Does the City of Twentynine Palms need a sewer system? That was the question posed to City Council Candidates on Friday’s Z107.7 Up Close Show, one day before the City spread word of a flood advisory on social media that took effect Saturday.
Each of the three candidates running for Twentynine Palms City Council District 2 -Jim Krushat, April Ramirez, and Paul Razo, are each running to represent a district that has strong opinions about the need or lack of need for a city-wide sewer system. Here’s what each candidate had to say.
Jim Krushat
“I know that a sewer system would be a catalyst for further development. The septic system that we have can only take us so far. A lot of developers don’t come to the area because they have to build the package plant which handles the waste water and sewage of their development.
If you ever did get a sewage system in this city, it’s not going to be cheap. It’s going to be expensive, and I think that takes some long term planning. To that end, I think that what the City did by teaming with the USGS and doing a really big survey of our geo-hydrological and geochemical area, and that’s going to take a couple of years to determine whether we have a not we have a nitrate pollution problem in our water table.
Once we have that information, then we can do the planning and say, if we bring a sewer system in, how are we going to do it. Where are we going to do it. How are we going to get the funding, and how are we going to do it so that it’s not so onerous to our citizens.
I would sit there and say that, with my background that I’ve had, I could be on the City Council and help with that planning.”
Paul Razo
“Yes we do. And it needs to get accomplished soon because it’s not going to get any cheaper.
The fact of the matter is that as we’re seeing more people come to Twentynine Palms we’re seeing more development happening and septic tanks just aren’t sustainable long term. They are an inconvenience.
I think we really need to focus on infrastructure. And we need to do it sooner rather than later.”
April Ramirez
“I was probably one of the more vocal people during this conversation at City Council: we do need a sewer system. Not only because the city needs it to run, but because there are state and federal mandates that are going through. And soon, we won’t have an option. Having a sewer system is something that we are going to have to do, and in the very near future.
I want to make sure that we’re doing everything correctly. When it comes to planning and picking a location. I was in favor of the USGS study, and as someone with a background in public health, we have to make sure that this isn’t going to have a long term effect on your community.
I’d like to see proper planning, proper studies, and listening to the experts. We need to find the right experts, and not just listen to people who want to vote one way or the other.”
You can listen to their full conversation below:
