A new fire engine, the promised Type 6 model, has been purchased and is on its way to Riverside County Fire Station 23 in Pine Cove.

At the April 12 meeting of the advisory committee for County Service Area 38 (Pine Cove), Chair Jerry Holldber confirmed the engine’s purchase. As of the meeting, the county has used $120,000 from the CSA 38 reserves for the engine’s purchase. Riverside County will provide basic equipment for the squad, but the advisory committee, in consultation with Station 23 crews, may purchase some more equipment.

However, space on the vehicle for a lot of supplemental equipment is limited, according to Chief Bill Weiser, Bautista Division for Riverside County Fire.

But Weiser was very happy to have the new engine here. “It has a tank carrying water,” he said, describing it. “And it’s nice for access on some of the roads here that are tight.

“When the weather is bad and it’s hard to maneuver on some slopes and we have to get to a location, especially for medical emergency, it will be good to have,” he added.

In other business, the wood-chipper purchase has been approved and its delivery will be soon, according to county officials. Its cost was about $40,000, according to Holldber.

“It was basically bought for the benefit of this community,” stressed committee member Marge Muir, local real estate agent.

While RCFD will maintain the chipper, Weiser concurred that its uses will be to assist the maintenance of county fuelbreaks and the community chip site. “We’ll be stewards of this equipment.”

After the wood chipper is delivered, the masticator will be next on the purchasing department’s list of projects, Weiser added.

Work on the shaded fuelbreak in the Pine Cove area will begin in the next few weeks, according to Weiser. The environmental reports are nearly complete and Chief Greg Bratcher, Forest Division at the Mountain Resource Center, should be issuing a contract shortly.

RCFD burned more than 1,200 piles of slash and dead material this winter in the Stone Creek area of the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. This work will tie into the Shade Fuelbreak, he added.

“With that much dead material, this was a fantastic job,” Weiser told the committee. “The window in the weather allowed crews and heavy equipment to complete it just days ago — a monumental task.”

Forgiveness of big bills, new water rates on agenda

The Idyllwild Water District held a special workshop last week to discuss changes to its water and sewer policies, as well as possible water-rate changes.

The Ad Hoc Committee on Rules and Water Regulations, composed of directors Geoffrey Caine and Steve Kunkle, has been working on revising Ordinance 64 and other rules for several weeks.

At this point, they had several issues, which could move in different directions, and they sought some feedback from their board colleagues. With these opinions and after another meeting or more, the committee will bring a revised ordinance and a new rate proposal back to the whole IWD board at a future meeting.

Forgiveness of a large bill was one of the issues the board discussed. Acting General Manager Jack Hoagland said the committee was seeking thoughts about what kind of criteria might be used to allow forgiveness of a bill.

IWD does not currently have a policy permitting the it to forgive or waive some or all of an exceedingly large bill. Some districts do have such a policy, according to Hoagland. While it typically does not forgive the entirety of the bill, it will lower the rate to a less expensive tier. Part of the decision would include how often forgiveness might be granted and what are the criteria.

“Many customers are second homeowners and our advice is turn off the water when you leave the Hill,” Hoagland stressed. “Also, if you don’t repair your plumbing, why should everyone else pay for the water used or lost?”

He also added that a total forgiveness would be “giving away public funds.”

Caine suggested that once every four years might be a fair effort to reduce the cost and “… alleviate a hardship without costing the board too much.”

Another issue was the possibility of a water customer collecting and re-selling their water to third parties. This is another issue, which the current rules do not address, according to Hoagland. He added that if the customer has a private well, the regulation would not apply to that water.

Director Peter Szabadi suggested that, since the district has no limit on water use, as long as the customer pays for the water consumed the use might not matter. But Caine replied, “It doesn’t seem right to make a profit off the district’s water.”

“We’re just out of a drought, why sell a precious commodity?” asked Director Vic Sirkin. “If they want to sell to a third party, come to the board and make a request.”

Hoagland reported that the committee was inclined to delete language in the water rules referring to equivalent dwelling units and, therefore, eliminate the number of EDUs in calculating a new connection fee.

Some of the other water issues included a shortening of the period for assessing a late fee and dropping the fee for changing the ownership of a district property.

Water rates

A heated exchange ensued between Sirkin and Hoagland about the possible changes in water-rate calculation. Hoagland maintained that the size of the meter should affect the individual’s monthly rate.

The size of the meter imposes responsibility on the district to provide for larger volume and adequate pressure. The larger meters are becoming more common with new construction complying with fire-sprinkler regulations.

Sirkin countered that as long as each customer pays for their use of water, they would be paying the same rate. The difference in connection fees would address the district’s responsibility for capacity.

Sewer system rule changes

For the sewer system, the committee is considering adding language prohibiting the connection of a recreational vehicle to a customer’s sewer line. Hoagland said the chemicals in RVs can affect IWD’s waste-treatment facility.

The number of plumbing fixtures within a structure will affect commercial properties but not residential.

Also, the district will consider discouraging the splitting of parcels for new construction within the sewer district. Hoagland argued that the capacity of the current treatment system is not unlimited and the number of current vacant lots should establish the ultimate capacity limit.

IWD’s next regular meeting is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 19. But Hoagland confirmed that another workshop has tentatively been scheduled for Wednesday, May 3.

A San Jacinto man crashed his vehicle into a guardrail last week.

According to the California Highway Patrol, at 5:05 a.m. Friday, April 7, Shane White, 36, of San Jacinto, was driving his black 2011 Ford Fiesta westbound on Highway 74, two-tenths of a mile east of South Fork Trail, when he made an unsafe turning movement.

The responding CHP officer’s report noted that White related he had reached over to get food from his passenger. When he realized he had run onto the shoulder and was about to hit a guardrail, White said he swerved to the left, crossed to the other side of the highway and collided with the guardrail on the left.

Neither White nor his passenger were injured in the crash and no other vehicles were involved.