At the water meeting, held recently at the Community and Senior Center, I took with me a series of question to ask the members of the panel.
The question I wanted answered was, "When this project is completed, what will my water bill be. As the meeting progressed, many were involved in the questions, and this question did not come up.
I took the opportunity to ask it of Councilman Bill Marble. His answer somewhat surprised me, that, and I paraphrase, "we really don't know because we are getting ready to calculate the new rate in January of next year". This made me wonder if the potential rates were ever a real consideration, considering the fact that my rate already was raised almost 100 percent from 2009 to 2011. I can hardly wait to see what the "New Rate" will be. That rate increase will reflect costs of the new "Project" and are guaranteed, in Councilman Bill Marbles statement to be HUGE .
Maybe others should ask the Council about this.
Bill Long, Woodland
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have." - Barry Goldwater
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
IS IT JUST ME?
This Woodland/Davis water project has some serious flaws. It seems that they may have gotten the "Cart Before The Horse" or maybe they have "A Cart With NO Horse". In order for this project to come to fruition, they have made some un-supportable assumptions which they rarely talk about.
ASSUMPTION 1: (IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY (THE TAXPAYER) WILL PAY! If you read any of the flyers they have put out, it is very clear that the "Ratepayers" are obligated to pay for it. That is why they are running the whole project through the "Enterprise Fund". Even if the project never comes to fruition, the taxpayers are stuck with $100,000,000 dollars to pay for the water rights from the Conway Ranch, You only need to read carefully the agreement to find out that the payments to Conway are due, whether or not we get one drop of water from them AND it seems to say that they have first right to their payment. They are assuming that we will get water from Conway but if the project does not go forward this $100,000,000 is due to the Conway Ranch group. There is a big difference between "Rights" to the water and having the water in our possession. The only option left, if the project stalls, is to sell the water.
If the Referendum in Davis is successful, the statement has been made that the City of Woodland will go ahead and foot the entire bill. There is a big problem with this, however. Just from an infrastructure standpoint, the pumping facility, we are told, will be a "joint venture" with Irrigation District 2035. Water will be pumped from the Sacramento River by pumps with the responsibility for costs divided between Woodland and Davis. According to the Woodland engineering department, there will be two (2) 36" pipes that will carry the water to the treatment facility in Woodland. What are they going to do if Davis pulls out of the deal? The entire project financially, and from an engineering standpoint, was developed with this assumption , that Davis will bear its portion of the cost.
ASSUMPTION 3: FUNDING WILL BE BY REVENUE BONDS.
According to their brochures " The project will be Funded using revenue bonds, with debt service repaid by customer water rates and future connection costs. In this economic climate, which is languishing in debt, it is very possible that Revenue Bonds may not sell, unless, of course there is a hefty interest return on investment, which, by the way, will be paid by the ratepayers as well. Of course, if they financed it through General Obligation Bonds, the interest rate would be lower, due to the fact that they would be secured by the "Full Faith and Credit" of the United States, which is deteriorating every day
ASSUMPTION 4: IT IS GOING TO COST THE TAXPAYERS ONLY $325,000,000.
As taxpayers, we are told that this project will cost around $325,000,000.00 while inflation is eating away at the value of the dollar every second of the day.. This is going to cost the taxpayers at least $500,000,000 (HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS) before it is up an running .
This project is rapidly becoming a reality. On October 17, 2011, they published the forms for the RFP (request for proposals) which means the project is or will be going out for bid.
THEY ARE BUILDING A CART (THE PROJECT) WITHOUT A HORSE (MONEY TO BUILD IT)
Look for stories leading up to the water rate increase in probably January of 2012.
ASSUMPTION 1: (IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY (THE TAXPAYER) WILL PAY! If you read any of the flyers they have put out, it is very clear that the "Ratepayers" are obligated to pay for it. That is why they are running the whole project through the "Enterprise Fund". Even if the project never comes to fruition, the taxpayers are stuck with $100,000,000 dollars to pay for the water rights from the Conway Ranch, You only need to read carefully the agreement to find out that the payments to Conway are due, whether or not we get one drop of water from them AND it seems to say that they have first right to their payment. They are assuming that we will get water from Conway but if the project does not go forward this $100,000,000 is due to the Conway Ranch group. There is a big difference between "Rights" to the water and having the water in our possession. The only option left, if the project stalls, is to sell the water.
If the Referendum in Davis is successful, the statement has been made that the City of Woodland will go ahead and foot the entire bill. There is a big problem with this, however. Just from an infrastructure standpoint, the pumping facility, we are told, will be a "joint venture" with Irrigation District 2035. Water will be pumped from the Sacramento River by pumps with the responsibility for costs divided between Woodland and Davis. According to the Woodland engineering department, there will be two (2) 36" pipes that will carry the water to the treatment facility in Woodland. What are they going to do if Davis pulls out of the deal? The entire project financially, and from an engineering standpoint, was developed with this assumption , that Davis will bear its portion of the cost.
ASSUMPTION 3: FUNDING WILL BE BY REVENUE BONDS.
According to their brochures " The project will be Funded using revenue bonds, with debt service repaid by customer water rates and future connection costs. In this economic climate, which is languishing in debt, it is very possible that Revenue Bonds may not sell, unless, of course there is a hefty interest return on investment, which, by the way, will be paid by the ratepayers as well. Of course, if they financed it through General Obligation Bonds, the interest rate would be lower, due to the fact that they would be secured by the "Full Faith and Credit" of the United States, which is deteriorating every day
ASSUMPTION 4: IT IS GOING TO COST THE TAXPAYERS ONLY $325,000,000.
As taxpayers, we are told that this project will cost around $325,000,000.00 while inflation is eating away at the value of the dollar every second of the day.. This is going to cost the taxpayers at least $500,000,000 (HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS) before it is up an running .
This project is rapidly becoming a reality. On October 17, 2011, they published the forms for the RFP (request for proposals) which means the project is or will be going out for bid.
THEY ARE BUILDING A CART (THE PROJECT) WITHOUT A HORSE (MONEY TO BUILD IT)
Look for stories leading up to the water rate increase in probably January of 2012.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Check out this page on nola.com
HERE IS A LITTLE ABOUT THE ENGINEERING COMPANY WE MAY BE USING FOR THE JOINT WOODLAND DAVIS WATER PROJECT! Byhell Chronicles
ISN'T THIS INTERESTING! This is only one of many stories about this company that you should read!
This story, from Nola.com tells us a little about the company that has been or may be hired to do the Woodland Davis Water Project. I also wonder if this is the "World Wide" company touted by Public Works at the Water forum at the Woodland Community and Senior Center.
IT IS A MUST READ. This comes from New Orleans Louisianna (NOLA.com)
Let us know what you think!
ISN'T THIS INTERESTING! This is only one of many stories about this company that you should read!
This story, from Nola.com tells us a little about the company that has been or may be hired to do the Woodland Davis Water Project. I also wonder if this is the "World Wide" company touted by Public Works at the Water forum at the Woodland Community and Senior Center.
IT IS A MUST READ. This comes from New Orleans Louisianna (NOLA.com)
Let us know what you think!
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