The federal government suspended a $3.7 million dollar grant
slated to help overhaul San Juan Bautista’s crumbling water and
sewer system and could terminate it if city leaders and the San
Benito County Water District don’t settle their differences.
San Juan Bautista – The federal government suspended a $3.7 million dollar grant slated to help overhaul San Juan Bautista’s crumbling water and sewer system and could terminate it if city leaders and the San Benito County Water District don’t settle their differences.
San Juan Bautista City Council members received a letter from the Economic Development Administration earlier this week informing them that it was formally suspending the city’s grant until it received documentation showing that the city and the water district had reached an agreement on how to administer the grant, according to the letter.
The grant is intended to repair San Juan’s leaky and dilapidated water system – some old pipes are said to be made of wood and broken water mains are a common sight in the Mission City – and the possibility of losing the grant has one county supervisor calling for cooperation between the city and the water district.
“I don’t think there’s a real sense of urgency on either side, but I feel an urgency to pull the two agencies together to renew their dialogue so can start working together again,” said Supervisor Anthony Botelho. “The back and forth rhetoric needs to come to a stop to move this project forward.”
The EDA’s action was triggered when Water Board President John Tobias sent the EDA a letter notifying the agency that both parties had failed to reach and agreement and the city was modifying the government’s terms of the grant agreement by itself.
Paul Weldon, project manager with the Public Works Division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said while there is no timeline on the grant’s suspension, if an agreement is not reached the EDA will most likely terminate the grant altogether.
San Juan Bautista’s water grant writer, Mark Davis, believes the city can move forward without the water district’s help if the EDA allows the city to change the special conditions of the grant that requires the two agencies work together.
However, Weldon said he’s not sure if the special condition could be modified to allow the Mission City to proceed without cooperation from the water district.
“It can’t right now because they’re co-grantees,” Weldon said. “They’re in this together, it’s sink or swim.”
After receiving the federal grant to overhaul the water system in February, San Juan city leaders spent months negotiating a contract to administer the grant with water district board members in the hopes of securing another $3.1 million in loans and grants from the district to help pay for the project.
The negotiations fell apart in July when the water district sent the city a letter asking for more control over the project because of the city’s shaky financial situation and, what district officials say, is a history of mismanagement.
Although nearly $7 million is needed to revamp the city’s infrastructure, San Juan’s leaders believe they can forge ahead without the district. San Juan leaders have expressed concern that the district is trying to control too much of the water project, including authority to set city water and sewer rates.
But water board members believe they’ve hammered out an agreement satisfactory to both the district and the citizens of San Juan. And due to the city’s shaky financial and political history, Tobias has said that the district is concerned that without the proper safeguards put in place, the grant money could be spend on something other than what it is intended for – repairing the city’s infrastructure.
Still, Councilman George Dias said water board members have asked city council members to sign the proposed resolution before clarifying all the details. Dias claims council members want to discuss the details before committing, and water board members have been rigid in their refusal to budge on any type of compromise.
“The bottom line is the water district is playing dirty pool. The agreement is not acceptable to San Juan,” said Councilman George Dias. “If we were to sign a contract without issues being clarified the citizens of San Juan would hang us up. We’d be selling the farm and giving it to the water district.”
But the door is still open for negotiations.
Tobias sent San Juan Mayor Arturo Medina a letter Thursday stating the water district is willing to give negotiations one final try in order to save the grant and restore a cooperative relationship with the city.
“As I see it, time is money and it is time to close this agreement and build the facilities as quickly as possible,” Tobias stated in the letter. “We are engaged in the public’s business for the public’s benefit, not private, self-interest, for-profit activities.”
While Davis said the city has offered several times to meet with the water board to discuss resuming negotiations, Tobias refuted Davis’ claims and said it’s the other way around: The water board has offered to sit down with Medina and City Manager Jennifer Coile several times, and they have declined.
Medina did not return phone calls Thursday, but Coile stated via e-mail that she has agreed to meet with water board members with the condition that Davis attend the meeting.
However, Tobias said because Davis is not a stake holder in the grant, simply the grant writer, that he has no desire to meet with him concerning negotiations.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
