Ownership still undecided for Yermo water system
CSD president says board to look at condemnation
YERMO • The question of who will own and operate the Yermo Water Company has yet to be answered despite a lengthy meeting between the company’s current owner and the Yermo Community Services District board president.
Company owner Don Walker and Bob Smith, president of the Yermo CSD board, sat down with a member of the California Public Utilities Commissions’ administrative law division and commission staff members at a mediation session Aug. 26 to reach an agreement about who would own the water system. Instead, according to CPUC spokesman Andrew Kotch, it was decided that an engineering report would be prepared by Jan. 1 prior to another party acquiring the company. Rather than wait for a report to appear, Smith said he will be encouraging the CSD board to start looking at the possibility of condemning the water company.
“Now that we have the water rights I believe we have the authority,” Smith said, referring to an order by the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission, which reactivated water authority for the Yermo CSD in June. “I don’t know if we can afford to go through condemning that water company. We’re going to have to talk to an attorney.”
Smith said he attended the mediation session at the commission’s headquarters in San Francisco expecting to move into negotiations with Walker, but any discussions about the ownership of the company have been put off until the engineering report is done. Having an engineering report will benefit the Yermo CSD, Smith said, because it could be later used if the water company goes into court-appointed receivership. But it would mean waiting another four months for that to happen, Smith said. Because of a confidentiality clause with the PUC, Smith said he wasn’t able to disclose anything else that was discussed during the mediation session.
Yermo has been experiencing problems with water outages and contaminated water for about six years, Smith said. Smith said he thinks an engineering report would show a system that is outdated and in dire need of repair. He said the Yermo CSD board will be looking into the possibility of condemning the water company between now and Jan. 1
Prior to the mediation session last week, Walker said he was negotiating the sale of the water company through a Realtor to an unidentified firm. Walker could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Kotch said nothing else could be said beyond the preparation of an engineering report right now.
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