Lompico Water’s board agreed by a 3-0 vote at a special meeting April 4 to borrow the money it would need to study three large storage tanks that need replacement and the proposed route of an intertie connecting the districts’ pipes.
SLV Water’s board of directors will vote on the loan at its April 19 meeting.
The loan would allow SLV Water to hire subcontractors on the smaller district’s behalf for:
- Soil boring and geotechnical investigations related to the replacement of three water tanks in Lompico.
- Surveying, including a map of the proposed intertie pipeline and preparation of easements for the property owners.
Lompico Water does not have enough cash on hand to pay for the studies and keep operations running smoothly. The district also does not have a manager who would manage projects such at the technical studies.
Lompico board members Rick Harrington, Bill Smallman and Lois Henry voted in favor of the loan. Sherwin Gott and Shannar Abraham were absent.
According to SLV Water District Manager Jim Mueller, the survey and soil investigations would address several questions asked by SLV Water’s directors about the potential consolidation, said.
“At this point, we’re trying to answer some unanswered questions,” Mueller said.
The cost of the intertie is a key issue, Mueller said. He said the district must also be able to secure the necessary easements before starting construction on the pipeline.
“It’s moving, and it’s slow,” Mueller said. “There’s a lot (of information) to gather and analyze.”
San Lorenzo Valley Water District presented Lompico Water’s directors with a $2.64 million plan in July 2010 that included such improvements as replacing the leaky tanks and building the intertie pipeline between the districts. Since then, the staff of the larger district has continued to study the possible merger.
Mueller said this week that the estimated cost was $2.5 million, but the planned geotechnical studies would clarify how much merging the districts would actually cost.
Using the results of those studies, SLV Water staff members would put together a follow-up proposal with more detailed information about easements and cost, Mueller said.
Most Lompico residents are in favor of joining SLV Water, according to a survey included in their water bills. Of the 44 percent of water users who returned the survey, about 87 percent approved of the merger, while 8 percent opposed it.
The cash-strapped Lompico district still must find a way to finance the merger, however. That would likely involve passing a bond, and the 500 Lompico Water customers would foot the bill themselves, according to SLV officials.
Directors Abraham and Gott, who were absent from the April 4 meeting, have been in the minority on many votes of the five-person board.
Abraham said by phone this week that he was out of town April 4 and was due to return the following Monday, April 9. He suggested that the meeting should have been held then.
“It was not urgent enough to do a special meeting that couldn’t wait a couple of days,” he said.
Abraham said SLV Water’s board was expected to vote on the proposal at its April 19 meeting, more than two weeks after the Lompico board’s special meeting.
We do not want our water company bought out by SLV Water District.
We should also not be afraid to speak up.
Felton Resident |May 03, 2011 Not to mention, remmember FLOW got us to buy CALAM and give it to San Lorenzo? That is another $500 /yr on our property taxes on top of all these rate hikes. CALAM never treated us like this.
To Lompico - Take Action
This will soon be our sad story if you don't get involved now. Lompico Water has 3 seats up for election. It's not rocket science, just takes a bit of smarts,a sense of ethics, dedication and interest in fixing our own system.
All things most of the current board seem to be lacking.
If the current board and their lackey Citizen's advisory committee had any sense of fair play, they would have investigated alternate plans also on saving the district, not just the merger.
I can't believe this board wasted years of Lompico's time and money....but we can still be saved, just need a new board of directors...LBRA need not apply!
http://pressbanner.com/view/full_story/13071517/article-Letter--Water-rate-increases-are-unfair
"Plans to ship Felton water out of the area for profit"
That's not going to change with someone saying 'we don't want to pay more'. Me, personally, I would pay more for quality water service.
Our history here has been marred with a district manager who took advantage of a board that didn't know how to manage him. And, under our own control we screwed it up and spent all the money on him instead of our own infrastructure. We're not going to be able to maintain directors that are truly qualified to operate a district.
To me, the most efficient thing is to move toward consolidation with a larger entity that has the smarts to manage the district and the efficiency to keep the costs down.
Not merging only means doom. Mr Gott, I voted for you, but I want my vote back!
Then you won't be advocating for the San Lorenzo Valley Water District to take over.
The water quality has plummeted. We no longer drink straight from the tap, water is filtered or store-bought.
Rates are being raised FAR more than FLOW suggested.
Only positive is the people in the office are nice. But that was said about the Cal Am office as well. So we paid $28 million for nothing.
Lompicans - keep it local. Stay far away from San Lorenzo Valley Water District.
Is that how you would buy a car or a house? Is that how you would conduct business? It's just simple math, how much will it cost?
Public board of directors, public process and transparency are completely meaningless. It's a done deal.
Mark my words.
What hasn't been transparent?