If you live or own property on the Hill and you care about the amount you pay for basic services — such as water, ambulance, fire, propane, electricity — and the quality of such services, you’ve probably come to find that the Town
Crier is a valuable resource for you.
Some of you tell me you don’t like reading about these things — unless it affects you personally. We just want to be able to turn on the tap and get clear water; know that a firefighter and ambulance are nearby if we need them; depend on delivery of propane or wood; and expect our electricity to operate — at least most of the time since we do live in a remote mountain community.
When we don’t get these services as we expect, we get a bit put out and start looking around for answers.
We reach out to the local newspaper and it tries to find the answers.
But so much of the time, it has been providing those answers to you all along through coverage of meetings, etc., where attendees are typically limited to a few usuals, if any, and a reporter. And you’re often too bored with meetings to either attend or read the stories the newspaper provides for your information.
Yeah, I know this sounds like a mild scolding and also a bit of a pat on our back, and I admit it is those things.
But many of you find it critical that this newspaper covers these things and you read these stories with much interest, realizing that we write them because they affect you. We are not the enemy of the people; we are exactly the opposite.
So, this column this week isn’t actually addressed to you who realize that we are writing for your benefit. It is to the others who find these subjects yawn-inducing and whose eyes glaze over just reading about who got elected to your fire board or how much your water district produced compared to last year.
Pay attention, snoozers (and please jab them in the ribs, you who are not). Two important public hearings affecting Idyllwild and Pine Cove water customers are coming up and they are going to personally affect you. We’ll cover them for you but we’re not going to express your opinions for you.
These are your dates to attend and why:
PCWD public hearing on water rates:
• 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 9, at the PCWD meeting room in back of the office.
Your bi-monthly charge could grow about 33 percent and the cost per 1,000 gallons almost four times after six years.
IWD public hearing on water and sewer rates:
• 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 20 at the IWD office meeting room.
The residential base rate may no longer include the 300 cubic feet of water. In fact, it may not include any.
If you haven’t been keeping up on why this may be happening, educate yourselves now. We have back issues of the newspaper available for purchase and so much of our coverage also is at www.idyllwildtowncrier.com for searching.
Please wake up and attend these important meetings.
Becky Clark, Editor