HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Board - Minutes - 10/09/1963• MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE WATER BOARD HELD OCTOBER 9, 1963, AT 7:30
O'CLOCK P.M.
Present: President Ward Fischer, Mayor Harvey Johnson, Secretary John
Bartel, and Members Norman Evans and Fred Feit.
Absent: Vice President Frank Ghent.
Also present were the following Members of the City Council: Lorraine
Quinn, L. J. McMillan, and City Manager Robert F. Boos.
The minutes of the organization meeting of the Water Board
held Monday, October 7, 1963, were read and approved.
The following letter was read at length.
WATER BOARD
OF THE
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
The Honorable, The Mayor and
• Council Members,of the City of
Fort Collins, Colorado
Gentlemen and Madam:
At a meeting of the Water Board held in Council Chambers on
Monday, October 7, 1963, a discussion was had concerning the organization
and operation of this newly created Board.
I am instructed by the Water Board to report to the Council that
the Board, as its first official action, feels it its duty to recommend to
the Council that a Charter Amendment, in substantially the form ao attached
hereto, be submitted to the electorate of this City; and, further, that it
be submitted at the earliest possible time and in any event not later than
the submission of any other proposed Charter Amendments.
All members of the Board were present during the consideration
of this matter. Mr. Johnson felt obliged to abstain from the vote thereon
for the reason that he, as Mayor, would be compelled to participate in the
deliberations of the Council itself on this question and should accordingly
refrain from prior commitment:. With this exception, the Board unanimously
concurs in this recommendation.
A number of considerations seemed to us of primary importance.
1) The Board is of sufficient permanent concern to justify
40
inclusion in the Charter.
2) The proposed Amendment is sufficiently flexible to allow
the Board to plan in depth concerning present and future
water problems, broad enough to allow for future responsi-
bilities and yet enough confined so as to insure that
ultimate responsibility for the water policies of the City
will remain with the Council, responsbile to the electorate,
as it should always remain.
3) The proposed Amendment embodies, as best we understand them,
the aims, responsibilities and functions of the Board as
envisaged by the Council; and thus removes future doubts as
to such aims, responsibilities and functions.
4) The proposed Amendment insures the permanency of the Board.
5) We are reliably informed, and so believe, that the existence
of a Chartered Water Board will make future water bond sales
more attractive to investors.
6) Long range planning by a permanent Board will result in the
saving of an untold thousands of dollars in the future,
simply by avoiding, as far as possible, last minute,
emergency programs.
• 7) Water being a limited commodity, only long range planning
by a permanent Board can insure the acquisition of sufficient
water for future growth.
8) The people of the City of Fort Collins, according to our
varied and individual impressions, have appluaded the action
of the Council in its adoption of the Water Board ordinance,
and will support the proposed Amendment.
9) The recollection of the immediate past water shortage has
emphasised the desperate need for a permanent Water Board;
and if decision on its establishment is delayed, the
recollection of its need will also pass. Few of us can
act without the stimulus of crisis.
10) The Board, being newly created, has had no opportunity to
create any ill feeling among any group. It is conceivable
that if the Board conscientiously fulfills its function,
its recommendations may alienate groups large enough to
defeat any proposed future Charter Amendment. A recommen-
dation for change in water rates, for example, might provoke
violent objection from heretofore privileged groups.
We feel, in short, that Fort Collins has long since reached the
point where a permanent, chartered Water Board is essential to its
continued orderly and healthy growth. We feel further that the people of
•
Fort Collins realize the necessity for this Board. Never has the time
been so ripe, and never again will the time be so opportune, to present
this proposed amendment to the people. In our view the proposed amendment is
as important as any other issue pending, including the water bond
proposal now being considered by the Council. We are convinced that the
people will understand its need and vote for it. We earnestly submit
that the people are ready for this Amendment and that the City requires
this Amendment, and we accordingly recommend its immediate submission
to the electorate.
Respectfully submitted,
Ward H. Fischer
er s en
It was unanimously agreed by those present that the City
Attorney be contacted and give his views as to the legal problems that
the board may encounter.
After considerable discussion with regard to the forming of
water districts outside the boundry of the City the board adjourned.
i
ecre