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Enoch council sets May 20 hearings on water impact fees and rate structure, discusses ERU pricing
Summary
At its May 6 meeting the Enoch City Council set May 20 public hearings to consider replacing some residential water metrics with ERUs and to amend the water rate structure to encourage conservation; council cited meter-sizing, peak flows and aquifer concerns.
The Enoch City Council on May 6 set public hearings for May 20 to consider changes to water impact fees and to amend the city's water rate structure and user fees.
Council Member David Harris said council should consider replacing residential fee metrics with equivalent residential units (ERUs) and charging commercial and industrial users by ERU or meter size, rather than a flat meter-based charge. Ryker Ogden of Ensign Engineering explained that meters are sized for peak flow and that one ERU is commonly used as an 800-gallon-per-day peak flow equivalent for a one-inch residential meter. Based on that metric, the council discussed charging a commercial customer the ERU-equivalent for anticipated peak demand rather than by installed meter diameter.
City Manager Ryan Robinson and council members debated how ERUs would apply to businesses (example used: a gym with showers) and whether commercial accounts that functionally equal multiple ERUs should pay accordingly. Council Member Kimberlee Trower asked about identifying "high-usage" commercial customers and noted that changing weather patterns and aquifer decline mean all users may need to conserve. Harris noted differences between owned water rights (acre-feet) and delivered water and framed rate design as a tool to encourage conservation.
Council Member Harris moved to set a public hearing for potential changes to all water impact fees for May 20; Council Member Jacob Miner seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Later in the meeting the council also voted to set a May 20 hearing to consider amending the water rate structure and user fees after staff presentations on seasonal brackets and conservation incentives.
The hearings will allow staff to present proposed fee and rate templates and will be the venue for public comment and formal direction. No rate or fee changes were adopted at the May 6 meeting.
Next steps: Proposed ordinance or fee schedule amendments will be presented at the May 20 hearings for deliberation; council members requested clearer definitions of ERU calculations and examples of commercial classifications before final action.
