The Payette Lakes Recreation Water & Sewer District Board of Directors and the McCall City Council will meet Monday in a closed session to again attempt to work out differences over the ownership of the city's wastewater treatment.
The two governing bodies will meet at The Hunt lodge starting at 9:30 a.m. Monday and are scheduled to meet for the entire day and possibly Tuesday.
A mediator will be present at the closed meeting, but no further details were released.
Spokesmen for both sides were hopeful that the mediation would lead to a resolution to the question of ownership.
"Our hope is that we can establish a relationship with the city that would allow us to discuss these things," sewer district board member Bill Weida said.
"The sewer district has been forced to adopt a course of action of going it alone without the city," Weida said. "From an economist's point of view, it is clearly in the interest of both parties to work together because sewer plants are subject to large economies of scale."
District board chair Jerry Vevig also hoped differences can be resolved.
"Our right to be an autonomous public entity and to serve our customers is at stake and that our customers will be treated fairly and equitable," Vevig said.
Mayor Bill Robertson was unsure what to expect from Monday's meeting.
"We have a common problem, let's solve it,' Robertson said. "In order for us to move forward, they have to work with us. I wish we could go from these data points and forget everything else."
The dispute stems from a court action filed by the city in August 2005 asking a judge to sort out the contract between the two parties.
The two parties first met with a mediator present 14 months ago, but nothing was resolved.
Fourth District Judge George Carey suggested the current mediation last summer when he ruled on a subsequent lawsuit by the district challenging the city's ability to issue sewer hookups.
That court challenge came after the city threatened in June 2006 to halt district hookups if the two parties did not meet in a public forum.
Allotment system disputed
The two parties did meet in public in July, but the meeting was stopped after opening statements on the advice of the city's attorneys.
The district had also sued the city and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality over its sewer hookup allotment system in May.
That suit was recently settled after the city and DEQ agreed to change the language of the city's operating permit issued by the state.
"It allowed us to maintain better control over the third of capacity over the plant that we own," Weida said.
The city contends that it has full ownership over the wastewater storage pond and J-Ditch irrigation system. The district says it owns a third of the capacity at the plant, which includes treatment, collection and dispersal.
"You can't separate one from the other," Vevig said. "The contract says we own a third of it and they have been accepting payment for a third of it."
"We're trying to get from a judge, a decision as to ownership of the sewer treatment plant," Robertson said. "Judge, you tell us what these contracts mean."
The city serves 2,441 customers and the sewer district has 1,070 customers. The sewer district serves the general area around Payette Lake outside the city limits.
