Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week voted 5-0 to start a new policy for existing conditional will-serve fees. The policy will require 5 percent of the fee to be paid at the initial signing of the conditional will-serve. It also sets a time frame for payments to be made in full after 3 years of the initial issuance. Critics from the public said the agency should charge more than 5 percent, including David Evitt, who asked “how the 5 percent would affect the overall operations of the AWA,” and whether the amount of funding generated would be good or “fall short of what’s really needed.” General Manger Gene Mancebo said fees paid before water is needed would help the planning effort. Mancebo said it has not been studied to determine the impact, “but it may have the effect of causing developers to change the way they seek conditional will-serves.” Evitt asked about the history of the fees. AWA attorney Steve Kronick said when AWA acquired the Amador Water System (AWS) in about 1986, the agency required that 100 percent of participation fees were paid at the time of issuance of the final map. Then it changed to the process of paying the fees when either water service or a meter was requested. Kronick said that policy has been in effect for 20 years. There were no fees charged in connection with the issuance of a will-serve commitment. President Bill Condrashoff, who spearheaded the policy change, said “within 3 years of issuance of a conditional will-serve, you will have paid it in full.” Director Terence Moore said like any other policy, they should try it and see if they like the results they get. Director Don Cooper was worried about committing will-serves without having a guarantee, and said in the current policy, the “agency is not really protected.” He said the agency or county should not approve subdivisions that don’t have water service. He gave the example of other counties issuing a final map without water service, and realtors saying the property had water. He said when a buyer of a lot wanted water service, the buyer went to the purveyor, who had a waiting list for water service. Cooper said the buyer then sued over lack of water service. Mancebo said the agency has “standby fees,” which allow the owner to “have water when they want it.” Kronick said that is something the agency should look at. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.-
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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week voted 5-0 to start a new policy for existing conditional will-serve fees. The policy will require 5 percent of the fee to be paid at the initial signing of the conditional will-serve. It also sets a time frame for payments to be made in full after 3 years of the initial issuance. Critics from the public said the agency should charge more than 5 percent, including David Evitt, who asked “how the 5 percent would affect the overall operations of the AWA,” and whether the amount of funding generated would be good or “fall short of what’s really needed.” General Manger Gene Mancebo said fees paid before water is needed would help the planning effort. Mancebo said it has not been studied to determine the impact, “but it may have the effect of causing developers to change the way they seek conditional will-serves.” Evitt asked about the history of the fees. AWA attorney Steve Kronick said when AWA acquired the Amador Water System (AWS) in about 1986, the agency required that 100 percent of participation fees were paid at the time of issuance of the final map. Then it changed to the process of paying the fees when either water service or a meter was requested. Kronick said that policy has been in effect for 20 years. There were no fees charged in connection with the issuance of a will-serve commitment. President Bill Condrashoff, who spearheaded the policy change, said “within 3 years of issuance of a conditional will-serve, you will have paid it in full.” Director Terence Moore said like any other policy, they should try it and see if they like the results they get. Director Don Cooper was worried about committing will-serves without having a guarantee, and said in the current policy, the “agency is not really protected.” He said the agency or county should not approve subdivisions that don’t have water service. He gave the example of other counties issuing a final map without water service, and realtors saying the property had water. He said when a buyer of a lot wanted water service, the buyer went to the purveyor, who had a waiting list for water service. Cooper said the buyer then sued over lack of water service. Mancebo said the agency has “standby fees,” which allow the owner to “have water when they want it.” Kronick said that is something the agency should look at. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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