An idea for the city and Colorado Springs Utilities to work together to save money on fleet operations turned into a big mess this week, exposing a growing communication gap between Mayor Steve Bach and the CEO of the city-owned enterprise.Only a month ago, city officials thought they were going to partner with the $1.1 billion utility to look into outsourcing fleet. The city government services not only city vehicles but utility vehicles, which account for about 40 percent of the city’s fleet division.But Monday, the city’s public works director got an email from a utility employee who said Utilities was parting ways with the city and doing its own thing with its vehicle fleet.Bach’s chief of staff, Laura Neumann, revealed the news at Thursday’s budget hearing. But during Friday’s hearing, Neumann told the City Council that the utility had decided to delay any decision and work with the city until March 1. She said she “heard through the grapevine” that her comments had caused “quite a reaction from some in CSU.”“The fact that Jerry and I or Jerry and the mayor have not had any direct conversations regarding this significant development, I think, is problematic,” Neumann said in an interview afterward, referring to Utilities CEO Jerry Forte.“I think this is going to trigger us sitting down and talking about, at a high level, what do you want to accomplish, what do we want to accomplish, which I believe is very similar: efficiencies,” she said.Neumann called the dust-up on a “communications issue.”It’s not the only one this week.The city and Utilities are working on a deal to cut the city’s rate for water to irrigate parks next year.But the entities have outlined completely different plans.Neumann said the two sides have the “very best intentions” and that she’s optimistic that a deal will be worked out.“I believe that we will pay less for water in 2013,” she said. “They’re going to do things that make our water bill less. That’s what counts.”Under the strong-mayor form of government, the council serves as the Utilities Board, and Bach has next to no authority over city enterprise.But Bach has used the bully pulpit to weigh on utility business, calling for a top-to-bottom review of utility operations and a study of decommissioning the coal-fired power plant downtown. The debate over retiring the Martin Drake Power Plant has been contentious.Council President Scott Hente, who serves as chairman of the Utilities Board, said Forte told him that he’s asked to meet with the mayor on “several occasions” and never received a response.Utilities spokeswoman Natalie Eckhart said she’s heard Forte say the same thing.“I don’t know for what reason that they have not been able to meet, but I have personally heard Jerry say that he has reached out to the mayor and been unable to set a face to face conversation,” she said.Hente said he would be willing to be “an intermediary” and “facilitate any conversations that would improve the information flow between Utilities and the mayor’s office.”“I would be happy to do that at any time, at any location,” he said.The discussion about outsourcing fleet operations could present an opportunity.Neumann said she was appreciative of the 60-day extension but that it wasn’t enough time for the city, which faces several bureaucratic hurdles, such as issuing a request for proposals and going through a selection process.“It’s not enough (time) to accomplish what we want to accomplish together and so I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to dial up a little bit and extend it,” she said.—Contact Daniel Chacón: 476-1623Twitter @danieljchaconFacebook Daniel Chacon

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