CLINTON —
Sewer access for the soon-to-be-built middle school has become the impetus for the construction of a connection line off the Mill Creek sewer line. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Committee of the Whole, City Engineer Jason Craft presented his proposal for the $663,000 construction project, and a potential funding source through the use of property assessments.
The “massive” sewer use of the new middle school could become too much for the city’s existing sewer systems to handle, Craft said. The construction of a gravity sewer line from the school along 13th Avenue North to the Mill Creek sewer would not only take advantage of an underutilized waste avenue to the benefit of existing sewer systems, it would be a positive development for adjacent property owners who could tap in for access.
“(The Mill Creek Sewer) basically runs from start to finish without any mains branching off from it,” Craft said, adding that it would easily accommodate the waste from the surrounding area.
Craft proposed an assessment-based funding mechanism, which would cost the average property owner along 13th Avenue North $3,700. The school would pay about 10 times that amount. Undeveloped farmland and properties unable to directly benefit from the gravity sewer would not be assessed immediately.
Even with the assessments, the city would be on the hook for at least $300,000, likely more depending on whether non-benefiting properties opt to pay a connection fee to use the gravity sewer. Craft said that at this point, the assessment has not been formalized, and affected property owners would have several opportunities to provide input.
“This is just the beginning stage,” he said.
Fourth Ward councilman Paul Gassman said he would prefer to see a connection fee system implemented to pay for the construction costs, as he believes that is the fairest alternative. Craft said that using connection fees is an option that has been previously utilized by the city, but that using that method for this instance would likely cost $8,000 to $10,000 per household.
Councilwoman at large Jennifer Graf asked if it were possible to adjust the assessed fees based on sewer usage.
The middle school would be the primary user of a new gravity sewer line, and could therefore be subject to a bigger share of the expense, she said.
Regardless of what specific funding option is utilized, Graf said that the person holding the bill is ultimately the same.
“It’s the citizens paying this in any way, shape, or form you look at it,” she said.
Still, Graf, Gassman and other council members seemed to generally agree that the construction of the gravity sewer was necessary, and would be beneficial to development in the area long term.
Craft said he will present again at the Jan. 24 meeting of the Committee of the Whole with more detailed information on a connection fee system as proposed by Gassman, and a usage-based assessment as proposed by Graf.
In other action, the committee:
• Agreed to forward a Human Resources contracting proposal to the next City Council meeting.
PJ Greufe and Associates has submitted a contract that would permit that firm, for $1,500 a month, plus a one-time $2,500 assessment fee, to serve as the city’s day to day HR firm. Though they would not maintain a physical presence at city hall, they would be a “telephone call away,” according to city administrator Jeff Horne.
Horne said the proposal would allow the city to adequately perform HR duties without having the expense of an in-house department.
“This achieves the savings within the function that we wanted to achieve,” when the HR position was eliminated last October, Horne said.
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