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APG opposes Padre Dam water rate increase
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — Alpine Planning Group members,
at the July 26 meeting, voted to oppose the proposed Padre Dam
Municipal Water District rate increase, which would affect the
majority of Alpine residents. By now, all Padre Dam customers
should have received a mailer detailing the proposed rate
increase.
The Padre Dam Municipal Water District is proposing to
raise customers’ bills by nine percent next year, and at least
six percent each of the four years after.
District officials said that under the increase, which
would take effect in January, a typical customer would see bills
go up by 10 percent, or about $4, per month.
“Over the coming years, this raise is going to be big,
we’re talking multiples of current water charges,” said APG
member George Barnett. “We’ve got to challenge the water
district to prove how they’re going to spend it and on what.”
The district says the increase is needed because of
higher operation costs and the need to replace aging pipes and
equipment.
A public hearing on the proposed rate increase will be
Aug. 28, at the Padre Dam building, 9300 Fanita Parkway in
Santee, during the regular board meeting at 3:30 p.m.
“I’d like to see the community of Alpine speak out
against this increase in water rates,” said member Mark Price.
“We all hate increases in taxes and fees, but I’m
wondering how will we pay for the maintenance of the
infrastructure that is so ancient,” said planning group member
Jane Fitz. “We’ve seen mains break and cause terrible problems,
even right here in Alpine. How are we going to pay for this
without raising these rates?”
Six percent of the proposed increase comes from Padre
Dam, while three percent is the result of an increase from the
San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water
District, which supply water to county residents.
Padre Dam officials are planning to raise rates by at
least six percent per year from 2009 to 2012, but they said the
total increase is unknown because the water authority has not
set its rates beyond 2008.
Planning group member Chuck Taylor said that the
district’s financial problems could easily be solved by moving
some of the profit from the Padre Dam Santee Lakes project, to
other areas of the county.
The group voted 12-1, with Fitz against, and Patricia
Cannon and Chris Ramey absent, to send a letter to the county
and to Padre Dam, voicing their opposition to the increase.
The Aug. 28 hearing is open to any member of the public
who would like to voice their opinion.
The Padre Dam Municipal Water District serves Santee and parts
of El Cajon, plus unincorporated parts of East County, including
Lakeside, Alpine, Crest and Harbison Canyon.
Alpine Regional Center
extension
APG members heard plans for the parcels around the
current Alpine Regional Center. No doubt most have noticed the
large boulders and grading equipment that has been working on
the hill to right of the eastbound Tavern Road exit off
Interstate 8.
Project applicants, David Hulse and Jim Fleming, the
owners of the current regional center are planning an extension
of the existing regional center to include two parcels; the hill
directly to the west of the current building, which in the
process of being graded; and the large flat piece of land above
the current building, which at one time housed a Shell station.
The extension to the west will be nearly identical to
the current Alpine Regional Center. It will be a 25,000
square-foot, two-story building, intended for office or retail
space. There will be an additional 103 parking spaces there, and
an interior road connecting the three lots.
On the upper parcel, the applicants have plans for a
2,000 square-foot building, with 24 parking spaces, which could
house a restaurant or bank. The entrance to the lot will be from
Tavern Road, just south of the off-ramp, with an exit turning
right back onto Tavern or through a connecting road onto Alpine
Boulevard.
“We want to expand this project to compliment what we
currently have, and to not deter from the beauty of the area,”
said David Hulse at the meeting.
APG member Doug Benson questioned the applicants about
the added traffic to Tavern Road, which, until the addition of
the traffic lights, was operating at a Level of Service F.
According to Hulse, they have conducted a traffic study
for the project, taking into account the new signal lights,
which shows that Tavern Road is now operating a LOS A or B.
The project was approved by the planning group at its
June meeting. Applicants still need to go before the Alpine
Design Review Board with their plans for approval.
Mowry moves on
At the end of the July meeting, APG chairman Jim Mowry
announced his intentions to step down from the group at the next
meeting. Mowry leaves in the middle of his term as chairman, as
he is moving out of Alpine, and will no longer be able to serve
on the local group. A new chairman of the group will be voted in
at the next meeting.
Also at the Aug. 23 APG meeting, the group hopes to
fill the new vacancy. Any member of the community that is
interested in serving on the Alpine Planning Group is encouraged
to attend, and present themselves for nomination. The next
regular meeting is scheduled for Aug. 23, 2007, at the Alpine
Community Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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