Planning commission declines to require full lateral replacement at point-of-sale; staff to follow up on grant status
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Summary
A staff presentation to the county planning and zoning commission described point-of-sale inspections that include lateral televising; the commission moved not to require lateral replacement at sale to avoid imposing costs on buyers or sellers, and staff said the board will wait to see grant confirmation before pursuing a local ordinance.
A staff member reported at the June 15 meeting that the county planning and zoning commission discussed a proposed point-of-sale ordinance that would require inspection and televising of building laterals at property sale, but the commission voted not to require lateral replacement at the point of sale.
"They made a motion not to enforce all of the rising the lateral, because apparently they didn't wanna see any more costs put onto the seller or the buyer," the staff member said during the meeting. The presentation explained that point-of-sale programs commonly require inspection of structures and lateral televising; some communities then require sellers or buyers to repair failing laterals.
Staff emphasized that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency does not mandate sewer-line televising: "MPCA does not require you to do the televising, just communities are choosing to have it done," the staff member said. The presenter told the board the locality will wait to hear whether a separate grant intended to assist homeowners with lateral replacement is awarded before finalizing a local ordinance. "That they want that grant either in place or rejected, know where we're at before we do the ordinance," the staff member said.
City examples referenced included Rainier and International Falls, which the presenter said have point-of-sale programs that include televising. No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff said they will follow up as grant decisions and commission feedback develop.