Yucca Valley, California

A Special Celebration……

Wastewater Public Advisory Committee celebrates 3 years! 

There is a regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 9th, at 6:30 pm at the Hi-Desert Water District Offices.

There may be a surprise cake for this special event and HDWD Board members might even join in the celebration. Shhh! It is a surprise!

Agenda item #10 is the Assessment District Update.  Will HDWD finally reveal the individual sewer costs to the committee members as mentioned four weeks ago? Shhh! It’s a surprise!

Agenda item #11 is the Stakeholder Outreach and Involvement Plan Update. The Committee to review outreach plan and proposal from MVR for outreach and other Consulting Services.

As I see it, the Staff at HDWD are informed of the preliminary costs for the individual parcels in Phase One and have kept the information very close to their vest, perhaps looking for a good time to break the news to the property owners. I would not be surprised if they postpone the release of that information until January, after the New Year, so not to ruin the Holiday celebrations.

If the HDWD Staff are making plans to bring this matter to a vote by the ratepayers in May  2011, they should release the facts and figures sooner rather than later.

The ratepayers have been kept in the dark and want to know the truth. If there are no grants in place, then just tell us. If you want to start building a relationship of trust with the ratepayers, it should be based on the facts and not wishful thinking with empty promises.

As I see it, the citizens also need to be informed of the individual costs for them to abandon their sewer system and connect the laterals to the main line. These costs are not covered by any grants and there has not been any information disclosing this fact to the ratepayers.

There is a breath of fresh air sweeping the cities and towns because of the actions of certain elected officials in Bell, California. The message is ringing loud and clear to bring in the Sunshine with full disclosure and transparency. Let’s all take a deep breath!

For more information visit: www.HDWD.com