AUBURN - The city is one step closer to possibly changing the way it deals with communities that receive its sewer and water services.

Auburn City Council voted unanimously Thursday during a business meeting to hire New York firm Amawalk Consulting Inc. to help assess the needs of the city's water and wastewater systems.

As part of the agreement, the firm will examine where the city needs to invest in the system, how it charges its customers and surrounding communities for services, and the costs it incurs due to the current system.

The city will pay $50,000 to Amawalk, who will subcontract to Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Inc. to assist in the project. According to the resolution, city officials are in the process of securing a grant to fund the study. If the grant falls through, the project will not proceed.

The city council approved in April a resolution to hire a representative from Amawalk, Robert Game, for a year-long period to advise city staff on operation of the water treatment, wastewater treatment and hydropower programs. The company also recently finished a review of the process though which the city accounts for and bills for those services.

City Manager Mark Palesh said during the council meeting that this study will be the next step toward determining the future of Auburn's water and sewer systems.

"There is a disparity in how these fees are allocated," said Palesh, who added that a handful of representatives from surrounding towns have shown support for this project.

According to the proposal from Amawalk, the study will examine the following: the future demand for water and sewer services within the city and outside communities, a 10-year projection of cash flow needed to improve and maintain the city's water and sewer systems, and a projection of the cost responsibility and rates for customers within the city and other communities for those services.

The study is scheduled to be completed by September, according to the proposal.

During the meeting, Councilor Thomas McNabb said the city has a sewage and water treatment plant running at capacity. But the surrounding towns continue to develop without considering the consequences and effects on the infrastructure.

"We pay millions of dollars, they pick up the benefits and we pick up the bills," McNabb said.

Councilor William Graney said after the meeting that the city will be able to re-negotiate many of its contracts with surrounding towns and villages in 2010.

"I think they realize the position we're in," Graney said of the surrounding communities. "We just need to get the data on the table and then bring it to the towns."

For the full report, read Friday's edition of The Citizen.