SPECIAL
MEETING OF THE CITY OF
The special meeting, of the City Council of the City of
PRESENT:
Mayor
ABSENT:
Councilmembers Pruett and Sawyer
STAFF:
City Administrator
VISITORS: None
Mr. Tackett handed out copies of a letter from DOE and proceeded to
reacquaint mayor and council with historical data about the city water plan, the
reasons behind it, and what has been done to date to bring us to the point at
which we now find ourselves in regards to the water rights issue.
He discussed the search for additional water rights which ultimately led
to the purchase of the Rodstol/Loeber Farm, the wells and attached water rights
as well as what has been done to the water system to meet conservation
standards. The water rights that were purchased with the farm included 3
certificates of which one is on Well #9 for 277 acre feet and the other two
certificates with Well #10 for the remaining 1688 acre feet.
The City has had a contract with the Department of Corrections for about
5 or 6 years for a guarantee of 460 acre feet for the expansion of their
facility and pays the city $12,090 each year for that contract. The water
consumption of the city water system currently exceeds the DOC contract for
water by 30 acre feet, but with these new water rights the terms of that
contract will continue to be met.
There have been many changes since the water plan that was established in
1994. The city has done a lot of work to control loss of water through
inefficiency in the wells, leaks in old water lines and a rate structure that
encourages water conservation. The city has done all that can possibly be done
to conserve and manage the water rights that we currently have.
The loans and grants for funding to repair and enhance the city water
system has been an ongoing process that was initiated by the needs that were
identified in the original 1994 water plan. The city has basically had a 5
million dollar project of which half of that; 2.5 million was supplied by grant
funds. The rest of the cost has been supplied by city reserves, loans and bond
issues. Art continued to explain the elements of the ongoing water system
projects which has included the issues with the reservoirs and the link of all
the water system as a contiguous looped system with all the elements working
together.
Art informed council that he had met with DOE in
The document from DOE basically says that they concur and approve the 277
acre feet of Well #9 which is on the north side of Highway 260 and for the full
277 acre feet that is attached to that well and the city lost none of that water
right on that conversion. Their request is that the city withdraw our
application of the other two water rights.
Art’s recommendation is to withdraw those at this time as the 277 acre
feet supply 900 gallons per minute which will meet the needs and obligations for
the next 4 to 5 years. The city does not loose the other two water rights and we
can still use them to irrigate the farm for now.
The letter further assures the city that DOE will change the other two
water rights to “public water entity permits”, and that public entity will
be what operates the farm, and that will be done within the next two to three
weeks. With council concurrence the water from Well # 10 will be brought into
the whole system and then monitored so as not to surpass the 277 acre feet each
year. The water will need to be measured which can be done, but this will get it
all into the “public water entity” as opposed to irrigation per say.
This process will need to be approved in the regular council meeting next
Monday night on October 25th. Further discussion followed as to the
contents of the letter and questions for Mr. Tackett to clarify some issues.
There
being no further business to be heard before the City Council, Mayor Walton
adjourned the meeting at