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County constituents and all County taxpayers. They have to understand that what he is hearing is that the City seems to be planning to continue to charge County rates to the Town, but the County still has to answer to their unincorporated residents and what they are already offering is Tess control than what the Town receives. There is already a problem where the Town residents might be getting better treatment than unincorporated County residents. It is a very challenging situation for them. What they are presenting here today is in the spirit of cooperation. He expressed that the County was not actively looking for new customers. They have plenty of growth in the unincorporated areas that does present its own challenges for them to continue serving the increased demands. But, what they are experiencing is residents who meet with them andsay that they want out of the City service area, which is the same thing that they are hearing from the Town. The County is happy if the City continues to serve these residents, but one (1) of the concerns that they are expressing is the "taxation without representation." This is why they are just looking for some rate protection. He said that he does not know where the rates are going. He said the County is having to adjust their rates. They are doing an annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment to increase their rates because the cost to provide service continues to increase with the new regulatory environment that they are in. They are just looking for some kind of protection for those residents. He reiterated that the County is perfectly happy for the City to continue providing service to those residents. However, it does put them in a terrible spot to say that they cannot provide the same service to the residents in the unincorporated areas that the Town is receiving. That is why they are seeking a compromise on this. Mr. Bolton commented that he was speaking with the previous Town Administer about having one (1) rate for everything and then came the lawsuit so discussion had to stop. Their ultimate goal is to have one (1) rate and no surcharges. He would like to see everyone treated the same. Mr. Falls said that the reason they need to have the decision on the rates is because of the construction of the new facility. He has not heard anyone who is opposed to the City doing that project and getting that facility off of the Lagoon. They are trying to make that happen. It is a new environmental sound and sensible project to getting any contamination off of the river. However, that does come with a cost. There will need to be some rate adjustments because of that. The rates would not stay the same even if the Plant is left on the river and they didn't build the new facility. There are also costs to leaving it there that would be passed on to all the ratepayers. They would like to be charging the same rates to all their customers. He hoped that staff could go back and caucus these items presented to them this morning. Mr. Turner stated that the process is if there is not a resolution entered into or agreed to today then the next phase is the meeting between their respective Council/Boards in a joint meeting. He said that has to occur according to Florida. Statutes within 50 -days after the datethat the letter was sent from the City to the County. He said that date can be extended by a written agreement of both parties. It is 50 -days unless they agree otherwise. He said during this period of time they can have on-going discussions regarding what has been proposed today. He said if they could set a date today or arrange for that joint meeting it might help keep them moving forward. Mr. Reingold read directly out of the. Florida Statutes that says if there is a tentative resolution that they can agree upon by the representatives of the primary conflicting governmental entities at the conflict assessment meeting that the primary conflicting entities may proceed taking whatever steps they deem appropriate to fully resolve the conflict including but not limited to the schedule of additional meetings for informal negotiations or proposing a resolution of the governing bodies of the primary conflicting entities. He said in the event that no tentative resolution can be agreed upon then they have the 50 -days. He was hoping that today they could walk away saying that they think that they can work this out. He Page 4 June 24, 2021 Conflict Resolution Minutes