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Home My WebLink About2022/05/25 - ADMIN - Agenda Packets - City Council - Regular AGENDA EMERGENCY MEETING MAY 25, 2022 The St. Louis Park City Council is meeting in person at St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd. Members of the public can attend in person or watch via webstream at bit.ly/watchslpcouncil and on local cable (Comcast SD channel 17 and HD channel 859). Visit bit.ly/slpccagendas to view the agenda. 6:00 p.m. EMERGENCY MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL 1. Call to order 1a. Roll call 2. Presentations – none. 3. Approval of minutes – none. 4. Approval of agenda and items on consent calendar – none. 5. Boards and commissions – none. 6. Public hearings – none. 7. Requests, petitions, and communications from the public – none. 8. Resolutions, ordinances, motions, and discussion items 8a. Discuss the scope of damage to properties affected by the Saturday, May 21 water main break and options the city might provide for impacted residents. 9. Communications – none. 10. Adjournment Meeting: Special city council Meeting date: May 25, 2022 Action agenda item: 8a Executive summary Title: Discuss scope of damage of May 21 water main break and options for impacted residents Recommended action: Adopt staff recommended proposal to provide financial relief to properties affected by the May 21, 2022, watermain break. Summary: On Saturday, May 21, city crews were called to the site of a watermain break reported on Minnetonka Boulevard between Texas and Sumter Avenues south. Due to the rupture, water flowed underground, penetrating a nearby sanitary sewer manhole flowing through the sanitary sewer and emerging in the basements of nearby homes. The water main repair was completed by 5 p.m. Saturday. Minnetonka Boulevard remains closed between Texas and Sumter while the damage to the roadway is repaired. It is expected that it will reopen by Memorial Day weekend. In response to the incident, city staff have contacted all residents in the area by going door-to- door notifying residents of the issue. City staff continue to assist residents in submitting claims to the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust and identifying resources to assist with cleanup and mitigation of damage. Initial estimates were that 40-45 homes were affected on Quebec, Sumter, and Rhode Island avenues and on Minnetonka Boulevard. Since Saturday, as residents assess their damage and more information is gathered through the claims process, the scope of properties impacted has increased to 55 homes, most with significant damages. This represents unprecedented damage from a water main break in the city. The League of MN Cities is investigating and making a final determination about liability. Regardless of the determination, this has had a profound effect on the lives of residents and the city is taking measures to respond quickly and provide relief to those impacted. Due to the unprecedented scope of this event and the need to immediately address health and safety concerns of those directly affected by the watermain break, the city council called an emergency meeting to discuss options the city might provide to impacted residents. Emergency meetings are allowed under the council rules of procedure for circumstances which require immediate consideration. Notice of the meeting was provided to the city council, posted at city hall, and published on the city’s website on May 24. Next steps include hosting a community meeting for impacted residents to explain options for remediation assistance including but not limited to, cleanup and restoration costs, disposal of damaged materials, and continued staff assistance with the claims process. Financial or budget considerations: The two-phase approach impacts different funds. The first phase has a potential cost of $1,670,000 and would utilize American Recovery Act funds. The funding source for the second phase is recommended to be fund balance in the general fund. Potential total residential loans could be as much as $1,590,000 if fully utilized. The business loans would be housed in the development fund. Strategic priority consideration: Not applicable. Supporting documents: Discussion, location map Prepared by: Debra Heiser, Karen Barton, Melanie Schmitt, Dave Skallet, Melissa Kennedy Approved by: Kim Keller, city manager Special city council meeting of May 25, 2022 (Item No. 8a) Page 2 Title: Discuss scope of damage of May 21 water main break and options for impacted residents Discussion Background: On Saturday May 21, 2022, city crews were called to the site of a water main break reported on Minnetonka Boulevard between Texas and Sumter Avenues south. Due to the rupture, water flowed underground penetrating a nearby sanitary sewer manhole flowing through the sanitary sewer and emerging in the basements of nearby homes. It is estimated that 1 million gallons of water was released due to this break. Once the immediate emergency was addressed, city staff started to go door to door through the neighborhood to assess the impact to the properties in the area. Initial estimates were that 40-45 homes were affected on Quebec, Sumter, and Rhode Island Avenues and on Minnetonka Boulevard. Since Saturday, as residents assess their damage and more information is gathered through the claims process, the scope of properties impacted has increased to 55 homes. This represents unprecedented damage from a water main break in the city. Since the event, city staff continue to assist residents in submitting claims to the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust and identifying resources to assist with cleanup and mitigation of damage. While the League is working on their final determination of liability, the impact has had a profound effect on the lives of residents and the city is taking measures to respond quickly and provide relief to those impacted. Current situation It is the city’s understanding that 55 properties were impacted, most of which are single family homes, with one business and one church also experiencing damage. City staff have door knocked every day since the event, answering questions, passing out claim forms and, beginning today (Wednesday, May 25), seeing if residents are ready for assistance with debris removal from the curb. Overwhelmingly, the residents spoken with relayed that much of the debris still needs to be inventoried and that removal is covered by their various cleaning contractors. The city is arranging to have “bagsters” available for affected residents to help with any debris generated after the cleaning contractors finish their work. Our priority in response to this incident is to stabilize the properties that were impacted, through clean up and damage assessments. This will be followed up by restoration. The extent of the damage for most properties is severe with more than 1 foot of wastewater in their basements. This amount of water will cause damage to furnaces, water heaters, washers, dryers, floor covering, dry wall, furniture, and anything else stored in the basement. Any sort of water damage, if not cleaned up correctly, can result in long term issues impacting health, livability, and a structure’s viability. If the wet basements are not adequately dried out, mold can develop, which could lead to higher remediation costs in the future and known health concerns, especially for children and those at higher health risk. Due to this, it is imperative that the situation is mitigated as quickly as possible. The city’s insurance policy is through the League of MN Cities, and it is staff’s understanding that the city has purchased the best coverage available to purchase. It covers up to $40,000 per affected property with an overall incident cap of $250,000. It is very atypical in St. Louis Park for a watermain break to result in backup into homes or businesses. The city has never had an issue Special city council meeting of May 25, 2022 (Item No. 8a) Page 3 Title: Discuss scope of damage of May 21 water main break and options for impacted residents with inadequate insurance coverage to remediate the situation and ensure that properties are safe and livable. The scale of this incident is unprecedented. The combined health, safety risks and the limits of the city’s insurance policy by the city’s insurance policy have led staff to recommend that the city provide additional financial assistance. Proposed financial response: Staff is proposing a 2-phase approach to provide assistance to homes and businesses impacted by the watermain break. Phase 1 – Clean-up: Provide reimbursement to homeowners for eligible life/health/safety work including clean-up, removal, disposal, and replacement of mechanical systems to make the home habitable, up to a total of $30,000 per house. Reimbursement for the same would also be provided to businesses up to a total of $60,000. Residents and businesses would have to sign a waiver in exchange for the reimbursements. Residents and businesses will not be exp ected to repay these funds. Phase 2 – Restoration: Offer a loan program to the affected homeowners to restore their homes. These restoration loans would provide up to $30,000 at 2% interest over a 10 -year period. There is no income limit for the 2% loans. Households earning less than 50% of the area median income would be given loans at 0% interest. These loans would require monthly payments over the 10-year amortization and would be subject to repayment in full at time of sale or title transfer of the property. The EDA currently offers a low-interest loan program that the affected businesses in the area would be able to access to restore their businesses. These loans are provided through MCCD at a 2% interest over up to a 20-year period, with a maximum loan amount of $75,000. Funding for these programs is recommended via the following sources: • The reimbursements are proposed to be funded utilizing ARPA Funds • The Restoration Loans for homeowners are proposed to be funded through the General Levy • The EDA loans will be funded through the Development Fund Next steps: The city will host a community meeting for affected residents on May 26 at 6 p.m. at Lenox Community Center. At this meeting, residents will hear from the city council and city staff regarding the city’s response to this event and the programming and assistance the city has put in place to support those impacted by the watermain break. 29T H ST W MINNETO NK A BLVD PENNSYLVANIA AVE SRHODE ISLAND AVE STEXAS AVE S31S T S T WSUMTER AVE SQUEBEC AVE SRainbo wRainbowParkPark Oregon ParkOregon Park 30253019 3034 2925 7508 2850 7509 3111 2912 2842 3011 2900 7901 3100 2939 3043 3011 2929 2901 3107 2907 3020 2915 7820 3006 3049 7504 77133006 2925 3112 7811 3044 2918 3125 3045 2850 3117 2940 3110 3050 3115 2855 3104 2908 2917 2932 3033 2855 2930 3119 3111 30243019 2837 3010 2935 2921 8011 3036 7921 2901 2916 3050 2851 2913 7623 3114 2931 3035 3048 2910 3052 2951 2855 7617 3030 2831 8000 3030 7908 3121 2934 7618 3120 3041 3125 3048 2912 2940 2941 3037 2904 3106 3014 3037 7613 3033 3101 3024 3053 2915 7619 2905 3008 2851 2851 3049 2924 2925 7719 3015 7801 2911 3040 3040 3010 2906 2917 3036 7709 2901 3105 7630 2921 3024 7515 3031 3025 3011 3120 3030 3120 2930 7916 3120 2920 2931 2920 2913 3104 3037 2904 3127 3115 3020 3030 3113 2854 3029 2914 7606 3066 3040 3124 3021 2900 7519 2931 2944 2836 3021 3042 2926 3016 3014 7900 3101 2850 3000 2924 31003100 2925 3030 2941 2922 2911 2950 3052 7900 3019 3045 2904 3057 3124 3029 3124 3020 3111 3121 2855 2900 3041 2925 2920 3036 3051 3101 3031 3011 3121 7908 2901 2850 3035 3020 3121 3108 29092910 3116 7814 2921 30323025 7601 3036 2914 3100 2924 3060 3113 2920 3125 3114 2934 2854 3024 2929 3024 3041 3115 2904 2934 3056 3116 3110 2854 3003 3012 2905 3045 3020 2914 3028 3044 7609 2945 2917 2902 3105 2900 2935 7915 2921 2854 7612 3110 2910 28322850 3101 3034 2935 3056 3124 29352934 3018 3041 3024 7525 7600 3013 7605 2906 3056 3025 2928 3118 2905 2924 3014 7821 3031 7624 3049 3016 46 2908 3000 2900 3125 3100 3046 2851 8001 3105 300412"6"12"6"12"6"6"12"1 2 " 0 400 800200 Feet Parcels impacted by water main break Date: 5/25/2022 Legend Water main break Im pa cted Parcels Sa ni tary Sewer Manholes Sewer Gravity Mains Water Hydra nts Other Valve Types Bal l But terfly Gate Water Curb Stop Valves Water Mains