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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, April 27, 2020 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 6 of 16 <br /> <br />builds that are on an old homesite where they might try to reuse the service line. He said there is already <br />an inspection requirement for new-home builds such as a pressure test, visual inspection, etc. <br /> <br />Johnson asked what makes the point-of-sale the right vehicle to get the process done. <br /> <br />Walsh answered that it is opportunity, because they cannot close without the certificate. He said he does <br />not feel a homeowner needs the certificate when they list their house but it has to be done before closing. <br /> <br />Edwards commented, on the advertised piece, that may be something that is struck from the ordinance. <br />He said there are allowances that the alternative would be the establishment of an escrow for the new <br />homeowner so they could complete any required repairs. <br /> <br />Crosby asked if the inspections can be done in all climates. <br /> <br />Edwards stated they could be done all year. <br /> <br />Crosby suggested adding language of “within 90 days of sale,” or something similar, to give people more <br />flexibility so they do not wait until the last minute. <br /> <br />Edwards said currently the language is 60 days. <br /> <br />Johnson stated there is enough consequence built in, because you cannot close on your house. <br /> <br />Crosby said the 90 days gives more buffer time to make sure it is accomplished, enough time to do any <br />necessary repairs, and a heads-up. <br /> <br />Walsh indicated the bigger issue is that if there is a problem, it can get taken care of. He did not think <br />whether it was 60 days or 90 days would break the bank. If there is a problem, it means water is being <br />poured into the City’s system, which causes the City more and more fees from the Met Council. <br />Printup asked if he was reading the draft ordinance right: if someone is putting their house on the market <br />in the near future, they can have it looked at and then it is good for 10 years. <br /> <br />Edwards stated he was correct, the idea being that once the City has a complying system, they would <br />issue a compliant certificate that would be good for 10 years. He said they do not need to burden people <br />with inspection after inspection; if the system is good, there would be at least a 10-year life before it <br />would begin to fail. <br /> <br />Printup referenced Walsh’s comment about getting in touch with somebody that does the inspections and <br />said he thinks it is important to get that hammered out so when somebody goes up to City Hall and they <br />ask questions, there is an information sheet for the residents. He noted they talked several months ago <br />about getting the information piece out to residents because they are not paying any fees for inspections; <br />but when they sell a house, there is going to be this point-of-sale to deal with. <br /> <br />Seals agreed that the information would need to be communicated over and over on every channel the <br />City has, the newsletter, the website, etc., because communication did not go well last time. It makes her <br />not want to make changes if it is not communicated well, because it is unfair to residents. <br />