FPPUD Must Make Up For Lost Time
Reported by Gary Meyer, written by Patric Hedlund
It is a "Beauty and the Beast" tale. A planned $550,000 face-lift to Frazier Park streets collided last March with the grim demands of an 81-year-old water system’s need for upgrades.
That conflict—and olive branches to resolve it—went public on Monday, June 18 in a Town Hall hosted by the Frazier Park Public Utility District (FPPUD).
Background of a Conflict
Serious issues were raised in March when former FPPUD board president Malinda Chadwick told a meeting of property owners and county officials that the beautification project could not proceed. Chadwick said the water district’s pipes need to be replaced in areas where the beautification project wants to construct new sidewalks.
She said the district does not want to tear apart and replace newly-finished improvements—a scenario that would be costly to Frazier Park water customers.
Chadwick claimed that FPPUD holds an easement that would prevent the county from performing the beautification work without FPPUD’s permission.
Olive Branches
Since March, county engineers and water district manager Greg Keenberg have been quietly exchanging information to explore whether cooperation may be more beneficial than confrontation.
At issue is whether FPPUD can be ready to replace its aging water mains while the county has Frazier Park’s streets under construction.
The beautification project began several years ago in local committee meetings in response to a Kern County Roads Department request for grant proposals. The county was distributing federal money for improved street safety and beautification in rural areas.
There have been numerous articles in The Mountain Enterprise about the project. Technical engineering has picked up steam in the last twelve months.
Questions
At Monday’s Town Hall, Kern County Supervisor Ray Watson and Kern County Roads Department design engineer Mark Evans asked FPPUD’s board of directors what it needs in order to meet the county’s schedule for beginning the beautification project "which is almost ready to be put out for bid."
Evans said a contract for construction must be signed by the end of this year or the funds will be lost. He showed technical drawings to illustrate where sidewalks, benches, trees, street lamps and other elements would be constructed on Monterey Trail between Frazier Mountain Park Road and Mt. Pinos Way, and on Mt. Pinos Way between Alhambra Trail and Pomona Trail.
The FPPUD board did not contest the county’s claim that FPPUD’s easement is secondary to the county’s easement, leaving the water district responsible for replacing any beautification project improvements their workers might need to tear up if FPPUD needs to replace old pipes after the county’s road project is finished.
Resident Frank Williams told the board, "I was on the committee that started this project several years ago and it was well-publicized in the local paper. Why your board wasn’t aware of it is not this project’s problem."
Water district manager Greg Keenberg said that FPPUD’s engineers are now potholing (a procedure used for locating underground pipes) along the proposed beautification route.
"What obligations do the businesses that will benefit from the street project incur?" one man asked.
"The businesses are paying what it costs for maintenance with a Community Service District (CSD)," Supervisor Watson said. The CSD will collect a tax from the property owners whose properties are adjacent to the improvements. The money collected will go into a fund to maintain the plantings and improvements, county officials explained earlier.
Funding and Water Rates
Asked whether FPPUD had funding to purchase new pipes, Keenberg said there is a good chance that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would match a loan with grant funds if FPPUD can show that it can repay the loan. He said repayment of the loan would require raising rates to water customers.
One man stood to say he thought the rates were "too cheap" and asked why the water district doesn’t raise rates enough to do all of the work that needs to be done before it becomes more expensive.
Keenberg explained, "It’s always hard to raise rates because of the public outcry…We have many retired people here who are on fixed incomes."
Speaking to the newspaper as a longtime consumer of FPPUD water, Keenberg said that if the board votes to go forward at their July 10 meeting, an information sheet will be mailed to all FPPUD customers to explain the need for a rate increase. FPPUD’s attorney confirmed that customers will be asked to vote and a ballot will be provided. "At least 45 days after the mailing there is a meeting at which further questions are answered and ballots are counted," the water district manager said. The Mountain Enterprise will report further in coming weeks to explain serious water system problems and the rate structure.
How Will It Look?
Evans said that with the technical survey and engineering complete, he now asks residents to provide ideas for how they wish the finished street beautification project to look.
He asks Frazier Park residents to send him their vision for the design: "Tell me what style benches, what kind of materials you see on the low walls, on the monument out at Frazier Mountain Park Road, what kind of street lamps…tell me what you want to see," he said. Frazier Park residents can send design comments to Mark Evans via email at marke@co.kern.ca.us or via fax at (661) 862-8851. Some residents have proposed another Town Meeting to focus on design suggestions.
Watson and Evans estimated that construction will begin in early 2008.
This is part of the June 22, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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