An update on the Water and Sewer Rate Committee was also given at the Jackson City Council meeting this week. The committee was formed in January of this year after the City of Jackson’s failed attempt to raise water service rates in 2007 in order to compensate for a 22% rate increase last August for services administered by the Amador Water Agency. The purpose of the committee is to review both enterprise funds and make recommendations to the city council. Currently, the City of Jackson is footing the bill for the AWA’s rate increases, and may soon have to dip into the General Fund. One member of the committee, Bill Condershoff, reported that he had authored two letters to the Water Agency questioning the supposed inequities in the Plymouth Pipeline Project, as well as some of the AWA’s recent spending decisions the committee believes to be less than cost effective. Condershoff also suggested that the city council request to be on the agenda at an upcoming AWA meeting, in order to open up a dialogue in a public forum and to have questions answered. Another idea brought up during public comment was to hire an expert to work with the City, in order to provide another solid source of feedback. In the end, the council requested that the committee come up with a recommendation on what to do about rates, and also to explore the issues brought up in the discussion.