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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 30, 2009 Page 17 should have been approached differently. However, Mayor Klausing agreed with Mr. Miller that to logistically make changes at this point, without further information and options, would be problematic and even more confusing for customers. Mr. Miller noted that the state law would be implemented in 2010, and that there was nothing compelling the City to make changes this year. Councilmember Ihlan reiterated her concern that the current rate structure did not re- flect DNR recommendations; and opined that additional tiers were needed to increase the differentials, allowing for policy decision-making by the City Council. Councilmember Pust requested tiered rate structures from Councilmember Ihlan as examples. Councilmember Ihlan advised that she could not provide tier structures without fur- ther data from staff. Councilmember Ihlan requested additional information from staff as outlined in her a-mail, identified as "Attachment A" and entitled, "2009 Util- ity Rate Changes." Mayor Klausing opined his inclination to allow the existing rate structure to move forward for this year, and review it at that time to determine impacts and whether the conservation rate was actually achieved, while meeting basic infrastructure costs. Mr. Miller advised that some of the additional information would be easy to compile, once he was clear on the objective. Mr. Miller advised that staff had originally rec- ommended and purposely seta 30,000 gallon tier to target and penalize excessive wa- ter usage versus standard household use. Mr. Miller advised that the rate structure could be made more restrictive or impact more people, at the directive and discretion of the City Council. Councilmember Pust opined that a broader discussion related to water conservation was required; noting that if an average family uses 25,000 gallons, while two empty nesters also used 25,000 gallons, she would need more information based on typical family use and how to incent changes in behavior. Councilmember Pust further opined that it would be premature to have staff develop more tiers until there was a clear understanding of why the base rate was changed, which was at the core of the problem; and probably should have been communicated more and better to the public. Councilmember Johnson opined that he couldn't understand the impact to residents until he'd seen four quarters of use; and whether responses would change throughout the year and provide for more effective conservation by households. Mr. Miller indicated that, with two months of data available, he couldn't make effec- tive conclusions; and noted that, even with two years worth of data, all that could be seen would be if people are changing their behavior, but there would be no clear de-