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Regular City Council Meeting March 24, 2008 Page 4 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE LAKE PAT MAYSE WATER STUDY COMMITTEE; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Freelen said Council directed staff at the March 3 and March 10, 2008 meetings, to draft a resolution stating what the Council intended to do once the Lake Pat Mayse Study Committee presented it's findings. Specifically, if the Committee determined there was no water available then the sentiment of the Council was not to sell water. Conversely, if the Committee finds excess water is available for sale, the Council recommends that approval for the sale of water be sought by the voters. Council Member Strathern said the citizens had a right to vote according to the initiative petition that was filed with the City Clerk whether or not Council passes this resolution. Kent McIlyar advised that Council had sixty days to consider the petition once the City Clerk certifies they have a sufficient number of signatures. Mr. McIlyar said once the petition was certified, Council could then make a decision as whether or not to adopt the proposed ordinance as written in the initiative petition. Should the ordinance go to the voters, Mr. McIlyar told Council the next uniform election date was in November of 2008. Council Member Strathern inquired if Council could approve the sell of water prior to November 2008. Kent McIlyar answered in the affirmative. Council Member Wilson said this resolution confirmed Council was not going to sell water without sending it to the voters. Mayor Freelen said this action did not have anything to do with the petition. He went on to say they were asking the next Council to let the voters have the opportunity to make the decision, based upon the findings of the Water Study Committee. Council Member Biard inquired the difference between Council adopting an ordinance that would require the voters to approve any sale of water and the passage of the initiative which was more prohibitive, because it would prohibit the sale of raw water to local entities. Kent McIlyar stated it was his understanding that Council wanted an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of water outside Lamar County, contingent upon the findings of a body that had not met yet and that was what he was opposed to. He went onto say that Council had the authority to pass such an ordinance without any contingencies, prior to November 2008. Kent McIlyar said Council could not legally delegate that type of authority to a committee that was not elected by the citizens. Council Member Wilson suggested for clarification purposes they not have a resolution, but vote on an ordinance that says the City of Paris cannot sale water without a vote of the citizens. Council Member Biard said Council needed to address the initiative petition, but that he did not have any concerns in putting a sale of water to the citizens. Council Member Biard said the problem with the initiative petition was that it prohibited the Council from negotiating with local industry for an increase of their water supply. He said he did not believe that everyone that signed that petition understood that. Council Member Wilson said he thought they should put in ordinance form that this Council or future Councils could not sell water without the vote of the citizens. Council Member Wilson said if the Committee deemed there was not excess water to sell there would be no more discussions. Council Member Biard asked that staff present Council with an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of water outside of Lamar County without first taking it to the voters, should the Water Committee deem there was an excess amount of water. Council Member Biard expressed concern about industries relocating to Paris, because they would want to know if the City was going to be able to sell them water prior to making a commitment. Kent McIlyar informed Council there were several issues that he needed to address in an executive session with . 09