LAKEPORT >> Efforts to resolve set backs and sewer upgrades that has delayed rebuilding in the Anderson Springs neighborhood continues on the county level.
Jan Coppinger, the administrator for the Lake County Special Districts has been working with other agencies on funding to construct a sewer system that will allow reconstruction.
“This is going to be the first in a series of resolutions for the construction funding for the Anderson Spring sewer,” Coppinger said. “We have three funding agencies that are all contributing to this project to get it completed.”
The resolution for this project will be presented to the Lake County Board of Supervisors for approval. The board will debate amounts and the continuation of construction for the sewers in Anderson Springs. The first round up for approval is in the amount of $7.4 million.
“We are working out some details, it’s kind of a work in progress but this resolution is for the maximum amount we can get from the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB),” Coppinger said.
Numbers in the applications are continuously changing as Coppinger goes back and forth with proposals. The county will also be asking for $1.5 million from the Housing and Community Development and $983,395 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The total estimated cost of this sewer system is $10.5 million.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible to get this kind of money from the SWRCB.
“It makes it really easy when we put this resolution out here and offer to approve it, but the days, the hours, the months of work that get put into is unbelievable.” Brown said.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said it is incredible that the county is able to apply for these funds for this sewer system and never thought it would have been possible.
“Really, because of the fire and everything that happened is the way it really came through,” Smith said.
While going through the project, Coppinger said the community has been very appreciative of what the county is doing toward funding needed to rebuild their homes. She said this spirit is making it so much easier to do the job and put in the hard work.
The rebuilding process has been slowed by weather and the Clayton Fire. At times it seems that every problem fixed leads to another issue. With Anderson Springs, modern code for housing locations along streams and sewer systems has blunted reconstruction. Many homes were built and lines laid before new codes came into play.
After the Valley Fire, 198 homes in Anderson Springs that surround Anderson Creek were burned down, leaving only 14 homes standing and more than 1,000 residents displaced.
