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Medina council accepts utility commission recommendation on water tap fees
Summary
The Medina City Council voted to accept the Utility Rate Review Commission’s recommendation on water tap fees after brief discussion about variable costs for properties on opposite sides of a street and a consistency provision of cost plus 10%.
The Medina City Council voted to accept the Utility Rate Review Commission’s recommendation on water tap fees after brief discussion about variable installation costs and consistency in pricing.
Councilmember 3 moved to “accept the recommendation of the Utility Rate Review Commission on the water tap fees,” and the motion carried after a voiced vote. Councilmember 5 called for the aye vote; when asked, the chair said “Opposed? Okay, motion carries.”
The commission’s recommendation was discussed in the context of frequently changing material costs and different installation costs depending on whether a property’s service line is on the same side of the street as the main. Councilmember 4 noted the disparity, saying, “there are different costs if you're on the wrong side of the street… The water lines on your side of the street, it's much less expensive to do a tap than the water lines is across the street.” Councilmember 5 said the intent was to recover “actual cost” and not to round: “that we're just, we're trying to get actual cost… and not rounded.” Councilmember 2 asked whether increasing the size of a service line would change the charge; Councilmember 5 answered that upsizing would require redoing the trench and piping.
Councilmember 2 also raised a consistency point during the discussion, asking whether the fee structure would effectively be “the cost plus 10%.” Councilmember 5 acknowledged the consistency issue but did not read a formal pricing table into the record during this discussion.
Discussion: This item included (1) deliberation about whether fees should reflect exact costs where costs differ by location relative to the main; (2) a practical clarification that upsizing a line would require new trenching and piping; and (3) a consistency question about applying a percentage surcharge.
Decision: A motion to accept the Utility Rate Review Commission recommendation on water tap fees was made by Councilmember 3 and carried by voice vote. The transcript does not provide a recorded roll-call or numeric tally.
Next steps: No additional implementation timeline or external approvals were specified in the transcript. The council moved on to other business after the vote.
