Amador County – Amador County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last week to make a $500,000 County Water Development Fund bridge loan to Jackson Valley Irrigation District to help get a state grant pipeline construction project started. The loan will help JVID start a new water pipeline and treatment plant project.

JVID’s Steve Frederick asked for the temporary bridge loan so the utility can fulfill a contractor agreement and pay in good time, and will make monthly payments back to the county. JVID has received a nearly $2 million state Proposition 50 grant, and said the reimbursements would take 30 days.

Supervisor Ted Novelli asked what the utility would do if the money came late, as happened with county remodel projects, using state Proposition 40 funds at Pine Grove Town Hall and Buckhorn Veterans Hall. Frederick said JVID is “in a 100 percent reimbursement agreement with Prop 50 money.”

Novelli said with the economic hard times, he doesn’t want the county’s feet to be held to the grindstone. He said he wished they could have something from their board saying they would pay. Acting County Counsel Greg Gillott said in the agreement, JVID agrees to pay us out of the grant and if they do not, they are obligated to pass an assessment on their property owners to pay back the county. If they don’t, “the court can order them.”

Frederick said: “This is an insurance policy for us. We would like to pay the contractor with the Prop 50 money, then if we need to, we can dip into the county money.”

Supervisor Richard Forster said: “I think if history is our judge, we should go ahead and authorize this.” Novelli said he did “not want it to come back and bite us,” like the Prop 40 funding delays.

Frederick said JVID has reserves, they are asking for $500,000, and realistically, they will only be coming to the county for $30,000 to $150,000 at any given time, and JVID and the county are going to be reimbursed monthly. Forster said: “I think they could pay this off in two years with their reserves.”

The grant was received to remedy the fact that they are serving irrigation water to people’s homes. It has been temporarily resolved by noticing district members to drink bottled water. He said Pardee Lake will be the primary source, and they are talking with East Bay Municipal Utility District about installing a pump station and siphon to the lower level of Pardee. East Bay Municipal has approved Lake Amador as a secondary source.

The JVID project will construct a 16-inch pipeline from Pardee to Lake Amador Recreation Area, and an 8-inch pipeline from there into Jackson Valley. It will also construct a new water treatment plant at Lake Amador, and install a “Homespring membrane unit on the Kreth Pipeline System.” The funds will be loaned from the Amador County Water Development.

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