11/6/2009 9:44:00 PM
BIG CHINO: PV waiting on Prescott to make payments
| |
|
PRESCOTT VALLEY - The City of Prescott has not paid bills totaling $328,228 over the past year for services Prescott Valley has provided for the Big Chino water pipeline project.
Bill Kauppi, management service director for Prescott Valley, showed four detailed invoices that his office has sent to Prescott's Big Chino project manager, Jim Holt, over the past year. The bills state payments are due within a month.
They itemize costs that include the website for the $170 million pipeline project, the $12,000-a-month lobbying contract, legal fees and staff time, Kauppi said. The invoices state Prescott is to pay 54.1 percent of the overall costs, the same split that both municipalities have arranged through their intergovernmental agreement for the pipeline project.
Holt referred the call about invoices to City Attorney Gary Kidd after Kidd's office initially referred the call to Holt.
"I don't have that information," Holt said.
Kidd said Friday afternoon, "I just deal with the legal department expenses," adding, "I am not overseeing the rest of the project."
Kidd continued, "We are paying our legal bills, and I think they (Prescott Valley) are seeking a credit for their portion of legal bills."
Kidd spoke after the Courier contacted Budget and Finance Director Mark Woodfill and Holt.
Woodfill said, "We feel we did not have the authority to pay them (Prescott Valley). We just did not feel they were in the scope that we had the authority to pay."
Woodfill said he referred all invoices to Kidd's offices.
"If the (city) council approves the payments, the council would make them," Woodfill said.
Outgoing Prescott Mayor Jack Wilson said, "I am not aware of the circumstances."
Wilson's counterpart in Prescott Valley, Harvey Skoog, said, "Let me look into that one. I don't know the details. We have good relations with Prescott. We work very well with Jack Wilson."
Meanwhile, Kauppi does not feel pressed into the role of bill collector, adding his office will send the next quarterly bill "sometime" this month. He added Prescott will not face any late fees.
"We are in contact with them (Prescott officials), and I have a good relationship with Mark (Woodfill)," he said. "I am not worried about these (invoices) at all."
Prescott Valley billed Prescott about $44,396 in an invoice dated Oct. 28, 2008, about $54,367 in an invoice dated March 5, $141,432 on May 19 and about $88,033 July 24.
Kidd said Prescott officials are working on an administrative intergovernmental agreement to deal with costs allocations and financing the pipeline project.
"I think this is a process that is in the works and should be coming up fairly shortly," Kidd said.
|
Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Central AZ Dweller
Whatever. Every story is a chance for someone to knock the Fains, for someone to rip PV because Prescott is such a superior town. Give it up. People are moving to Prescott Valley because everything will eventually end up out here. It is closer to the highway, has more developable land and has a town council that doesn't get caught up in catfights. The two cities have an agreement: services were rendered, bills need to be paid. That's the crux of the matter.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
ArmyVet : an unshaken American
Gee..."A Fed Up Local Citizen" I guess you have come to the conclusion the Town Attorney Prescott valley has is not a "real" attorney? What is he a fake attorney?
We need an "Out of State" Attorney? Maybe the ones in these parts are just too dumb? or just fake? hmmm... guess you are coming around. Next you will realize we need "Real" Town Government not the lapdogish one we have, and we also need a new "real" Planning and Zoning board, not the Yessir!!! tremblers they issue Fain rubber stamps to. take my advice Stay AWAY from the computer, you dig your hole deeper and deeper. P.S. I hope Prescott stays over the hill and breaks up its shotgun marriage with P.V.....we might just be able to save the Verde River and the Paulden wells. Semper Fi Navy man
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Chuck Bordenave
FED UP LOCO CITIZEN, everyone knows who you are. Why do you continue to use different penn names? As a member of PV's planning commission you have not communicated a new idea in your posts in years, and your spelling is terrible. Your most famous rant, of stay over the hill, I finally agree with, because without Prescott, your pipe dream is impossible, DOA, DEAD ON ARRIVAL. Please keep throwing Prescott under the bus, maybe they will wise up and dump PV altogether. Typical PV thinking, hire another lawyer. What is wrong with the one PV has that you always brag about?
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
A Fed Up Local Citizen
(Site administrator's note: A portion of this comment was removed because it violated our Terms of Use Agreement) Get a real Attorney, out of State if Needed.Sue for amount owed, Plus Attorney fees, they will collect their fees, get judgement, satisfy judgment. End of story. In future make it COD or nothing. If they want to play got to Pay, up front.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
George Seaman
I am still baffled that the junior partner in a deal is able to enter contracts that obligate the senior partner without getting the approval of the senior partner first. These lobbying contracts have never been discussed by Prescott's City Council and still they are looking at bills for services that they have not agreed to, and the answer from Prescot is that they just don't know? It's time for Prescott to reign in their junior partner, it is after all only Prescott who is legally authorized to make the interbasin transfer of water from the Big Chino. PV has no legal authority whatsoever in this situation, and yet like Chuck stated they are the ones driving the project. It even turns out that the lobyist is only talking with PV's staff each week, apparently Prescott doesn't even have input in those conference calls. I wonder how the new council will deal with this?
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
ArmyVet
If I was Prescott , I'd tell P.V. what to do with their bills. Tell P.V. to send them over to the Fain group, they can use Tarkowski as a messenger boy. By the way, did you get a ballot on a "yes" or "no" for a Big Chino pipe line? Seems the biggest project around here ever and the Nazis won't let us have a vote! Guess we're smart enough to fall for their line of C--P at election time but too stupid to have a voice on a multi million dollar project.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
$12,000 per month lobbyist!!!
The way that I understand it, COP council / officials were very surprised that PV acted unilaterally. It seems PV hired the public relation firm / lobbyist in the first place, without consulting the COP officials / council; and then sent them a huge (greater than 100K USD) bill. These types of ventures should be consensus driven and transparent to the public, their should be prior communication between the two cities and there should be no surprises. $12,000 per month lobbyist!!! Who signed off on that one?
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Pass the Buck Game
Talk about passing the buck. Yeah, Mr. Norwood is doing an outstanding job running the place. What a bunch of clowns. Perfect example of government ineptness. I would be completely embarrassed to work for such an incompetent organization.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Annie J
Oh good grief! Here we have twiddely dumb, twiddely dumber, and twiddely dumbest. Only in the government can people like this continue to keep their jobs. It's just plain disgraceful.
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
What I wish had been in this story:
About the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that spells out the pipeline project deal between Prescott and Prescott Valley: does it authorize PV to sign contracts with web designers, lobbyists, lawyers, etc., and then bill Prescott for 54 percent of the costs?I haven't read it myself, but what I understand from those who have is -- PV is the junior partner and doesn't have this power. Let us know, Ken. -- Candace McNulty
Posted: Saturday, November 07, 2009
Article comment by:
Chuck Bordenave
Prescott Valley, and Larry Tarkowski are the junior partners in this proposed project, and Prescott is the major partner, but PV has always taken the lead. Why is that? Everyone knows which developer/ rancher runs PV, and has the most to gain from this gigantic scheme to get the public to pay for the act of converting grazing land into housing projects.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
