Friday, 12 February 2010 01:18

AWA OKs $228,000 Study of Ione, Tanner Water Capacities

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slide2-awa_oks_228000_study_of_ione_tanner_water_capacities.pngAmador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors voted 3-2 to spend $228,000 over 2 fiscal years to study water capacity in the Ione and Tanner water systems. Support for the studies included letters from 2 city councils (a reported first for such an issue) and speeches from developers near both of those cities, Ione and Plymouth. The board’s President Bill Condrashoff and Vice President Debbie Dunn voted against the study, while Directors Terence Moore, Gary Thomas and Don Cooper voted in favor. The study will “evaluate the water treatment supply and storage needs of the Tanner and Ione service regions,” and determine whether improvements would “provide a practical means to increase treatment supply capabilities.” Condrashoff said “the agency has no cash” and it has “$3.2 million in will-serve commitments,” including hundreds in the Ione area. Moore said “no amount of saving will help the agency with its cash problem, and probably for the first time in our history, the agency is going to have to come up with a line of credit.” Moore said “we do have an obligation here to move forward.” Ione Villages LLC developer Rob Aragon said he and his partners over the past 3 years have supported expanding capacity at Tanner. But they stopped that support, because “now it seems like Ione storage is a better idea.” He said they “can’t get capital investors to invest in this project without water and without a plan.” Condrashoff urged Aragon and developers “to get some of those will-serve properties to come forward” and pay fees. He said it would take only 13 property fees to fund the studies. Aragon said JTS Communities has “spent countless millions” and his “friends at Rylund Homes have spent $2 million on a new 2 million-gallon storage tank” for Wildflower subdivision. He said while it was not fees, it was answering AWA needs for increased storage and a new transfer station, all built at the expense of developers, in lieu of developer fees. Aragon said Condrashoff suggesting moving forward 13 fee payments was “a little hollow.” Thomas said Ione is still building houses, even in the recession, and the AWA over-commitment of “will-serve” letters should be addressed by the study. Aragon said “you’ve got General Plans that go above and beyond Wildflower and Castle Oaks” in Ione. Moore said 321 “will-serves” in Ione are set aside and not paid for,” but Condrashoff “makes it sound like the money is owed, but it’s not true.” Moore said “saving this money is not going to make a difference,” if the agency funds the studies taking out a line of credit. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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