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Council agrees to sell water connection contingent on written lease with canal company
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Summary
Council members agreed to proceed with selling a water connection to a resident contingent on receiving a written lease between the town and the canal company; the arrangement had been verbally approved previously and has been in discussion since 2017.
At a town meeting, council members moved to approve the sale of a water connection for a resident, contingent on receipt of a written lease between the town and the canal company, participants said.
The staff member said the parties "do have an agreement, but we do not have the agreement in our possession," and that Trent Jackson was preparing the written document for signatures. The staff member said the arrangement had been discussed since 2017 and that previous verbal approvals were recorded by the canal company and by the Fair Canal Reservoir Company.
Council members said the town needs the written policy to take formal action. The clerk suggested making a motion to approve the policy only after the council could read it aloud; a committee member then proposed that, "pending approval of the policy in our hands, we sell the water share" by the coming Wednesday. The motion was seconded and members expressed support by voice; a formal roll-call vote was not recorded in the transcript.
Speakers also described the town's water use and proposed compensation: the staff member said the town normally uses about 20 acre-feet of water a year but expects roughly 14–14.5 acre-feet this year and said that corresponded to about 56 shares the canal company would provide. The staff member said the town requires payment for connections and referenced a water-share fee of $1,500; elsewhere a speaker estimated "about $500 this year" for an associated annual cost but did not specify the charge's exact nature.
Council members asked that Trent provide the written lease and circulate photos or scans; one committee member said they would call Trent the following day to obtain the paperwork and share it with the group. The clerk noted the town will not finalize the sale until the policy is in hand and readable by the council. The council scheduled follow-up for the next regularly stated meeting date and directed staff to obtain and distribute the written policy.
The motion on the policy and conditional sale was recorded as made and seconded in open session and the members present indicated consent by voice; the transcript does not record a formal roll-call tally or a signed approval at that meeting.