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City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />November 25, 2019 <br />Page 5 of 6 <br />Councilmember Lipton stated the policy for developers to bring their own water seems to <br />work for other cities. City Manager Balser stated staff is prepared to bring back an <br />ordinance for this to be an option for developers before the fees go into effect. Director <br />Kowar noted it can currently be done by an agreement approved by Council but new <br />legislation would let it happen without Council approval each time. <br />Mayor Stolzmann asked for public comments. <br />Jeff Sheets, Koelbel, stated his company is in competition for new users and tap fees are <br />the cost of building a building and those costs flow through to rent costs. It is very, very <br />competitive and it looks like Louisville could be pricing itself out of the market. A tenant <br />will look at the big picture of the cost of rent and that could make you less competitive. All <br />cities are courting the same commercial guys you are trying to get for Louisville. The <br />irrigation tap is expensive as well. Overall it does make Louisville less competitive. <br />City Manager Balser stated this is one fee of many builders pay. When you compare all of <br />the fees our neighbors charge we are likely still lower. There are fees we don't charge <br />that our neighbors do. The competition piece is real, but this is one small piece of that <br />picture. <br />Councilmember Lipton would like to be able to communicate what all of our fees are; we <br />need a comprehensive list; need to see the bigger picture so we can compare to other <br />communities. <br />Councilmember Dickinson agreed we need a big picture look at how we compare to our <br />neighbors. Water needs to be the right price regardless of the other fees, but we need to <br />see the full picture. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Maloney stated it comes down to how this affects potential development. <br />We need to have an annual rate calculation that can go up or down as appropriate. <br />Mayor Stolzmann stated in this conversation Council had fiduciary responsibility of the <br />water utility. Other cities have user fees paying for the cost of growth but we have a policy <br />that developers pay for the cost of growth. This would be a big change. If people can <br />bring their own water to the table that will help. We should feel good knowing that when <br />people come in with a new development we will have water for them with infrastructure <br />and water rights. We are planning ahead and running a responsible system. We have to <br />pay for the utility against our real costs. Council can have a different discussion about <br />how the General Fund can help development or rebates from the General Fund, but that <br />should be a separate discussion. The price of water is what it is. Economic Development <br />is a priority, but it shouldn't be mixed with the utility conversation. <br />Councilmember Leh stated we need to make sure those conversations happen. He would <br />like to have the City put together a comprehensive look at fees and see how we are fair <br />