01-10-1994 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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i resources to the i^ency to cootinoc and expand the com munity assistance profrun • Financial assistance programs should not ficnafize connmiiiiiics (hal iiavc adjusted Ihcir local utility rate system or reserve funds to meet facility financing needs. • The Laguc supports rearicting cKgibility for on-site system financing to areas which are not mdily able to connect to existing or programmed city sewage facilities. The League opposes direct or indirect resthaions on construction of new city facilities if itesc restrictions arc inconsistent with other slate or regiorul development controls. LUEET-11. Water C PtcKnratkm (B) ;rvai The League supports stale water conservation and presetvation programs that maintain a significant role for cities and provide adequate financial assistance and flexibility. In order to safeguard the public health and the environment it is necessary to conserve and preserve our water resources. Many watershed districts, counties, cities, and towns have done a good job of dealing with surface and groundwater management issues and have the authority and ability to continue to do so in a cost-effective manner. These existing mechanisms should continue to be used to the greatest extent possible to address surface and groundwater management problems, instead of establishing a new system or creating new v-rganizations. The League supports, as a basic principle, that no one has the right to pollute either ground or surface water resources. A reasonable relationship of economic and social costs and benefits should be a precondition toward achieving a goal of non-degradation of tratment resulting in clean water. The ability of cities to meet goals must te recognized as ccNUingeni upon the availability of adequate funding, inclu<1ing stale assistance. Thae (mncipics should apply to IhmIi iIic protoction of our drinking water supplies and the operation of municipal services The Lague suppens the following groundwater and sirface water prelection uututivea. • Continuation of the state's safe drinking water act compliance program which uTKfenakes fxlerally mandated tests on behalf of cities. However, re-examination of the water connection fee imposed by the Department of Health on connections to public water supplies should be undertaken The fee should be modified to elimiiute the inequity in the current $5.21 per year fee being collected from community supplies but not from non-community systems. Additionallv, measures to ensure that testing is accomplished in a cost-effective manner should be adopted, including the use of private sector laboratories. Local units of government should retain the basic responsibility for surface water management, because they are closest to the problem. Efforts to minimize duplication in regulatory programs should be continued. The state ’s new wetland conservation program should continue to be evaluated and amendments to improve the act should be required to be introduced in the 1995 legislative session, especially amendments to provisions of the wetland rules that conflict with existing state storm water management and water quality programs. The League supports efforts to control erosion and sediment runoff not only from urban sources but from non- urban sources. • The League supports a full legislative review of all water-related permit fees and 1994 City Policies and Priorities