02-09-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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f I MEMORANDUM To: Jessica Loftus From: Mike Gaffron Date: February 9, 2015 Subject: 3384 Shoreline Dr. SAC -Anderst Sewer and Water Letter 2/5/15 Mr. Anderst is requesting a letter from the City to the Met Council that he should not be charged any SAC units for the new restaurant he will be opening in the west half of his building. His position is that the past history of uses of the building should negate any additional SAC charges. Unfortunately,the City cannot readily honor that request because there is no documenta.tion unearthed to date to support a credit to the property for SAC charges, based on Met Council policies and calculation methods, which are spelled out in great detail in the Met Counci12015 SAC Procedural Manua1. I would note the following: - The building was connected to municipal sewer in June 1965. - Met Council did not have a SAC Charge or SAC program until 1973. - Existing businesses and homes already connected to sewer in 1973 did not have to pay a SAC Charge for their existing or continued use unless/until the use changed to require a higher sewer capacity demand. - No SAC Charges have ever been paid for the property. - SAC Charges for commercial users per Met Council policy are collected whenever there is new construction or a significant change in use that increases the demand on the metro sewer system. No revisions in usage since 1973 have triggered the need for SAC Charges to be paid for this property. - The proposed conversion to restaurant use of the west half of the building constitutes a new use that potentially adds to the demand on the metro sewer system per Met Council policy. - Met Council has calculated that the new use constitutes 5.76 SAC units based on seating capacity, and has assigned a"Grandparent Credit"of 0.44 SAC units based on past use of the space prior to 1973. Met Council rounds down, so that the Anderst will be charged 5.0 SAC units at$2,485 per unit or$12,425 total. - The City merely acts as a pass-through collection agency for SAC Charges. The City functionally cannot make SAC determinations that do not comply with Met Council policy. The City can, however, assist the determination process by providing records of past uses of the property. - Mr. Anderst's issue regarding the lack of records is problematic. The City has excellent records of which properties paid SAC Charges,how much they paid, and when they paid it. However,the level of detail requested by Met Council, as to exactly how the various spaces in the building were used in the past including very specific uses and square footages, is information that simply doesn't exist in City records. We are checking with Met Council to see whether providing them past water billing information(based on quarterly gallons used) would be of use, but that data only goes back to 2002.