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Council adopts fee schedule updates but pauses contested sewer fees after legal objection
Summary
At a public hearing, a developer lawyer argued sewer collection charges in the city's fee schedule are controlled by ordinance and cannot be changed by resolution; staff said they needed time to check the municipal code, and council voted to adopt the fee schedule while excluding the sewer fees in question pending legal review.
Staff presented the annual update to the city's user and regulatory fees and explained that some fees are eligible for CPI adjustments while others are controlled through Proposition 218 processes. K&M Developers' counsel Walt McNeel told council he had submitted written materials and argued that specific sewer fees cited in the packet are governed by city ordinance and cannot be modified by resolution.
"When you have something established in an ordinance, you have to use an ordinance to revise that, change it, or eliminate it," McNeel said and asked that pages referencing the sewer fees be omitted from the resolution. City attorneys and staff said they had not had time during the meeting to verify whether the cited rates are codified. Council directed staff to follow up and moved to adopt the fee schedule while excluding the disputed sewer items; a roll call shows the motion passed (one absent). Staff committed to review the municipal code and return with clarification.
