ANDERSON SPRINGS >> Lake County will seek voter approval to build a new sewer system in Anderson Springs, the planning commission said in the committee’s regular meeting on Thursday.
Community Development Director Richard Coel told the commission that the area is one of the biggest recovery challenges the county faces because of California’s environmental and waste management regulations.
More than 50 homes on the creek had old septic tank systems that were destroyed along with the rest of the property, but under state law, putting in new ones is nearly impossible because of their close proximity to the creek. With no waste management system in place, Coel said, it is illegal for survivors to resume living on their land.
The county has recognized this problem and has initially come up with a solution — to build a new sewer system that would connect the problem homes and allow owners to return.
“Because it all of it burned, we have to apply state standards,” he said. “It’s a big reset … at least half of the people cannot rebuild without sewer.”
The solution has its drawbacks, mainly time and money. Coel told the commission that the project would cost around $5.1 million and, at the very least, take about a year to build.
Understaffed and underfunded, the county claims that this is the only solution they can see so far and, according to District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown, they aren’t getting alternatives from Sacramento.
“Their attitude is the sewer system,” he said. “They only want to tell us yes or no.”
Because of Proposition 218, this plan can only be passed with voter approval. A similar proposal was brought to the planning commission in 2013 but it was met with public opposition.
On site sewage treatment in the community has been an issue since 1990, Principal Planner Audrey Knight said. Questa Engineering conducted the study that year and recommended that due to environmental risks, a system akin to the one proposed currently by the county should be put in place.
When asked why residents were reluctant to support it, Knight said it’s a matter of additional costs.
However, Brown believes the idea will be seriously considered due to the need.
“It appears by the large number of lots that will be affected by state law, it is essential that the sewer system be considered as part of the badly needed rebuild in Anderson Springs,” he said.
The supervisor plans to have dates lined up for the proposal by Saturday at noon, when a special meeting for community residents will take place at the Middletown Senior Center.
If the plan passes, people can rebuild on their lots, but conflicting reports of the land being habitable during the construction were told to the Record-Bee. Regardless, the county stresses the need for the system because without it an unfair rebuilding situation may arise.
“We need this community’s support for a sewer, because we will have an inequity of those who can and cannot rebuild,” Coel said. “I don’t know how to do this without it.”
