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Council sets aside irrigation meter-replacement and pond-expansion reserves; agrees to segregate funds and revisit fee schedule
Summary
Gunnison council directed staff to earmark meter-replacement and pond-expansion reserves in separate accounts, agreed on per-connection allocations to show residents, and scheduled a short special meeting to finalize any fee-schedule changes.
Gunnison city councilors and staff at a budget workshop agreed to make the irrigation meter-replacement reserve and the pond-expansion reserve visible and harder to spend, assign per-connection dollar amounts for clarity, and schedule a brief special meeting to finalize any changes to the fee schedule.
Lede facts: staff said the irrigation program currently charges $9 per month for customers on the city's irrigation system (north of the river) and that the charge was intended to cover both a meter-replacement bond and a pond-expansion reserve. Council members asked staff to separate those purposes and to show the dollar-per-connection breakdown to the public.
What staff proposed and council directed
Staff told the council it could take the monthly assessments collected and transfer them monthly into distinct savings accounts so residents could see the money earmarked for meter replacement and pond expansion. A staff member said, "We can literally, every month, transfer money out ... and we can move the cash over to a savings account that is specifically for that," describing how the city could make the reserve harder to reallocate.
Council asked staff to compute and present the per-connection figures. Staff returned a pair of per-connection amounts during the workshop: $3.82 per connection designated for the meter-replacement reserve and $3.18 per connection designated for the PIA (pond) expansion reserve. Councilors asked staff to show the account balances to the public and to label the accounts so the money is identifiable.
Fee level, schedule and next steps
The conversation included a range of proposals. Some councilors urged lowering the monthly charge to $7 to reduce the immediate burden on ratepayers; others argued that the $9 level helps ensure future meter replacements and pond work can be funded without seeking large loans. Councilors agreed to hold a short special meeting to change the fee schedule if needed; staff suggested a 24-hour posting and offered a noon meeting on the 25th to finalize any changes.
Other details
Staff said the original meter program cost the city roughly $440,000 to install the meters (the figure cited in the packet), and councilors discussed the pace of meter replacement and long-term planning. Staff also confirmed there are 663 irrigation connections that pay the monthly maintenance fee.
Ending
Councilors asked staff to present the final per-connection amounts and to show the segregated savings-account balances at the next meeting; staff said they would produce a final budget and the clarified fee schedule for formal adoption.
