After considering hooking up to the City of Hollister’s sewer
and water system
– which concerned some Ridgemark residents who felt they would
have no say in the rates they’d be charged – the Sunnyslope County
Water District instead is moving forward with making $9.5 million
in Phase 1 improvements to its wastewater treatment facility.
After considering hooking up to the City of Hollister’s sewer and water system – which concerned some Ridgemark residents who felt they would have no say in the rates they’d be charged – the Sunnyslope County Water District instead is moving forward with making $9.5 million in Phase 1 improvements to its wastewater treatment facility.
The district’s Board of Directors last week chose not to act on two proposals involving the city: one which would have had the district connect to the city’s wastewater plant and have recycled water pumped back to the Ridgemark area and another that would have not brought the recycled water back but would have instead relied on water from the Central Valley Project.
By not acting on either of those proposals, the board let stand a plan approved in 2008 which calls for the building of the Ridgemark Wastewater Treatment Plant in three phases, retaining local control of its water supply.
The issue of local control was a central theme of the board meeting, at which representatives of the golf and country club as well as members of its homeowners’ associations spoke out against connecting to the city’s system.
“There was a lot of peer pressure from the customers that showed up from Ridgemark,” said Dave Meraz, president of the Sunnyslope County Water District board of directors and maintenance and operations manager for the San Benito County Water District. “There has been a lot of debate. We’re been preparing for this for the last three or four years.
“It came down to (residents of) Ridgemark and (representatives of) the golf course showing up. They wanted it and that’s what we did. We’ll see five to 10 years from now if that’s a wise decision. A lot of customers didn’t want the city having a say regarding their reclaimed water.”
Ken Girouard, Sunnyslope’s district engineer, said the construction of the plant should take about a year-and-a-half at the site of an existing wastewater plant on Ridgemark’s west side.
“Local control is a large issue,” Girouard said. “The city owns the city’s wastewater plant and the voters it serves vote on the city council. If you have a direct vote with the members who supervise that, you have more direct representation.”
Some residents were concerned that connecting to the city’s supply would leave them without a say in future rate increases.
Having a reliable and affordable supply of water available to Ridgemark was also a concern, as expressed by the country club’s president and owner, Alex Kehriotis, as well as course superintendent, Eric Boyd.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
