Another setback for the Yucca Valley sewer system. The Hi-Desert Water District Board heard about another delay last night, before it went into closed session for a performance evaluation for General Manager Ed Muzik, where it gave him a unanimous vote of confidence. Managing editor Tami Roleff explains why the sewer project is delayed yet again…
It seems the Hi-Desert Water District just can’t catch a break for its wastewater reclamation project, as it faces another delay in the project’s timeline. When the Board of Directors changed in September how the future sewer plant would treat wastewater, the change required an updated tortoise survey at the plant site. The results of the tortoise survey should have been received two weeks ago, but the water district is still waiting. That delay has forced a minimum two-week delay for the district’s application to be approved by the State Water Resources Control Board, which is the agency that will determine the interest rate for the loan for the water district. So instead of assigning the water district’s interest rate for its loan for the sewer project on February 3, the water district’s application may not be on the state water board’s agenda until February 17, or possibly not even until March. The Board of Directors voted last night to wait until the state has assigned an interest rate before mailing out assessment ballots to Yucca Valley residents, which is not tentatively set for the end of February, providing there’s not another delay.
MORE DELAYS FOR YUCCA VALLEY SEWER PROJECT
