Letter from Eric Fraser of BCVWD Regarding the $1.3 Million Contract gifted to Wildermuth:
By: Libi Uremovic | Original Article at patch.com
208:00 Letter from Eric Fraser from Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District read into Public Comments on September 6, 2015, Beaumont City Council Meeeting regarding the $1.3 Million Contract gifted to Wildermuth:
While reviewing the Agenda for your October 6, 2015 Council Meeting I noticed that the City has expended a large amount of funds with Wildermuth Environmental to develop an indirect potable water reuse program.
This is the first time we have seen this in any official city document. Since the scope of work he was hired to perform did not include this project description, the BCVWD would like to express our concerns regarding the City of Beaumont’s engaging in indirect potable reuse projects.
We have suspected that the City was pursuing this type of activity and repeatedly questioned Mr. Kapanicas and Mr. Wildermuth at various meetings regarding the project only to be met with evasive responses.
209:00 Fraser: To date; no one from the City or Wildermuth Environmental has contacted the District to seek our concerns regarding this type of activity. The District has specific concerns related to the potential water quality impact, point source pollution issues, and inverse condemnation [contamination?] impact to existing wells and well sites. Uncoordinated recharge locations may severely impact our ability to meet customer demands, district operations, and the ability to locate wells in the most cost effective and productive locations in the Beaumont Basin.
The City will be held liable for any impacts to existing wells and District operations including the capital in recurring costs for the wellhead treatment, cost of production, costs associated with compliance issues required by the State of California Division of Drinking Water.
210:00 Fraser: The Continue push by the City towards duplication of service within the District service area is not considered acceptable by the District. These issues have already been litigated in the past and we do not feel it is appropriate to burden the citizens of the community with the expense of litigating it again.
We are committed to providing the best services to the community. We would hope that with the recent changes in leadership that a more open and cooperative approach that benefits the citizens we both serve is the principal focus shared by all.