20190226City of Eagle to Staff 1-3.pdf

B. Newal Squyres (ISB #1621)
Murray D Feldman (ISB # 4097)
Holland &Hartwp
800 W. Main Street, Suite 1750
P.O.Box2527
Boise, lD 83702-2527
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Email : nsquyres@hollandhart. com
mfeldman@hollandhart. com
IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT
APPLICATION OF SUEZ WATER
IDAHO AND EAGLE WATER
COMPANY FOR THE ACQUISITION
OF EAGLE WATER COMPANY
.r l. j '.-,r J
Attorneys for Intervenor City of Eagle
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
CASE NOS. SUZ-W-I8-02
EAG-W-18-01
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INTERVENOR CITY OF EAGLE'S
RESPONSE TO FIRST PRODUCTION
REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION
STAFF
The City of Eagle ("City") provides the following responses to the First Production
Request of the Commission Staff to the City of Eagle dated January 24,2019.
As applicable to all of the following responses, the City notes that discovery in these
proceedings is just beginning. The City reserves its right to update, revise, correct, or
supplement these responses, including the identification of a sponsoring witness to testify at the
hearing in these matters on any particular item, prior to the hearing and pursuant to any schedule
for the hearing and pre-hearing matters to be adopted by the Commission and entered in these
cases.
I l; i:rij Z6 PIi h: 16
CITY OF EAGLE',S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST - 1
DATED this 26th of February,2019.
City of Eagle
By:
Murray D.
& HART lr-p
Attorneys for Intervenor City of Eagle
CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF',S FIRST PRODUCTTON REQUEST - 2
CITY OF EAGLE
cAsE NOS. SUZ-W-18-02/EAG-W-18-01
FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer/Sponsoring Witness: Stan Ridgeway, Mayor, City of Eagle
REQUEST NO. 1: Has the City of Eagle been aware of any other agreements for the
purchase and sale of Eagle Water Company and their water system, prior to SUEZ Water Idaho
Asset Purchase Agreement?
RESPONSE TO REQUEST NO. 1: No. The City has not been aware of any other
agreements, as that term is commonly understood to mean a properly executed and legally
binding compact. The City became awa.re of the SUEZ Water ldaho Asset Purchase Agreement
at about the time of the filing of the joint application for approval of acquisition of Eagle Water
Company, Inc. by SUEZ Water Idaho Inc. in these cases, and associated public announcements
by SUEZ and media publicity surrounding that application filing. Based on that PUC application
filing, the City then became aware of the prior asset purchase agreement between Eagle Water
Company, Inc. and H2O Eagle Acquisition LLC as referenced in the SUEZ Water Idaho Inc.
Asset Purchase Agreement. The City was not aware of the terms and provisions of the Eagle
Water Company, Inc. and H2O Eagle Acquisition LLC Asset Purchase Agreement until
February 14,2019, when a redacted version of that agreement was provided in the discovery
responses by Eagle Water Company, Inc. in these matters The City still is without knowledge of
the redacted portions of the Eagle Water Company, [nc. and H2O Eagle Acquisition LLC Asset
Purchase Agreement.
CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S F'IRST PRODUCTION REQUEST.3
CITY OF EAGLE
cAsE NOS. SUZ"W-18-02/EAG-W-18-01
FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer/Sponsoring Witness: Ken Acuff, Superintendent, City of Eagle Water Department
REQUEST NO.2: Please provide a detailed service map of the City of Eagle water
system and where it is connected, or would become connected to Eagle Water Company water
system.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST NO. 2: See attached map following this page. The City of
Eagle's municipal public drinking water system is split into the Eastern Service Area and
Western Service Area. In the event of a combined system with Eagle Water Company, the
system interties could be installed between the Eastern Service Area to the north and Eagle
Water Company to the south. There is an existing standby water intertie between both systems
located adjacent to North Horseshoe Bend Road and East Greenbrook Street. This standby
intertie connection is located directly west of the City's water storage tank as identified in the
2008 Intertie Agreement between the City and Eagle Water Company.
Future interconnections could be installed on the south side of the City's Eastern Service
Area along Floating Feather Rd. These interconnections would be installed in separate vaults
and be equipped with control valves allowing water to flow south into the EWC distribution
system. The attached map figure identifies three (3) primary locations along Floating Feather
Rd. for potential connection between the two (2) public water systems.
cITy oF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST - 4
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CITY OF EAGLE
CASE NOS. SU7,-W-18-02/EAG-W-18-01
FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION STAFF
Preparer/Sponsoring Witness: Ken Acuff, Superintendent, City of Eagle Water Department;
William Vaughan, ZoningAdministrator, City of Eagle Planning
andZoning Department
REQUEST NO. 3: Please explain how the City of Eagle purchasing Eagle Water
Company and its water system would benefit Eagle Water Company customers.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST NO.3: The benefits to existing Eagle Water Company
customers would generally include four areas: (1) Customer Service Benefits, (2) Regulatory
Benefits, (3) Local Planning and Zoning Benefits, and (4) User Rate Benefits.
(1) Eagle Water Company customers would realize Customer Service benefits due to
local ownership, operation, and management. The City has an experienced water system utility
staff consisting of managers, licensed water operators, meter readers, and utility billing staff. By
combining the two public water systems in the area, Eagle Water Company customers would
receive access to local decision-making authority and infrastructure needs, consistent
maintenance and rehabilitation of service lines, immediate and reliable emergency response, and
web-based utility and payment services. Revenues would not be spent outside the system; they
would be invested back into the local water system that generated the revenues. The water
resources used for the system would remain in the local system and not be transferred to other
areas.
(2) Eagle Water Company customers would achieve regulatory benefits including
additional groundwater supply capacity for redundancy and emergency supply, gravity fire
protection capacity supplied from the City's existing water storage reservoir, and regionalized
service. Pressure inegularities could be more easily controlled. The Idaho Department of
CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST.6
Environmental Quality (IDEQ) promotes regionalization of separate public water systems to
improve the technical, managerial, and financial capacities of adjacent systems.
(3) Local Planning and Zoning Benefits would be associated with local water system
control, planning for regional and contiguous growth. Advantages to Eagle Water Company
customers would include:
Consistency with the land use planning policies: The City has the ability to ensure
service locations, extension, and sizing is commensurate with the City's long-range planning
documents.
Encourasing annexation of developed areas: Idaho Code $67-6509 directs local land use
and planning within cities in the State. The current situation facilitates sprawl and
noncontiguous growth that is inconsistent with the Eagle Comprehensive Plan and Eagle City
Code and creates challenges such as unrepresented populations, conflicting zoning and design
standards, and disenfranchised population that may need and want to use some City-provided
services but has no voter input into the management or decision-making for those services.
Efficiencies in the development review. hearing and plat signing processes: Land within
SUEZ and Eagle Water Company service areas requires additional transmittals during the
development review and hearing processes to determine the availability and capacity of service.
Additionally, prior to plat signing, the City and/or developer must reach out to the water service
provider to ensure that all improvements, bonding or reviews have been completed. Centralizing
the water service under the City of Eagle will streamline the process for those areas within an
expanded City of Eagle service area as opposed to transmitting and waiting days and sometimes
weeks for a response-the City has an internal process that allows nearly immediate feedback
and approval. Neither SUEZ nor Eagle Water Company has plat signing authority; thus, the City
has to sign only after receiving feedback from the water providers.
CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST. 7
Consistency of desiqn and development standards: When more than one service provider
is present within the City, the City planning staff is charged with understanding multiple system
development standards and approval process. Eagle City Water would centralize standards and
allow the City planning staff to help guide and adopt development standards to best serve the
public across a larger area of the City's jurisdiction.
Centralized Customer Service: Currently citizens served by the City of Eagle water
system can conduct business in person within their City. City Hall is less than a five-minute
drive for the majority of the City. SUEZ is located across Ada County on Victory Road more
than three times the distance and nearly a30-45 minute drive for in-person service.
(4) There would be local financial control that will be managed by the City and will be
subject to City ordinances and Idaho municipal code requirements. Financial management of the
public water system will require public input and oversight on an annual basis and any rate
adjustments and the need for capital project funding will be communicated with local water users
and customers. As compared to a private investor-owned utility, ownership by a municipal
organization would not include additional expenses such as returns rate base (profit), ad valorem
taxes (property taxes), and management and services fees (M&S) associated with corporate
management. In addition, former Eagle Water Company customers would benefit by the City's
ability to obtain low-interest project funding through municipal bond financing, access to
IDEQ's Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund (SRF), the Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act (WIFIA), or the through the Idaho Bond Bank.
CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST. S
Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that on this 26th day of February,2019,I caused to be served a true and
correct copy of the foregoing by the method indicated below, and addressed to the following:
Diane M. Hanian
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 W . Washington Street
Boise, ID 83702
Email : secretary@puc. idaho. gov
diane. hanian@puc. idaho. gov
Commission
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Sean Costello
Deputy Attorneys General
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 W . Washinglon Street (83702)
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, lD 83720-0074
Email: [e-mail]
sean. costello@puc. idaho. gov
Attorneys for Commission Staff
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Michael C. Creamer
Preston N. Carter
Givens Pursley LLP
601 W. Bannock Street
P.O.Box2720
Boise, ID 83701-2720
E-mail: [e-mail]
prestoncarter@givenspursley. com
Attorneys for Petitioner SUEZ Water ldaho
Inc.
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Marshall Thompson
SUEZ Water Idaho,Inc.
8248 W. Victory Road
Boise, ID 83709
Email : [e-mail]
Petitioner
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CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST.9
Molly O'Leary
BizCounselor at Law
1775W. State St. #150
Boise, ID 83702
E-mail : molly @bizcounseloratlaw. com
Attorneyfor Petitioner Eagle Water Co.
Robert DeShazo, Jr.
President
Eagle Water Company, [nc.
188 W. State Street
P.O. Box 455
Eagle,ID 83616-0455
Email : eaglewaterco@gmail. com
Petitioner
N.L. Bangle
H2O Eagle Acquisition, LLC
188 W. State Street
Eagle,ID 83616
Email : nb arl,gle@Mo - so lutionsl lc. net
Petitioner
James M. Piotrowski
Piotrowski Durand, PLLC
1020 W. Main Street, Suite 440
P.O. Box 2864
Boise, ID 83701
Email : j ames@idunionlaw. com
Attorney for Intervenor CAIA
Brad M. Purdy
Attorney at Law
2019 N. I 7th Street
Boise, ID 83702
Email : [e-mail]
Attorney for Intervenor CAPAI
Abigail R. Germaine
Boise City Attorney's Office
150 N. Capitol Blvd.
P.O. Box 500
Boise, tD 83701-0500
Emai I : agermaine@cityo fboise. org
Attorney for Intervenor City of Boise
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CITY OF EAGLE'S RESPONSE TO STAFF'S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST. 10
Norman M. Semanko
Parsons Behle &Latimer
800 W. Main Street, Suite 1300
Boise,lD 83702
Email : nsemanko@parsonsbehle. com
[e-mail]
Attorney for Intervenor EWCG
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Holland LLP
t2080121 2
CITY OF EAGLE',S RESPONSE TO STAFF',S FIRST PRODUCTION REQUEST - 11