A 15-minute agenda item for a second reading of an urgency ordinance to increase water hookup fees in Spring Valley stretched to two hours as the public, supervisors and county staff discussed an increase from the current $4,136 to $18,010 for a single family home.
Third District Supervisor Denise Rushing, in her first day on the job, moved to adopt the urgency ordinance, calling it a "symbolic place holder" while County Service Area 2 (CSA2) Spring Valley Lakes, gets more study, the county seeks funding sources for long-neglected upgrading and county staff continues to meet with Spring Valley homeowners.
It passed 5-0. The ordinance will be in effect until August of this year, can be extended for one year by the Board of Supervisors, and can be further extended by the California Department of Health Services (DHS).
"There's a lot of confusion out there," said resident Cathy Jones.
Ed Robey, First District Supervisor, said the fee increase should stop development and "further stress on the system while we figure out what's going on."
Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger said the increase is intended both to cover costs of upgrading needed for new development and to build a reserve fund for future improvements, which has not been done in the past.
CSA2 has been under a building moratorium since Sept. 5, 2006. It was adopted after the board was told the treatment plant had reached capacity in July.
That report was presented by consultant Jerry Dehn of CH2M HILL, an international engineering, construction and operations corporation with offices throughout California.
Ratepayers also have been under orders to conserve water, with extra charges imposed for using more than 600 gallons a day.
Residents questioned county estimates of daily use, calculated at 1,000 gallons per day per ratepayer. It's probably closer to 400 gallons a day, said David Jones, who added there are discrepancies in the reported output and usage. He said leakage from pipes installed in the '60s is increasing; lost water was reported to be 38 percent in January of 2004 but by October, 2006, had risen to 54 percent.
Dellinger said old meters in poor repair are part of the problem and his department has just received 108 new meters; approximately 200 are needed. He added leak tests indicate the Spring Valley leakage is "not bad for such an old system," and that his predecessors were somehow able to "get out of doing system improvements — I don't think the DHS will let us skate."
He said he's working with a not-for-profit group which is doing a rate analysis, and an engineering study is needed to show costs and benefits of a new treatment plant.
Rushing, who has worked with utilities, noted that a 5 to 15 percent leakage is generally considered acceptable. She questioned how it would affect the costs of treatment and storage costs if leakage were brought under control.
It's a question no one can answer immediately. Costs will depend on loan rates, costs of debt service and construction materials.
Robey, Fourth District Supervisor Anthony Farrington and Fifth District Supervisor Rob Brown all spoke of the interlocking questions and tasks to be addressed simultaneously.
Those include more meetings with residents to answer questions, seeking funding sources, determining costs, establishing a 25-year master plan and making sure there's an adequate hearing process.
Near the end of the session, new resident Ruben Roncancia, an engineer, added another: considering a supply system that would deliver both potable water and gray water for use in irrigation. He said such systems are working in other places,including Marin County.
Tricia VanDenBerghe, vice president of LucerneFLOW (Friends of Locally Owned Water), told the board failing infrastructure "is a global problem brought on by decades of neglect and population increase ... we in Lucerne have similar problems. Cal Water expects us to pay for their system fixes while their investors get 60-some percent profit. At least we are here solving our problems locally, not by some corporation in San Jose."
Contact Sophie Annan Jensen at
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