The Community Working Group

The Rate Study Community Working Group will assist Parker Water and Sanitation District staff in their review of the rate study being prepared by Red Oak Consultiing. They will also provide community input to the consultant and staff regarding recommendations in that study

• To do this, members of the Rate Study Community Working Group will first need to become knowledgeable about water resources and distribution, as well as sewage treatment and disposal in the District. They will also need to become knowledgeable about the existing operational and capital improvement program costs of the PWSD.  Then they will become familiar with financing of water and wastewater operations and facilities in Parker.  After gaining this knowledge and information, the working group members will develop a list of community values related to water and sewage service in Parker, review the evaluation criteria developed by the rate consultant, suggest any needed refinements to the criteria, and then review and evaluate specific recommendations in the rate study.

Participants will represent a range of interests in Parker and be asked to commit to an aggressive time schedule for meetings.  The working group is expected to complete its work before July 2009.  Working group members will be asked to report back to their constituency to inform them about the working group’s discussions and progress on the development of the rate study.

A neutral facilitator will facilitate all working group meetings.  The rate consultant and PWSD staff will provide technical presentations and respond to questions from working group members.  The preferred deliberation process for the group will be collaborative problem solving and consensus.  When their recommendations have been determined, the working group will produce a report that documents their discussions and those recommendations, including any minority opinions.