Win/Win For Local Residents and Water Agencies
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PRESS STORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information Contact |
Win/Win For Local Residents and Water Agencies:
Pillar Ridge Water Production System Merged into Montara Water and Sanitary District
The water production facilities of Pillar Ridge Manufactured Home Community were merged on January 1, 2015 into the larger Montara Water and Sanitary District according to an agreement reached between the District and the owner of the Pillar Ridge community, Coach of San Diego, Inc.
The Pillar Ridge water production system includes three wells, a water treatment plant, and two water storage tanks. The pipelines that distribute the water to customers in the Pillar Ridge community will remain under ownership of the property owner.
“The customers of both organizations are going to receive real benefits,” noted General Manager of Montara Water and Sanitary District, Clemens Heldmaier. “The Pillar Ridge community will benefit by having their production system operated by and tied into the resources of the larger agency.
Montara Water and Sanitary will benefit by integrating the wells and facilities of Pillar Ridge into its system—making them available to be shared with all customers if needed, thereby increasing redundancy and flexibility.”
Pillar Ridge Community employed two part time operators to run the facility. Both will continue in that role, but now work for the District. An important benefit for both communities is that the operators of Pillar Ridge Community will be integrated with the existing District operators providing additional backup and flexibility for both systems.
Avoiding rate payer impact was the main goal for both negotiating parties. The agreement to acquire Pillar Ridge Water Production system involved a symbolic $1 purchase price. There will be no additional costs to customers of Montara Water and Sanitary District, as this was designed to be a mutually beneficial agreement with no extra costs or profit to either party to the agreement.
Lisa Ketcham a leader in The Pillar Ridge community noted that “we are very pleased with this agreement. It makes sense for our local public water agency to be responsible for our wells and water treatment plant - they are the experts. Also, it allows our 227 homeowners to be billed according to the same 4-tiered rate structure as other residents of the District.”
For more information:
Clemens Heldmaier, MWSD General Manager
650-728-3545
info@mwsd.net
PO Box 370131
Montara, CA 94038
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