Here it is about 3 weeks after our big association meeting,
where the members who were present unanimously voted to pursue a partnership
with a large water company, with financial strength, such as Calwater. I am sure many of you are very concerned and are
wondering if any progress is being made about our water situation. It can be uneasy sitting on the sidelines
waiting for answers to such important questions. Questions such as: what is happening in
regards to our most precious resource; a resource which we all so desperately
depend on? You may be wondering is
anything being done to fix this problem? As I promised at the meeting, “I would be all
over it,” and I would keep in frequent communications with Calwater and the
County, on the behalf of our community.
The purpose of this post is an attempt to reassure you that
the wheels are turning and there is a strong possibility that we can once again
have our neighborhoods green, with beautiful green grass for our mature
landscapes, and the healthy trees we would expect from our wonderful Rolling
Hills. For the first time, in a long
time, I have hope we may find a possible solution to our water problems; in a
relatively quick fashion. In addition, we
could have a company with resources, who knows what they are doing at the
controls. When I say relatively quick, I
mean by next spring.
Lets face it, and I think we all came to this very
realization at the last association meeting, we cannot take chances on our
water system, and time is of the essence.
Some members at the association meeting expressed, “what good is it to
try and save money, while our trees are dying and our landscapes look like
deserts?” What is our community worth, and what are our houses are worth, if we
cannot use the water we need for ourselves and our landscapes?
Since our association meeting, there have been three meetings
between Calwater and the County. Which I
had the honor of sitting in on. On
Wednesday May 24, Tuesday May 30, and Monday June 5th. At the first meeting between Brett Frazier, Norman
Allinder, and Bill Cambell, the county reassured us they are sincere about possibility
releasing control of the water system. Calwater
would not usually consider taking over a system, as small as ours, by
itself. However they are seriously
considering taking us on, because of the additional growth surrounding us, and a
few projects they are looking at which are not too far away. The county shared there may be other county
systems available for transition to Calwater.
However, it was re-affirmed that Rolling Hills is of the highest
priority and the county as well as all stakeholders understand; we want to keep
our system agreement independent; not dependent on any other system acquisitions.
At the next meeting on May 30th the Chief Executive
Officers of Calwater came down, drove the neighborhood and then met with County
folks at Mr Fraziers office. CEO’s from Calwater asked questions to feel
out the county’s intentions. I was at
the meeting, it felt as though the executives were satisfied with the answers
and somewhat interested in taking on this project. However they are concerned about the
condition of our system, and the financial debt our system has. This appeared to be an initial exploratory
session; where the exec’s were evaluating the opportunity and future area
opportunities. They were taking this
time to evaluate if this is and avenue they would consider pursuing.
At the most recent meeting, on Monday June 5th,
Calwater sent out its engineering team to meet with county public works staff;
they traveled to each well site at Rolling Hills, and their engineers took
pictures and asked questions to county staff about the operations of the
system. Now they will write up an analysis
of our water system, and submit and evaluation to Calwater exec’s. They will use this report to explore the
needs of our rolling hills waters system; both current and future. Then they will make a decision in regards to
if they are willing to take on our water system or not?
As I mentioned, I will keep everyone informed of any new
developments and I will stay on top of this situation; as I have developed some
solid relationship with the decision makers involved.
Below is an example of the rates Average, High, and Low usage (prepared by Eric Olsen) Based on Calwater's proposed rate schedule.
Below is an example of the rates Average, High, and Low usage (prepared by Eric Olsen) Based on Calwater's proposed rate schedule.
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