Photo by JP Crumrine
The next general manager of the Fern Valley Water District will be Victor Jimenez, who currently works for the City of El Monte. He was the unanimous choice of the board and will begin in early April.
FVWD received 15 applications for the position, and the General Manager Selection Committee, composed of directors Trischa Clark and Robert Krieger, reviewed all of the applications. They then interviewed four of the applicants and finally recommended Jimenez for the position.
In December, General Manager Steve Erler announced his intention to retire at the end of June. Jimenez’s start allows an overlap in time for him to work with Erler and to learn about the district’s operations before Erler leaves.
After his selection, Clark said, “I’m glad we put this together and can move forward now.”
As chair of the search committee, Krieger moved to hire Jimenez. The starting salary will be $80,000 with a potential for an increase to $95,000 annually by January, depending upon his performance.
In water business, FVWD customers consumed 3.9 million gallons of water during the January and February billing period, which is about 310,000 gallons less than a year ago. It also is the lowest water usage in the last decade.
However, the water sales revenue for this period was about $2,600 less than a year ago. Total water revenue of $67,400, which includes service charges, also was down about $2,500.
The percentage of unaccounted-for water declined this period and in response to a question for President James Rees, Erler said the recently installed new pipelines have helped reduce water loss.
Erler also reported that the winter’s rainfall is helping to raise the groundwater level of the wells. One has increased 10 feet in the past month.
“Well levels are coming up and the Strawberry Creek flow is looking good,” he said. The district did divert some stream flow and this was the first significant diversion since March 2013, Erler added.
