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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,June 22,2020 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> good for ten years,but if there is a dip in it,the City will not say there is a correction there. The City is <br /> only looking for the intrusion of water. For other cities, it is kind of a sewer inspection,too. On the <br /> consumer/realtor side it will be confusing,because most of it identifies any issues. <br /> Seals asked if Johnson was hinting that the City should have it identify any issues. <br /> Johnson indicated he was not hinting that, because then the City is also saying there is no problem, and if <br /> the new buyer has a problem the next year,could they come back and say the City said there were no <br /> problems, and so who is at fault. He is saying it is a communication component that Rief and his team <br /> will be responsible for. <br /> Walsh noted he does not think there is any silver bullet. He said every city is different, as he was at one of <br /> his buildings for six hours in Golden Valley, and he knows their drill. <br /> Johnson stated on the commercial side it is atypical and that it may be the City's opportunity to squeeze it <br /> to a commercial business when they are changing hands. <br /> Walsh said he had four in the same building,they have to do all of them, and it takes time. <br /> Johnson stated he also talked to Edwards about thinking of a way for the City to have an incentive-based <br /> program for people to do this proactively. He noted Edwards is uncomfortable with the idea that the <br /> government says, "We're coming into your house because we need to fix this problem." <br /> Rief commented that he is also uncomfortable with the idea. <br /> Johnson suggested there may be an incentive-based program that gets people to want to do the inspection <br /> so they know they are good for the next ten years. <br /> Walsh noted however it is rolled out,there will be tweaks along the way to constantly better the City's <br /> ordinances. <br /> Johnson said he is very suspicious of what the City has budgeted for the actual expense and the number <br /> given is a best-case scenario. Edwards does not know how this is going to go, but he has been doing these <br /> in different cities for residential real estate transactions, and the inspection will uncover a lot of problems. <br /> He commented that as long as things go down, no one thinks about sewer lines and assumes there aren't <br /> any problems. If there are tree roots going through the pipes or there are buckles, it's very expensive. It <br /> can also be weather-dependent at times. There will be an enormous amount of hiccups, it gets <br /> complicated, and he would like to see more of a proactive approach holistically. For instance, a map could <br /> be created saying, "This is the biggest problem area in the City"which would come from Met Council <br /> data. <br /> Rief stated he and Edwards have discussed the issue thoroughly and have looked at it lift station by lift <br /> station. There is a flat rate of$276 a quarter; now it has changed to monthly. You look at your sewer <br /> charge, but there could be a lift station section and those people will be given an incentive by the City <br /> saying, "We know this problem is coming from your neighborhood. Do this inspection so we know it's <br /> not you, or you are going to get a charge of X amount because you are in the area."He asked Johnson if <br /> that is what he was thinking. <br /> Page 10 of 13 <br />