Florence City Council will hold a public hearing Monday, July 19, regarding the withdrawal of portions of Heceta Water District’s territory that are within current city limits.

As part of an update to the City of Florence’s Water Master Plan, the council decided in May it will begin preparations to provide water service to all properties located within current city limits, not including Driftwood Shores Resort or the Fawn Ridge subdivision, which currently receive their water from Heceta.

The council made it clear to Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller they were not interested in providing water service to the entire urban growth area (UGA), saying it was not economically viable.

“This represents a major change in policy on the city’s side,” said Florence Mayor Phil Brubaker. “The city is willing to provide sewer service (in the UGA) while Heceta will continue to provide the water.”

The City and Heceta Water District have been unable to agree on water service territory for years. Negotiations between the neighboring utilities were put on hold by Florence City Council earlier in the year in response to the water board’s lobbying of the county board of commissioners to reject Florence’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan until an agreement could be reached.

Heceta’s concerns have focused on the city potentially taking water customers from the district as they are annexed. Such a loss could have a dramatic effect on the district’s finances. Heceta Water District Manager Scott Meyer estimates approximately 60 percent of the district’s customer base resides within the city’s UGA. Brubaker said he hopes the city’s new policy will ease some of the water commissioners’ concerns.

“The city is saying,‘we have no problem with future city residents receiving a sewer bill from the city and a water bill from Heceta,’” he said, pointing to Driftwood Shores and Fawn Ridge as examples.

The area the city is proposing to withdraw from Heceta includes service industrial and commercial properties north of Munsel Lake Road and along Highway 101 north of 46th Street. Florence City Council has insisted those properties receive an “urban level of service.” Specifically, water fire flows for service industrial, commercial, multi-family and industrial zoned properties must be 3,500 gallons per minute (gpm) and have a three-hour emergency water storage capacity.

The water district has said that even with major capital improvements planned, it would never be able to provide 3,500 gpm, prompting the city to move forward with plans to provide water to those areas.

If approved, the effective date for withdrawal will be June 30, 2011, providing the city time to design and construct new water lines from Munsel Lake Road.

For the complete article see the 07-17-2010 issue.

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