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agreement is within reach within a couple of months, to solidifying that agreement?
<br />PAVAO: Well, the agreement itself, if you're talking about a written
<br />agreement, we haven't even discussed that. If you're talking about our ability to do it,
<br />that's about 12 to 18 months down the road, because as I mentioned earlier, our
<br />financial management system hardware just arrived. We still need the training, and
<br />maybe Richard can explain it better than I can, but it's 13 modules that needs to be put
<br />in, needs to be trained, before we can be fully functional.
<br />HIGASHI: All I was interested in, Milton, is that because this Commission will
<br />exist, doing research and fact finding for the next five, six months then, if we are
<br />satisfied that there is an agreement in principal, or something is solid, and it's nothing
<br />that we have to worry about, then as far as most of us will be concerned, I would be
<br />satisfied that the concern was alleviated.
<br />PAVAO: Okay, I understand. You want something in place, an actual
<br />executed agreement.
<br />HIGASHI:
<br />satisfied then.
<br />Yes, like Jiro was saying, seeing is believing, or maybe we'd be
<br />• PAVAO: Okay, we have no problems doing that because, as I mentioned
<br />earlier, we agreed to do it quite some time ago.
<br />•
<br />HIGASHI:
<br />RAY:
<br />You have an agreement in principal, so (indiscernible).
<br />Jiro, did you have a comment?
<br />SUMADA: Mr. Chairman, I was wondering, I'm kind of slow, and I'm thinking to
<br />Commissioner Martin's comment, and I think whichever way the Charter Commission
<br />decides to present this, on the ballot or not, I don't know how, or what rules need to be
<br />established so that, say the Commission doesn't go with the merger option, that at a
<br />minimum, that you folks consider that there be a Commission over the Wastewater
<br />Division, by itself. I don't know if that's possible or if that requires a Charter
<br />Amendment also, to address this rate fee thing. And the reason I say that is the last
<br />cycle that Mr. Boucher went through to get the fee adjusted, it took, I think, a couple of
<br />years, if not more. Three years, Peter? Two or three years?
<br />BOUCHER: Yes, I believe so.
<br />SUMADA: And it carried over into different Councils, which was especially
<br />difficult. And in the meantime, General Funding was carrying the Toad, so there's a
<br />need for that. And again, in my slow process of thinking, in line with what
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