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Councilmember McGovern reiterated that she is not comfortable with the financing plan <br />and that it has changed quite a bit since 1999 when it was approved. She stressed that <br />$655,000 on an $8 million loan is a very small amount of return on our money. She <br />believed this financing plan is not done yet and there is great risk that still exists and how it <br />will affect projects citywide has not been identified. <br />Councilmember Sullivan questioned the sources of the transfers and referred to the two <br />CIP water funds and the sewer fund. He asked how those are funded. <br />Staff responded those funds are actually revenue that is collected as part of the City's rate <br />structure and are placed in the water and sewer funds to meet long-term replacement and <br />improvement costs. Staff has prepared an analysis and indicated that even with the <br />transfer of these loans we can continue to appropriately maintain the water and sewer <br />system. <br />Councilmember Sullivan clarified by using these funds for this purpose with the <br />anticipation that they will be eventually paid back, nothing would be taken away from any <br />maintenance, upgrades or ongoing projects that need to be done to keep the water system <br />where it needs to be over time. <br />Councilmember McGovern stated that if you are collecting these monies for long-term <br />maintenance of the City they should be spent somewhere in the City in the long-term. <br />Staff responded it is their intention that they will be. <br />Councilmember McGovern stated if they are not replaced she is sure that will mean that <br />some project down the road may not be done as fast or as fully as it should be. <br />Mr. Bocian responded that staff does not anticipate that the replacement and improvement <br />funds will not be made whole. The question is how and how long it will take to do that in <br />the event some of the reimbursements in the developments do not occur as quickly <br />planned. He added it is not the intention to just transfer this money from replacement <br />improvement to this particular project. <br />The City Manager clarified that this would be a transfer and the expectation is that as <br />development occurs it will be repaid. If, in the worst example development does not occur, <br />the City does not get reimbursements and the four tier rate structure is not implemented, <br />then the Council will be faced with a decision of forgiving the transfer or transferring <br />monies from other sources like our self-insurance fund or general fund annual CIP <br />allocation. There are other mechanisms to make the water and replacement fund whole. <br />Mayor Hosterman opened the public hearing. Hearing no requests to speak, the public <br />hearing was closed. <br />Councilmember Sullivan stated his support of staff's recommendation. He commented the <br />Council has been through this a couple times now and there is no choice but to move <br />forward on these improvements. The City does have a financing plan, albeit it was not <br />one that was envisioned when the Vineyard Corridor was initially planned and that <br />financing plan was put together, but it is a financing plan and we have money to cover it <br />and a mechanism to recover the transfer of funds. There are risks, but there are also <br />mitigations. <br />City Council Minutes 6 February 6, 2007 <br />