Gorman, CA (Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021 at 8 a.m.) — The president of Gorman’s Golden Valley Municipal Water District was informed at 5:06 p.m. yesterday that the Lake Hughes Recovery Shelter (LHRS) will be provided a Certificate of Occupancy by Los Angeles County. LHRS is seeking  to turn the Studio 6 Motel at the center of Gorman into a homeless shelter with supportive services for about 216 people with mental health and addiction issues. Los Angeles County is seeking to close its Men’s Central Jail. The goal, according to Supervisor Kathryn Barger, is to place the most  serious cases from the jail in community-based facilities.

According to local lore, the full-time residents of Gorman have never numbered above 40 people. The water district mainly provides drinking water and wastewater handling to commercial businesses that serve motorists from the Interstate 5, stopping for a quick fuel and food break. The Golden Valley Board said at an emergency meeting last month that they fear they do not have the capacity to provide wastewater handling to their existing commercial customers in addition to over 200 new full-time residents and staff at the homeless shelter.

The Golden Valley Municipal Water District Board has told Los Angeles County that it cannot extend a “will-serve” letter to the shelter until they have completed a study of their wastewater handling system. Board President Ryan Ralphs said one of the sediment ponds is already overburdened and may not be able to sustain service to the region if the shelter is allowed to open before the system is updated.

This is part of the October 22, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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