Frazier Park Estates Water Hearing Set For March 3

By Patric Hedlund

The Lebec County Water District (LCWD) has scheduled a public hearing about annexing the Frazier Park Estates development by Falling Star Homes in Lebec into their district. Arciero & Sons sought permission from Kern County in 2006 to build 705 homes and commercial areas encircling Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec. Community comment about the impacts of the plan, plus a plummeting water table in the area, sent the project back for revisions. The developer’s consultant, Cornerstone Engineering, has requested LCWD to annex the project and take over water operations of the development when it is built. LCWD has hired Kennedy and Jenks Water Consulting firm to review all data collected by the Falling Star Project Consultants. LCWD is now ready to review this report and hear public input regarding the project. The board wants to ensure the public is aware of the hearing and requests the public’s input regarding the matter.

"We are also going to place two binders of the project’s data collected by Cornerstone Engineering, at the Frazier Park library for the public to review," board member Darren Hager said. The notebooks contain about 200 pages. LCWD requests that these binders stay at the library for all public to review.

"We’re only reviewing the ground water status. Our first step is to confirm there is enough ground water," Hager explained.

Falling Star is reimbursing the district for the expense of the consultant. "We are comparing all past data and information plus the new data to what Falling Star has," Hager said, adding that "we are inviting Tejon Ranch and Tri-County Watch Dogs and anyone who has additional recommendations so we have all additional data that is available."

The builder’s proposal would mean that the water district which currently serves 300 residential and industrial customers could triple or quadruple in size, plus be asked to supply water to over 2,100 people and run a sewage treatment system.

The meeting will be held Monday, March 3 to start at 7:30 p.m. at the Lebec Community Church, 2350 Lebec Rd. (down the street from the post office).

This is part of the February 15, 2008 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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