that"all water mains shall be looped, or in the case of phasing of developments, that provisions be made to loop them in the future."Requiring developers to loop water mains is common. • The City of Elk River and Elk River Municipal Utilities has adopted the Recommended Standards for Water Works Policy by the Great Lakes-Upper Mississippi River Board and Provincial Public Health and Environmental Engineers. In Section 8.2.4 of the policy, it states "dead ends shall be minimized by making appropriate tie-ins whenever practical, in order to provide increased reliability of service and reduce head loss." • Section 3400.A.7 of the City of Elk River Design Standards reads, "no dead ends shall be constructed, all water mains shall be looped." There are recent cases when developers have had to pay 100%of the water main installation cost. Eql PONEDED 11 Page 1 of 2 NATURE Reliable Public Power Provider P O W E R E D T O S E 0.V E 153