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Commission approves water-service agreement for property in Southwest Ranches, conditions include updated hookup fee review
Summary
The commission approved a water agreement for a Southwest Ranches parcel (65 91 Ranches LLC) with conditions: staff/attorney to add updated language consistent with recent city code changes and the city to pursue a short-term CPI-based update of hookup/rate tables while pursuing a longer fee study.
The Cooper City Commission approved a water‑service agreement for a property in the Town of Southwest Ranches but asked staff and the city attorney to update the template language and to pursue an interim update to hookup fees while preparing a comprehensive fee study.
The agreement before the commission covered the requested two and a half water equivalent residential connections (ERCs) and a calculated total payment of $4,408.81 based on existing fee tables. City Attorney Jacob Horwitz explained the item’s background: the Town of Southwest Ranches had already executed the corresponding agreement in mid‑2024 per Chapter 180 of Florida Statutes and the county had asked whether other municipalities wanted to engage in related dispute‑resolution steps concerning regional solid‑waste matters.
Commissioner Schroeder and others sought stronger contractual language to reflect the commission’s recent policy discussions about providing water outside city limits and to update hookup charges. The city manager proposed a two‑step approach: short‑term CPI adjustments to outdated fees as an interim measure and a comprehensive utility fee study to set cost‑based rates going forward.
After discussion the commission approved the agreement but conditioned the approval on the city manager and city attorney adding updated language to the contract template and on pursuing the short‑term CPI‑based interim adjustments while scheduling the full fee study. The vote was 4‑1 (Commissioner Katzmann opposed). The city manager said staff would return with revised templates and with a timeline for the fee study and interim adjustments.
