• City Council is scheduled to meet with Staff and Heather Bergman, a facilitation consultant, four times over the course of the next several weeks to discuss water/wastewater infrastructure, costs, and rates. 
  
  
• These meetings are being held in advance of discussions about the 2022 water/wastewater rates. Thursday, October 8, is the first of the four study sessions. 
  
  
• City Council also agreed that an agenda item in this first special study session should be a discussion about how to proceed with community engagement on the 2022 water/sewer rate process. 
  
  
• Subsequently, questions about public input during these special study sessions have been raised. Public input can be gathered during the remaining special study sessions and/or after them based on direction from City Council.
  
  
• The community has been notified about these meetings via a press release, a posting on the City's website, an article in The Weekly, and on Facebook, Twitter and NextDoor. 

• A summary of the questions and the format proposed by Ms. Bergman is attached as well as the presentation answering questions that City Council posed to Ms. Bergman this summer. The presentation is also available on the City's website at: https://www.cityofwestminster.us/Residents/Water/Rates/2022WaterandSewerRates. 

• Following the October 8 meeting, City Council, Staff, and Ms. Bergman will meet three more times: October 20, November 5, and November 17.
  
  
• Each meeting will include a presentation for City Council, followed by a discussion between City Council and Staff.

Do not conduct this special study session as planned. Staff does not recommend this option as these special study sessions have been prepared with the facilitator to allow time for City Council to discuss and deliberate the state of the water and wastewater system infrastructure and provide direction on future rates.

City Council is scheduled to meet with Staff and Heather Bergman, a facilitation consultant, four times to discuss water/wastewater infrastructure, costs, rates and community engagement. These meetings are being held in advance of discussions about the 2022 water/wastewater rates. Thursday is the first of the four study sessions. 

City Council also agreed that an agenda item in this first special study session should be a discussion about how to proceed with community engagement on the 2022 water/sewer rate process. Public input can be gathered during the remaining special study sessions and/or after them, based on direction from City Council. 

The community has been notified about these meetings via a press release, a posting on the City's website, an article in The Weekly, and on Facebook, Twitter and NextDoor. 

A summary of the questions and the format proposed by Ms. Bergman is attached (Attachment A). Staff has prepared a presentation to answer questions that City Council posed to Ms. Bergman this summer; a copy of the presentation is attached (Attachment B). The presentation is also available on the website, as well as information on how residents may listen to the meetings.

City Council, Staff and Ms. Bergman will meet three more times: October 20, November 5, and November 17. Each meeting will include a presentation for City Council, followed by a discussion between City Council and Staff.