Council Holds Water Decision For Future Meeting

To break or not to break – the relationship with Solano Irrigation District – that was the question not answered Tuesday night during a special meeting of the Dixon City Council.

The council could not take action on the matter because the issue was placed on the agenda as a discussion item – to the apparent surprise of at least two councilmen, Thom Bogue and Michael Ceremello.

Last night’s discussion ended with direction to staff to place the issue of whether or not to hire a consultant to explore the feasibility of the city breaking away from the Dixon Solano Water Authority on a future agenda.

DSWA is a partnership between the City of Dixon and Solano Irrigation District that supplies water to hundreds of Dixon homes.

Lately that relationship has been strained because of DSWA’s money woes and apparent mismanagment. Some city council members have said that they’d be better off running a water company on their own.

“I think we owe it to our citizens to run this ourselves,” Councilman Michael Ceremello said. “I think we need to do this in detail, if we have to bring in a consultant to do this, that’s fine with me.”

Councilman Thom Bogue echoed Ceremello’s sentiments.

“I am actually more inclined to make this decision tonight,” he said. “I have studied our water situation. I have analyzed ... I have asked questions for two years. I knew it was going to be coming at some point. This has been a topic of discussion for a very long time. I just don’t see the benefit of … kicking the can down the road.”

But Ceremello and Bogue ran into opposition from Councilman Rick Fuller and Mayor Jack Batchelor, both said that the relationship should continue, and that a rate increase would help DWSA’s money woes.

During the beginning of the discussion, Vice Mayor Dane Besneatte said that he was essentially on the fence over the matter, but after testimony from the audience last night, said he would support hiring a consultant to explore the issue further.

Some members of the audience, including Dixon residents and members of SID, pleaded with the council to not cuts its ties with SID. They said that SID’s response time and customer service is unmatched and that severing its ties with SID would draw retaliatory action by SID.

They said that SID would probably refuse to sell water to them in the future. However, the comment served to give Besneatte the motivation he needed to side with Ceremello and Bogue, he said.

Mayor Batchelor informed the council that they could not take action on the matter because it was placed on the agenda as a discussion item. A shocked Bogue, questioned if it was a “Slight of Hand” trick to continue the matter without the knowledge of the council.

That’s when Michael Dean, city attorney, told the council that indeed the agenda had changed to reflect the item as a discussion item, rather than an action item. He also told them that it didn't stop them from giving staff direction on the matter.

Bogue directed the city staff to agendize the matter for a future meeting.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the city can do a better job running a water company on its own? Should the contract CalWater to run the water for the entire city? Or should the run it independently with its current staff?

What has been your experience with DSWA?

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