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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-10-01; Municipal Water District; MinutesCONSOLIDATION OF CITY WATER DEPARTMENT AND COSTA REAL MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT MEETING OF NEGOTIATING TEAM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1980 BOARD ROOM, COSTA REAL MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT MINUTES CALL TO ORDER - 11:00 A.M. PRESENT - Mayor Ronald C. Packard City of Carlsbad Councilmember Girard Anear " " " Glen E. McComas Roger W. Greer " " " Donald A. MacLeod, President Costa Real Municipal Water District Fred W. Maerkle, Director William C. Meadows S. M. (Skip) Schmidt Chairman Packard called for comments or additions to minutes of the last meeting. Minutes were approved as submitted. Today's agenda calls for a recap of the issues that have been discussed in the previous meetings to determine where the district and the city have areas of agree- ment or disagreement and to decide if the areas of disagreement can be resolved or if the negotiations will have to be declared at an impasse. 1. Consolidation of Water Service a. Mr. Maerkle felt there would be a savings in O&M costs? It was unanimously agreed that there would be a savings irrespective of whether the district or the city runs the water service. b. There will be facility cost savings*since there will be one facility to operate instead of two. c. Mr. Maerkle stated that both the city and district services are very good now and no improvement is needed. All agreed with this statement. d. Both the city and district have people on duty and stand-by at all times for emergency calls and have equipment available to do the job. CRMWD does not see any need for improvement in this area, but the city feels there could be improvement by having the city forces and equipment on call for emergencies. 2. Single Legislative Body The mayor stated that his understanding of the basic concept of the district's proposal is that it encompasses a continuation of bodies as they are now, or a new body that would be a joint powers agency. a. On the subject of potable water, the mayor's understanding is that the district's position is that they would deal with potable water and the city's position is that all areas of water service should be under one body. The area of disagreement seems to be under which jurisdiction potable water should fall - the district or the city. Discussion con- tinued between Mr. Maerkle and Mayor Packard in regard to other districts such as Leucadia, Olivenhain, etc. being involved in potable water. The mayor felt this is one of the areas where there is significant disagree- ment which would have to be resolved. b. The district has agreed that the city should handle non-potable water.* c. It was generally agreed that waste water treatment should be handled by the city. d. The district suggests the Water Utility Services Commission should operate with the addition of a joint powers agreement and the city's position is that this would increase the layers of government rather than effect a reduction. After further discussion, the mayor stated there were significant differences in the concept of layers of government. The city sees it as an advantage to the voters if the water is handled through one jurisdiction, whereas the city feels the district is suggesting separate bodies of authority in addition to the commission. It was agreed that both the district and the city see the need for one commission but each one's concept of a commission is different from the other. 3. Planning a. Mr. Maerkle felt long-range planning would not be improved but the city's feeling is that it would be improved under a consolidation process. b. There is no problem with a capital improvements review. c. The city feels that processing for developers could be improved by having one jurisdiction handle the processing and any problems or differences of opinion between the board and the city could be removed by the decisions being made under jurisdiction. Mr. MacLeod stated that by forming a Water Utility Services Commission any problems would be avoided because developers would have one place to go for decisions. The mayor still felt this was an item of disagreement, however, since it could give the commission an authority and power to regulate and arbitrate differences. 4. Utilities Commission Needed? a (1) All parties agree that this commission*is needed. The city recommends that it be advisory to the council but Mr. Maerkle disagreed. He stated the council is involved in other things besides water and sewer and the district's only interest is in water and sewer. The mayor replied that both the city and the district have experts to advise them and policy decisions still have to be made by elected officials. There would be no difference in the quality of the organization but one would be advisory to the council and the other would be advisory to all parties. (2) The district proposes an independent*commission, with local agencies having veto power. The city recommends it not be independent but subject to the approval of the city council. An outside agency should not be able to override the elected officials of the City of Carlsbad. Further discussion ensued, with no agreement being reached. b (1) Mayor Packard stated he had definite reservations about including other agencies in membership in the commission. Mr. Anear added that members should live in the sphere of influence of the city, although not necessarily within the boundaries of the city. c. All parties agree that representation would be limited to the boundaries of the city and would encompass the sphere of influence as determined by LAFCO, which extends beyond the city limits to include the county islands within the city. 5. Use of CRMWD Facilitv There is no major disagreement on this subject. Mayor Packard said that if the city proposal takes effect this facility would be a part of the total city facilities.' To recap, the mayor listed items where disagreements exist, as follows: item 1(d) Level of Emergency Service; item 2(d) Reduce Layers of Government; item 3(c) Development Processing Improved; item 4(a) Utilities Commission Function; item 4(b) Utilities Commission Membership. Recess was called at 12:00 noon. Meeting reconvened at 12:20 p.m. Mayor Packard asked if there was any feeling at this time about changing positions on items of disagreement. Mr. MacLeod said he felt both proposals had merit and what has to be done is to come up with one proposal that will combine the best of both. He did say that he has strong feelings about the district running the water business rather than the city. The board is managed like a business by business men and he feels business men can run it more efficiently than a city government. A draft of a city ordinance was handed out and Mayor Packard suggested this be reviewed by all members of the board of directors of CRMWD, together with the areas of agreement and disagreement. After this review, one more meeting should be held to determine if a consolidation can be negotiated. If not, he felt there is no use prolonging the series of meetings and an impasse should be declared. Mr. Anear added that this ordinance has not been reviewed by council as a whole as yet and at this point it is merely a proposal. Mayor Packard will not be available for the next meeting and has named council- member Buddy Lewis as his representative. Since Mr. Lewis is not available for a morning meeting, it was requested that the next meeting be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 8, in the board room of Costa Real Municipal Water District. This was agreed to. Meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m. /R'espe/:tfully submitted, PAMELA A. BATHO Recording Secretary