The Town of Apple Valley (TOAV) has proposed spending up to $200 million to acquire (AKA seize
) Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company (AVRWC). Now, with the release of their Apple Valley Ranchos Water System Acquisition Project: Initial Study,
we once again have to ask why?
.
Apple Valley’s Town Government is considering contracting water operations out to an outside contractor, or even to the City of Victorville.
That fact was revealed at the Town of Apple Valley’s first Environmental Impact Report (scoping meeting), included in the original EIR Initial Study‘s telling words:
There are several options for management of the system, including, but not limited to, management by the Town itself, management by a private contractor hired by the Town, or management by a qualified public agency.
At the July 7th scoping meeting, the qualified public agency
was determined to be none other than the City of Victorville.
Apple Valley’s Town Government Made a Slip in Transparency … It Won’t Happen Again!
So much for local control.
Apple Valley Ranchos has always, and will continue, to operate with LOCAL management and LOCAL employees.
Tipster Leane Lee, who has filed suit against the Town of Apple Valley to gain access to records of payments made by the Town Attorney on behalf of the Town, sent us the document below that questions whether the Town is providing all the necessary information.
See below for a list of missing warrant registers in 2015.
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In the video below, Apple Valley’s Town Government reveals there is no contingency plan if spending gets out of control or the price of eminent domain is too high.
Barb Stanton asks the question, staff gives her non-answer, Stanton pretends to hear what she wanted to hear.
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After reviewing the voluminous 284-page draft budget document from the Town, I regret to inform you all that there is not one dollar or expenditure line item specifically identified to fund the Council-directed Ranchos Water Company takeover effort.
Despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars already spent, with much more to come, as well as Mayor Pro Tem Barb Stanton stating at the last Council meeting that there needs to be transparency in funding related to the takeover process, there is not a word in the narrative or dollar amount in the line items to inform the public how their tax dollars are being squandered on this unnecessary eminent domain effort.
Since we know directly from the Town Council that the eminent domain process is moving forward, and the H2Ouch
misinformation campaign is still in full swing, tax dollars will continue to be spent on this effort. Where is the money for this effort coming from in the proposed budget? Is it being purposefully hidden in other funds, despite the public’s call for disclosure of these expenditures? I’ll ask at the next Council meeting on June 9th — hope to see you all there!
— TA
I read Mr. David Christman’s letter that tier pricing of water is in jeopardy. He apparently is referring to an appellate court ruling for a case originating in San Juan Capistrano. He is mistaken that it was tier rates only that were involved, however. The primary issue was a publicly controlled water company set tier rates without establishing the cost of service to justify the rate increases.
Differences in Costs Affect Water Utilities’ Rates, and One Utility May Have Spent Millions of Ratepayer Funds Inappropriately.
The Town has been spending thousands of dollars with its H2Ours campaign attempting to takeover a private utility in Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company.
One often repeated misnomer they don’t attempt to clear up is that they will have lower rates … BUT:
The Town of Apple Valley CANNOT & WILL NOT Lower Your Water Rates …
… But they will spend millions pretending they can.
Group opposes government takeover of private water company
As widely expected, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted stringent and unprecedented water-use regulations during its meeting late Tuesday night. Continue reading