San Juan Bautista and county water board officials met for the
first time in months Friday in an attempt to resolve an impasse
over control of a $3.8 million grant to repair the city’s
dilapidated water system and discussed creating a new agreement to
let the project go forward.
San Juan Bautista – San Juan Bautista and county water board officials met for the first time in months Friday in an attempt to resolve an impasse over control of a $3.8 million grant to repair the city’s dilapidated water system and discussed creating a new agreement to let the project go forward.
Though the lines of communication have finally been opened, Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who represents the Mission City, believes the only thing the meeting accomplished was getting four bodies around a table. The two agencies have been feuding over control of the project to update San Juan’s water system since the summer, and their inability to reach an agreement has led the federal government to suspend the grant until the matter is resolved. Botelho is worried the grant may be lost for good if progress isn’t made soon.
“I think a whole lot of nothing got done and the longer that this continues back and forth, the ultimate cost to the citizens of San Juan is just not acceptable,” Botelho said. “What’s going on between the water district and the city of San Juan is non-constructive. There’s too much foot-dragging going on, and if people don’t get off their duffs, get over their differences and start moving forward with this grant, it could disappear.”
Friday’s morning meeting between San Juan City Manager Jennifer Coile, Mayor Arturo Medina, Water Board President John Tobias and Water District Director John Gregg – which was closed to the public and the media – was held in “good faith” to discuss principles of the water district’s agreement with the city, according to a written statement. However, the foursome was vague in their summation of the meeting – which they detailed in a press release – and declined to talk about any of the specifics, including how long the meeting lasted or when another one might be held.
San Juan Bautista and the water district are co-grantees of the $3.8 million grant awarded by the federal Economic Development Administration, which is intended to repair the city’s leaky and dilapidated water and sewer system. The water district had agreed to match the federal grant with about $3.1 in grants and loans to pay for the entire project, which could reach nearly $8 million by the time everything is said and done. And after officials from both sides spent months hammering out an agreement, San Juan refused to sign off on the water district’s contract, claiming it gave the district too much control over certain city services – such as giving the district control of the city’s wells indefinitely, according to San Juan’s water project manager.
The EDA then suspended the grant in August after receiving a letter from Tobias stating that San Juan was failing to abide by the terms of the grant and were attempting to go it alone without the water district’s financial backing by securing other funding sources.
And while water board officials have said that the possibility of chucking the current agreement was out of the question, the press release stated “an idea of starting with a new agreement is under consideration.”
Gregg said that while a new agreement isn’t set in stone by any means and is only an idea at this time, a new agreement would be made to “simplify” the current one.
“At this point there’s not a lot of substance to that – we’ve got a lot of work to do going forward,” said Gregg, who declined to go into any further detail or say which side proposed a new contract. “The idea came up and will be considered. Period.”
Medina and Tobias did not return phone calls Friday, Coile did not respond to e-mail and phone requests for additional information, and Gregg provided little further information about the actual meeting.
The written statement also alluded to claims the city has made in the past several weeks that city officials are willing to go it alone, without the water district’s financial backing.
“Mayor Medina stated that because of the city’s responsibility to its water rate-payers to keep water rates as low as possible, the city has been researching funding sources for the project and needs to compare the water district’s terms with the alternatives,” the statement read.
But Botelho is convinced what was reported out of the meeting doesn’t come close to giving an accurate picture of what really went on behind closed doors.
“I don’t believe that either party is interested in a new agreement. One party is trying to force the other one out of the process and it’s a waste of time,” he said. “Let’s deal with what’s on the table and move forward. There’s nothing positive from what I can see is going on with San Juan and the water board. It’s really too bad because we have such an opportunity.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com.
