Synopsis

Last week, at LVMWD’s board meeting, staff and Board members discussed the open house about the water tank earlier this month. A couple of Board members, but conspicuously not all, added anecdotal comments from Board members were that most people are in support of the tank, but are concerned about traffic and the look. Others reported completely different feedback (e.g., opposition to the tank).

In response, presumably, to the community’s request for an open contest incentivizing alternative suggestions from staff, the public, schools, and engineering firms, Director Caspary (without public discussion during the meeting with his fellow board members), directed staff to review all alternatives and present at the next board meeting (he gave them two weeks). He suggested to his fellow board members that they had two days to provide all alternatives they knew of to staff. Unlike what the public proposed, there is no incentive, and all the work is being done by staff (not submitted from the outside, or reviewed by those on the outside).

Want to express your thoughts to LVMWD? Show up to the next Board meeting on Tue, June 25th, or write an email to the general manager or the board members. Contact info below.

Additional Details Now Revealed

Some additional pieces of information have recently been revealed as well.

* The need for a storage tank was first conceived in 1968 (45 years ago) in the second staff report ever done at LVMWD. This did not identify a specific tank location, but talked about additional potable water storage on the western side of the District.

* One of the reasons previously given for not using the reservoir water to battle a fire in the event of a water shut off during peak usage was that it would require approval by the health dept and that would take time. The health department has now weighed in and said that LVMWD would not need approval to release water and issue a boil order. This doesn’t address the possible health issues in this emergency situation if someone does not boil the water as instructed.

* Director Caspary hinted that additional water storage tanks will be necessary with new developments underway in the western part of the District. (No other information provided, nor has this been validated).

* One or more LVMWD board members has been using a lost court case in another water district’s for fire damage liability as the reason for building the tank (e.g., to protect LVMWD from liability). Now, the District’s legal counsel has advised another Director that LVMWD doesn’t have that liability because it has a different situation (such as it possesses the reservoir as the ultimate back up). LVMWD’s legal counsel has not yet given the District an opinion, and until then, Directors on both sides of the argument are using this liability or lack thereof to support their case.

Contact emails for the General Manager and Board members are:

General Manager, David Pedersen DPedersen@lvmwd.com

Board Members:
Charles Caspary ccaspary@lvmwd.com
Lee Renger lrenger@lvmwd.com
Glenn Peterson GPeterson@lvmwd.com
Barry Steinhardt bsteinhardt@lvmwd.com
Len Polan lpolan@lvmwd.com