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4 <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said the rate of increase of water and wastewater is dramatic and <br />suggest ed that the Board consider phasing the increases in over time. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tropea said the Rivanna Board asked all of those questions and did push <br />some projects off due to the cost. He said he wants to hire a financial advisor to look at <br />future options to avoid dramatic rate increases. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said he would prefer to know where we are going in the future and <br />would like to see a three - year build out, and Mr. Tropea said he can provide this <br />information. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said that the true value of water has caught up w ith us. <br /> Mr. Lynch expressed concern about the bond issuance cost of 10%, and Mr. <br />Tropea said he hopes to do a lot better than that. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Schilling, Ms. Scott said that the gas relight <br />fee of $10 provides one cut off and one relight per year to gas customers. She said this <br />allows people who only use gas for heating to save money by cutting the gas off during <br />warm weather. Ms. Scott said the fee to relight gas a second time is $30. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling asked why the flat rate fo r ornamental gas light is cheaper than the <br />basic rate and if there is a reason why we are subsidizing them, and Ms. Scott said <br />ornamental gas lights use very little gas. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said if that is the case he would rather see the amount lowered to <br />som ething realistic. Mr. Schilling asked about the fee to test meters and if credit is given <br />customers if they are found to have a bad meter, and Ms. Scott said yes, there is a bill <br />adjustment and the fee is waived in that situation. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said he has been told that separate metering reduces usage, and said <br />he would like to encourage that. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati suggested this issue be studied. <br /> <br /> Ms. Judy Mueller, Director of Public Works, said there are ways for apartment <br />owners to internally meter and not pay the City fee. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said he would rather see a minimum of water included in the <br />monthly service charge. Referring to the list of top 100 water users, Mr. Schilling said <br />the amount used by Walker School is very high and asked this be looked into. <br /> <br /> Ms. Scott said the swimming pool is included in the amount used by Walker <br />School. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling asked that staff work with the Housing Authority to reduce the <br />amount of water used by public housing residents. He also suggested that we look at th e <br />amount used by Boxer Learning and the Market Street and Water Street parking garages. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling asked why we want to increase the customer base for gas if <br />increasing gas usage leads to higher gas prices. <br /> <br />Ms. Scott said that increasing the custome r base for gas helps spread out the fixed <br />costs. Ms. Scott said that the cost of gas is determined nationwide, not by local usage. <br /> <br />Mr. Schilling asked for figures that show how spreading out the cost helps keep <br />the rates low. <br /> <br />Responding to a question, Ms. Mueller said that the cost of environmental <br />administration is not a new program, but the decision was made last year to fund it out of <br />the utility budget since most environmental issues are in the utility systems. <br /> <br />