San Juan city manager says new water plans will go forward
A $3.8 million Economic Development Administration grant has
been officially lost to San Juan Bautista staff and council members
after they worked more than a decade to obtain it, according to
letters from EDA staff to San Juan officials.
San Juan city manager says new water plans will go forward
A $3.8 million Economic Development Administration grant has been officially lost to San Juan Bautista staff and council members after they worked more than a decade to obtain it, according to letters from EDA staff to San Juan officials.
Although the San Benito County Water District was originally named as a co-recipient, staff withdrew from the grant in June 2006, said Jan McClintock, San Juan’s city manager.
The grant would have paid for a new water treatment plant, McClintock said.
“This is not a terrible thing that some people would like to make it out to be, because there is no sense in building what it set out to pay for,” McClintock said.
Chuck Geiger, a former member of the San Juan city council, disagreed.
“She’s just trying to spin it,” Geiger said. “We needed that thing. Not only would it have brought water to our county, it would have brought jobs to the county.”
John Gregg, former manager of the San Benito County Water District, agreed.
“Not having access to $4 million that you don’t have to repay, I don’t foresee the circumstances in which that would not be a big deal,” Gregg said. “I think that just fails the common sense test.”
The plant would have mixed soft water from the San Felipe water project, or delta, with well water from San Juan, McClintock said.
Delta water for household and commercial use is known as municipal and industrial, or MNI. Mixing MNI water with San Juan well water would have made water softer for customers in San Juan, and would eliminate the high concentration of salt in the water.
“It cannot be built because there is not industrial municipal water to mix,” McClintock said.
There is a water supply, said Lance Johnson, manager of the San Benito County Water District.
“We just don’t know yet what it will be during critical drought years,” Johnson said.
It does not make sense to rely on an uncertain water source, McClintock said.
There have always been questions about the reliability of delta water, Gregg said. Federal officials would not shut off MNI water that was needed for health and safety reasons, Gregg said.
“I see no reason to conclude that there is not water for San Juan Bautista,” Gregg said.
To meet federal standards, San Juan officials need to decrease the amount of salt in their wastewater, McClintock said. Instead of treating wastewater, officials are going to deliver softer water to their customers.
Well water in San Juan is hard. To soften the water, people use water softeners. Water softeners add salt to water, and that salt ends up in the wastewater.
San Juan officials do not know how they will soften their water, McClintock said.
“We may drill a new well,” McClintock said. “We may do reverse osmosis. We’re still investigating it.”
The question, is water required for meeting wastewater standards a health and safety need, has never been asked, Gregg said. In an emergency, federal officials could waive wastewater quality standards.
The city won the EDA grant in 2005, with the San Benito County Water District listed as a co-recipient.
The grant was suspended after negotiations between the parties broke down in August 2005.
“Basically, the ruling was that it has been cancelled for convenience,” McClintock said.
Economic Development Administration (EDA) staff originally requested a high risk designation for San Juan and termination for cause, according to the documents.
Termination for cause could have made it more difficult for San Juan officials to receive federal grant money, McClintock said.
Despite the loss of the grant, San Juan officials are going to update the city’s water distribution system.
San Juan officials submitted a request for proposals for a new reservoir and water lines, McClintock said. Bids are due back in August.
The project will cost about $7.2 million, McClintock said.
San Benito County Water District officials will reimburse the city $2 million, McClintock said.
Johnson does not know if that agreement is still in effect.
“I don’t know right now,” Johnson said. “That was the plan. I’d need to see if that is still in force.”
McClintock would not disclose how the additional $5.2 million for the project would be paid because she said deals had not been signed on other pending funding mechanisms.
“When it needs to be signed we will go public with it, but it is basically a bond,” McClintock said.
Water and sewer rates will not increase, McClintock said.
“We think that our base will cover clean water and clean sewer, as it is right now, McClintock said. “That’s what we expect. God knows what will happen. Things can change.”
