At the end of February 2018, Pratdip Town Council submits for consideration a new draft agreement for the management of the drinking water service in Planas del Rey.
The proposal is to entrust this management to the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp, which would provide the service through Comaigua.
According to the report published at the time by the Planas Collaboration Group, Òscar Serrano and the PSC councillors oppose the approval of the agreement.
The proposal is ultimately not approved at that stage.
In simple terms: the issue goes far beyond the price of water. The proposal was intended to establish a broader temporary system covering the management, maintenance, billing and financing of the Planas water network following the dissolution of the EUCC.
A proposal drawn up after the dissolution of the EUCC
Since 2010, an agreement between Pratdip Town Council and the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp had already regulated certain operations related to the Planas water service, including meter reading, billing and water monitoring.
The situation changes following the dissolution of the EUCC and the beginning of its liquidation.
The 2018 proposal explains that the property owners, who had until then been organised within the EUCC, are no longer able to ensure the operation of the service directly under the same conditions.
The Town Council therefore considers an intervention described in the document as “exceptional and subsidiary”, with the aim of guaranteeing continuity of the drinking water supply.
The Town Council maintains its position on the internal network
The draft agreement is particularly interesting because it clearly sets out the position defended by Pratdip Town Council at that time.
According to the document, the water distribution installations located within Planas, together with the management of that network, would remain the responsibility of the property owners until the corresponding urban development works had been completed and formally accepted.
The Town Council considers that its intervention is intended to guarantee the water supply, but that this does not mean that it becomes the owner of the internal network.
The proposal therefore states that signing the agreement would constitute neither the formal acceptance of the development by the Town Council nor the acceptance of the internal drinking water network.
This position was precisely one of the main points of disagreement between the Town Council and a number of Planas property owners at the time.
Management entrusted to the Consell Comarcal and Comaigua
The proposal provides for the Town Council to entrust management of the service to the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp.
The Consell Comarcal would in turn provide the service through Comaigua.
The operator would be responsible, among other things, for:
- the supply of drinking water;
- monitoring and sanitary control of the water;
- billing and collection of payments;
- supervision and inspection of the service;
- the management of unpaid bills in accordance with the applicable regulations;
- maintenance, repair and replacement of certain equipment;
- improvement or adaptation work on the network;
- administrative matters relating to the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua water levy.
The new arrangement would replace the agreement signed on 28 December 2010.
A new tariff system
The financial aspect is one of the most sensitive parts of the proposal.
For 2018, the tariffs were to correspond to the prices approved by the Town Council on the basis of the economic study carried out for the service.
For subsequent years, the document provides for tariffs to be calculated in such a way as to ensure the economic and financial balance of the service, without leaving a deficit to be borne by the Town Council.
The proposal also states that the cost paid to the operator would be passed on to users through the tariffs.
According to the report published at the time by the Planas Collaboration Group, this arrangement raised concerns that the cost of water for property owners would increase again.
The draft agreement itself, however, does not make it possible to determine precisely what the final increase on each individual bill would have been.
Possible deficits and investments could later be passed on
The document also considers the possibility that income from water bills may not be sufficient to cover the cost of the service.
In that case, the Town Council would initially have to cover the deficit, but the text provides for the possibility of passing these amounts on to users at a later stage, in particular through tariffs or future charges linked to the urban development.
The same principle appears in relation to certain investments intended to improve or renew the network.
The proposal provides for these investments to be recovered later through tariffs or, depending on the circumstances, through charges associated with the land readjustment process.
Free water consumption for certain municipal facilities
A specific provision concerns buildings and facilities owned by the Town Council within Planas del Rey.
The proposal provides for their water consumption to be free of charge as long as it does not exceed 4% of the total volume of water billed in the development.
Above that limit, the Town Council would have to pay for the amount exceeding the threshold.
The proposed role of Christian Peuman
The proposal also mentions Christian Peuman, who was then president of the EUCC in liquidation.
He was expected to give his agreement on certain matters relating to the installations and to the rights and obligations of property owners, without becoming a contracting party to the agreement.
The proposal submitted to the Town Council nevertheless provides that the mayor could sign the agreement even if Christian Peuman refused to take part.
In that event, the references to his participation would simply be removed from the final version.
A proposal initially intended for 2018
The agreement was initially intended to remain in force during 2018.
It could then have been renewed for a further year and subsequently extended year by year with the agreement of the administrations concerned.
During the first months of operation, Comaigua was also expected to prepare a Master Plan for the service, identifying the repairs, improvements and investments considered necessary.
Opposition had already been expressed a few days earlier
The proposal comes at a particularly tense time for water management in Planas.
A few days earlier, during the 18 February 2018 meeting between the Planas Collaboration Group and PSC representatives, Gloria Moreno had already expressed concern about the proposed agreement with Comaigua.
At that same meeting, the PSC had announced its support for the eight motions presented by Òscar Serrano concerning several problems affecting Planas del Rey, including the management of the water network.
The proposal is not approved
According to the report published at the time by the Planas Collaboration Group, Òscar Serrano opposes the proposal with the support of the PSC councillors.
The agreement is therefore not approved at that stage.
The document currently available is also clearly identified as a draft agreement: several elements intended for its final approval or signature remain incomplete.
Without the official minutes of the corresponding municipal meeting, however, the exact details of the vote and its precise date cannot be established from this document alone.
What should be remembered
The 2018 proposal was not simply about changing the price of water.
Its purpose was to establish a new temporary system for managing the service following the dissolution of the EUCC, with the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp acting as manager and Comaigua as the operator.
At the same time, the Town Council maintained its position that this intervention did not amount to the formal acceptance of either the internal water network or the development itself.
The service was to be financed through tariffs paid by users, with the aim of avoiding any deficit being borne by the municipality and with the possibility of passing certain deficits or investments on to property owners.
In simple terms: the disagreement in February 2018 was not only about the amount of the water bills. It also raised a much more fundamental question: who should manage, maintain and finance the Planas del Rey water network after the disappearance of the EUCC?
Document
Draft agreement between the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp and Pratdip Town Council concerning the management of the drinking water supply service in Planas del Rey.
2018-03-01-convenio-Comarcal-Ayuntamiento
Jim – La Tribune de Planas
