It really is time to wake up to our serious water
needs
By GAIL PAPARIAN
I want to take the opportunity to thank the Banning
City Council for coming one step closer to bringing recycled water to the
city. While it is long overdue and way more expensive than it would have
been twenty years ago; it is better late than never.
The fact that this city continues to water golf courses, parks, schools
grounds and the highway medians with drinking water is just plain
unacceptable. Whether recycled water is more expensive has become somewhat
irrelevant. The fact is we need water no matter how we get it; be it well
water, groundwater, state project water or recycled water.
The bottom line is we can't live without it so we gotta
do what we gotta do. I am a big fan of
conserving water. It is the right thing to do and we should all become
voluntary followers before we are mandated to conserve like many cities are
beginning to do. From not letting the water run when you brush your teeth to
changing your planting palette outside, there is something we can all do.
Even if people all practiced conservation (which they won't), it will still
not be enough to level out the years of drought and what is yet to come. A
good answer is for Banning to get on the ball and get that purple pipe
moving. The purple pipe is designated for reclaimed water.
I walk past the purple pipeline in Sun Lakes every morning. It has been
there for enough years to have a full- size hedge grow around it. It's long
overdue to become functional and to stop watering our golf courses with
drinking water.
It is not Sun Lakers fault that they are forced to use this precious
resource to water the courses; it is Banning's
fault for being so delinquent in long range planning. The fact is Sun Lakes
has done little to change some of the outlying grass into something with
less of a water use impact is another story.
As I've said in the past,
some of the best and most beautiful golf courses I've played have had grass
for the tee boxes, fairways and greens. They have been more sensible and
eliminated a portion of the rough and converted areas to native plantings
and other water-wise flower and fauna. It's beautiful and smart. I hope
those that govern Sun Lakes take this into consideration before we are
mandated to make severe changes.
Speaking about Sun Lakes, there should be about $3
million in a fund that was collected as hook up fees when new residents came
on line. It was to help finance the delivery of recycled water. I hope they
check the pipes for rust before water comes
rushing through the purple lines.
Speaking of financing, other than the $3 million
provided by Sun Lakes hookups; where will the
money come from? According to a staff report at the recent council meeting,
it would come from bond proceeds, a state loan or grants.
Back in 2005, with the formation of the Banning
utility, “30-year AAA bonds were issued enabling the proceeds to be used for
any capital project of community benefit versus being limited to water and
wastewater related projects. Then City Manger Randy Anstine reminded people
that the bonds are AAA insured with no risk to the city and that water and
wastewater rates will not be impacted as a result of the bonds.”
That was then and this is now and to date, various
amounts of the bond funding has been spent. The city has: built the swimming
pool, replaced air conditioning at city hall, replaced (some) major water
transmission lines.
Some of the things that have not been done under
the bonding terms: construction of a new police facility, improvements to
the wastewater treatment facility, construction of water storage facility
and implementation of a one-stop permitting center.
I am a real fan of line items so you can see
things in plain sight. I don't like them hidden in general categories. In
other words, where has there ever been a mention of a purple pipe for
distribution of recycled water? (Should there ever be a facility to do so!)
Some former city employees will never have to pay
the price the citizens are paying for their poor and/or erroneous decisions.
The bonds were sold before the Capital Improvement
Projects (CIP) list was created. How much sense did that make? It turns out
that the bond money is only about half enough to do the projects. The folks
who made this decision are gone. They were going to do the rest with
developer impact fees. It appears that the impact is substantial, while the
fees are not floating in.
It is my understanding (and
correct me if I'm wrong) the bonds sold in 2005 go into default in
December of this year if things such as the police department building
aren't built. The window to use the bonds must conform to the stated
performance. Does this mean the money goes away and there is no new police
building?
I am a fan of the police department having the new
building that was identified in 2004 by a consultant for the city. Some
people have asked why the police department doesn't borrow money from the
utilities like the fire department did for its building on Wilson Street.
Anybody want to take that one on?
Here's the thing ... in my opinion, somebody
goofed. The city borrowed over $40 million on the assets of the
water/wastewater treatment plant and the powers that be didn't reserve
enough money to take care of the long overdue water needs of the people who
live and work in Banning.
How come?
Now that it is time to finally take some action,
there is not enough money to do the water-related projects. As I understand
it, we the people, are at the mercy of grants or state revolving fund loans.
Did you ever wonder what happens to bonds when
they are passed?
Simple.
They have to be paid back.
If we don't have enough money to perform water
projects that have been needed for years, how much do you want to bet that
we will have a raise in our water and wastewater fees?
All I want to know is when water is going to start
to run out of that purple pipe?
Paul Toor, former director of that department had
promised October of this year. Some people think that is one of the reasons
he left the city: he couldn't deliver.
For the time being, conserve water and keep an eye
on your checkbook. Water, like everything else is bound to go up.
Golf cart column
Of
all the columns I have written, this particular one seems to have hit
readers' hot buttons. To no surprise of some, many of the ideas I have
suggested along the way have been implemented because they make sense. Let's
hope this is one of them.
While sitting on the Banning General Plan
Committee, I was constantly lobbying for the inclusion of golf cart lanes
when it came to the circulation and recreations elements. With regular
gasoline over $5 a gallon (I saw it posted); it's time to think about
alternatives to one-person-in-a-vehicle transportation.
Riverside County has a long way to go before
navigating throughout the county on public transportation becomes realistic.
For now, I hope people will go to their city council meetings in Beaumont
and Banning and get their elected officials on board.
While there are many issues to consider, there are
very few logical reasons why it wouldn't work. A value added would be two
neighboring cities working together on a project that benefits all citizens
who want to take advantage of it.
As I said before, I want to take my golf cart to
the soon-to-be-opened dog park at Noble Creek and go in the opposite
direction if I have to, to the still-in-the-decision-making process for the
new court system in downtown Banning.
