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Story by:
George Edwardz
La Habra Heights, CA - After
news reports circulated of a proposed plan that would utilize La Habra
Heights water reserves and resources, ratepayers and council members here
filled a boardroom beyond capacity to attend the afternoon meeting of the
La Habra Heights County Water Board. The plan has many fearing development
of nearby hills, water shortages, water contamination and wells running
dry.
On September 27 at 4:00 p.m., the Regular Meeting of the La Habra Heights
County Water District was held. At issue is an agreement that would allow
Rowland Water District to use excess (reserve) capacity from the La Habra
Heights Water District to pump as much as 70% more water than ratepayers
currently use. In return, La Habra Heights would get 7 fire hydrants along
Old Fullerton Rd. and up to $100,000 annually. But only if Rowland
Heights’ goal of 2,000 acre-feet of water is met, and barring the wells
don’t run dry.
Many of those in the audience had never attended a water board meeting,
but felt they needed to be there since the district does not record nor
provide narrative minutes of their meetings. a candidate for water board
that is seeking greater transparency and opposes the agreement, stated
“people are unaware how this agreement to “wheel water” could impact
their daily lives”.
In contrast, water board advocate,and wife of Councilman Howard Vipperman,
opened her public comments in front of 50 assembled ratepayers and
neighbors, stating “There has been an attempt by the usual suspects to
confuse people cause panic, hysteria and fear, that’s what they do”…
“And they always pull the AERA project in, that is one of those
buzzwords”. Yet, her comments seemed misaligned with the majority of
assembled ratepayers. It is unclear if Mrs. Vipperman’s reference to
“the usual suspects” was toward Habitat Authority Executive Director
Bob Henderson or Hills for Everyone representative Claire Schlotterbeck,
who was in attendance. Both parties are vocal supporters of open space
preservation and opponents of AERA’s master plan community of 3500 homes
east of Harbor Blvd.
TheAvocadoExpress.com obtained an email from WCCA (Wildlife Corridor
Conservation Authority) sent to their Board and Advisory Committee at the
request of Councilman Howard Vipperman, a member of the WCCA Board. The
email asks WCCA staff member Judi Tamasi to send out information refuting
published news stories one being titled “La Habra Heights Water District
Explores Water Trafficking." The story appeared on LaHabraHeights.net
suggesting a draft agreement existed between two districts, La Habra
Heights and Rowland Heights, which could supply water to AERA’s stalled
project. The email cites an agreement that water district officials have
refused to release for public review. The email also attempts to squelch
any development deal tied to the agreement.
An excerpt from the email states “Under the agreement, we will only
“wheel” water for RWD when we have surplus capacity. We will only
“wheel” water that is owned by RWD, we are not selling our water to
RWD.” Yet, at the meeting both La Habra Heights Water District Board
President Brad Cooke and Rowland Heights Water District General Manager
Ken Deck confirmed the water would be coming from La Habra Heights County
Water District’s three wells.
Brad Cooke speaking from a prepared statement at Tuesday’s meeting
dropped a bombshell on spectators when he stated, “The district
understands the AERA development died several years ago and has been
recently advised there are no future plans for development.” Longtime
Heights resident Louise Smith asked Board Member Cooke. “Can you tell me
when or by who this deal with AERA is dead…how did you get this
information…”Cooke responded, “The information came directly from
AERA, AERA development”
Mr. Deck, whose district will supply the AERA development with their water
needs, refuted Cooks claims by saying “he was not aware of that”. In a
published report: AERA’S Land Development Project Manager Jeff Maisch
said laughing, "News of our death is greatly exaggerated.” He said
the project is very much alive. Water district officials also have not
supplied any correspondence or documentation to the public that the Aera
project “died”.
Richard Mandel, a close personal friend of water board appointed incumbent
Mark Perumean, said he was recently hearing about AERA and suggested we do
what is best for our city. “What Rowland Heights does shouldn’t
influence what we do so let’s do what’s best for us first and then
secondarily lets look at what goes on around us.”
According to Karen Vipperman, Rowland Heights has been harassed and
bombarded by public records request. She offered an apology dismissing La
Habra Heights’ ratepayers and media outlets seeking public information,
stating, “My apologies go to Rowland Heights this will only last to the
election (November 8th) …this is just what this very small group of
people do. people in this city are very sane, nice people…I hope you
remember that on rough days and continue in this negotiation”.
The meeting lasted less than an hour and raised more questions than the
water board answered. Even though the water board said the agreement has
nothing to do with development, Ken Deck with Rowland Water District said,
“You don’t want growth in the community but if you can add $200,000 in
revenue to your customer base without raising the customers rates, I
mean”. At that point Mr. Deck abruptly stopped speaking, leaving many to
wonder if the Water District is being forthright on whether the proposed
agreement will lead to entitlements or development projects not yet known
to the public.
The Public will have opportunity to address Rowland Water Districts Board
at Special Meeting on October 4th meeting in their District headquarters
on Fullerton Road. The meeting begins at 6:00pm
Click here to view the September 27th
meeting of the La Habra Heights Water Board.
EOM (End of Message)
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