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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992/05/27 - Minutes - Joint (Cucamonga County Water District)May 27, 1992 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL MINLrI'ES Joint Meeting of the City Council and Cuc~rnonga Co,,nty Water District A. CAI.I. TO ORDER A joint meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council and Cucamonga County Water District was held on Wednesday, May 27, 1992, in the Rains Conference Room of the Civic Center, located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Mayor Dennis L. Stout. Present were Councilmembers: William J. Alexander, Diane Williams, Pamela J. Wright, and Mayor Dennis L. Stout. Also present were: Jack Lain, City Manager;, Rick Gomez, Community Development Director; Joe O'Neil, City Engineer; James Frost, City Treasurer; and Jan Sutton, Deputy City Clerk. Absent was Councilmember: Charles J. Buquet II. Present from Cucamonga County Water District were: George Kuykendall, President; Jerry Wilson, Vice-President; Jeff Cartor, Boardmember;, Bob Neufeld, Boardmember; Charlie West, Boardmember, and Tom Shollenberger, General Manager. B. ITEMS OF DISCUSSION B1. DISCUSSION OF RECI.AIIV~.D WATER FOR SPORTS COMPLEX (1401-03 (SPORT ACT) (1204- O0 WATER) Rick Gomez, Community Development Director, stated when the construction project for the Sports Complex was awarded, it included four ~ alternates, one of which was infrastructure for the reclaimed water system. He stated the two systems have been installed, and when reclaimed water becomes available for use, they can go in and hook up the piping for the irrigation systems. Jack Lain, City Manager, thought Councilmember Buquet was looking for an update on this topic subsequent to their meeting last year. Mayor Stout deferred discussion on this item until later in the meeting to give Councilmember Buquet a chance to join them. (i) City Council/Cucamonga County Water District Minutes May 27, 1992 Page 2 Item B2 was discussed at this time, but the minutes will remain in agenda order. Bob Neufeld, Boardmember, stated he represented CCWD on the Chino Basin Policy Committee, and the use of reclaimed water is a constant topic of discussion. He stated there would be reclaimed water, but it would probably be 3-5 years before it was available in this area. He stated CCWD's position is that the water that is treated is based upon CCVv'D's water sources, so they feel it is basically their water, and they pay Chino Basin to treat that water. They felt they were entitled to recover that water. The current problem is that the water is treated at RP1 in Ontario and and would have to be pumped uphill for use, which would be very expensive, but when RP4 comes on line, it would be more economical to utilize reclaimed water in this area. Mayor Stout felt that Councilmember Buquet's concern was that there was a lot of new construction being planned in that area that could be hooked up for reclaimed water, but they would also need to know the cost involved because if it was too expensive, people would not want to change over. Jerry Wilson, CCWD, stated he is on the Engineering Committee, and they are in the process of coming up with a new master plan for sewer and water, and reclaimed water is a topic under study for the new master plan, but it would be approximately nine months before they could answer questions about the cost involved. President Kuykendall, CCWD, felt this was a growth area for them, and that the demand would be there for reclaimed water. (2) B2. DISCUSSION OF WATER RATES AND EJTL~I:. RATE INCRF. ASI~S (1204-00 WATER) President Kuykendall, CCWD, stated it was brought to their attention a year ago when they had a rate increase that it put the City at a disadvantage because of lack of planning on their part on how it would affect the City. He stated there would be increases in the future, and felt they needed a mechanism to apprise the City of the increases so they could plan for it in their budget. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated CCWD Iraditionally raises it rates at the beginning of the calendar year, but the City operates on a fiscal year starting July 1 of each year. He stated the City is the largest water user, and the majority of the costs are borne by Assessment Districts. He explained about the public hearing process held in June for increasing the mount collected in the Districts, and how an increase in the middle of the fiscal year adversely affects the City. Boardmember Wilson asked if once an amount is determined for an Assessment District, can the City go back and make an adjustment ff the water rates are raised in January. Jack Lain, City Manager, stated because the amounts have to be submitted for the tax rolls by August 1, they cannot go back and adjust those at a later date. He spoke about the situation the Council went through last year at the public hearing for the Assessment Districts, and that a large part of the expense for those Districts is the cost of the water. James Frost, City Treasurer, stated when the Water District approves a rate increase in January, it is not put on the tax roll until August for tax bills that are issued in November or December, so the City does not receive the revenue until April of the following year, and has to carry that increase from the General Fund for approximately a year before it can recover those funds. City Council/Cucamonga County Water District Minutes May 27, 1992 Page 3 President Kuykendall, CCWD, stated they have also been having financial difficulties due to the slow down of development, and the conservation efforts practiced by the private community. Mayor Stout asked for an explanation of the water rate smacture and the change that was made from charging the City an agricultural rate to a residential rate. Tom Shollenberger, CCWD, stated with the change in the community itself from an agricultural community to an urban development, the rate structure of the domestic dwellings have been subsidizing the agricultural rates. He stated they have always delivered potable drinking water to the customers of the community, but at one time there was an untreated, canyon source of water available that was qualified for agricultural use, so the rate was suppressed. He stated now that there is only one legitimate source of water, and it comes from the same source no matter what its end use, it has become unfair for the residents to subsidize ale agricultural rate, thus the Board decided to stop the subsidy. He stated the agricultural rate is being phased out, but it will take another year before the agricultural rate is brought up to parity with the domestic rate. Councilmember Alexander asked if the City were to establish a strong water conservation program, then would the rates automatically go up to cover the difference. Boardmember Neufeld, CCWD, stated the City has cut its water usage signi~can~y over the last year compared to previous years, and they do keep that in mind since the City is the largest customer. He stated there are a lot of outside influences that affect them and their costs. He stated their largest expenditure is electricity for pumping the water and treating it. He stated as of two and a half years ago they had to start purchasing-water from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) which has increased their cost. Tom ShoHenberger, CCWD, explained how MWD arrives at their rate structure and how it affects their users. He stated MWD is looking at a standardized policy of adopting a regimented step increase of a seven year, $47.00 per acre foot per year increase. He stated their price for non-interruptable water is $222.00 per acre fool As of July 1 that will go up $67.00 dollars. He stated if next year MWD adopts the standardization of price, it will go up another $47.00 for the next seven years. Councilmember Alexander asked how many acre feet does the City currently use. Joe O'Neil, City Engineer, stated it was 888 million gallons. Tom Shollenberger, CCWD, stated that would be over I m~lion cubic feel He stated they buy the water in bulk so there is a different rate structure involved, but they sell it in cubic feet. Councilmember Alexander asked if they had an estimate of what their next increase would be so they could figure that into their upcoming budgeL President Kuykendall, CCWD, stated they were just starting on that process now and were a little behind because they just recently had to replace their Chief Financial Officer. He thought they were looking at an 8-9% increase at the state level, and there would probably be an additional increase on top of that for operating expenses. Mayor Stout asked why were the rates set in January, and not in June at the end of the fiscal year. President Kuykendall, CCWD, stated January has the lowest usage so it is more palatable to the consumer to get an increase then. City Council/Cucamonga County Water District Minutes May 27, 1992 Page 4 Mayor Stout stated they were going to have a problem because they have not accounted for any budget increase other than what are in the Assessment Districts, so when they set their rates in June they will be off to start with. Rick Gomez, Community Development Director, stated they have accounted for the increase that occurred this past January, but not for the one in January 1993, which would make their calculations off again, especially if there was the second increase which was discussed earlier. Jack Lain, City Manager, asked if CCWD was still holding to the policy of deferring any increases until July for public agencies. He stated if they did not, it would automatically put them in the red because they could not pass that increase along until they have the public hearing six months later. President Kuykendall, CCWD, asked if the City had to know the actual number involved. Mayor Stout, stated yes. He explained the laws that govern how tax rates are set for Assessment Districts and again how the City does not actually collect the revenues until six to nine months after they are set at the public heating. He stated they would need to know projected increases as soon as possible so they can be calculated into the public hearing process. Jack Lain, City Manager, stated they have added in one increase to be considereA at the public hearing but were not aware there might be a second one. He stated information has already been sent to the public regarding the proposed rates for next year. He went over the circumstances that have lead to the water rates being such an issue now for th~ Assessment Districts. Mayor Stout stated it could be worse next year because there is proposed legislation that would require increased noticing to every one in an Assessment Dislxict 60 days in advance of the public hearing, which if passed, would mean the City would need figures from the Water District even sooner in order to calculate their rates. Tom Shollenberger, CCWD, clarified the procedure currently used by the District, and stated they are considering setting up a rate structure for the Board to use as a planning tool, so they will probably have a rate structure similar to MWD in that they would have percentages calculated for a four or five year period, and that way City staff would have figures available in order to calculate their budget Jack tam, City Manager, felt that would work as long as the payment was stilled deferred to July for the City. The Council and the Board discussed the different aspects involved in estimating increases and the legal requirements of setting rates in Assessment Districts, and payment procedures between the public and the City, and the City and the Water District. Jack Lain, City Manager, explained how each Assessment District was calculated and that they could not adjust with a general factor because of differences within the Dislricts. Boardmembe.r Neufeld, CCWD, suggested possibly the Water District could take over the billing of water for the Assessment Districts instead of the City. Boardmember Wilson, CCWD, thought that might not be a bad idea, that maybe they could put the water charges for the Assessment Districts on the water bills for each of the affected households. President Kuykendail, CCWD, felt staff could look into that suggestion. He clarified that the City could not accommodate a rate increase in January in their current financial situation if payment were not deferred. City Council/Cucamonga County Water District Minutes May 27, 1992 Page 5 Jack Lain, City Manager, staled that was correct, that the Assessment Districts could not accommodate an increase in the middle of the fiscal year. President Kuykendall, CCWD, suggested that Tom Shollenberger work with Jack Lam and City staff to work out the best mechanism for handling rate increases. The Council and Board discussed the water table and how the recent rains affected its level, and how the fault line protects the northern basin from the nitrates that are leaching into the Chino basin to the south. They also discussed how the Water District has planned for growth in this area and how to meet those increased needs. Councilmember Alexander stated Chino Basin Municipal Water District advised their costs were greatly affected by environmental regulations, and asked if CCWD had the same situation. President Kuykendall, CCWD, stated regulations do add to their costs, but it was not a huge amount at this time. Jack Lain, City Manager, felt both agencies needed to deal with the stormwater run-off regulations and permit process, and since the City did not have anything in place to handle the billing aspect of those regulations, possibly there might be an opportunity for the Water District to help in that area. Tom Shollenberger, CCWD, stated he did not know how effective their billing system would be, but they could look into thaL He thought the City might also want to check with Chino Basin Municipal Water District as they might be more closely linked to dealing with waste water. Mayor Stout felt it might be hard to deal with Chino Basin since they work on a regional level, and might not want to set up a system just for one City. Tom Sbollenberger, CCWD, stated he would be willing to work with City staff to explore options for dealing with storm water permitting costs. The Council and Board discussed Item B 1 m this time, but the minutes will remain in agenda order. B3. DISCUSSION OF IT~.MS OF MUTUAl. INTEREST (1204-00 WATER) Boardmember Neufeld, CCWD, stated there are proposals that axe presented in the legislature that are geared towards entities such as the Water Disu'ict but would have impacts on the City also, which the City might not be aware of, and vice versa. He felt there might be opportunities where they could work in conjunction on legislative bills for the benefit of both agencies. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated there is an active legislative program at the City, and that staff would be willing to work in conjunction with the Water District on appropriate legislation. President Kuykendall, CCWD, stated he would like to see that handled on the staff level. The Council and Board discussed further options for working together on legislative issues and the problems encountered on the state level. (3) City Council/Cucamonga County Water District Minutes May 27, 1992 Page 6 CI. MOTION: absent). C. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBI.IC James Frost, City Treasurer, thought they might want to look into having a special districts representative on the S~dVBAG board. D. A D.IOURNMENT Moved by Willjams, seconded by Alexander to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously, 4-0-I (Buquet The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submiued, Jan S u uon Deputy City Clerk Approve, d: June 17, 1992