Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-03-13 (2)ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly convened the meeting at 2:00 p.m. H. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Pro Tempore Jean M. Benson Councilman Walter H. Snyder Councilman Robert A. Spiegel Mayor Richard S. Kelly Excused Absence: Councilman Buford A. Crites Also _ Present: Ramon A. Diaz, City Manager David J. Erwin, City Attorney Sheila R. Gilligan, Director of Community Affairs/City Clerk John Wohlmuth, ACM/Director of Administrative Services III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - A None MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IV. NEW BUSINESS A. CONSIDERATION OF COVE COMMUNITIES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION PARTICIPATION IN DEREGULATION OF UTILITIES. The following is a verbatim transcript of this meeting: Key RSK Richard S. Kelly, Mayor, City of Palm Desert ML Michael Landis, City of Indian Wells AH Artie Henderson, City of Indian Wells WM Walter McIntyre, City of Indian Wells PB Percy Byrd, City of Indian Wells EM Ed Monarch, City of Indian Wells DY Don Yokaitis, City of Rancho Mirage AS Alan Seman, City of Rancho Mirage MG Marilyn Glassman, City of Rancho Mirage PP Patrick Pratt, City Manager, City of Rancho Mirage KM Kathy Minton, City of Rancho Mirage AN Arthur Newman, City of Rancho Mirage CM Christine Murphy, City of Rancho Mirage GW George Watts, City Manager, City of Rancho Mirage JC John Cook, City of Indian Wells RAD Ramon A. Diaz, City Manager, City of Palm Desert RAS Robert A. Spiegel, Councilman, City of Palm Desert WHS Walter H. Snyder, Councilman, City of Palm Desert JMB Jean M. Benson, Mayor Pro Tempore, City of Palm Desert MD Mary Drury, Southern California Edison GP Gail Paparian RG Rosemary Gonzales, Imperial Irrigation District RSK Roll call...we'll start with the City of Indian Wells roll call first. ML Michael Landis, City of Indian Wells. AH Artie Henderson, City of Indian Wells WM Walter McIntyre, City of Indian Wells PB Percy Byrd, Indian Wells 2 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EM Ed Monarch, Indian Wells DY Don Yokaitis, Rancho Mirage AS Alan Seman, Rancho Mirage MG Marilyn Glassman, Rancho Mirage PP Patrick Pratt, Rancho Mirage KM Kathy Minton, Rancho Mirage AN Arthur Newman, Rancho Mirage CM Christine Murphy, Rancho Mirage GW George Watts, Indian Wells JC John Cook, Indian Wells RAD Ray Diaz, Palm Desert RAS Bob. Spiegel, Palm Desert RSK Dick Kelly, Palm Desert WHS Walt Snyder, Palm Desert JMB Jean Benson, Palm Desert RSK Okay, so that takes care of roll call and so, according to the Agenda here, it says comments from Council. So, I guess maybe I'll try to state the purpose, Don, you and Walt and I were kind of the ones that met and checked with our Councils to see if they would like to get together and do this. And basically, everybody knows about the ongoing conversations about power rates and what the various cities and entities have been doing, and we thought that it would be a good thing for... first it looks like kind of an opportunity maybe, we had a JPA with Cove Communities with Public Safety Commission where we worked with the Fire Department and Police Department and Senior Center and other joint ventures such as ball parks and Discovery Museum, etc., etc. And just get all three Councils together and have a discussion and see if there is any opportunity there or any will of the three Councils to look at doing something together. 3 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ?? Dick, did you want to discuss how you see the scope of this particular meeting. RSK Well, I would say, and you and Don can help me out with that, is that basically what it's for is there something that the three cities would like to do or I think that we're all agendized so that if we wanted to make a decision to hire a consultant or do something that we can do that at this meeting. DY I think our staffs with the respective cities are prepared to make a presentation to us today that will outline the proposal and hopefully that's where we would be heading. RSK Don, why don't we start with your staff and let them make a presentation, and we'll take it from there. PP Okay, • Mayors and City Council Members. As Mayor Kelly indicated, there was a meeting to discuss whether there might be an opportunity for the three cities to get together and that's what set forth this meeting this afternoon. We've disseminated a staff report that just outlines some particularly background issues and some of the historical perspectives, both of the electrical issues and the current restructuring process that is under way, not only in California but throughout the United States. But specifically in California, the deregulation of the investor owned utility providing services, California has three, the Coachella Valley is served by one investor owned utility, Southern California Edison. And with the advent of AB1890, there will be an opportunity for, in our opinion, for the cities to look out better ways to deliver and provide utility services. The options out there are almost infinitesimal. I think that's one of the reasons why as you go to meetings and talk to different people different questions and different ideas come up. It's one of the ideas where I think we do need some direction through consultants. We specifically think you use a consultant that's not tied to any provider or any utility company that's...a lot of them have sprung up, whether it be providing wholesale utility or utility services as far as distribution or transmission. You need a pure consultant to give us some of that expertise. The thought was that the Cove Commission is an excellent opportunity to do that. The existing JPA in place, that's been in place since 1981, gives us that ability to do what we are considering, an education and investigative type approach to layout options to the cities. I think one thing we have to remember, we as cities wear several different hats in this arena. We wear a hat as an actual consumer, we all are consuming electricity in all of the public facilities that we provide, street lighting, ballparks, the facilities that your city halls are in, fire stations, etc. We also have an opportunity to provide maybe cheaper electrical rates to, then, our residents, constituents, and also to commercial customers. I think one thing the three cities have had historically are some similar issues, that's why the Cove Commission was created, and I think in the area of electrical issues, and I think we also have similar issues and compatibilities. The AB1890, as far as one of the first big milestones, as we've all heard, with the efforts in Palm Springs and Portland General is January 1998 when it really does sort of kick 4 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DY PP ML in. Again, we see this era of facing changes in the electrical issue as really a challenge. I think it's one of the complex issues that we should look at. I think that our staff levels, we don't have that expertise and, again, we would certainly think we need some direction to weight all of the options that may be available to us. And with that, I will see if...either ask Mayor Yokaitis or Kathy Minton's here to answer any questions or the rest of the staffs. Well, there has been this collective approach, and I think it really makes really a lot of sense that we look at it and, as Pat has pointed out, retain a consultant who has no economic interest in being in the business, who isn't trying to get a percentage of the action or something but who would be there to give us recommendations on where we need to go here in the next couple of years because I think it's going to be really a jungle. The more I've read and studied, the less I know. It's really gotten to be very complex, and I think everybody would agree with that. I think this is an intelligent way to go about it and hopefully we can achieve something that will be a win/win both for the citizens of our three cities and our three cities themselves. I think the one thing is, we know it's going to happen. Moving down, it's already done as far as the legislative process. And I think for us to better understand how we can play the game and be involved in the game, we need that kind of information and analysis and background so that when the game is open and we're able to play, which way we're going to go, or we may decide there isn't an opportunity. But at this point in time at least discussions in Rancho Mirage, we know we don't have the expertise to make some of those decisions that may have to be made in the next six, eight, nine months. I have a question just about defining what we intend to do today, and that is that we intend to decide whether or not we should recommend this to the Cove Commission, that this is the format by which we should work within, number one, and then, number two, are we deciding today whether we are going to hire a consultant or are we deciding to send it to the Cove Commission? DY I think we're sending it to the Cove Commission. ML And then the Cove Commission makes a decision, but we empower them, obviously, to make a decision. DY I think that's where we are. I think we're giving our best thought of where we think we ought to be going, but it's the Cove Commission that will... RSK We can do any or all. I think we're the ones...we're going to make that decision today, whether we would refer it to the Cove Commission, whether we would decide to move ahead, whether we would refer it to what we call in the Cove Communities 5 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Commission or TAC Committee which is made up of the three City Managers to proceed or whatever we decide. I mean, I think it's open to whatever we choose to do. AN I think we ought to do it here because ultimately if it goes to...if you send it to the Cove Commission, the members of the Cove Commission always want to go back to their City Council. The City Councils are here. I think whatever action we take ought to be done today and not pussy foot with it. DY Well, the Cove Commission will come back to the three cities. AN Well, that's what I'm saying. So instead of waiting for them to come back and delaying the action...incidentally, I'm not an advocate of this yet, but I think whatever we ought to do here is...the 15 Councilmembers, the 15 votes ought to be cast right here, that's just a... DY Basically what you have here in the recommendation of the staff report is the direction they're recommending that we adopt, by the way... RSK Even if we decide to move ahead, we might refer it to the TAC Committee to put together a list of people to make our selection from, etc., etc. AN I agree, Dick, that's TAC. RSK But you're saying not going... AN Yes, I think what we're...there are 15 of us here, we can all do the voting, and... RSK We can refer it to the three City Managers to put together whatever we want to start with right now. ?? I agree with Arthur, I think we ought to go as far as we can with the group here. This is quite unprecedented that we have all three Councils sitting at the same time, but as a minimum objective I think that's also what we'd want to achieve, at least being able to get it to the Cove Commission. DY RSK I don't know if this is an historic first or not. Maybe we ought to take the opportunity to do some other things, I don't know, it's kind of interesting, I don't recall the three Councils ever sitting down... You know we've met before with Indian Wells, and we've met with Rancho Mirage, but as far as I know, since I've been on the Council, 14 years, this is the first time that we've had all three City Councils at the same table, so we... maybe we could make some real wild decisions, give the Desert Sun something to really write about. 6 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * JMB DY RSK AN If the three cities are going to agree to do this, wouldn't it behoove us if we're going to be paying for this to ask the other cities if they'd like to join in this study because if it's going to be truly an independent study, it would affect everybody in the Valley and to me, though the recommendation comes from this group, if somebody else wants to help pay for it, knowing what we're going to do, it only behooves somebody like La Quinta or Indio or Cathedral City, unless they're going with Palm Springs, to know if they want to or have the opportunity to participate as long as they're paying for it, it's independent. I think the thinking basically was we needed to start within the parameters of what we know and what we have, the Cove, the three cities, because though some of the other cities might be interested later on, it might be an appropriate thing to talk about, there are dissimilar interests right now. I think we have a mutuality of interest that really is a natural to start with right here with these three cities. We have the vehicle. Even to be more specific, we didn't just start doing something yesterday, you know. We've been working on this for six months, and one of the things we found out, if we didn't already know it, but it's been verified over and over, La Quinta, Indian Wells, and Coachella rates are about seven cents a kilowatt, and they don't have any interest in doing what we're doing. If I was (unclear) I wouldn't pay anything to screw up my seven cents a kilowatt. If I may add, Dick, when some of the other cities started discovering, and I know Palm Desert did, the waste management facility, a common one, one would vote not to deal with it, and all we would be doing would be delaying it. If that was a demonstration of what they're going to do in the way of consensus, I think the best thing for us to do is just the three cities move forward here, and if in their infinite wisdom they choose to join us and appeal to us, why that's something else. CM I just think it would complicate it to open it up to more cities at this point. We have a history of working so well together, I think that's the way we should go right now. MG We also have the structure in place, so... RAS I don't disagree with that, but aren't we kind of usurping CVAG, aren't we sort of walking around CVAG, saying hey, you guys aren't doing it? DY Not at all. RSK No because...the main thing is, three cities in CVAG don't need to do anything. So that's three gone, and Palm Springs has already told you they're not going to do anything with CVAG, they're doing something. CVAG, you know, is just out of it now because other cities are doing other things, and so we can do something as 7 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DY individual cities, or we have an entity that's been working together for years and years and years, and we have also besides having the entity that works together, we have a geographically located area of mutual interest. Bob., Buford Crites of your Council is the Chairman of the CVAG Energy, and he totally agrees with this approach based on the conversations we've had, he thinks this is an appropriate way for us to go. Because I think CVAG is a little more of a study group in a broad context than it is...this is a little bit more action oriented ultimately, and it is something I don't think CVAG would even want to pursue. RSK There's already been an effort to do something Valley -wide, it just doesn't work. We've all got different interests. MG I think maybe if you look at this... RSK Well, without saying it twice, Palm Springs is doing their own thing, and the other three cities down there don't need to do anything. AN The only one left would be Cathedral City. RSK And I don't see anything wrong with them...I mean, instead of trying to complicate it, why not get something going, and if they want to join in, they have to pay their portion of the amount if they want to join in. ?? That's what Jean was saying. RSK Well, they're welcome to come along any time. JMB But if somebody's going to pay for it if they're going to benefit from it, they should be in on the study, that's all I said. RSK Well, but we can move ahead, and if they do, then they choose to join in. JMB Well, I think they should be asked, that we are...my thought was that...we're going to do this, do you want to be a part of the process. DY Jean, our experience that we got all our stars over at Sunline was that we discovered a basic fact of life that those that are being served by IID don't want to touch it because they've got the best of all worlds right now, seven and eight cents a kilowatt, they're not about to... JMB Well, I realize that. 8 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WM I think that what Jean is saying here has something of merit to consider. She's not talking about the organization. She is talking about participation in an independent study that will have nothing to do with city borders to begin with. And if they want to participate and pay for a portion of it, then they can have... RSK They're welcome. WM They're welcome to do that. It has nothing to do with our organization, and, well, I think it would be a friendly gesture anyway to see if they want to do it. If they don't, fine, we'll take care of it. RSK No problem. WHS I think what we have here is a perfect organization to do it. I think we're...in our own effort to simplify it, we're complicating it. I think all we're talking about is how do we create a program which allows us to find the best approach that we should do on this problem. We were fortunate, our City Council was fortunate at our Mayor's breakfast last Tuesday, to have an expert from the north come down and give us a very good analysis of this problem, what the problem is, and what can and can't be done, and I thought his speech was excellent. JMB Well, he gave it CVAG as well. WHS And gave it to CVAG, and CVAG took no action, and I think that the action we're talking about creating is that we have in existence an operation that can handle this. We can start it, and anybody that wants to join, if they have the right credentials, they can obviously join with us. I think it's a step forward to let us start assembling the facts and the details that we need to make an intelligent decision when that time comes. It is quite a ways before that time will come, it will be next year. But he who waits generally loses. So it would be my thought that we can use an existing organization, we can start the program, we can start gathering the data that's necessary for us to make a good decision, and the sooner we make that decision and get going with it, the better off we're going to be. PB DY RAS I'll move that we proceed to evaluate and look at ways to supply and cut the costs of utilities. I would think a member of each Council would make that motion for their own respective Councils because we're acting as City Councils. I'll make the same motion and amend it by saying through the City Managers of the three cities. 9 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WM And I'll second the motion for Indian Wells. AN And I'll make that motion for Rancho Mirage. CM And I'll second it. WHS I'll second it. RSK Walter seconded it for Palm Desert, so every city has done that. Let's see...each... ?? Conference first. RSK Yes, please. AH I have two questions, and they go a little bit in line with what Michael had brought up. Are we going today to go out and look for consultants or are we going to approach it by determining what we need...what steps we need to take first before we hire a consultant. RSK What that motion, I interpreted it, is that the three City Managers will put together a staff report with possible direction of how we do what we want to do. DY In our package is a whole proposed RFP to be sent out to the list. AH That's my questions. Before we send out this RFP to all these consultants, I would like to explore, this is just a suggestion, explore the possibilities of, number one, checking with Palm Springs to see how they chose, what route did they take to choose, their electric company. We all want lesser rates, and maybe what we ought to do is have all of these electric companies that are listed in Time Magazine, number one, they're listed every place, come...all we want is cheaper rates...let them come to us and say this is what we can do, and then tallc about a consultant. I'm not sure that we aren't doing this backwards. I would like our task force to, before they send out this RFP... RSK Well, they'd have to come back and get approval for the RFP. They're just going to put the whole thing together. AN Then I didn't understand what the motion I was making because we have a list here...somebody has prepared this...a list of consultants that are qualified to do this. My understanding in making this motion was that if there was a consensus or at least a majority vote to support it is that we would be in effect authorizing TAC, the three City Managers, to go forward and solicit RFPs and come back and then come back to the Council with the RFPs. Now, incidentally, when you talk about comments, I think that...all I was proposing in my motion, and I thought that's what you were doing 10 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PB Walt, and you are doing it because I see you nodding, and I think, okay, we're in consensus about what the motion was, all we should be talking about, if this is approved by the three City Councils, is then we should talk about maybe some points of view that each of have developed with respect to this so that the TAC people can incorporate that into their Request for Proposal. And I will use, as an example, and then that's the only example I'm...comment I'm going to make, is my great concern about this whole electric proposal is that we're going to have an ability for individuals and/or businesses to go out separately and contract for electric service coming through these presently privately held lines. And what I'm concerned about is that the big users, which would be Eisenhower Medical Center, the big hotels, etc., will end up with very attractive rates, and what's left are these individual users, and then they start apportioning the costs to them, and that we're going to end up with something higher. And so out of the whole thing, I made the motion, I think the motion is clear, if we decide to go forward with a Request for Proposal, the only comment I, admonishment that I'm going to make is that the TAC people make sure that somehow that particular issue is addressed, because that is a big concern of mine. May I (unclear), please. My motion was that we would agree to work together, basically, and that we would proceed to discuss as to what the methodology would be as to how we do this, not that we would make a decision to go out with the RFP or hire or something. We were just agreeing to... RSK We would all need a staff report, we don't have the same staff report that you have, so to do something like, you know, in addition to that, we'd need a staff report. MG We have just an absolute excellent report here, and the steps are all spelled out. DY There is a suggested RFP. It's a very comprehensive RFP that all three of our City Managers and staffs have looked at and commented on. It's a joint product, and the proposal is that this RFP would be sent out by the Cove Commission. RSK You have been involved in putting something together? You have a recommendation? RAD Yes. My recommendation is that we go ahead, the three City Managers get together and send out the RFPs to the consultant list and the list that's on here under comment, these are the lists from which these consultants came. So, it's like going to AVAG and SANDAG and asking them, hey, who did you folks look at. So we did kind of do what Palm Springs did, or rather did, Pat did all the work. And then, when we have all of the RFPs back, then we can decide, okay, how do we thin it down from, let's say fifteen or sixteen to a workable number and bring it back to the Councils and say, okay, we now have four or five, have another meeting where they all make their presentations. 11 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WM Dick, in talking with the maker of the motion, I would like to modify the motion so it's all inclusive and it's very specific in its direction. That, number one, that we agree that we wish to go forward as a body to investigate the alternatives that might be available to us when they come to us, and in doing so, that we are authorizing our TAC group to proceed with the evaluation of possible consultants that might be hired by us, alright? And I think that is the extent of where we're going to right now, and I would like to have the maker of the motion agree with that so we can make it, again, that this is specifically the direction we're taking with this motion, that we're going all the way and say not only do we approve what we're here to do, go forward with that, we're authorizing our City Managers to proceed in investigating sources of consultants. DY Sending out the RFPs. WM Yes. I think it should be all explained up front, in that one motion, okay? GW Mr. Mayor, a little clarification then, to authorize the TAC to finalize the RFP and to issue the RFP, the proposals that come back to be brought before the Cove Commission for its determination as to the selection of the consultant. ?? I would say that would be a proper course. Agreed? ?? Yes. RSK That takes care of your Council. AN If I read it correctly, what you're saying is that we're authorizing TAC to send out Requests for Proposal. ?? Absolutely. AN That's okay. That's what I was saying... RSK Rancho Mirage. (Unclear) DY I would like to respond to Ms. Henderson's comments down here. I think having the investor owned utilities come in and talk to us would be a waste of our time, your time, and everybody's time. They're not the solution to our problem. I don't want to say anything more than that. That's where we really need to be going the direction that we're going rather than inviting investor owned utilities to come down here and tell us what they're going to do for us. 12 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * JMB My question is kind of in relation to what he said, except it was my vision on that RFP, that's what we're hiring the consultant for is to tell us the right questions to ask when that person comes, so we know what we're looking at and how we're going to proceed instead of, you know, when they're talking about different things not knowing, but the consultant will tell us what we should be looking for and what the questions are to ask when they do... RSK And sometimes along the line the investor owned utilities can... JMB Yes, would come, but we would know beforehand what we should be looking for, and we don't know that now. RSK Any other discussion before we. ML Let me just express my concern on it. The motion is accurate, but what occurs once we do this is that we get proposals back, we get the RFPs returned to Cove Commission, and it is a sort of a fair accompli you're going to hire someone. RSK Not necessarily. ML Okay, so here we're saying not necessarily. That's good to hear because I think that's what my concern is because there seems to be, and by the way thank you very much for the materials that you prepared, I thought they were excellent, and they gave us a good overview, but the...and they were very detailed. But it seems like there is a lot of duplicate information. In other words, the RFP is very similar to what the San Diego Association of Governments sent out. We know the San Diego Association of Governments sent out an RFP and that they are getting it back, I think, this month, is it? And they will select someone possibly this month early, or, I'm sorry, in February may be selected, so we'll know what has been recommended to them, and maybe you'll reutilize all the information that, I'm not saying they paid for and that we're going to take, but we can certainly take advantage of their experiences, and this is happening all over, we know. So that's my concern is that we be spending money to reinvent, and we don't need to possibly. But if you recommend by TAC's recommendation that specifically we have specific issues amongst our three cities in our area that really require an evaluation, and that's part of the process that we need to determine, then I'm all for it. AN I have one comment about that. We will not be the same as San Diego. The private utility that serves this area is a different utility, so we won't be addressing exactly the same problems, and we won't be addressing the same administration. In other words, I'm not saying it's a hostile group that we're going to be negotiating with, but it's a different group than San Diego will be dealing with. 13 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DY But anything we can plagiarize for free we'll grab and get our hands on. RAS I'd like to call the question. RSK Does Indian Wells want to go first? WM No, Mr. Chairman, I'm not prepared to go with the way it's been called, so we might have to (unclear) I'd just like to have a few moments with my colleagues, first. RSK Okay. You know, to call the question basically takes a vote and is everybody willing to limit discussion, that's what it is, it's a motion to limit discussion, so, I guess we want to do it legally, I would say all in favor of calling for the motion say aye. All opposed... ?? I think everybody should be comfortable with it, and if it takes another five minutes that's fine. RSK That's what we're going to do. Well whether you feel like you ought to be comfortable or not, if they choose not to be comfortable and vote (unclear), that's the democratic process, but I think that each Council, if any Council wants to have a caucus, I want them to be comfortable. (Unclear) AN Yes, I think that's a...we're talking about a Closed Session... PB One of the things I'd like to say while we're talking for the benefit of the rest of my Council because I attended the Executive Committee meeting where the presentation was done, Walt was sick and the other people missed it, the overview from that was that the rates (unclear) for the rates to change as of January 1, 1998, to reduce by one percent initially... RSK There seems to be some question whether you legally could have a caucus because this is an open advertised meeting. PB Well, that's why I thought I would say it openly so that way we would eliminate the problem. But basically it was a change in the law and the restructuring of the utility providers rates so that anyone could bid and operate within the same arena, thereby if they want to bid on the job and we could accept it, so. All we're looking at is do we want a provider to come to us and say we want you to provide our rates, so negotiate the rates, possibly, which a lot of it wouldn't take effect until after about four years (unclear), so it's not an immediate except for the ten percent. The rest of it (unclear). 14 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AH Let me clarify my concern, and perhaps I'm misunderstanding the effect of what we're voting on. I'm concerned that we're hiring a consultant, in fact we are hiring a consultant by sending out the RFP. RSK No. -- DY No, we're not. RSK We don't have to do anything. (Unclear) AH Then the next step, really is to bring the various proposals to this committee, to this group, and then we're having to pick one. RSK We don't have to until we choose to. AH My concern is before we send out the RFPs wouldn't we be wise to check with other communities to determine what procedure and methodology did they use to determine what power company to go to, because ultimately that's what we're going to do. RSK AH AN Two things. The first answer is that we have been doing that for six months. The second answer is that this person is going to help us do that. In other words, this, when we pick a person, they're going to help us do all of those things that you talked about, if we decide to pick one. Well, perhaps, then, could we, because (unclear) on the RFP, some of the questions we're asking now are so not on point for what we're looking for at this time, and I really agree with Michael, the format, the work done on it is just fantastic. But some of the questions don't apply to trying to resolve lower rates at this time. They are asking what buildings is each city using, which would all come at a later time, but our primary goal is to find a company that will give us the lowest rates possible. And I don't see any point (unclear). I think that comes after. That's the cart before the horse. You just put the cart before the horse. We're not at that stage yet, and also, I don't think that what we're dealing with here has anything to do with the State law that was passed. We're not dealing with that. The State law is going to accommodate individual cities so they can go out and do pooling or whatever they want. It makes a venue available for them. But we're in the discovery stage now, at least that's what I see, and the discovery stage brings in a people who are going to be able to, among other things, answer the question that I just posed, which is how do the individuals come up with a lower rate. I know the 15 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * hotels and the medical centers are going to get lower rates. How are individuals going to get lower rates? But we need experts. RAS Well, your point is well taken. We're doing this for our citizens. We're not doing it for the hotels, we're not doing it for the hospitals. AN Well, we're doing it for everybody. RAS That's right, we're doing it for everybody. What we're doing for our citizens, we're trying to get them the lowest rate possible with the deregulation happening next year. And what we're talking about today isn't going to cost the cities anything other than some time of our City Managers until they get back to us. That's all we're... AN Yes, and then when they get back to us, then we will make up our minds whether we want to spend money for experts to come in and advise us, and what we've all acknowledged is that we don't have the expertise within our cities and our city administrations to give us this advice. We don't have the technical expertise, and we don't have all the other wherewithal to deal with it. So we need an expert. RAS If our City Managers come back and say look, we've analyzed this thing and it's not going to be of any value, it's not going to be of any value. AN You're right, that's my view. DY Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make one response to the last comment over here. What we're really looking for is not rate quotations. We're not looking for somebody to give us a price. We're really looking for expert advice on methodology. Where do we go and how do we get there. So that's what we're really talking about. Ultimately we'll achieve that rate quotation or how we do it, but... WM AN WM Mr. Chairman, let me ask a question. I made the motion with the concurrence of Mr. Byrd here, that we in concept say we all agree to go forward with this project, and number two, that we charge TAC with the responsibility of looking over and interfacing with the consultant, right? And then, you said does that include the RFP being sent out. I want that to be clear, that's what you were saying, that it would be sent out, but there would be a process involved there... You're going to be sending out for the RFPs and when we come back we'll discuss the RFPs. But I think the comment is well taken is that it would entrust the final formation of the RFP with the selected consultant, and it would all be coming back to us. 16 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PP I think maybe for some comfort that what are other cities doing, I think as you can see by the consultant list, that list was developed in talking to other entities that are actually more similar to CVAG because of their size, the SANDAG and the AVAG, and these are regional associations that cities put together for different purposes, they are utilizing their ability to get together for the electrical issue, and they're doing much the same process that we're now talking about doing to try to get education and information. And as Councilman Landis indicated, yes, there may be some repetition there, but we can certainly utilize some of that, but there'll be some unique natures to us, but this process is actually being done in many other areas of California by regional groups of cities to try to get this information. ?? And as I understand it, our City Managers (unclear) and they're quite satisfied with it. PP Well, it's in development stage. What you have is a draft, and it'll evolve and it'll end up to be a document that we're then ready to send out. MG I really think this is the way to go. I think ultimately we'll be saving ourselves a lot of time and a lot of expense, because we really don't have that kind of experience. And you can check with the other cities, they haven't either. But the people who have become experts in the field can certainly direct us in the right way, I think. ML Maybe we can get this back on track. Shall we make the motion once again? Okay. RSK Each City needs to vote. AH (Unclear) individual Council, now that we've got all this and we know that the TAC committee is going to do, speak to our own City Managers with some in put on the RFPs. ?? Absolutely. RSK I need to ask you one question. This is an advertised public meeting, but it's not an advertised public hearing; therefore, it's not necessary to have input from the public. But I've been...a couple people have made requests to make comments, so I think that it's up to the group. Would you like to hear comments? ?? Yes. AN Yes, I think we should. RSK Okay, one I know I have is from Mary Drury, so...anyway, I've heard your comments several times, and we're not at the stage of deciding anything about which direction we're going, so hopefully you have something new and different and startling. 17 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MD Well, I don't know that there's anything new or different or startling. It is a very complex issue. AB1890 is not just affecting the investor owned utilities; it also affects the municipals if they choose to go into it now or at a later date. I believe IID has opted to go into the program at the same time the investor owned utilities do. And several other city municipals...or municipal and public owned utilities are doing the same thing. The issue that Mr. Newman raises is primarily the reason why because the big users, such as the hotels and the markets and the banks, are going to aggregate their like businesses, the Vons markets, for example, will look up and down the State, so if you choose to aggregate either individually as a city or as a group of cities, you may not have them as a customer anyway. And that option is still available to such customers in Palm Springs regardless of what they believe they have done or what they think they intend to do at a future time with Portland General. Let me suggest this. Whether...I know that some of you believe that Southern California Edison is the enemy. We truly are not. Let me offer this, perhaps, as a suggestion, that because we have the two utilities that are here in the desert, and for Indian Wells, it is both utilities because there is a finger, well, in fact, all three cities because some of IID's territory goes in to all three cities, that you have the, perhaps have someone from both of our groups work with the TAC committee in refining the RFP, and then exclude us, exclude us from bidding on the RFP, because what you are saying here that I have heard is that you want to go out to get a consultant to help give you the options. Well, save yourself a little bit of money and let us help you refine some of those questions, and with the three City Managers as your TAC, you'll keep us extra honest, if that's a fear. But we can help answer some of those questions for you before you ever need to get out to that process. We, Edison, can do profiles on all of your city facilities, your ballparks, your government offices, your street lights, and all of that, and tell you, give you a profile on what your use was individually as a city for 1996. And then we can do a model for you on what your profile would be if you aggregate as an individual city for all your like facilities or whether you aggregate as three cities. And so that option is available to you, and again, I've put my neck on the line in the past 20 years in a variety of my jobs, and I'll do it again, and that is if you want to use us, use us for free, at least I can speak for Edison, I can't speak for IID. And we can help you refine that RFP and answer some of those questions before you go looking for a consultant. RSK Did someone else have something to say? GP My name is Gail Paparian, and although I'm President of League of Women Voters, I'm here as a resident of Palm Desert. And I'm thrilled at the hope that all three City Councils will move forward and help the citizens. As a newcomer to the Valley, I can say that last year when the PUC had hearings in the Palm Desert City chambers, I heard people say that it was a choice of paying their utility rates or their pharmacy bills, so it is not an option. And I think it's thrilling for the citizens of this community in the hopes that you three will go together and do something positive other than fourteen 18 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * cents a kilowatt hour. So, just from the form of good government, you are practicing it, and I thank you. RSK Thank you. DY Well, I'd like to make a... RSK Let's let them all talk, and then we'll (unclear) do our thing. RG I'm Rosemary Gonzales from Imperial Irrigation District, and although we don't serve all of the cities that are present here, we do have small portions that are served by IID, and we don't advocate blind loyalty from our customers. We want them to go out and look to see what their options are and will be after 1998. But we want to serve as a resource, so if there is anything that we can do to help you or, you know, just information that you need, please rely on us. We'll be there to guide you any way we can. Thank you. RSK Thank you. Anybody else? Okay, now, we can get back to taking comments. DY I was thinking about Ms. Drury's offer and what we're sitting here with a proposed RFP is a public document. There's nothing hidden about it. We haven't kept it from the public. I have no problem. Why don't we give her a copy of it and solicit and request any suggestions or comments that they might like to make on it. ?? The same with Ms. Gonzalez. DY Sure. AN Actually, it's win/win all the way. And they can bring some expertise that you guys even admit you don't have. But I would like to add one other comment in response to the President of the League of Women Voters. I am afraid that we're going to give some false impression that just by our meeting here or our going forward with an RFP or our going forward with an examination, that we're going to be able to sharply reduce these rates. We don't know about that, and I would like to make sure that nobody out there gets a false impression that we're going down to seven cents a kilowatt, one cent a kilowatt, or that we have to go to twenty-one cents a kilowatt. That's what we're doing this whole investigation for. And my biggest concern, again, is what's going to happen to the individual. RAS Well, as I understand it, Arthur, you're 100% right, because the only thing that's being deregulated is the generation. The distribution is not being deregulated. AN Those lines, we still have to deal with. 19 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RAS We're still going to have to pay for those lines, that's right. ?? Suffice it to say that it's an attempt, and I think most people realize that. RSK Wen, having gone through the telephone deregulation, the resident customer got the short end of the stick, and I'm sure they're going to get it again. And we're trying to protect them. AN You bet, you bet. RSK We're not unaware that the big companies are going to be able to jump in and be able to do their own thing. Anybody knows that. WM Mr. Chairman, Indian Wells is ready for the question if you are. RSK You do your Council and we'll do each one. AN Why don't we just take a vote. Why do we have to vote individually as a city? DY We need to do it city by city. RSK Let's do it city by city. AN Okay. RSK Go ahead, Indian Wells. WM All in favor, say aye. (All said "aye"). It's unanimous, 4-0. RSK Okay. Rancho Mirage. DY All in favor, say aye. (All said "aye"). Any opposed. It's unanimous. RSK Palm Desert, all in favor say aye. (All said "aye"). Opposed. Unanimous. PB I guess according to the Agenda, we're supposed to give the public one more chance here to say something about anything that's not on the Agenda. Anybody want to do that? Then, I guess... Mr. Chairman, before we go, I know we said we could look at the RFP, and I took a quick view of the material drafted and presented, and there's a couple of comments that I have as it relates to the material there. Maybe I can give it to George later, and maybe that's the thing to do. 20 MINUTES ADJOURNED PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 13, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DY Give it to your City Manager. PB Alright. WHS Anybody who has thoughts should give it to staff. ?? Ms. Drury, I want to thank you for your offer, and I know that each...I don't know whether you're going to add anything to the RFP. I sure would like to get a copy of it, and the same with Ms. Gonzales. Thank you. Thanks for your offer. RSK I'd like to make a comment before we close and that is that I think it's a great thing that we all got together and hopefully we'll meet together again. Whether we met together ever before, I know we didn't for the last 14 years, so thank you all for being here today. Next time we'll do it in one of the other cities. V. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion by Spiegel, second the Snyder, and unanimous vote of the City Council, Mayor Kelly adjourned the meeting at 2:55 p.m. ATTEST: LAooks--, MARY P. GAvS, DEPUTY CITY CLERK CITY OF PAIN DESERT RI HARD S. KELLY, MAYO 21