YC shuts off water count

Hillcrest residents won't know the results of water surcharge protest counts until next week.

Yuba City City Clerk Terrel Locke said she wants more time to double-check the Hillcrest water protest counts because the vote is close and people are so passionate about the issue.

The count will resume at 9 a.m,. on Tuesday.

"This process has been going on for a whole year," said Locke. "There's no reason to hurry it."

The City Council meeting to certify the Proposition 218 protest results will be continued until Aug. 29 at 5 p.m.

The unofficial rough count as of Wednesday shows the city surcharge could be defeated, but it will be close.

No new tabulations were released Thursday.

Yuba City is proposing a $19.80 monthly surcharge for 4,000 residents to pay for a storage tank and part of a 30-inch pipe connecting the Hillcrest region to the city's surface water plant.

The connection and surcharge is being proposed after Hillcrest well water showed arsenic levels higher than federal standards allow during part of last year.

Critics say its a bid to pay for a pipe needed for development, and the city could connect the area more cheaply with less costly connections.

City officials say the water pressure would be too low to fight major fires without the large pipe.

New Dates

• Protest ballot count resumes Tuesday.

• The City Council certification rescheduled to 5 p.m. Aug. 2

Contact Appeal-Democrat re-porter John Dickey at 749-4711 or jdickey@appealdemocrat.com.