Wednesday, 16 June 2010 06:03

AWA Looks to Be Able to Serve Its “Will Serve”Commitments

slide5.pngAmador County – The Amador Water Agency last week discussed allowing new treated water connections of up to 24 in Ione, and another 186 on the Tanner plant system, as the agency reaches the “bottom of the barrel” of its capacities. General Manager Gene Mancebo said “being at the bottom of the barrel capacity is new for this agency.” The agency attorney will look into state peak flow requirements and whether the agency can allow those new hook ups, by looking at Title 22’s applicability. Mancebo said the agency is “not looking to make it a state campaign,” and hopes to handle it with the district representative of the California Department of Public Health. Ione-area developer Rob Aragon (representing Ione Villages 1 LLC and the Building Industry Association) said he wanted to confirm that a connection will be given if someone does improvements and gets a final map. President Bill Condrashoff asked what staff does when they get will-serve requests, which come in at a rate of 1 to 2 per month. Engineering Manager Erik Christesen said they had “been referring them to this board meeting.” Mancebo said: “Giving will-serves is not a board action,” but “changing agency policy is a board action.” He said they have to worry about places with existing parcels, such as at Castle Oaks, and they must prepare for people who will come and say “here’s my map, here’s my check, I want service.” He said the agency is worrying about how it should function when it tries to answer such a question for service. He said “staff has been concerned, so it was brought to the board to get direction. The board will allow 2 units to connect a month, until agency counsel Steve Kronick hears from Public Health in the next 2 weeks. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.