Water flows to Colusa
Residents in a south Colusa subdivision are now looking to borrow money from the city in order to solve their water and sewer troubles.
Walnut Ranch residents may have to go as far as putting their homes up as collateral to pay for a $5 million annexation process, but they would embrace the security of having both reliable water and sewer services for a long time to come, city officials said.
The Colusa City Council on Tuesday gave the green light to City Manager Jan McClintock and city attorney Jake Knapp to work out the logistics of the loan, and then bring it back for the council and Walnut Ranch residents to consider.
Colusa Mayor Donna Critchfield sits on the city-county ad-hoc committee that is charged with looking into options to help Walnut Ranch residents get out from under a private Butte County water company. She said Colusa County officials will likely reject the formation of a Community Service Area, which was discussed only weeks ago at a meeting of the Colusa County Board of Supervisors.
"They are dead set against providing services of any kind," Critchfield said.
That will leave the residents, most of whom want to be annexed into the city, looking for an alternative.
McClintock said a $5 million loan could cost residents approximately $4,200 a year, plus the cost of water and sewer hook-ups, and the cost of monthly services.
But it would also be the beginning of another long and potentially costly process.
The city, at Walnut Ranch's expense, would then have to buy out Del Oro's interests. The company is authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission to provide water to some 85 households in the district, McClintock said.
Paul Fortino, Del Oro Water Co. president, said Thursday that the company would be willing to sit down with city officials to negotiate an agreement that is acceptable to both sides, if Walnut Ranch residents decide annexation is the course they want to take.
Fortino said Del Oro's current request before the county for a conditional use permit to connect the company's water system to Colusa Industrial Properties wells could be further postponed if it looks like the annexation process will occur.
Because the process could take more than a year, Fortino said Del Oro's engineers are prepared to proceed with an emergency tie-in to the city should the company's water system show signs of failure.
"This could be done with no interruption of service," Fortino said.
Although the majority of Walnut Ranch residents have said they wanted annexation, not everyone in the area wants to be included.
Charles Fusaro and Fred Pilgrim have been vocal against an annexation process, which they said opens another "can of worms," including the eventual cost to residents to bring roads, curbs and gutters in the area up to city standards.
City officials have not denied that residents could be responsible for the eventual costs associated with necessary improvements to the area.
Contact Susan Meeker at 458-2121 or smeeker@tcnpress.com.
