Well No. 8
At its Tuesday, Aug. 28 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council adopted a resolution authorizing the Public Works Department to apply for a 10-year, no-interest, $3-million loan from the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) to replace the City’s Well No. 8.
Under its new water-well-construction-and-rehabilitation loan program, designed to reduce the need for importing water to the area, WRD provides up-front capital and assists with the design and construction of new wells or well rehabilitation.
City Manager Charlie Honeycutt explained that after recently completing its new Well No. 9, the City has focused on replacing Well No. 8, the oldest of its three wells, which has been operating for 40 years but is slowing to half its production capacity.
“Over time, the aquifer starts to degrade– it’s called ‘sanding,’” Honeycutt explained. “It starts collapsing around the well casing and, basically, the pump starts sucking in sand instead of water, and it does significant damage to the wells.”
Honeycutt said there is no guarantee that WRD will approve the City’s application, but if it did, the City would then have 90 days to begin designing the well and 18 months to complete construction.
“The City is fortunate to own and operate its own water department,” Honeycutt said. “This enables the City to manage and control costs in providing water to the community, which is reflected in the water rates that are consistently among the lowest when we compare with our neighboring cities.”
Risk-management award
Vice Mayor Larry Forester presented Finance Director Scott Williams with an award from the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (CJPIA) for risk management. The City had received the CJPIA 2018 Risk Management Award for best overall performance for agencies with a police department for the liability program, which Williams’s department manages.
“I’m here to present [Williams] a risk-management award for the diligent […] effort of him and his staff and the police department to work safely and prevent injury,” Forester said.
Forester said that CJPIA is one of the largest municipal self-insurance pools in California, consisting of more than 100 participating cities.
“It is an honor to accept this for the second year running for the City,” Williams said. “One of the central goals of finance is the mitigation of risk, and this is done, in part, through excellent protection for the City.”
Ranchos Walk
Aly Mancini, community-services director, introduced two City of Long Beach representatives– Michelle Mowery in the public works department and Larry Rich, sustainability coordinator– to discuss the inaugural Ranchos Walk scheduled for the morning of Saturday, Sept. 8, jointly hosted by Long Beach and Signal Hill.
Mowery said the planned walk, which is free and open to the public, goes between the two historic locations of Rancho Los Alamitos and Rancho Los Cerritos.
Rich said there are three walking distances for which the public can register– 9.4 miles, 6 miles and 3.5 miles– each starting at a different point in Long Beach or Signal Hill and ending at Rancho Los Cerritos at noon.
The routes will be guided by a downloadable smartphone app, with stops at various viewpoints. Free shuttles, provided by Long Beach Transit, will circulate throughout the day to transport walkers to destinations along the route, should they need assistance.
Mowery said that over 300 people had registered as of Tuesday.
“Join us– Larry and I will be out there walking,” Mowery said. “It’s going to be a really fun day.”
To register for the Ranchos Walk, visit longbeach.gov/sustainability/about-us/events-calendar/ranchos-walk/.
The next Signal Hill City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 7pm in the council chamber at 2175 Cherry Ave.
