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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 30, 2009 Page 16 rials, and was meeting the suggested guidelines and accomplishing their two-fold goals. City Attorney Anderson agreed with the conservation rate attachment in providing guidelines, but not mandating them; however, was unprepared to offer a legal opinion as to the City's compliance without further review. Discussion among Councilmembers and staff included examples of rates and poten- tial variations; effective rate calculations based on consumption behavior, with the new rate providing for everyone to pay the same base rate up to a certain point, while also addressing underfimding of the infrastructure water system; past reliance by the City on higher users to fund infrastructure improvements and problems anticipated with implementation of a conservation rate structure using that source for financial sustainability for the water system; and transparencies in such a structure as currently in place. Councilmember Roe suggested that perhaps, in hindsight, the implementation of a base rate and a conservation rate structure should have been phased in, rather than at- tempted as a combined effort. Councilmember Roe sought clarification as to whether there were ways to mitigate the impact as well as acknowledging suggestions of Councilmember Ihlan and Senator Marty and apparent imbalanced impacts between higher and lower users. Mr. Miller noted that the City was already well into three billing cycles for 2009; and logistically it would be challenging to communicate another rate structure mid-year, in addition to staff time to do so, without a year's worth of billing for comparison by users with their past usage and rates. Mr. Miller noted that it was not unusual for the City to field approximately 100 phone calls annually related to billings; and that this year, with the new and dramatic changes in the .rate structure, they had probably fielded double those calls, out of a total 15,000 water customers. Mr. Miller noted that the vast majority of customers are receiving their bills and a letter explaining changes and personal impacts, without making contact with City Hall. Mr. Miller ad- vised that staff had been careful to let people know that the structure couldn't be measured with only one bill, but measured over an entire calendar year, and if their usage drops they should be able to realize that during the summer, rather than the winter months. Mr. Miller advised that he was continuing review, on an ongoing ba- sis, usage and monitoring impacts to various and typical users. Councilmember Ihlan opined that there was no economic incentive to conserve water under the new rate structure; and that there was no conservation rates for commercial users other than a seasonal differential. Mayor Klausing requested that City Attorney Anderson report back to the City Coun- cil with a legal opinion as to whether the current policy was consistent with and met state statute requirements; and concurred that, in hindsight, perhaps the rate structure