Water Committee Agenda and Packet 2014 09 09

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City Council Water Committee Meeting Minutes Friday, January 24, 2014 Page 3 of 4 implementation can be postponed to phase workloads. Earl Hauserman commented that Louisville should conserve to leverage existing water rights because there may be more development in the future. Susan Loo would like to see a sample bill. Ned Williams commented that a rate structure needs to communicate what's important to the community and water budgets can be simplified by making assumptions when developing individual budgets. Earl Hauserman commented that six out of seven Task Force members supported the water budget approach. Rick Brew stated he was initially opposed to the water budget approach because they could encourage large lot development, but ended up supporting it because there are ways to compensate, such as irrigated area caps. Susan asked how often the City would have to update impervious area database in order to charge customers for stormwater service. Rick Giardina answered that after the initial quantification; most additional area should be discovered with building permit applications, such as construction of a new garage, so frequent database updates are not necessary. Rick Brew stated that system development fees (SDCs) were never voted on, felt that not enough information on SDCs was provided, and that the rates received much more attention than SDCs. Kurt commented that there was discussion of SDCs but he would support another Task Force meeting to discuss this topic further, even though most Task Force members didn't feel the additional meeting was necessary. Rick Giardina stated that although there was no official vote, there was a general consensus on SDCs. Earl Hauserman stated that SDCs were not a voted issue, but an informational session. Susan Loo stated she wants more discussion on SDCs. Earl Hauserman stated that further SDC discussions need to be held by a different group. Rick Brew asked if the Water Committee originally envisioned the Utility Rate Task Force to review SDCs. Robert Muckle and Susan Loo stated there were no discussions that got into that level of detail, but utility rates were the primary objective of the Task Force. Robert Muckle favored additional discussion by the Task Force on SDCs. Malcolm Fleming felt there is a strong connection between SDCs and utility rates and thought the Utility Rate Task Force would be the appropriate group to continue SDC work. Robert Muckle and Susan Loo supported the additional Task Force meeting. Kurt Kowar stated that staff will proceed with scheduling the meeting. Susan wanted to get a newspaper add to gage public opinion of the proposed rates. Rick Giardina suggested that Task Force members submit their questions ahead of time to make the meeting more productive. DmitryTepo asked if the Task Force is expected to vote on SDCs at the next meeting. Rick Giardia commented that he was hopeful that Task Force members will be confident enough with the information they've received to vote on the topic by the end of next meeting. Kurt Kowar, Susan Loo, and Robert Muckle want a study session on the proposed utility rates, before Council is asked for approval. Susan Loo wanted to be presented implementation costs for the budget rate approach.