Letter: Time to upgrade Hillcrest water

There is a group of local citizens fighting for lousy water; Yuba City's Hillcrest water system is broken. The water is lousy, and water pressure in Hillcrest regions 2 and 3 is low because there simply isn't enough water during peak demand times.

After many, many months of meetings with Hillcrest water users, the city proposed converting all the former Hillcrest customers to the city's surface water system for a one-time fee not to exceed $3,570, or a monthly fee not to exceed $19.80. This proposal provides a long-term solution to the problem.

In discussing this proposal at the City Council meeting, Mayor Rory Ramirez very clearly stated that if this proposal is rejected by the affected customers, the only alternative for the city is to sell the system to a private company. A private company can fix the system (which will be more expensive than converting to surface water) and continue to give us the same lousy water we are now getting, but the costs could double or triple. Paying more for the same lousy water than we would be paying for good water makes no sense.

According to a story in the July 5 Appeal-Democrat, a group of about 20 people will be going door to door trying to get residents to reject the city's proposal - keeping roughly 4,000 homes from getting better water. Why does this small group want the city's proposal rejected? What is their hidden agenda?

Bob Bush
Yuba City