Letters and Shout-outs

Letter: The real cost of measure N bond
Editor,
There seems to be some confusion about the cost of the Measure N bond for Lompico’s water system.
Given that the county’s bond adviser has released up-to-date cost figures based on falling interest rates, I took a fresh look at the numbers, and this is what I found:
– $404 per parcel served by the Lompico Water District
– $404 x 30 years = $12,120 per parcel over the life of the bond
– $12,120 x 502 parcels = $6,084,240
– Net funds to be used to repair, renovate and update Lompico’s water system: $2,750,000.
– Total cost of bond: $6,084,240 – $2,750,000 = $3,334,240.
The remaining $3,334,240 covers the interest and all overhead costs of the bond.
The real cost of not merging
The State Water Resources Control Board has identified deficiencies in our system that must be addressed, starting with replacement of three redwood storage tanks.
The Lompico Water District’s board has determined that the ready-to-serve charge needs to be increased by more than $100 per billing to fund those repairs and renovations, hire a manager, and build up financial reserves. This would cost each household over $600 per year.
Of these extra costs, almost $40 per billing would go to the cost of having a qualified manager, which is a legal requirement (estimated annual salary plus overhead: $115,000). The cost of a manager over 30 years is $115,000 x 30 = $3,450,000 (with a 2 percent raise each year, that total would be $4,550,329.00).
Just the cost of the manager is more than the funds needed to renovate the water system.
The Lompico Water District has no financial reserves. When the next natural disaster occurs, the district and the community are vulnerable to failure of the water supply, with no financial means to recover.
Conclusion
Regardless of what the community decides about Measure N, water will cost more than it does now but, clearly, voting for Measure N to approve the bond and complete the merger with SLVWD is the most cost-effective and safe future for Lompico’s water supply.
Rick Harrington, Director, Lompico Water District
Letter: Keeping Lompico Water independent ignores district’s checkered past
Editor,
With all the talk of millions of dollars in costs for water in Lompico, one very important issue is consistently overlooked. People say we are managing just fine and that staying independent is the way to go.
We should learn from the past. The history of the Lompico Water District and the water company that came before it has been plagued by criminal charges against employees, mismanagement, recalled board members, contentious board meetings, and falsification of water quality records.
Boards of directors have consistently failed to raise rates enough to maintain and replace infrastructure as needed.
They spent $100,000 to buy into the CalPERS retirement system for the former manager, who was subsequently fired. He then sued the district and received an $87,000 settlement, which we are still paying off.
CalPERS costs have been escalating ever since. When we tried to get out, it cost us even more.
The district recently replaced a treatment plant that was off-line for over 15 years! For all those years, our well water was not even filtered, only dosed heavily with chlorine.
The treatment plant for the creek water is now off-line due to maintenance issues. Our staff must continuously drive up and down both hills in their beat-up truck to manually turn pumps and valves on and off.
They climb to the tank hatches to manually dump in liquid chlorine when the water gets stale.
When there is a leak, they have to dig up the streets by hand, or beg SLVWD for assistance when they need equipment to do the job.
We can’t meet the state’s maximum day demand requirement without buying water from SLVWD through the emergency intertie. This is not independence. This is no way to run a water district.
Pete Norton, Lompico