Rainbow MWD revises engineering service fees, separates engineering fees and deposits from water and sewer charge ordinance

While the Rainbow Municipal Water District board was updating its engineering service fees and deposits, the district used that opportunity to separate the engineering fees and deposits from its ordinance covering water and sewer service rates and fees.

A single 5-0 Rainbow board vote April 28 approved Ordinance No. 15-05, which revised and established engineering service fees and deposits, and Ordinance No. 15-06, which revised the appendix of the ordinance which had included the engineering service fees and deposits as part of the water and sewer rate ordinance.

"It was separated because it was unrelated to water and sewer rates," said Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy. "It's kind of cumbersome to have them all in the same section."

Rainbow's engineering department provides services which include informational maps, letters of water and sewer service availability, new services inspections, and improvement plan checking. The district last evaluated its engineering fees in 2005 and last reviewed its plan check and inspection deposits in 2006. "They hadn't been updated in 10 years," Kennedy said.

The current review discovered some inconsistencies of fee and deposit rates in relation to staff time. A district contract with J.C. Heden and Associates allowed for an evaluation of Rainbow's internal process and required staff time, and six other local agencies were surveyed to determine the costs associated with engineering services.

"The main goal of these fees is to ensure that the developers pay every penny of the cost," Kennedy said. "The ratepayers don't have to fund one penny of development activity."

Rainbow had charged $30 for a water availability letter and $75 for a sewer availability letter. The new fee of $150 for a boundary adjustment, single lot, or minor subdivision and $250 for a major subdivision or commercial lot will cover the costs of staff time to review and execute the letter of service availability. The new fees for documents, agreements, and permits also include $500 for a quitclaim document, encroachment permit, joint use permit, right-of-way agreement, or remote meter request and $350 for a fire flow letter. The new cost for standards and specifications or other documents or reports is $65 for a hard copy or $10 for a digital video disc.

The district had charged a $260 deposit for a single water lateral or sewer lateral installation; that amount was increased to $1,100. A $1,100 deposit will also be necessary for each fire hydrant and each fire service detector check. Those deposits are required for inspection services for facilities which do not require the installation of water and sewer pipelines.

The deposit for inspection and improvement plans of water and sewer pipeline is now $7,500 plus $2 per linear foot. Specialty inspection costs and other inspection services will be determined for pressure reducing stations, pump stations, sewer lift stations, reservoirs, and specialty pipeline installations such as bore and jack, horizontal direction drill, and bridge activity. Specialty inspection costs and other inspection services may also apply for other improvements on a case-by-case basis.

The plan check deposit for water and sewer improvement plans is $465 per sheet. The deposit covers three plan check reviews for each project; after three reviews all additional plan checking will be at the district cost plus 15 percent.

The deposit to process a cellular tower lease agreement or a reimbursement agreement is now $2,500 per document item.

The engineering services fees had been included in the same appendix of the district ordinance which establishes fees and charges for water and sewer service. Since the engineering service fees are unrelated to water and sewer service fees, the separation of the engineering service fees into a separate ordinance allows those to be changed without amending the water and sewer rate ordinance.