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NEW ULM -- The New Ulm Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved an agreement with Utility Service Partners (USP) to help customers with expenses for potential service line repairs and replacements.
One year ago, the PUC learned of an emergency repair to sewer service. The service repaired was considered a long sewer service as it was located on the back half of a divided lot on a side street. The emergency repair was a significant cost to the homeowners. Approximately 300 properties have a long sewer hookup in New Ulm.
Since that time, New Ulm Public Utilities (NUPU) staff have researched long services and looked for ways to mitigate the impact of these long services. PUC regulation designates that the property owner owns and maintains the service from the house to the city main. This regulation is consistent with other cities contacted.
Manderfeld said as a result of the study, NUPU developed frequently asked questions (FAQ) for potential homeowners that will address issues that could impact all utilities.
Operation changes during road reconstruction could reduce the cost of long sewers by protecting roads if long service were to fail. In other situations, the city will allow directional boring of water/sewer services by homeowners.
Another option is using funding from single-family rehab loans made available through the city to make necessary repairs. These funds would be made on a first-come, first-serve basis.
NUPU also found an optional program administered by a National League of Cities (NLC) that offred service line warranties. The warranty is available to all customers and could help reduce the cost of long sewer service repairs.
This program costs nothing for the NUPU to participate in. NLC will utilize the NUPU logo to brand the materials used to educate NUPU customs about the repair plan. For this, NUPU will receive royalty fees.
Manderfeld said the only issue with approving this program is customer confusion on who is administering the program. NUPU anticipates the city receiving calls about the warranty, but it is handled by NLC. All calls NUPU receives regarding the warranty will be forwarded to the correct contact.
Commission Mary Ellen Schanus made the motion to authorize the marketing agreement with a second from Commissioner Sean Fingland.
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Manderfeld updated the commission on utility billing for February. In February, a country-wide cold snap created a gas supply shortage and increased the gas price. New Ulm customers were warned their natural gas bills could increase. The PUC took action to buy down the gas to reduce the overall bills, but are also allowing residents to enter five monthly contracts to pay off the bills.
Manderfeld said as of Tuesday, 70 customers have signed up for these contracts. Not all customers have received their bills for February yet, but will within the next few days. Public Utilities are receiving several calls an hour about the bills, but Manderfeld said most people are understanding about the increases.
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The commission accepted a $2,16,443.57 bid from GM Contracting, Inc., for construction service for the raw water main reroute project.
The city sold the old water plant on 12th North Street to a private party in August 2020. As part of the sale, the utility will need to reroute the raw water lines for the North Well Field that are under and around the foundation of the building. The relocated line will run under the well access roads and not interfere with the building in any way.