Beverly water plans advance

On Tuesday, the Porterville City Council unanimously gave engineers the go ahead to further their research on installing a water main along North Beverly Street.

The 30 residents living between North Grand Avenue and Castle Avenue currently draw water from wells that are either unreliable or completely dry. The water main project will be designed, managed and funded with city money, to be repaid by the residents in monthly installments.

The project will be finished by summer.

There are several other neighborhoods in Porterville experiencing similar water troubles. Those along North Beverly Street earned the attention of the city council  based on the number of complaints it received in the last year.

City Manager John Lollis suggested Tuesday night that North Cloverleaf will be the next street to garner city attention.

A majority of the North Beverly Street residents came to favor the water main plan after they learned of less desirable options, including continuing to rely on failing wells, or paying for the infrastructure based on Tulare County’s assessed tax values of their property. About half of them met last week with city representatives to learn about those options, ultimately requesting that the city council consider that they equally divide the $250,000 cost of purchasing and installing the water main.

As result, the cost will be shared equally by the residents via a 30 year loan, with a 3 percent interest rate, which equals about $35 per month per household. The interest rate is susceptible to change.
The cost is “truly a property owner’s responsibility” and should not be paid for by renting tenants, City Attorney Julia Lew said.

That amount will be in conjunction with residents’ utility bills, which will be based on the amount of water used each month.

As requested by the city council on Tuesday, staff will now have to determine the legal requirements associated with the project, such as how residents will pay for the separate cost of hooking up to the 1,320-foot pipe.

The section of North Beverly Street was one of many areas annexed from Tulare County in 2006.

The city does not have laws that require it to immediately provide infrastructure to these areas. When they are annexed, they are placed on a waiting list that yields wait times longer than 10 years.

Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.