Bicknell board debates moving irrigation fees to monthly, removing acreage basis and scheduling public hearing

Bicknell Town board members spent a substantial portion of their Jan. 30 work meeting discussing changes to the town's irrigation ordinance, including whether to bill monthly instead of quarterly, how to calculate charges, and the need to hold a public hearing before raising rates.

Board members said the only substantive change so far in the draft ordinance is that the fee amounts were removed from the ordinance text and moved to the separate fee schedule. The conversation focused on the mechanics and fairness of the fee: whether to charge by lot acreage, by water share, or as a flat fee for any property connected to the town’s pressurized irrigation line.

The board discussed several alternatives. Several members argued monthly billing would improve customer budgeting and likely increase on-time payments compared with quarterly billing. “If you go to monthly from quarterly, you'll actually have a higher percentage pay just because they’ll get used to it,” a board member said. Board members also considered switching from acreage-based fees to a flat “line-usage” charge for any property that has an irrigation line, while billing larger “heavy users” (for example, the schools) at a higher commercial rate. The board asked staff to run numbers, determine how many irrigation accounts exist, and return with recommended monthly rates and account counts.

Board members emphasized the town cannot raise any water-related rates without holding a public hearing. “We can't raise the rates without a public hearing,” a board member said, and the board agreed that staff should prepare figures for the regular town meeting next week so the board can schedule a public hearing if needed. The town's next billing cycle was noted as March; officials said advertising timelines make it unlikely a new rate could be in place for that March bill but could affect the next quarter.

Members also discussed practical issues the town cannot directly control: the irrigation water itself is supplied by Fremont Irrigation and is not town-owned, and the town’s ordinance covers charges for operating and maintaining the town-owned pressurized distribution system rather than ownership of the irrigation water. That raised enforcement and billing questions because the town lacks a definitive list of who actually has irrigation shares and who is physically using water on properties that may not hold shares.

The board asked staff to: (1) count current irrigation accounts, (2) run revenue scenarios that would cover the town’s irrigation operating costs (board members cited recent annual irrigation expenses around $18,000–$24,000 and annual collections of about $19,400), (3) propose a monthly fee that would adequately cover costs (one board member suggested targeting roughly 1.25 times annual cost to build a small surplus), and (4) return next week to set a public hearing date if necessary.

Ending: The board did not set new rates at the meeting. Staff was directed to prepare account counts and proposed monthly fee levels for the regular town meeting and to prepare public-hearing notifications if the board chooses to proceed with a rate increase.