04. Sewer Hook-ups Outside CityP(11�
V1 0 �MIlvll
Incorporated 1892
Telephone (406) 752-6600 Douglas Rauthe
FAX (406) 752-6639 Mayor
Post Office Box 1997
Zip 59903-1997 Bruce Williams
Date: June 13, 1994 City Manager
To: Bruce Williams, City Manager City Council
From: Bob Babb, Public Works Director/City Engineer Members:
Re: Sewer Connection/Plant Investment Fees Gary W. Ny5tul
Ward I
In response to the Council's request, we have evaluated our sewer connection fees with
Cliff Collins
attention to new customers in the Evergreen area who He outside the Evergreen Rural
Ward I
Special Improvement District. Aside from the Evergreen question, our evaluation
Barbara Moses
indicates that the current connection fees are too low to recover each customer's share of
Ward II
our capital improvement costs. The treatment plant's reserve capacity is also addressed.
Dale Haarr
Ward II
Our recommendation is to increase the in -city sewer connection fee to $1000 per Jim Atkinson
equivalent dwelling unit, with $835 to be attributed to the treatment plant and Ward III
$165 to the collection system. Recommended connection fees for larger services
Lauren Granmo
would be based on the size of the water service, as indicated in the following table. Ward III
It is also recommended that the out -of -city connection fee surcharge be increased
Pamela B. Kennedy
to 100%. Ward IV
M. Duane Larson
With respect to those customers who connect to the Evergreen system but lie Ward IV
outside the RSID, it is recommended that a connection fee be implemented and
based on that portion of the fee attributed to the treatment plant. The out -of -city
surcharge would also be applicable.
Sewer ConnectionTlant Investment Fees
Recommended Fee
Current Fee
Meter
Volume
Treatment
Collection
Total
(In -City)
Size
Ratio Units
Plant
System
Fee
1/8"
1.0
835
165
1000
500
3/a"
1.44
1200
240
1440
500
1"
2.56
2140
420
2560
1250
1 V2"
5.16
4810
950
5760
2500
2"
10.24
8550
1690
10,240
3500
3"
23.04
19,240
3800
23,040
6500
4"
40.96
34200
6760
40,960
9000
As with our current policy, we recommend that these fees be used as a minimum. The
actual fee would be the greater of the minimum shown or $1000 times the number of
dwelling units. The fee for non-residential customers would be based on the size of the
water meter.
June 12, 1994
Connection/Plant Investment Fees
Page 2
Currently, the City is without a policy regarding connection fees for those customers who will
connect to the Evergreen system but who are outside the Evergreen RSID. The District
compensates the City for 22% of the plant's capital improvement costs, in conjunction with their
allotted 22% of plant capacity. Those Evergreen sewer customers who lie outside the District
will contribute flows that will not be included in Evergreen's 22% of plant capacity. Accordingly,
these customers should compensate the City for capital improvement costs, aside from the
District's obligation. Since the sewage from Evergreen's system is received at the plant without
utilizing our collection system, the connection fee should be based only on treatment plant capital
improvements. The out -of -city surcharge should also be applied.
A final issue with respect to connection fees is collection. Currently the Building Department
collects connection fees as part of their permitting process. With Evergreen customers this may
not suffice as some areas adjacent to the Evergreen Sewer District are not included in Kalispell's
building permit jurisdiction. The options, as we see them, are to either make arrangements with
the County Building Department or assess the customer/developer for connection fees at the time
of approval for connection. We do not have a recommendation on this question at this time.
Aside from fees, another question to consider is the number of connections to be allowed outside
the city limits. The following is a conservative evaluation of the available capacity. Assuming a
typical household sewage flow of 300 gallons per day (GPD), the treatment plant has the capacity
to serve 10,333 household equivalents. This conservative assumption has been used here because
it is the State's standard for sewer system design. This value makes an allowance for inflow and
infiltration since actual household flows are probably in the range of 150 to 200 GPD.
We have pledged 22% of this capacity to the Evergreen Sewer District, leaving 2,418,000 GPD
or 8060 household equivalents available for other customers we may choose to serve. With
approximately 6510 household equivalents committed to our current customers, the remaining
capacity is adequate to serve approximately 1550 household equivalents. In terms of
typical meter sizes and volume ratio units, this could be viewed as 1000 dwelling units and
50 to 75 small to medium size commercial accounts. In comparison, our sewer system,
exculsive of Evergreen, includes approximately 4300 residential and 650 non-residential
services.
It is recommended that the majority of this reserve capacity be designated for in -city
customers.