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<br />Regular Meeting <br /> <br />November 25, 2002 <br /> <br />5. <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />Council. He stated the street construction project will require additional <br />property, and they will need to use some parkland. The Council then voted <br />unanimously for approval of the Ordinance on first reading. <br /> <br />Mayor Habingreither introduced for consideration an Ordinance on first <br />reading, the caption which was read as follows: <br /> <br />AN ORDINANCE REVISING THE AMOUNTS OF IMPACT FEES FOR WATER AND <br />WASTEWATER FACILITIES¡ SETTING AN EXPIRATION DATE FOR THE APPLICATION <br />OF PREVIOUS IMPACT FEE AMOUNTS AND SERVICE UNIT CALCULATIONS TO <br />PENDING DEVELOPMENTS¡ INCLUDING PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS¡ AND PROVIDING <br />FOR PENALTIES. <br /> <br />Mr. Mayhew moved for approval of the Ordinance on first reading and Ms. <br />Tatum seconded the motion. Mr. O'Leary gave a presentation regarding the <br />financial state of the Water/Wastewater Funds. Mayor Habingreither stated <br />he has had several calls regarding the Water/Wastewater Fees. Mr. O'Leary <br />stated they are one of the highest water/wastewater fees in Texas. Mayor <br />Habingreither stated many citizens have requested the City not increase <br />impact fees. Mr. Taylor inquired as to the expense assumption of a total <br />8%. Mr. O'Leary stated this could be trimmed some, but regulations and <br />some of the costs the City does not have control over also drive the rates. <br />Ms. Narvaiz inquired how much development comes to function of the 67%, <br />used in the assumptions. Mr. O'Leary stated this is a majority of costs. <br />Mr. Mihalkanin stated in 1998 the City started increasing the water rates. <br />In 2001-2002 staff thought 6% rate increase would be needed, then the staff <br />came back to the Council and said the City was doing fine and a rate <br />increase was not needed. Then the Council was advised the water/wastewater <br />rates needed to be increased. He stated it appears it was underestimated <br />what was needed to pay for the bonded indebtedness. He is not interested <br />in using the same Engineering firm for the rate study. Mr. O'Leary stated <br />the Engineering firm was correct and their recommendation was not <br />implemented. Mr. Mihalkanin inquired what the rates would be if the City <br />had implemented the 6% rate increase in 2001. Rodney Gonzales, Director of <br />Finance, stated he would do an analysis and bring this back to the Council. <br />Mayor Habingreither stated he was told the City has a state of the art <br />Water Treatment Plant, which is a big expense. Tom Taggart, Director of <br />Water/Wastewater, stated the Water Treatment Plant does operate at a high <br />quality. He stated the City has a 5-5-2-1-6 permit which is what the <br />regulations require. Mayor Habingreither stated he does not know how the <br />City could not increase these impact fees. Mr. Mayhew stated he was <br />concerned about receiving a presentation and being asked to consider <br />approval of an Ordinance on the first reading all in the same night. He <br />stated he was in favor of tabling this until the Regular Meeting on <br />December 9, 2002. Ms. Narvaiz stated she feels these fees should be <br />reviewed annually. Mr. Mihalkanin stated he does not want to see this be <br />dragged out. He also inquired how this would impact the rate payers if the <br />City does not increase impact fees. Mr. O'Leary stated even if the <br />increase is approved the City might not be able to place infrastructure for <br />some developments. He stated he feels there needs to be a comprehensive <br />