HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/05/1997 Special Meeting 4 11
CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
SPECIAL MEETING
AUGUST 5, 1997
The City Council met on this date at 7:30 a.m. in the Second Floor
Training Room at the Police Station /Legal Center, 200 South 3rd
Street. Council Members present were Mayor Lynn Buchanan, Clarence
Barnett, Henry Beauchamp (present after 7:40 a.m.), Ernie Berger, John
Klingele, John Puccinelli, and Bernard Sims. Staff members present
were City Manager Zais, Assistant City Manager Rice, John Hanson,
Director of Finance and Budget; City Attorney Ray Paolella, Dueane
Calvin, Water /Irrigation Manager; Bert Tabayoyon, Customer Service
Manager, Rick Pettyjohn, Information Systems Manager, Dave Brown,
Project Engineer, Helen Harvey, Assistant City Attorney, and Deputy
City Clerk Skovald.
Review Proposed Legislation on Irrigation System 1998
Mayor Buchanan welcomed the group and called the meeting to order.
This study session provided an opportunity for the Council to review
the draft Irrigation Ordinance to attain a clear understanding about
the financial modeling which has been incorporated into the rate
structure. This meeting also allowed Council to identify areas where
changes or further research is necessary and to direct staff to make
those revisions. City Manager Zais provided some background
information about the draft legislation establishing an irrigation
utility which took an enormous amount of legal research and
investigation to develop If passed by the Council, the Irrigation
Utility Ordinance will be unique in Washington State. City Manager
Zais then introduced Phil Small, Co -Chair of the Irrigation Committee,
and recognized the Council member liaisons to the Committee, Bernie
Sims, Lynn Buchanan, and John Klingele. Dueane Calvin summarized a
portion of the staff report which led to discussion about the proposed
ordinance. The primary focus of the ordinance is to encourage the use
of the irrigation system.
Staff members entertained questions about a variety of issues
surrounding the creation of the new irrigation utility. There was a
considerable amount of comments, questions, and discussion about the
following issues: proposed domestic water conversion charges and
projected impacts to the domestic system, delinquent account
collection procedures, operating reserves, establishing a proposed
capital improvement fund reserve, account ownership and billing
methods, the utility account shut -off policy, financial impacts to the
irrigation utility if districts are removed from the utility, revenue,
maintenance costs to rebuild the system, fencing or covering any open
city canals, irrigation rates, proposed utility revenue taxes,
continuing the current policy to provide the blow out of irrigation
lines, and notifying property owners of the new irrigation utility.
It was the general consensus of the Council to schedule another study
session to continue the review of the draft Irrigation Utility
Ordinance. Staff was directed to prepare a revised draft without the
proposed irrigation utility tax included. There was discussion about
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SPECIAL MEETING -- AUGUST 5, 1997
the proposed irrigation utility tax issue which Council will possibly
consider at a later time after the system is operating and a composite
tax analysis is prepared showing impacts to the customer.
It was MOVED BY SIMS, SECONDED BY KLINGELE, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT
9:10 A.M. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
s� READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY:
O CIL M MBER T/ 11 DATE
/
COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK 011 B CANAN, MAYOR
Minutes prepared by Deputy City Clerk Skovald. An audio tape of this meeting is available in
the City Clerk's Office
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