PUBLIC UPDATE NOTIFICATION
On June 6, 2024, the Board of the Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District unanimously approved the resolution to authorize the District lawyers or their designees to take all actions necessary to drill a replacement well on the District’s property located at Lot 26, Strawberry View 1 Subdivision, 4889 N Rim View Loop, in Strawberry. This will include extinguishing any applicable restrictive covenants, restrictions, easements, or other limitations for the District to fulfill its primary purpose of providing potable water service to the District landowners and the public. (The full text of the resolution can be found online on our website.)
In order to meet the additional demands within its boundaries and address the moratorium on issuing new water meters, the District purchased the property with an existing well in 2022, after careful consideration of this and other potential sites in Strawberry. Since the fall of 2023, the District has initiated the physical work of constructing a 2,000-foot replacement well, a 100,000-gallon water storage tank, and other required equipment to meet the water demand, with funding support from USDA and WIFA. This work was ordered to be stopped by judicial order in May 2024 because of a lawsuit lodged by five owners in the Strawberry View 1 neighborhood. While the judgement ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in upholding the subdivision restrictions that were recorded in July 1970, the judge also stated that the District could pursue the continuation of the project through the exercise of eminent domain, including but not limited to condemnation of any interests held by any property or properties that benefited from any covenants or restrictions. To be clear, the District is not taking anyone’s land; it is simply removing the restrictions on the District’s property.
Prior to the actual start of onsite project construction, the District attempted to negotiate to limit the impact of the project with the plaintiffs of the lawsuit without success. Attempts to get details in writing on what the plaintiffs are looking for to arrive at an amicable negotiated compromise were also not successful. As a result of the judgement, mediation at this point is not a viable option because the District would need all 59 lot owners within the subdivision to agree to its terms The resolution adopted by the Board on June 6th, however, does not preclude any negotiations between the District and the plaintiffs and communities.
Some people have asserted that the District did not attempt to negotiate with the neighbors or to address the restrictive declarations outside of litigation. This is simply not true. The current Board, unpaid and non-partisan representatives, in its undertakings in this project and other matters before it, have exercised its duties in the spirit of service and in the best interest of the communities. It has also significantly improved community involvement at open meetings and established a Community Relations Committee, whose activities were curtailed by the lawsuit.
This Board has proactively worked to be transparent while securing grants and low interest loans to develop much needed water supplies and replacing failing water transmission lines. As a result, new water meters have now been issued at a rate of five meters per month since September 2023, significant in-roads have been achieved to remediate existing wells and install better equipment to produce a more stable and reliable potable water supply. While these are significant accomplishments, it is also necessary for the new replacement well in Strawberry View 1 to be completed to meet current and future water demand. This is especially true for the Strawberry community, which relies on a significant amount of their water being pumped up the hill from Pine.
These legal proceedings have come at a cost to the Communities. Any impact on water rates at this point is unknown as the District continues to examine costs and areas where costs can be optimized overall. As the District proceeds with the next steps in making the replacement well operational, we welcome any constructive comments and suggestions via the open session segment of District Board meetings. Blue Form requests can be submitted online or prior to the regular Board meetings. The Board would also like to extend our thanks to the community that has provided their support to our efforts and shared goals.
The Board of the Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District – June 11, 2024