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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Water Services Advisory Commission - Meeting Date: 9/3/2014 (3) Water Services Advisory .GLENDfE Commission Oasis Water Campus 7070 W.Northern Avenue September 3,2014 6:00 P.M. AMENDMENT TO FINAL MINUTES VI. URBAN IRRIGATION PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAN PRESENTATION Information presented by Doug Kupel, PhD, Water Service Deputy Director The following people spoke: • Norma Alvarez,N. 72nd Lane, Council Member for the Ocotillo District. She said she is very concerned about how communication to the users of Urban Irrigation has been handled. She stated she was also very concerned that only a few people would know about this when there are different residents that have been refused the service. She questioned how a customer that has been refused a service would know that they are able to give their input. Another concern she stated was that she had the understanding that there was going to be community meetings where people could go to a neighborhood meeting and they would get information. She said she appreciates the Advisory Commission but pointed out this affects more than the people in the Ocotillo District or the town site and the town site is not just 400 people. She stated there are 300 and some users but questioned what about the people that have been denied or those customers who had the irrigation stopped totally. She said she is appalled when she looked at the map that there was a big area that was brown and then another area that was green and she does not think that is fair. She feels there is the need to communicate with the public and get their input before a plan is worked on and disagrees with working on a plan without the input of the users and the people that want the irrigation. She stated she does not know the cost of putting a larger meeting notification in the paper but offered the use of her district discretionary funds and she would be glad to pay for the cost since it affects her district. She said she wants all the people that have been denied and the users to know about it and that they can give their input. She also pointed out that not everyone has computers, there are some people that choose not to have, or cannot afford, a computer and they are in the area that is served. • Larry Rovey, W. Cotton Blossom Trail. Mr. Rovey said he is a west side farmer and was the last one to farm this parcel of land before it was sold to the city of Glendale for the water treatment plant. He said he has been on the SRP board and the council since 1985. He stated that while he does not have a home in downtown Glendale, irrigation is still of interest to him since his church sits in downtown Glendale and it still receives irrigation, as do some of the other properties that his family owns in the area. He said he City of Glendale Water Services Department•7070 West Northern Avenue•Glendale,AZ 85303•(623)930-4100 September 3,2014 Water Services Advisory Commission Final Minutes AMENDMENT TO FINAL MINUTES Page 2 heard from some of the home owners and landlords down there about the issue. He said he is not familiar with the issue but came mostly to hear what will be said tonight and see where things are going. He feels one thing that is important to understand is that the concept of economy of scale has come into play. When his family sold this piece of property, his farm shrunk to the point where it almost not economically feasible to keep farming and he is afraid that is where the city is headed or is giving that perception. He said he hopes the policy is reconsidered if that is the case. He stated that more water would be better, irrigation water is by far the cheapest water and it is certainly much cheaper than city water that comes thru a drip tube. He said he hopes the city would look at some of the potential opportunities of irrigating. He stated he heard said from some of the land owners and home owners that there are some past potential legal issues in this and that the city has obligated, or possibly obligated, themselves to continue doing this in perpetuity;but he does not know and has only had some of these things told and shown to him. He commended the Commission for their time and stated he admires people that serve the city and help it function. He said he has not read a newspaper legal notice in years and fears such a legal notice may be lost on many people. He suggested others ways of getting information out such as door hangers within such a distinct area or possibly sending a postcard to land owners in the area which might be cheaper than putting an ad in the paper. • Ron Kolb, W. Palmaire, said he has been a property owner for over 30 years. He said he was one of the people that was denied irrigation rights and questions if it is legal like Larry Rovey said. He stated he also sits on the Salt River Project Council. He said he had an issue a few years ago when the city sent out a vac truck and blew out the irrigation line for him because he had spent money on valves and lining the property with 6 inch pvc tied into the existing system. Two days after water was successfully run to his property, he got a call from the Glendale water manager who then got a call from David Goullet. His irrigation was then shut down. At the time, he did not continue the fight with David Gullet and he let the issue go. Mr. Kolb said he now has large trees on his property, which were probably planted at the same time his building was built in 1913. There are a lot of old trees in downtown Glendale and irrigation carries a lot more than just water. Irrigation carries minerals and other things, and makes for a healthy watering, much more than city water that has been filtered. He pointed out how beneficial it would be for the large trees in the park, to the whole downtown area, to be able to irrigate if someone wanted to. He cited several benefits of irrigation including: improvement of the quality of the air, green belts, the large old trees would be healthier, and more benefits to having it then shutting it down. He said the reason he was denied water, water rights go with the property and again agrees with Larry Rovey's statement about the city facing legal issues and stated he may be one of them if he is denied irrigation in the future. He said he thinks the marketing department has done a terrible job because in thirty years he has not received one notice of irrigation, of the availability of it, or anything encouraging users. He said he feels the city always says it wants people to participate, however, he feels the reality of it is they want individuals to shut up. He feels this is more the case with the Council rather than a commission like this. He said he feels the Council already have their minds made up before the public even gets a chance to talk. He thinks September 3,2014 Water Services Advisory Commission Final Minutes AMENDMENT TO FINAL MINUTES Page 3 irrigation is something that the marketing department should take a look at, and he pointed out his friend, Carolyn Dreyer, was in attendance would probably help with an article about restarting irrigation and getting more involved. Mr. Kolb offered several marketing strategies - the guy that stands behind this building and whispers, is not as successful as a guy that stands on a pole and shouts; and if you want to be successful and you want to get more people into this system, you've got to do something about it. He stated that putting something in the legal area of the newspaper results in the only person that looks at that is the attorney that placed the ad to make sure that he satisfied the legal requirements for his clients. He said he would like more people encouraged to use the service, but not just by sending notices to the people that are getting irrigation. He pointed out there are many more users and potential users. He feels irrigation is beneficial for everybody. • Robin Berryhill,N. 59th Lane. Ms. Berryhill expressed disappointment that a packet she hoped to distribute was not accepted prior to the meeting. She said if it had been accepted, the commission would be informed of the legal issues which she wrote to the city manager, Brenda Fischer, about. She requested this issue be stopped. She said that per the Resolution 588 and the ordinance of 1912, the city is obligated to provide irrigation. She further stated that in reality the only thing the citizens are obligated to do is to pay for the title in Resolution 588 and deed it to the city to maintain and care for. She said the only thing the ordinance of 1912 says is that the citizens pay for is the water. She said the water is about $10 a year that a customer pays and someone can look on Glendale Irrigation 2014, 2013, divide it by 402, and that is the amount you get. She said that legally that is all the customers are obligated to pay. She said she is not asking for the amount customers pay to be reduced because customers are not exceeding expenses, they are exceeding revenue. She said that is point #1. She stated point #2 is that irrigation is a property right and stated the Commission may face lawsuits from property owners that are not notified that their property right is being worked on. She states that it was declared in the Kent Decree of 1910 that it is a property right. She stated that water is tied to the land as much as dirt is, the difference is you can sell the dirt. She stated while she could call a dump truck and sell her dirt, she cannot sell or give away her water as long as she owns the property,but the water goes with the land in perpetuity and that is in the Kent Decree of 1910. She again cautioned that therefore this action needed to be stopped. She went on to discuss a lawsuit if letters are not sent to all property owners,the 1,600 or more in the town site and any other persons in the town site parcels, they were not going to know what is being done; she feels notification is only being sent to the people who participate in the urban irrigation program. Ms. Berryhill asked how many people live in the town site, how many people live in Sands Estates, and how many people live in Floralcroft. She asked how many live where we get it and stated that her area is not historic because it is not allowed to be. She stated that was the legal issue and there was not enough time before October 1st to meet that requirement. She said another issue is the water rates. Water rates are tied to refined water; water rates are tied to the cost of the water that is how sewer water rates are figured. She questioned why that was part of the cost when someone cannot even tell what goes down the sewer but historically that is how it has been done. She said irrigation water is neither refined nor needs to be, September 3,2014 Water Services Advisory Commission Final Minutes AMENDMENT TO FINAL MINUTES Page 4 and is not put down the sewer. She said the water rate should not ever increase because increases are already done to the water and sewer rates. She also stated the SRP water issue opposed to CAP water issue needed to be addressed, and also the issue as opposed to private water that is coming because people are worried about expense exceeding revenue and the people are worried that they pay for things they cannot use. She said that SRP customers are paying for a lot of what others are using. She said that if the concern about legal issues is not discussed,the Commission should speak to an attorney. She said she would still be glad to distribute the packet she compiled because her letter to City Manager Brenda Fischer and the other documents explain the water rights of these lands. She offered to distribute it to anyone who wanted one. She said she feels that nobody wants to talk. She stated there are three people from the Cholla district on this board, there is one from Sahuaro, and she didn't know if they were an SRP customer or not because she knows they live in the Cactus district, and one member is from the Ocotillo district. She stated that Glendale citizens who receive SRP are underserved on this board, she feels the citizens who receive CAP water that are served and CAP water is the most expensive water. She said that the issue needs to be addressed before lawsuits start. • John Geurs, N. 60 Drive, said he has lived in the Ocotillo district for 35 years. He suggested that notification information be given to any Council person and they will send it out in their weekly emails and can let everyone in the city know of the meetings. He asked if public meetings would still be held, if they were always going to be here, and if they were always going to be on the Commission's meeting agenda. Mr. Geurs asked if any meetings would be held at city hall for public input and if they would be held on another day other than the Commission meeting day. He said he served on a commission before and he had not seen any motions being made and questioned if this commission makes motions. He questioned how the Commission goes about changing any plan the city has and if a motion is made by the Commission, is staff then required to change their plan? • Bart Turner,N. 57th Drive, stated he is an irrigation customer in the Thunderbird Estates area. Mr. Turner questioned if the Adult Center was the appropriate place to have this meeting as it is outside the service territory. He said older people have a hard time getting transportation. He asked if there might be space at City Hall to hold a meeting of this size. He said meeting sites at elementary schools or high schools would be much easier for people to get to. He asked the Commission to consider local neighborhood type meetings. He concluded by asking who someone can notify about getting irrigation in his neighborhood. Respectfully submitted, 41111, =(1;' a r, Amaya, Recording Secretary