A new direction on parcel tax proposal

The Inverness Foundation has withdrawn its proposal for a voter initiative to levy a parcel tax within the IPUD to fund a variety of water conservation and wildland fire protection programs. At the meeting of IPUD’s Board of Directors on February 24, the IF proposed instead to work collaboratively with the IPUD board and staff on a joint proposal that could be submitted to the District’s voters. A survey of voters conducted by the IF indicated strong support for such a tax, particularly for providing funds for significant fire protection programs. But concerns also surfaced about using the initiative approach, which largely precluded IPUD from participating in drawing up the proposed tax ordinance. Instead, a community approach that includes IPUD, the IF, and other interested stakeholders was suggested. IPUD is eager to pursue this offer and expects to begin meeting with IF and other community members in the coming days.

Good news on bids for new storage tanks

Construction bids for replacement of the two tanks at the Tenney Site on the upper Mesa were opened on February 17. Five contractors submitted proposals, with the low bid from Piazza Construction coming in at $539,488, nicely below the engineer’s estimate of $565,000. We are pleased to be working again with Piazza; they were the contractor on our recent project that upgraded an old iron water main on Camino del Mar with a PVC line. There are some additional hoops to jump through with the State for the low-interest (1.4%) construction loan for the Tenney project, which will replace 70,000 gallons in leaky wooden tanks with 96,400 gallons in steel tanks. Once we get the State go-ahead, site preparation can get underway while the steel tank components are being fabricated. We expect to see work starting before summer.