A combined effort by the City of San Juan Bautista and the San
Benito County Water District to upgrade the Mission City’s sewer
system and improve groundwater quality in the San Juan Valley is
one step closer to realization.
A combined effort by the City of San Juan Bautista and the San Benito County Water District to upgrade the Mission City’s sewer system and improve groundwater quality in the San Juan Valley is one step closer to realization.
County and San Juan Bautista officials submitted construction grant applications Wednesday to the federal Economic Develop-ment Admini-stration’s Western Regional Office in Seattle for the upgrades.
The $3.8 million grant application submitted by the city would cover the cost of construction for a new storage tank, the wastewater treatment facility and other major upgrades.
The Economic Development Association of San Benito County supports San Juan’s efforts to obtain the grant, association director Al Martinez said.
“We established a partnership with the city about two years to help them bring jobs to the community,” he said. “I told them (association officials) whatever jobs we can create will help them out and that helps out the county.”
San Juan City Manager Larry Cain thought the meeting went well, but said, “I don’t know if we are going to get it (the grant). We hope to have some indication which way it will go in about a few weeks.”
Fourth Street in San Juan, known to flood during even a light rain, is what Cain refers to as “the spine of the city.” The street is one area specifically designated for major construction, Cain said.
“All the storm water, from both old and new sections of the city, drains from Fourth Street where it travels toward the west, eventually draining into the Pajaro (river),” he said. “If you take 10 gallons of water and pour it out at the Mission, it flows down to Fourth. The same thing happens on Line Street or at the Windmill Market – it all goes west down Fourth.”
To correct such drainage issues, the city wants to install a 24-inch storm drain, a 15-inch sewer main, a 10-inch water line and a second water line to the reservoir site, which will give the city two lines crossing under Highway 156.
“By having the two lines, it increases more reliability for us to deliver water in case something happens to one of the lines,” Cain said. “We’re also planning to rebuild the pavement, the curbs and gutters on Fourth Street.”
The city’s $1,039,000 contribution to the project will come from the State Transportation Improvement Project. So far San Juan Bautista has spent $500,000 to complete the planning process, which has taken a few years.
“We are now planning the construction phase of it,” Cain said.
San Benito County Water District Manager John Gregg told administrators the water district supports the city’s efforts and included its own construction grant application, requesting another $3.1 million for other major water projects in the San Juan Valley. For more than six months, local vegetable processors have been working with the water district to address water supply and wastewater issues in the valley.
A water service pipeline from the San Juan Bautista could be extended to collect the water from the processors to be treated at the city’s wastewater treatment plant for reclamation or disposal, or put back into the San Felipe Distribution System.
The application for the $3.8 million grant is a far cry from the $19,700 cost to build San Juan’s sewer system in 1922. If that amount had been invested in the Standard and Poor’s 500 in 1922, it would be worth $21,565,861 today, according to Edward Jones Financial Services in Hollister.
The only thing that could spoil the city’s plan is the federal budget, Cain said.
“They have no money for capital improvement projects,” he said.
The federal government is working under a continuing resolution, paying out salaries to its employees in order to keep things running until the budget is passed sometime near the end of January.
