Council gives commission negotiation OK By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle After 2 1/2 hours in closed session, the Green Bay City Council voted unanimously Monday to allow the city's Water Commission to start negotiations for the sale of city water from Lake Michigan to suburban customers. The meeting, including a detailed presentation of the commission's proposed offer, came six days after the council called for the session, angry that the offer had been made public without bringing it to the council first. Ald. Guy Zima, who had spoken out against the water sales, was among those in on the 11-0 vote. "The council informed the commission as to what we are willing to accept," he said. Unclear was what that was. Two weeks ago, the Water Commission set a price of bulk rate plus 17 percent for suburban customers as part of a 25-year deal. The 17 percent charge would go toward the funding of future improvements to the system, a "pay as you go" approach to avoid bonding, except for initial improvements the commission said were required to meet Green Bay needs. The council first heard from Charles Parke of the commission in a review of how negotiations had reached the current point. That became an issue when Alds. Ken Dax and Kathy Johnson asked if the presentation needed to be closed; they voted against going into the closed session but were defeated. Johnson said that what she heard convinced her the closed session was necessary. One person not in on the closed session was commission vice president Tim Nixon, who has been the main spokesman for the commission in recent weeks. Zima had spoken publicly against Nixon's leadership, and Nixon waited outside the chambers during the session. "When the self-appointed point man for the commission isn't in there for something like this, that's a great concern," Zima said. Any agreement reached by the suburbs and commission would have to go before the council for approval. Before the session, Bob Schmitz, a local activist, asked the council not to sell water. "Water over the next 50 years is going to be more valuable than oil," he predicted, and talked about 50 years ago when Green Bay built the first pipeline to the lake. "We do not owe the suburbs one damn thing," he said.