Prior Lake City Council adopts pool draining ordinance after summer sewage spill

Prior Lake American

Prior Lake will require a permit to drain a pool into the sanitary sewer system after a City Council vote Monday in response to the flood of raw sewage that affected four Prior Lake homes in the summer.

"When the city was a little smaller, we relied on verbal agreements between the city and pool owners to communicate at the time of pool drainage," according to the council agenda report. "Given the growth of the community it is logical that the city code should more formally address incidents which could harm the city sewer system and the private and public structures connected to it."

The ordinance, which would apply to in-ground pools and institutional pools but not hot tubs or wading pools, would have the public works department review permit applications and issue permits with conditions relating to how the pool could be drained, such as flow rates, insurance, timing and more.

Mayor Kirt Briggs said during the meeting the ordinance would only affect pools connected to the sanitary sewer system.

"(It would) lessen the possibility of pool drainage exceeding the capacity of our sanitary sewer," Briggs said.

Each permit would be $50. Pool owners could also allow the water to stand and dechlorinate in the sun before draining the water into the storm water system.

On July 23, maintenance workers at Hidden Oaks Middle School on Fish Point Road in Prior Lake emptied the school's pool into the sanitary sewer line for yearly routine maintenance.

The line, which was under construction for the Huron Street and Woodside Road reconstruction project, had limited capacity, overflowed and caused raw sewage to seep into four homes. The draining protocol for the pool, an internal document obtained through a data request, states at the top of the document to call the streets and sewer foreman at the city of Prior Lake before draining the pool.

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools spokeswoman Kristi Mussman previously said in a statement there had not been a written agreement between the city and district on protocol to drain the pools.

"In the past PLSAS has made a courtesy call to the city prior to draining the pool but that has not been a requirement from the city," Mussman said. "This summer, that courtesy notification did not take place."

After Monday's vote, Mussman wrote in a statement, "We support the city of Prior Lake's desire to create consistent standards for the betterment of all residents."

On Aug. 27, City Manager Frank Boyles sent an email to Superintendent Teri Staloch with a draft of an agreement between the district and the school. The Prior Lake American obtained the emails through a data request.

"The purpose is to formalize a process in hopes of avoiding a repeat of our recent experience in the future," Boyles wrote. "I hope you folks are amenable."

The draft agreement required that the district give the city 72 hours of notice before draining the pool in order for the city to monitor the sanitary sewer line as the pool was being drained. If the district were to not notify the city, it would be responsible for all damages to public or private property.

Staloch responded on Aug. 27 and said the district's legal and administrative team would look over the agreement.

"The first question I have is if you plan to also have all citizens with private pools agree to the same expectation," Staloch wrote. "If you are not moving in that direction, I have concerns that I am happy to share in person."

Boyles said in a response email to Staloch that the district's pools were the largest in the city, and pool owners dechlorinate water and dispose of it through the storm water system.

"That is why there is no agreement with them," Boyles said.

The Prior Lake City Council voted on Sept. 17 to create a written agreement with the district. The next day, Boyles emailed Staloch again regarding the agreement and the council vote and said he would look into the size of the pool at the River Valley YMCA.

At the following Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board work session, Staloch said she was cautious about the agreement.

"I think it starts us down a path of having lots of written agreements for lots of courtesy partnerships in the way we've operated," she said.

Public Works Director Jason Wedel said the ordinance voted on Monday would eliminate the need for a written agreement between the two entities.

Prior Lake resident Matt Burnhaugh, who owns one of the homes affected by the sewage flood, said during the work session that the district needed a better process for draining the pool and the aftermath, should the drainage go wrong.

"Everything we've had to do up to this point, we've had to fight and claw in ways you can't imagine," Burnhaugh said at the time. "You are here to serve the community, and that has absolutely not happened. ... You need some better way going forward of dealing with residents you've affected."