07-13-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, June 22, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 11 of 13 Johnson indicated that is what he was thinking. He noted that would be a chipping-away approach. He is shocked it is such a big issue. He said it will not get cheaper and the Met Council gets to write their own bill. Walsh stated he has not seen the Met Council reduce their bills. Johnson said the City’s constituents do not realize the cost. Crosby stated it has to be about the communication. The City needs to identify what needs to be done and keep pushing it. Johnson said the City did very well at taking extra money for the cost of water out of the general fund. That meant that people that were on wells were subsidizing the cost for people that were getting City water. By segregating, they are telling their constituents, “This is your expense and you have to be responsible for it.” He stated that people have control over water usage and it’s usually only when the water bill gets really high that they care about it. If somebody is subsidizing it, it shortens the reaction time. This does not affect anyone with a septic system, because they are not contributing to the problem. It is only people that are on City sewer. He suggested Staff/Council continue to think about other ways for incentives to save money on their bill. Walsh said it is the City’s responsibility to make sure it gets done, and there has to be a forced approach because otherwise it will never get done. Rief noted one thing that has been done in the past is sump pump inspections house-by-house, which is part of the process whenever the City goes in for whatever reason. Johnson stated that can be done as a function of this inspection, which is why he is saying it might take more time to uncover where people are putting their discharges for their sump pumps, because they could be running them underground and into the curb, and so forth. Crosby wished everyone a post-Happy Father’s Day. He gave a shout out to the Police and First Responders, thanking them during these very trying times. He said their hard work does not go unnoticed. Seals stated the LMCD upsets her because, for instance, she doesn’t understand how an entity can spend $150,000 on a study. Crosby suggested the entire City Council should show up for a meeting. Johnson said the LMCD does not care. The question really becomes, how does Orono get other cities to care. Crosby said if they watch, the funding is going into testing and public relations, and that is taxpayer dollars. Walsh stated that is why he thinks, as they get more and more LIDs, it is going to erode the need for the organization. Seals said she would have no problem shifting the City’s funds to the LMA, because they are accomplishing something. She said she took her boat out on Stubbs Bay, and there were so many weeds