Friday, July 11, 2003 | 9:15 a.m.
A Citizens Advisory Committee voted Thursday to recommend a modified version of the three-year water fee rate increase that North Las Vegas city staff first put forward in May.
The modified plan calls for about a 55 percent increase in the average resident's water bill by September 2005, a slightly smaller hike than originally proposed.
The committee's endorsement of the plan paves the way for a vote by the City Council at its next meeting on Aug. 10. If accepted, the new rate schedule could be implemented as early as Sept. 1.
Members of both the committee and city staff saw Thursday's meeting as a leap forward from previous meetings, which had yielded little progress.
"I think they've come a long ways tonight," City Manager Kurt Fritsch said after the meeting. "The staff did a nice job of presenting, and we had discussed and met with all the members this week ... I think they had a better understanding of what we needed."
Chairwoman Joyce Thomas said committee members had been troubled by the perception that city staff merely wanted them to "rubber stamp" the initial proposal.
Asked what was different about Thursday's meeting, Thomas said, "We had a choice. Before we didn't have a choice."
The choice came as a result of the committee's request that city staff provide a set of alternatives, rather than a single proposal.
Assistant Public Works Director David Bereskin outlined five options at Thursday's meeting: the originally proposed three-year phase-in; a modified three-year phase-in with expense reductions; a single, one-year hike; and two different four-year phase-ins.
The committee chose the modified three-year phase-in, which reflected an effort by city staff to reduce expenses by delaying some capital improvement projects.
"We felt they were all projects that we could push back without any negative impact to the city," Fritsch said.
While Thomas said she was "pleased" overall with the rate schedule her committee endorsed, she said that a sustained education effort would be needed to convince the public of the plan's necessity.
"Who wants to see a rate increase?" she said.
Fellow committee member Carlos Morales joked that the hikes might force him to start taking showers with his neighbor.
"That depends who the neighbor is," Thomas replied doubtfully.
The committee decided to postpone a vote on waste water rate hikes until its next meeting on July 24. City staff promised to provide the committee with a similarly broad array of alternatives to its initial proposal.
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