Albert Lea may soon be charging a monthly utility fee for their storm sewer system.

Monday night the city council decided to hire Bolton and Menk for $17,000 to develop the utility system.

City Manager Paul Sparks said the fee is necessary because the cost of maintaining the stormwater management system has risen steadily.

Sparks said these rates have increased because federal and state standards for sediment collection and disposal have become more strict, and the costs of following those standards is high.

Another reason for the utility is that the infrastructure needs for storm sewers are going to rise because the city’s current infrastructure is going to need some replacements over the next few years.

Budget cuts have sped up the action on this issue, Sparks said. He recommended that the city adopt some utility by the 2004 budget.

&uot;A number of cities have already begun doing this,&uot; Sparks said.

City Engineer Dave Olson said Red Wing, Owatonna and Northfield are some cities who are in the process of studying and implementing storm-sewer utility rates.

Sparks estimated the monthly cost to an average household would be around $3.50, or $42 per year. The commercial costs would be determined on a different scale, which has yet to be determined.

Olson said the Bolton and Menk study will recommend an actual cost.

&uot;It’s not something that we can ignore because the regulations will be imposed on us and we’ll have to be in compliance,&uot; Sparks said. &uot;It’s necessary to do this.&uot;

The city cannot add the storm-sewer costs onto property tax bills because the state does not allow tax proceeds to be used for storm-water systems.

Other council notes:

-Leaf burning is officially banned in Albert Lea. The council voted 4-2 to pass the ordinance after a second reading of the ban. Councilors Jeff Fjelstad and Al &uot;Minnow&uot; Brooks both voted against the ban.

-The council accepted a license application from AB Taxi of Austin to run cabs in Albert Lea. The application had been tabled at the last meeting after complaints were raised by the owner of the Joe T. Taxi company of Albert Lea. The owner thought that another taxi company wasn’t necessary for Albert Lea. City attorney Steve Schwab determined that if the council were to have limited the number of cab companies in town previous to the application they would be able to limit licenses, but because of free enterprise laws, the city could not deny the company a license.

-Freeborn Construction of Albert Lea was awarded the contract for the reconstruction of St. Joseph Avenue The cost to the city will be $245,162.27. The bid was almost $70,000 under City Engineer Dave Olson’s estimate. Construction is expected to begin in early July. Olson said the project will not compete with the construction of Blake Avenue, which they will also be building this summer.