WATER BONDS TO BE SOLD CASTAIC LOOKING FOR $80 MILLION.Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency this week approved issuing $80 million in bonds to replace money it spent to purchase the Santa Clarita Water Co. and to help fund future improvement projects. The board voted 10-1 to issue the bonds to finance the expansion of the Earl Schmidt Earl Schmidt was born November 27, 1929 to Phillip and Emma Schmidt on a dairy farm in Cologne, Minnesota. He is a polka musician who was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Water Treatment Plant, to pay for new piping and groundwater-storage projects and to replenish re·plen·ish v. re·plen·ished, re·plen·ish·ing, re·plen·ish·es v.tr. 1. To fill or make complete again; add a new stock or supply to: replenish the larder. 2. the reserve fund, which officials hope to keep around $50,000. ``We need the funds to continue our program and also, (in) the bond market, it's an advantageous time, so we are proceeding,'' said Don Froelich, board president. The board decided to pay no more than 5.75 percent interest, Froelich said, and financial advisers are seeking the best rate at or below that level. But Ed Dunn, the board member who voted against the loan at the meeting Monday, said the water agency didn't send a request to other loan agencies to give taxpayers a competitive price. ``I think it's such a foolish bond,'' he said. Mary Lou Cotton, assistant to the agency's general manager, said officials plan to release more specifics later this week on how the money will be secured, spent and repaid. Agency officials said they will regard just $17 million of the bond financing as new debt, increasing the agency's total debt to $208 million. The remaining $63 million will be repaid from the general operating revenues operating revenue Revenue from any regular source. Revenue from sales is adjusted for discounts and returns when calculating operating revenue. Compare other revenue. of the Santa Clarita Water Co., formerly privately owned, and by no longer paying dividends or income taxes. Fees for new connections, now $8,000 per acre-foot, will also help repay the bonds. Water rates will not increase, officials said. Officials had been considering a bond issue since the agency purchased the Santa Clarita Water Co. in September 1999, but pending litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. stopped the process. A lawsuit lawsuit: see procedure; tort. claims that state law forbids the public agency, which is the only wholesale provider of imported state water to the valley, to buy and operate the Santa Clarita Water Co. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion