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WORK STUDY I Proposed Sanitary Sewer Service Charge Water Resources Manager Thom Coughran outlined for the Council the sewer problem existing in Santa Ana which has 450 miles of sewer main lines and a sewer inventory valued at $225 million. These problems include: • 90 miles of sewers over 70 years old; • Aging laterals from sewer main to property which are an expensive liability ($2,000 to $15,000/property owner) and a potential health hazard to homeowners and businesses • Aging mains which have insufficient capacity to serve new developments and increased density; • Current capital funding of only $200,000/year generated by sewer connection fee; • The need for current capital funding of $2.3 million/year to begin eliminating deferred maintenance and assuming responsibility for sewer laterals from property owners; and • A sewer main replacement cycle of 1,125 years. In response to these needs, Mr. Coughran recommended: the creation of a sewer enterpise sewer account -- a Sewer Service Charge (SSC) -- set at $2.40 per month per 20 units of water usage noting that this would generate approximately $2.3 million; elimination of the worst case sewer mains with deferred maintenance in 25 years; replacement of approximately 2.5 miles of sewer mains per year; and the City's assumption of responsibility for repair replacement of sewer lateral from property line to sewer main. Mr. Coughran was seeking Council direction on whether to proceed with presenting the issues to business leaders and community groups and returning for a final resolution of a Sewer Service Charge and implementation in January 2002. Capital Improvement Program (CIP) FY 2001-2002 Ms. Amerson outlined a summary of the proposed $44 million Capital Improvement Program which included funding requests for neighborhood improvements, arterial improvements, traffic improvements, infrastructure improvements, City Facility improvements, and park facility improvements. Ms. Amerson gave a brief summary of major projects within each category. In the course of the budget presentation, Councilmembers raised the following "Issue Bin" items that require more detail to be provided at a later date: Sewer Fee Discussion • Special Needs Review l • Comparison of fees to other cities • Countywide billing process: feasibility of adding the sewer fee to the property tax bill. • What is the 'maximum' cost to replace the sewer main from the street to the house? CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 191 MAY 21, 2001