Crystal Clear work to begin next summer

Work will begin next summer on tying the Crystal Clear Water system in with the City of Yerington system.

The Lyon County Commission accepted the terms and conditions of a $2.6 million AB 198 Water System Improvement Grant, and Lyon County Utilities has begun seeking easements from the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Utilities Director Mike Workman said he hopes to have bids in by the Fourth of July, 2008.

"Right now we're in the process of getting easements," he said.

The Crystal Clear Water Company was a private utility that was taken over by the county last year after attempts to sell it failed. It was beset by high arsenic levels and poor water pressure, problems that hooking into the Yerington system should solve.

The AB 198 grant is one of three grants and a loan that will provide the more than $4 million needed to fund the project.

The other grants are a $934,265 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a $170,000 Community Development Block Grant already awarded.

"It takes a tremendous amount of time to get the permitting process done," he said.

Workman said he planned to hold public hearings to set new rates and connection fees. He hopes to have enough information to send letters to members of the community in the next month.

He said the grants will allow the county to keep increases low, and he expects that the water rates for a customer using 15,000 gallons a month will be $65 per month, up from the current rate of $55.56.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.