On Tuesday, May 8 the Frazier Park Public Utility District board unanimously passed a motion directing manager Greg Keenberg to send a letter to Kern County Supervisor Ray Watson stating FPPUD’s interest in the possibility of combining its water line replacement project with the construction schedule for the Frazier Park Beautification Project.

FPPUD’s engineer, Frank Springer, reported that the water line under Monterey Trail, between the bridge and Mt. Pinos Way, does not need to be replaced. Sections along Mt. Pinos Way will need to be replaced, however.

The letter estimates FPPUD’s cost to replace the necessary water lines at $640,000 if the district performs the work separately, without assistance from Kern County. Engineer Springer, who prepared and presented the estimate, said, "If we do the work in conjunction with Kern County’s Beautification Project, the cost would be substantially less." In the letter FPPUD requests additional time to assess and prepare for the project, including a public Town Hall meeting it hopes to hold near the end of May, to which Kern County officials are invited. Also requested is funding to assist FPPUD to complete the work.

The board is seeking to determine who would be responsible to pay for replacing sidewalks, streets and other improvements, in the event that water lines within the Beautification Project zone require repairs in the years after the Beautification Project is finished.

Board Secretary Lisa Schoenberg said the question of responsibility for replacing beautification improvements after future repairs remains unclear. Schoenberg said, "Supervisor Watson has said FPPUD would be the responsible party, but we don’t believe that is necessarily true."

Manager Greg Keenberg said FPPUD’s legal counsel Ernest Conant is recommending that title research be done to determine the status of various easements through the properties involved in both projects. The board decided to wait for further information before committing to title research expenses.

–Reported by Gary Meyer

This is part of the May 11, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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