Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors tied 2-2 Thursday on whether to send Lake Camanche Village water customers a rate increase notice, or delay the action until after completion of a rate study associated with an agency-wide consolidation.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said Agency Counsel Steve Kronick recommended delaying the notice, to determine if an agency-wide notice was needed, so they could “do it once … so there is certainty to the public of what you would be approving or disapproving.” AWA directors in June approved sending a rate notice to Camanche customers, but omitted a date to do so. But earlier this month, they approved a county-wide consolidation rate study.

The issue was clouded by a $150,000 Water Development Fund grant that the Amador County Board of Supervisors offered if a rate increase was approved in Camanche. Critics urged sending the notice, including Craig Walling, secretary of Camanche Homeowners Association, who said the $150,000 grant was “almost extortion.” He questioned the emergency in Well 14, and said Camanche residents still wanted information “line by line how many hours” AWA worked at Camanche, and how AWA spent their money.

Director Paul Molinelli Senior voted against sending the notice and favored tabling it until after county-wide rate study was done by Bob Reed of the Reed Group. Director Gary Thomas also voted against it, saying “I have a lot of faith in Bob Reed’s studies. He’s pretty darn good.”

Regarding the emergency at Well 14, Thomas said “the water demand, we know, is far greater in the summer.” Mancebo said “I was genuinely concerned about capacity of that well, especially if we had a problem with Well 9.” He said tests tend to support what the consultant said would likely fix the well. He said countywide consolidation would fix existing structural budget deficiencies at Camanche.

Molinelli told Walling to carry back to his board that AWA needs to know what they really want regarding financial information. The board directed staff to send a letter to Camanche Homeowners Association to ask them “what specific information do you want.”

Director Art Toy voted to send the rate notice, and said the letter should ask them “why the information they have is not adequate.” Director Robert Manassero also voted to send the notice, and the 2-2 tie came because President Don Cooper was absent.

Manassero said there is no water emergency because of the cold summer but “the emergency is, who do we borrow the money from next?” Manassero said “I don’t know what figures they want” but they have not had a rate increase since 2006, and if they’d had an adjustment, “we wouldn’t be here today.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.