New water appointments OK'd Schmitt is pressed on changes in commission By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle Five appointments to the Green Bay Water Commission were approved by the City Council on Tuesday, but only after discussion of what Mayor Jim Schmitt was doing when he fired the former commission members and decided to bring two of them back. Returning to the commission are Charles Parke and Al Toma. Tim Nixon, who briefly resigned from the commission after being appointed in what he called a misunderstanding with the mayor, was also approved. All three received 12-0 votes. Two new members, however - Kathryn Hasselblad-Pascale and Kathryn Hartman - faced opposition from council members, who were concerned about the firing of the old commission and supported that commission's hard line on water talks with suburbs. Alds. Guy Zima and Gary Kriescher voted against the two women. Zima, who was out of town when Schmitt fired the commissioners, and Ald. Andy Nicholson asked the mayor why the commission members were fired. Schmitt repeated his explanation of two weeks ago that he felt the old commission's plans for a deal with the suburbs could be improved and that the proposal had major gaps, especially regarding a possible $40 million in interest income. Schmitt said the new members had solid résumés and that he was looking at others who would make a solid contribution. "I feel sure they'll protect the rate payers and work to have both quality and quantity water," he said. "After a couple of years of effort by the previous commission, I felt it was time for a change." Schmitt said he hoped a new commission would be able to lower rates not only for a suburban deal but for rate payers, as well. Zima, however, said the previous commission had shown solidarity with the council on opposing any deal terms that would benefit the suburbs to the detriment of the city. "I feel providing water to the suburbs is not in the city's best interest," he said, and Schmitt said he agreed. "The suburbs are chiseling for a cheaper rate day and night," Zima said. Parke, who has been the main presenter of technical issues regarding a suburban deal, said he "could take some of the blame" for the proposal that drew the mayor's ire, leading Zima to suggest that if Parke hadn't been fired for good, none of the other commissioners should have been. Nixon said he believes a deal could be worked out with the suburbs without hurting Green Bay rate payers, "and if we can't then we ought not to do it." The two newcomers cited their love for the city and desire to serve as reasons for joining the commission. "The city has given all of us so much," said Hasselblad-Pascale, who was on the Metropolitan Sewage District board for 12 years. - The council split 6-6 on voting for a resolution establishing fire inspection fees for businesses, with Schmitt breaking the tie to advance the resolution to a third reading, the last step before passage. Most businesses would pay $30, with about 10 percent of businesses paying more based on size. The money from the fees is in the budget, and several of the arguments made during budget discussions were repeated, including concern for business development. Discussion about those fees, increased parking fines and the cutting of garbage service to buildings with four or more apartments led Ald. Fred Graves to ask that a resolution increasing aldermanic pay by 1.8 percent - the same as all other city employees - be eliminated. That drew cries of "grandstanding" from other council members, who emphasized the time they spent on their jobs and that the cut would amount to $2,000 in the city budget. But Graves was defended by Alds. Ken Dax and Andy Nicholson, who was the only one along with Graves to vote against the pay increase. (A vote on changing the ordinance failed 7-5 with the two aldermen being joined by Ron Antonneau, John Vander Leest and Kathy Johnson.) "Fred Graves does not grandstand," Antonneau said. "He has a different opinion and is expressing it."