YUCCA VALLEY
— Hi-Desert Water District’s board room was filled to capacity
Wednesday with Yucca Mesa residents spilling into the lobby to learn
if they would be required to contribute financially to a proposed
wastewater treatment facility.
They will not.
Directors determined after staff recommendation and public comment
the cost-benefit ratio for Yucca Mesa residents was insufficient,
since the mesa will not be connected to a sewer treatment plant in
the foreseeable future.
In other action, directors agreed to pay HDR Engineering $24,300 to
expedite an update to the district’s 2005 Urban Water Management
Plan.
The water district must have an approved Urban Water Management Plan
to receive state money for water projects.
The plan was prepared by Hi-Desert Water District and submitted to
the Department of Water Resources.
In the fall of 2008, the Department of Water Resources requested
substantial changes to the plan. Earlier this year, water district
officials learned the plan was not approved.
A staff report recommending the preparation be outsourced stated,
“With the current activity of permitting, planning, environmental
and procurement activity underway in both the water and wastewater
projects, some outside assistance is required.”
The consultant’s bid estimates contractors will spend 156 hours of
labor to prepare a draft of the report, which will take two months
to complete.
Staff discussion with directors on the subject suggested the 2005
report may be used as a template for the upcoming 2010 report.
Stadum removes himself from votes
Directors approved 4-0 on a roll call vote a declaration that
the water reclamation facility and wastewater treatment plant and
collection system will have no significant environmental effects.
The approved document, a mitigated negative declaration, is used
after an initial study when a government agency determines a project
won’t significantly affect the environment.
Again director Bob Stadum recused himself from voting on matters
relating to the proposed sewer system because he has subdivided land
for property development within the sewer area.
Earlier in the evening, Stadum had sat out the discussion about
excluding Yucca Mesa residents from contributing financing for the
sewer project.
