Supes approve fee hikes at Berryessa district

By DAVID RYAN, Register Staff Writer

Come July 1, homeowners in a far northeastern subdivision in Pope Valley will pay on average $524 every two months to have running water and a working toilet.

By a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the Napa County Board of Supervisors approved homeowners in the more than 350 parcel Lake Berryessa Resort Improvement District paying on average 5.6 times what they pay now for water and sewer service.

The increase -- boosting the current $92.50 bi-monthly bill -- goes toward fixing the ailing utility. Years of piecemeal fixes have failed to ensure long-term functioning of the 40-year-old utility. Residents also pay $570 in yearly taxes for water and sewer service.

District officials say the utility needs $2.3 million in repairs and a stiff rate increase to prove to the state attorney general's office that the district means business. The state issued a $400,000 fine to the utility for spilling sewage -- and sued the district for a potential $2 million -- and officials told the board if they approved the rate increase it would improve their chances to have the fine either waived or applied to repairs.

"This is not a Band-Aid fix," Nate Galambos, public works principal engineer said. "It's going to take a lot of money to improve the district."

The utility also faces a projected $186,000 debt and is embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit against the state alleging unfair treatment as it faced a crackdown by regulators.

After being rebuked by more than a dozen homeowners who spoke out for more than an hour against what they termed district mismanagement, supervisors Bill Dodd, Mark Luce and Brad Wagenknecht voted to apply the increase to appease the state and fix the system.

"The reality is the debt is there," Luce said, "The system is only getting older. What is at risk is we're going to get fined significantly. ...If we don't take action now we're going to be welcoming the $400,000 (fine) and perhaps another $1.4 million."

Dodd said he would rather be unpopular and make a decision he thought was best.

"I know the applause is bigger when you say 'No, we're not going to do it,' but I agree with Supervisor Luce that something needs to be done."

Supervisors Diane Dillon and Harold Moskowite disagreed.

Dillon said she was disappointed that county staff didn't bring more options to the table, like taxes or bonds.

"We've got to be looking at all these things at once because (not doing that) is what's gotten us into trouble," she said.

Moskowite touted a suggestion from one homeowner, who said the county should institute a "cooling off period" for two or three months to figure out other options.

Bob Peterson, director of Napa County Public Works, said the county didn't have enough time to consider other options while it negotiated with the state.

"We will pledge ... to work on those alternatives," he said. "Almost all require a vote of the people and that takes time."

Homeowners warned of dire consequences of the increase, saying low-income residents would be forced out of their homes and other residents would face huge hurdles if they decided to sell their land. They also said they didn't trust the district.

"Somebody's going to get rich off this and it's not us," resident Nick Spearidon said. "There's not going to be any community meetings because there's not going to be any community left."

Matthew Garcia, a new resident of the district, told the board it should consider taxes and ways to capture affordable housing subsidies.

"It appears that the majority of the burden is going straight to the ratepayers," he said.

Other homeowners like John Hallman questioned why the county couldn't help out.

"The effort to separate our district from the rest of the county is discouraging," he said.

In an interview, Hallman said he was talking with district officials about other payment options, but it was important that from now on the residents have a greater voice.

"You make them feel like they're part of the solution instead of having something shoved down their throats," he said.

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