5.b1 Uptown Sewer 2020 Utility Budget Report 12-15-2021
2022 Draft Utilities Budget Final Report
Uptown Sewer Fund 612
Presented Wednesday, December 15, 2021
What is the Uptown Sewer Utility?
Although the Uptown Sewer System only services 9 commercial accounts in total, several businesses and
institutions in the Village Center rely on its services.
The system specifically serves: the Scandia Community Center and Warming House, the Gammelgården
Museum, Elim Lutheran Church, the parsonage, Scandia Pre-School, Apothecary’s Daughter/Libby Law
Offices, Landmark Surveying, the Schmitt Mall, Your Home Café, the Scandia Market & Mercantile, Scandia
Veterinary Clinic, Crimson Aesthetics, Dragonfly Lash Co, and Edward Jones Financial.
The Uptown Collector was originally constructed in 1995 with a design capacity of 2,460 gallons per
day. After subsequent upgrades to capacity, the system is now designed to process 4,060 gallons/day. As of
2018 the average daily use has been around 2,030 gallons/day with peak flow activity at around 7,500
gallon/day.
Is the system at capacity limits that would prevent new connections?
The answer to the question is that we simply do not know. There are too many factors that contribute to the
volume of use including inflow and infiltration (or I&I) of stormwater from weather events, illegal discharges
of building stormwater, and changes in user activity and quantity of people using the system.
Most utilities forecast sewer use, the city included, use a system of standard units of anticipated consumption,
commonly referred to as residential equivalent units (REC) to apply Sewer Area Connection (WAC)
fees. The system applies as standardized average amount of gallons per day used engineered developed
formulas.
But applying these standardized units to a variable system of limited capacity leaves a gap that could result in
an expensive error.
The data collected over the last 3 years have been an anomaly towards this end. Usage has experienced both
spikes and prolonged lulls in volume. Coincidently, this is the primary reason that revenues have not matched
that of projected revenues both this year and last.
There needs to be more investigation to confirm what capacity really does exist. Both because of the newly
proposed Water Tower Barn Arts and Heritage Center Project and the challenges facing adjacent residential
property owners who are currently experiencing compliance issues with their systems. At the upcoming City
Council meeting, staff will be requesting the City Council approve hiring an expert to make a more detailed
evaluation.
Until the City can confirm available capacity, a moratorium on new connections will remain in place.
What are the risks if the system is at capacity or is exceeding it?
Running this system in a manner that regularly exceeds designed capacity can be very harmful and can result
in substantial costs to remedy. When activity on the system spikes beyond the dosage levels that the system
was designed to take in, such as several washing machines running at the same time, it can lead to a damaging
phenomenon called hydraulic overloading which occurs when a system takes in more water than it is designed
to be able absorb over a period of time. An overloaded septic system does not allow solids to adequately
Draft Final Uptown Sewer Budget Report Presented December 15, 2021
Page 2 of 3
settle and limits necessary bacterial activity. This increases the risk of solids moving into and clogging
elements of the drainfield, which can reduce its efficiency and capacity to take in flows.
Can the system be expanded or replaced?
The Uptown Collector is faced with a unique dilemma when it comes to expanding its capacity. If a
drainfield is added to the north of the existing site, the existing site would have to be
abandoned. Alternatively, if the drainfield is expanded to the west, it would eliminate the ability to construct
a replacement drainfield. In short, expanding the drainfield on the existing site will eliminate the
capacity to build a new drainfield on the site in the future. If no future expansion is desired, short-term
system expansion is not anticipated to be an inexpensive undertaking either.
So given the limited financial capacity of this utility, the Sewer Committee and City Council may want to give
some serious consideration as to what improvements should be undertaken through planning. A facility plan
and possible updates to the existing master plan can guide the use of limited available resources and become a
helpful tool to obtain grants or low-cost financing. An engineered facility plan is a key requirement to apply
for state utility financing, so investment in a plan may be worthy of consideration.
What are the results of the Utility Rate Study?
This year’s budget introduces a much more in-depth process towards forecasting long-term revenue needs
and how to target rate adjustments to meet them. Our newly prepared Utility Rate Study, with the assistance
of Ehlers’ Financial Advisors, has introduced new tools for estimating costs and predicting financial impacts.
Table1: Projected Rate Changes
Shown about area recommended rate changes for 2022 and predicted rates for future years.
2022 Base rates need to increase by 15%, in the short-term to make up for lower consumption levels and a
5% increase to volume rates is recommended. Revenues for 2020 and 2021 under-performed from prior
years due to declined consumption. This proposed increase should bring the utility back in line with its
previous performance. However, if any major improvements are planned for the future, this plan will need to
be re-evaluated.
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
%Change in User Rate Revenue -12.07%24.18%5.21%34.96%8.21%10.00%
% Change in Base Charge 15.00%12.00%8.00%5.00%5.00%
Base Charge Annual 350.00 402.50 450.80 486.86 511.21 536.77
Quarterly 87.50 100.63 112.70 121.72 127.80 134.19
Quarterly 13.13 12.08 9.02 6.09 6.39
% Change in Consumption Rate 5.00%5.00%5.00%10.00%10.00%
Volume Charge per 1,000gals 49.80 52.29 54.90 57.65 63.41 69.76
High End Revenue Proj 17,875 18,803 19,772 20,774 22,827 25,084
Low End Revenue Proj 13,014 13,700 14,413 15,147 16,638 18,276
Avg.Revenue Proj 16,732 17,604 18,512 19,451 21,372 23,483
Target Revenue 7,472 14,885 12,479 14,943 14,777 18,088
Over Under Target 5,542 (1,185) 1,935 4,508 6,595 5,396
Uptown Sewer System
Draft Final Uptown Sewer Budget Report Presented December 15, 2021
Page 3 of 3
Where is the utility, and what has been done to improve it so far?
Map 1: Location of Uptown Collector and Utility Infrastructure
Courtesy of Bolton & Menk & ESRI GIS, you can see a map of the system and key sites. Note that only
service, holding tanks, are displayed on this map. Service laterals to individual businesses are not shown.
The following is a summary of major changes to the Utility:
The first upgrade to the system occurred in 1999 when it was expanded to accommodate an addition
1,000 gallon/day for the Community.
In 2001 capacity was again expanded by 600 gallons/day to serve Gammelgården.
Leading up to 2009, the city had purchased 2.8 acres lot to the west and demolished the house to
provide additional land to accommodate for future buildout at the collector site.
In 2012, the Uptown Collector was the first of the City’s three systems to introduce nitrogen and
phosphorus treatment with the installation of an aerobic treatment tank with a blower and air
diffuser due to contaminant levels and mitigate peak flows, which at the time, were exceeding design
capacity. The equalization basin was intended to help even-out larger flows to prevent
overloading. Timers were also added to help control dosing.
Where are we at in terms of discovering the sources of I&I in the system?
Smoke tests were completed in 2019 and failed to indicate points where stormwater could be entering the
system, but we will continue to look for something to explain some of the unusual high flow anomalies.
One possible source could be the Old Public Works Garage, which now serves as a storage shed at the
Community Center. Some of the documents that I have come across from Washington County suggested
that this building had been connected to the Uptown Collector. However, no records on file indicate what
was done when the building was understood to be disconnected from the system nearly 20 years ago. We will
be looking into this when the City moves forward with a playground project potentially as soon as next
spring.
Please let Charlie or I know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator
City of Scandia