HomeMy WebLinkAbout7 Donner Lake Water Company Agenda Item # 7
DistrictPublic Utility
Memorandum
To: Board of Directors
From: Peter Holzmeister
Date: April 27, 2001
Resolution of Necessity to acquire by eminent domain the water
system of Donner Lake Water Company
Dennis DeCuir is preparing the resolution. It is not yet ready for distribution and Dennis
may need to bring it with him to the meeting on Wednesday evening. The resolution is
highly legalistic and is being carefully considered and drafted by Dennis. I will get a copy
to you as soon as 1 have it, but it may not be until Wednesday evening.
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Resolution No. 2001-
RESOLUTION OF NECESSITY
DECLARING THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND NECESSITY
FOR TFIE ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN PROPERTIES,BEING TFIE
WATER SYSTEM OF THE DONNER LAKE WATER COMPANY
WHEREAS, by Resolution No. 2001-08, adopted by this Board on April 4,
2001, this District gave notice of its intent to consider the adoption of a
Resolution of Necessity in connection with the acquisition of certain properties,
being the water system of the Donner Lake Water Company, and invite the
owner to appear and be heard at a hearing to be set, which hearing was set for
this date,May 4,2001;and
WHEREAS, through its counsel, the owner of the Donner Lake Water
Company properties has requested to be heard and such hearing has been
afforded, held and concluded, and the evidence presented has been considered;
now
THEREFORE, BE IT HERESY RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of the Truckee
Donner Public Utility District,as follows:
Section 1. Donner Lake Water Company owns the Property to be acquired
by this District, which is described in Exhibit A, attached to and incorporated in
this resolution by this reference.
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Section 2. This District is authorized to acquire the Property pursuant to
Article Xl, section 9 of the California Constitution, the Public Utility District Act,
including Public Utilities Code section 16404, and the provisions of the Eminent
Domain Law, including specifically sections 1240.610 and 1240.650(a) of the Code
of Civil Procedure.
Section 3. The use for which the Property described in Exhibit A is sought
to be taken is a more necessary use than the public use to which such property is
appropriated in the following respects, among others: This District is
proximately located and more capable of operating, rehabilitating, rebuilding,
reconstructing and maintaining the water system for the greater public benefit
than the Donner Lake Water Company, which is managed from Chico,
California; this District is more capable of managing the reconstruction of the
system to serve the water customers of the service area of the Donner Water
Company because of the depth, skills, and expertise of the District's water
service and management personnel; this District does not, as the private
company does,need to include in its revenue requirement a return or profit from
the rates charged to water customers for distribution to shareholders or owners;
the District's water resources and its water service capabilities will add an
efficiency by the economy of scale to the restoration of safe and reliable water
service which the Donner Lake Water Company has not proven itself capable of
providing; and in addition, the District is able to effect the more necessary public
use of perpetuating the Property in public ownership for the benefit of those
persons the Property should serve, as demonstrated by the overwhelming
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approval of the formation of the assessment district to acquire and approve the
system,as described below.
Section 4, In the formation of Donner Lake Water Assessment District No.
00-1, the property owners who should be provided safe and reliable water
service by the Property voted to authorize this District to levy an assessment on
their properties for the purpose of financing the acquisition and improvement of
the water system by ballots in favor numbering 983, with those opposed
numbering 155, for a percentage of assessments in favor of the District levy and
plan amounting to 86,7/6,with those opposed amounting to 13.3%.
Section 5, This District had the Property appraised before the initiation of
negotiations, and conducted negotiations with the owner of the Donner Lake
Water Company, and has afforded the owner the opportunity to meet with the
District's appraiser at the Property, and has made an offer in writing to the
owner by letter dated February 23, 2001, to acquire the Property for the full
amount so established by the appraisal approved by the District, and has
provided the owner a complete copy of the appraisal. The District has attempted
and will continue to attempt to negotiate with the owner for the purchase of the
Property, but the negotiations to this point in time have not progressed
sufficiently to warrant further delay of the reconstruction of the water system
and putting the Property to the more necessary public use of serving the
properties and the customers who have voted to approve the acquisition and
improvement of the water system, safely and reliably.
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Section 6. The public interest and necessity require the proposed Project,
which is the acquisition and rehabilitation of the Property in accordance with the
water system improvement plan described at this meeting and in the Negative
Declaration prepared under the provisions of the California Environmental
Quality Act for the Donner Lake Water System Acquisition and Rehabilitation
Project,approved on February 12,2001 (Project).
Section 7. The Project is planned and located in the manner that will be
most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury.
Section S. The Property is necessary for the public purpose of furnishing
the customers heretofore served by the Donner Lake Water Company or
included in Donner Lake Water Assessment District No. 00-1, with water for all
of the lawful uses to which water may be put, including domestic and
commercial consumption,as well as fire suppression.
Section 9. The use for which the Property is to be taken is a more
necessary use than the public use to which the Property is appropriated, and
reference is specifically made in this connection to sections 1240.610 and
1240.650(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Section 10. In considering the issues of more necessary public use, and the
public interest and necessity of the acquisition of the Property for the Project, this
District has advised itself of the urgent need for taking quick action in order to
begin to rehabilitate the water system to eliminate the public health emergency
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that has beset the customers of the Donner Lake Water Company. By Resolution
W-4216 the Water Division of the Public Utilities Commission, on August 3,2000
found that a water shortage emergency existed in the service area of the Donner
Lake Water Company. The commission described that the Donner Lake Water
Company's spring and lake water sources had not met the minimum safe
drinking water standards since 1991, two years before Donner Lake Water
Company acquired the Property. Since August 13, 1993 the Donner Lake Water
Company has been under an order of the Department of Health Services (DHS)
to build a water treatment plant to comply with the safe drinking water
standards. The company has not done so. The commission also found that the
Donner Lake Water Company has had a history of water outages that had
increased in frequency and required the DHS to place the Donner Lake Water
Company on a boil water notice, an enormous inconvenience and discomfort to
the customers, and an indication of the urgent nature of the public health
emergency that must be speedily resolved. The District is also advised that by
letter dated April 9,2001,the DHS wrote to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality
Control Board that, among other things, an emergency existed which should be
exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.
Among the serious health problems noted by DHS were the failing lake intake.It
compromises the safety and reliability of the water supply because of holes near
the shoreline of Donner Lake. These holes allow water which contains a
concentration of human pathogens to be drawn into the water system. In
addition, the close proximity of the marina to the intake creates a potential,
according to the DHS, for concentrations of MTBE to be drawn into the intake,
DHS states that the situation is further exacerbated by the inadequate treatment
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provided by the Donner Lake Water Company. DHS also reported in its April 9,
2001 letter that the present system of the Donner Lake Water Company is unable
to meet current demands because of the increasing number of leaks, not only in
the lake intake, but also in the main line distribution and water storage tank
systems. In the latter half of June 2000 residents reported they had water outages
lasting several hours each day for several consecutive days. The DHS expects
that water outages during the summer of 2001 will increase in frequency and
duration as thousands of annual visitors flock to the area and place added
demand on the existing system, creating a public health threat in the area that is
imminent. Moreover, DHS reports that the existing water system cannot
presently meet required fire flows at almost all locations in the system, which
could result in the loss of life,property, and essential services. For the foregoing
reasons, with which this District has no disagreement, and which this Board
finds and declares present good reason therefor, this District hereby authorizes
and directs its General Manager and attorneys to file and prosecute a complaint
in eminent domain to acquire the Property, in the Superior Court of Nevada
County at the earliest practical time, and to request the Court to order immediate
possession of the Property before judgment, with the shortest possible notice.
The Donner Lake Water Company does not maintain or house operational
personnel at the Property on a daily or dependent basis, and thus will not be
inconvenienced unduly, compared to the balance of hardships borne by the
customers. In order that rehabilitation and corrective measures can be taken as
soon as possible, within the short construction season that limits construction in
this area,immediate possession is urgently required.
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Section 11. The General Manager and counsel are also instructed to
continue negotiations with the owner of the Donner Lake Water Company in
order to ease the transition from private to public ownership. The Clerk of the
Board is instructed further to give notice of the adoption of this resolution by
certified copy hereof to the California Public Utilities Commission.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of the Truckee
Donner Public Utility District at a meeting duly called and held within in the
District on the 4th day of May,2001 by the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Noes: Absent:
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EXHIBIT A
Exhibit A to the Resolution of Necessity of the Truckee Dormer Public Utility
District to Acquire the Water System of the Donner Lake Water Company
The Property to be acquired includes all water production, transmission,
storage and distribution property and facilities,and all properties,franchises and
rights in the nature of franchises,licenses, all wells, pumps, pumping plants and
pumping equipment, water treatment equipment, any and all tanks, mains,
pipes, pipelines,hydrants,valves, connections,services,meters, meter boxes and
associated facilities,all buildings,structures and improvements,all materials and
supplies, all operating and customer account records, any and all meter history
cards, all maps and drawings,all lands, water rights,including but not limited to
subterranean water, surface water, springs, and riparian, licensed, noticed, and
registered rights, easements and rights-of-way, all physical properties and all
appurtenances thereto, and all property and interests in property of every kind
comprising a part of or used in connection with the operation of the Donner Lake
Water Company water system, and further including, without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, all real property presently owned by the Donner
Lake Water Company (with the exception of and excluding Tract B from) as
described in the metes and bounds descriptions that follow as a part of this
Exhibit A, which thus include Tracts A, C, and D, marked pages 2 through 5
inclusive (page 1 being omitted), and denominated in the left hand upper border
of page 2 as Order No. 14153742, Guarantee Serial No. LG-1518-02513. The
Property to be acquired also includes all right, title, and interest in the right and
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obligation to serve the Reserved Donner Lake Water Right, and to provide other
water to serve within the boundaries of the water service area of the Donner
Lake Water Company as heretofore approved by the California Public Utilities
Commission, as well as the Donner Lake Company Lands and Resort, shown on
Exhibits A and B of Instrument No. 98019553 of the Official Records of the
County of Nevada, with the acquisition and assumption of such instrument as a
part of the Property,
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Order No. 14153742
Guarantee Serial No_ LG-1518-02513
EXHIBIT "A"
The land referred to herein is situated in the Truckee, County of Nevada, `
State of California, and is described as follows:
TRACT A-
Parcel One:
That parcel of land in the Town of Truckee, County of Nevada, State of
California, described as follows:
That portion of Lot 1 of the Northeast quarter of Section 14, Township 17
North, Range 15 East, M.D.M. , described as follows:
BEGINNING at the Northeast corner of said Section 14; thence along the East `
line of Section 14, South 01009148/, East 332.19 feet to the Northeast '
corner of the land described in the Deed to the State of California (Parcel >
2) recorded August 24, 1960 in Book 284, Page 396 of Official Records;';
thence South 88046139" West 374 .37 feet along the Northerly line of
Interstate 80 as described in said deed to the Northwest line of the land,
described in the Deed to Donner Lake Utility Company recorded March 24, i
19SS in Book 244, Page 36 of Official Records; thence along said
Northwesterly line, North 48023100" East 470 feet to the point of
,)eginning.
APN: 17-150-07
Parcel Two:
That 'parcel of land in the unincorporated area, County of Nevada, State of
California, described as follows:
That portion of Lot 1 of the Northeast quarter of Section 14, Township 17
North, Range 15 East, M.D.M. , described as follows:
BEGINNING at the intersection of the Southwest line of the land described
in the deed to Donner Lake Utility Company recorded March 24, 1958, in Book'
244, Page 36 of Official Records with the Southerly line of Interstate 80 '
as described in Parcel 2 in the deed to the State of California recorded
August 24, 1960 in Book 284, Page 396 of Official Records, said
intersection being Southerly 290 feet, measured radially from the "Cl" line<
of the Department of Public Works ' Survey from Soda Springs to 1 .3 miles
West of the Junction of Routes 37 and 38, road III-Nev-37-B,CD at
Engineer's Station "C1" 224+30.00; thence North 660241291, East 440 . 61 feet'
along said Southerly line; thence continuing along said Southerly line
Easterly 268 . 00 feet along a left curve having a radius of 2, 312 .00 feet`'
and a central angle of 06138 '30" , the chord of which bears North 82"00 '27"
East 267. 85 feet and North 60049148" West 38 . 59 feet to the East line ofs'`
said Section 14; thence along said East line, South 01009148" East to the
Southerly line of the land described in said Deed to Donner Lake Utility;]
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Company; thence along last said Southerly line and along the Southwesterl
line of said land, Westerly and Northwesterly to the point of beginning.
APN: 17-150-08
Parcel Three:
That parcel of land in the Town of Truckee, County of Nevada, State a
California, described as follows :
Lots 8 and 9, in Block A of Donner Village as per map filed December 12 i
1946, in Book 1 of Subdivisions, Page 83 .
EXCEPT that portion thereof conveyed to Truckee Eire Protection District b,r`,'
deed recorded November 10, 1966, in Book 411, Page 187 of official Records
APN: 17-170-12
Parcel Four:
That parcel of land in the Town of Truckee, County of Nevada, State of
California, described as follows:
A parcel of land situate in the Southeast 1/4 of Section 7, Township 1'
North, Range 16 East, M.D.M. , Nevada County, California described aei
follows:
Lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Block 192, of the "Donner Camp-Buckman Tract" the `
official plat of which is filed in Roll 6 at Page 19 in the office of the
Nevada County Recorder, being more particularly described as follows :
BEGINNING at the Southwest corner of said Block 192, from which the
Southeast corner of said Section 7 bears North 88052109" East 493 .16 feets'
and South 00045116" East 545.66 feet.
Thence from said point of beginning along the Westerly line of said blocp's
North 00037100" West, 79 .15 feet;
Thence along the Northerly line of said block North 88*52115" East 125 . 00'
feet;
Thence along the Easterly line of Lot 5 of said block South 00039104" East;
79.15 feet to the Southeasterly corner of said Lot 5;
Thence along the Southerly line of said block South 88052109" West 125 .84
feet to the point of beginning.
APN: 18-330-35
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TRACT B•
That parcel of land in the Town of Truckee, County of Nevada, State c:
California, described as follows:
A portion of the Northwest quarter of Section 14, and a portion of those,
certain parcels of land in the Southwest quarter of Section 11 and in the ''
Southeast quarter of Section 10, Township 17 North, Range 15 East, M.D.M. , '
more particularly described as follows:
BEGINNING at the corner common to Sections 10, 11, 14 and 15, Township I-
North, Range 15 East, M.D.M. ; thence Westerly along the line betweer>'i!
Section 10 and 15, North 89029100" West 150 .45 feet; thence leaving said'
Westerly line and along the Southerly line of the State Highway from Sodas'
Springs to 1.3 miles West of the junction of Routes 37 and 38, Roac '
III-Nev, -37 B,C,D North 31004106" East 199. 19 feet; thence North 75017 , 08" '"'
East 449.35 feet; thence leaving said Southerly line South 15026,38" East ;'
425.12 feet to a point that lies 50 feet Westerly of the centerline of
Gregory Creek; thence Southeasterly along a line that lies 50 feetr
Southerly and Westerly of said Gregory Creek CL described in the Deed frocrs:
Franklin Realty & Investment Company to Dorothy Mae Metcalfe, dated August
19, 1964, and recorded October 8, 1964, in Book 366 of Official Records,
Page 500; South 54019126" East 240 .05 feet; thence South 1040121" East
274 .12 feet; thence South 58008131" East 329. 66 feet; thence South'tii
21012 ' 10" East 248 .85 feet; thence South 38034149" East 149.26 feet to the
intersection thereof with the Westerly line of that certain 3-acre parcel`
of land conveyed to Dorothy Mae Metcalfe, as described in Book 366 of,
Official Records, Page 500; thence along said Westerly line, South 00121201,
'East 220.00 feet to the Southwesterly corner thereof; thence leaving saidl'
Westerly line and along the Southerly line of said 3-acre parcel, North.
89047140" East 362.83 feet to the Westerly right of way of the County;
Access Road between Highway 80 and Donner Pass Road; thence along saidi
Westerly right of way line on the are of a 250 .00-foot radius curve to the's
left from a tangent which bears South 0017110" East through a central angle'
of 8012150" for an arc distance of 35 . 84 feet; thence South 8030100" East
44 .20 feet; thence leaving said right of way line, South 78024100" Wests<
233 .24 feet to the Northwesterly corner of Lot 8, Block A of Donner';
Village, as shown upon that certain map filed in the office of the Recorder'=
of said County, in Book 1 of Maps, Page 83; thence along the Easterly line'
of Lot 7, Block A of Donner Village, North 1004100" East 67 . 00 feet to the'i
Northeasterly corner of said Lot 7; thence Westerly along the East-West%
centerline of the Northwest quarter of said Section 14, South 89052 ' West
1308 . 39 feet to a 30-inch pine tree on the Westerly line of said Section
14; thence along said Westerly line of Section 14, North 0009100" West
1341.83 feet to the point of beginning.
APNs : 17-150-30 and 17-150-49
TRACT C-
That parcel of land in the Town of Truckee, County of Nevada, State of
California, described as follows:
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That portion of Lot 3 in the Northwest quarter of Section 14, Township 1"
North, Range 15 East, M.D.M. , in the Town of Truckee, County of Nevada,
State of California, bounded and described as follows:
Bounded Westerly by the Easterly line of Lot 9, Block "Al' of Donner Village
Subdivision recorded in Book 1 of Subdivisions, page 83 ; bounded Northerl} %
by the Northeasterly prolongation of the Northwesterly line of said Lot 9 , '
Block "A" ; bounded Easterly by the Westerly right of way line of Donner
Lake Road and bounded Southerly by the Northerly line of Donner Pass Roac
(formerly U. S. Hwy. 40)
APN: 17-170-45
TRACT D.-
That parcel of land in the County of Placer, State of California, described
as follows :
A portion of the Southwest quarter of the Southwest quarter (SW 1/4, Sk
1/4) of Section Thirteen (13) Township Seventeen (17) North, Range Fifteen-
(15) East, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian, described as follows:
BEGINNING at the Southwest corner of Lot Twenty-Two (22) of Southside'-
Highlands Subdivision No. 2, as recorded in Vol. G of Maps, at page 50 ofi'
Official Records of Placer County on September 20, 1962; thence South
99015 ' West 168.50 feet more or less to the Southeast corner of Lot
Twenty-Four (24) of said Subdivision; thence North 233 .57 feet along the
Eastern boundary of said Lot Twenty-Four (24) to its intersection with Mt .:=
Judah Drive; thence along the arc of a curve concave to the South whose
radius of 370.00 feet, the arc being represented by the chord which bears;
North 81029130" East 119.27 feet; thence South 89014 ' East 52 .03 feet, more
or less, to the Northwest corner of Lot Twenty-Three (23) of the same >
Subdivision; thence South 248 .30 feet along the Western Boundary of Lots '
Twenty-Three (23) and Twenty-Two (22) of Southside Highlands Subdivision
No. 2 to the point of. beginning.
AP# 069-383-016
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