Search
Polls
Latest Forum Posts
| Taking a Knee unclebuck 15-11-08 13:51 |
| Re:Football unclebuck 07-10-08 15:24 |
| Re:Football unclebuck 02-10-08 12:59 |
Login Form
| City staff unveils plan to address water issues |
|
|
| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Wednesday, 12 November 2008 | |
|
“It’s no longer business as usual. There are going to be significant changes.” — Cleve Morris, Patterson city manager Patterson city staff unveiled a plan Monday to address aging infrastructure and diminishing water quality and suggested raising sewer and water rates at least 4 percent annually until 2032 to pay for it all. The rate increase, coupled with developer fees, would allow the city to replace miles of sewer and water lines, build and operate a water treatment facility and conduct a slew of other programs that officials say would provide for the city’s water needs. Monday’s City Council meeting was just a review of the plan city staff dubbed the “Capital Improvement Program.” On Dec. 2, the council will be asked to give conceptual approval for the first three years of proposed projects. Staff estimated the entire plan would cost close to $202 million. “It’s no longer business as usual,” said Cleve Morris, Patterson’s city manager. “There are going to be significant changes.” Topping the project priority list is an effort to secure drinkable water, at least for the short term. One study commissioned by the council said Patterson would likely need a water treatment facility by 2012. Patterson wells already exceed the state-recommended nitrate limit, and some of the city’s wells are nearing the mandatory limit. The public works department had to take one well offline last year because it exceeded state nitrate standards, and the city’s water consultant, Cort Abney of the H20 Group, only expects the situation to get worse. Were the city to exceed the mandatory level of nitrates, the state would likely put a moratorium on building permits, Abney said. City staff hopes to extend the supply of drinkable groundwater by creating a mixing facility, where water with higher concentrations of nitrates would be diluted with cleaner water, creating a larger pool of potable water. Another priority is establishing a non-potable water system. The city would distribute for landscaping water that does not meet drinking-water standards, preserving some of Patterson’s cleaner water and capitalizing on existing infrastructure. For example, the well the city took off-line for excessive nitrate levels could be put back into service for the non-potable system. The plan also included other projects to address drainage and sewer needs. The item that raised the most council eyebrows was the annual sewer and water rate increases. Staff proposed raising rates by 4 percent annually for the next 25 years, with even higher increases in three of those years. In fiscal year 2010-11, the increase would be 10 percent. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, it would be 9 percent. “I’d like you to take another look at it,” Councilwoman Annette Smith said. But if staff had not factored in the increased rates, the plan’s budget would project a $30 million deficit, Morris said. “I was not going to bring that to the council,” Morris said. Staff also suggests issuing bonds based on the new fees so they could get money up front and build the projects in a timely fashion. Contact John Saiz at 892-6187 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Hits: 486 Comments
(4)
This is one thing the city needs NOW, and I am sure most of us would be willing to pay for a project that actually is planned for in advance, especially with capacity growth in mind. If GPAC actually wants to build more houses and we want more business, we need a consitent supply of drinkable water that does not destroy the pipes.
Votes: +1
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Just yesterday, I asked the kudos spokesperson (burt), why KUDOS CEO hasn't told the people of patterson that they will have to foot the bill for water infrastructure improvements. Thank you for covering this John, the people of patterson need to know that the city is in a deep hole when it comes to water, yet, no one wants to come clean. Of course, Morris is the only one shooting straight with the people of Patterson.
Votes: +1
To quickly view what I'm talking about click here www.pattersonirritator.com look at the comments. Fredd Ross report abuse
vote down
vote up
Now is not the time to start increasing fees. Hasn't anybody been aware of the fiscal situation that so many homeowners have been in? Try starting a volunteer program with the water department to provide whole house filtration at each dwelling unit with the overall improvements to come at a later date when the economy has recovered and most of the fees can be recovered from developers. If they want to build they can kick in to upgrade the water and sewer systems. What fees were collected from all of the subdivisions that have been built in the last 10 years? Why wasn't this matter taken care of as the size of the city increased?
Votes: +1
report abuse
vote down
vote up
I would have to completely agree with VS. The water issued is two-fold problem at minimum. VS has just provided a common sense approach to the quality component. As for the quantity component, I would suggest an ordinance whereupon a sale of home would trigger mandatory installation of Low-Flow shower heads and faucet aerators. (Remember, once you move into your house, you can remove and replace, if you simply don't care about water scarcity)
Votes: +1
Inexpensive and simple to install, low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators can reduce your home water consumption as much as 50%. Lets see if any of elected officials bite on our two suggestions. Not holding my breath. Fred Ross www.pattersonirriTator.com report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
