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Mayor Pico asked why should the City support the bond measure. Vv'hy should the people of Livermore support if they don't have a problem with hardness, odor, and other kinds of issues because they get different water. Mr. Cummings stated the odor issues are District wide because they come from the Delta and this impacts everybody when they occur. The salt issues come fi.om the ground and during drought periods everyone will be pulling water from the ground, not just the west end of the Valley. It is a melded system and the District is looking to equalize the water quality going to everyone as much as possible. Ms. Ayala asked if the Council-Zone 7 liaison committee has had any meetings? Ms. Hosterman said they are trying to schedule meetings. The last scheduled meeting was April and now it looks like it is going to be later than that. She recalls that she requested this meeting the first night she was on City Council. Ms. Ayala encouraged continuing to request the meeting. She asked what the bottom line would be to the average citizen and that whether the water rates are going up? How many years would rate increases be expected to continue? Mr. Cummings said the rates with both phases being operational, it is projected to be $3 - $4 month for the average rate payer. Water rates have gone up 2.5% this past year. It would have been flat except some of the retailers requested that the money generated from increase rates be put aside into a fund to help fund whatever the projects are that come out of this. This rate didn't have to be done this year, but it prepared and softened any future rate increase. The only other rate increase would be inflationary. Rates right now have been pretty flat the last few years. The bond measure debt service would be that you don't have to increase the rates to save up the money very quickly and then have the rates go back down. The District would use this to bring the rates up slowly and then there is the cost of debt service that has to be carded. Ms. Ayala asked if anyone has looked at the overall rate of debt that the State of California is carrying and is there not some concern about this. Mr. Cummings said the District does look at it. Zone 7 has been pretty much debt free and has done mostly "pay as you go." With the connection fees these also are "pay as you go." In order to get facilities up and running in time, the District has been looking at whether it makes sense to use debt financing to spread the cost out for all of the beneficiaries of these facilities. Ms. Ayala complimented Zone 7 for their "pay as you go" quality. She asked if growth was paying for itself. Mr. Cummings said new growth is paying for all of the facility expansions associated with that growth. Pleasanton City Council 13 03/04/03 Minutes