Common ground, rocky moments at monthly meeting

At the current rate of one hour-long meeting a month, it could take forever for Liberty Lake’s city, and sewer and water district, to tackle tough regional and local water issues.

However, Tuesday, it became clear that one hour is just long enough to fray nerves and suck the air out of the room.

The meeting was a second attempt to build trust and tackle some tough local and regional water issues.

The city and the sewer district have communicated sporadically for about a year, fallout resulting from the city attempting to “assume” the sewer district and the district suing to block that takeover.

Progress was evident during the meeting, as both entities agreed to jointly promote water conservation and include tips in their separate newsletters.

They supported offering classes to teach homeowners how to adjust and maintain sprinkler systems to improve water efficiency.

While the meeting continued to build new ground, a few rocky moments sent council members scrambling for damage control.

Operating in the mayor’s absence, the council had embarked on an agenda approved by both entities.

However, council member Wendy Van Orman forwarded an impromptu billing question from a citizen, who wondered why he had to pay a sewer and water bill when his family was away over the winter.

Although the commissioners provided information about why people must pay a minimum fee, council members Brian Sayrs and Van Orman offered apologies for bringing up a topic that wasn’t listed on the agenda.

Later, councilman David Crump mentioned a meeting to explain the billing process, which angered Commissioner Frank Boyle.

Boyle, interpreting the comment to mean the city wanted to influence rates, became confrontational.

However, Crump smoothed things over by explaining that the council wanted to better understand billing to answer citizen questions.

“Our council has no intention of taking over your process for establishing rates,” Crump said.

The commissioners said rate discussions will arise in the near future after a study is complete. New rates will factor in building costs for the new plant.

The group agreed to meet again on May 24 to discuss potential topics including infrastructure, services, billing, collaboration on emergency response and water rights education