The Gainesville City Council will make a final decision on the city's 2010 water rates and hold a public hearing for three zoning items at its meeting Tuesday.

Among other changes to the rates, the ordinance will charge at least $400 for monitoring a stream spill of up to 10,000 gallons and at least $4,500 for monitoring bigger spills. The law also includes a schedule of fees for testing a range of contaminants, including fecal coliform and phosphorus.

Public utilities officials have said the changes are part of matching fees with the cost of providing services to the department's customers. The ordinance to change the city's water rates will impose the changes in two stages, with one set to become effective Sept. 1 and the other on Jan. 1.

The City Council also will vote on three items the Planning and Appeals Board recommended approval of last month. These are:

• An application to allow a second Turning Points group home facility to be constructed at 612 Auburn Ave. The existing Turning Points facility is a group home approved last year on Erskine Avenue that houses 24 men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
• And two annexation requests, one from The Car Store of Gainesville and one from the Humane Society of Hall County. The Car Store of Gainesville, located at 2650 Browns Bridge Road, is requesting that the City Council annex its 0.45-acre tract for a pre-owned car sale and service facility. The Humane Society of Hall County also is requesting annexation in order to receive the lower fire insurance rating the city has. The Humane Society is located on West Ridge Road on nearly three acres of a larger county island. The city's Planning and Appeals Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of both annexations last month, but the City Council has the authority to give final approval.

Staff writers Ashley Fielding, Jeff Gill and Melissa Weinman contributed to this report.