Crumbling water main leaves people in a Pleasanton neighborhood high and dry
Last week a group of homeowners in Pleasanton had their water cut off by the city. They're locked in a battle over who should pay to replace a crumbling water main and, in the meantime, neighbors have found a creative way of helping each other out.
In the middle of Pleasanton is a small neighborhood known as the Remen Tract that, years ago, refused to be annexed into the city. Rick Hempy lives there and said that's what's behind the disagreement over the neighborhood's water pipes.
"These lines that are in here were put in in 1950--two-inch steel lines--and they are disintegrating," he said. "And the city of Pleasanton used to come out here and fix them. But now they're saying, 'you're on your own. Because you're in the county, even though you get city services--water, sewer, police, fire--we don't care!'"
In August, a water main started leaking and when the city came out to fix it, they discovered that the whole thing needed to be replaced. They rigged up a temporary supply line using fire hoses connected to a hydrant. But the city says they will not be replacing the permanent line. In a statement, Communications Manager Heather Tiernan said, "The water system within Remen Tract is privately owned, and just as the City does not maintain individual property owners' water lines, it cannot maintain the private water lines within the Remen Tract."
Needless to say, the homeowners disagreed.
"This is the city of Pleasanton service territory for this municipal utility," said homeowner Rob Schurhoff, "and anything on their side of the meter is their responsibility. It's in the Pleasanton municipal code. So, it's cut and dried as far as I'm concerned."
So, the fire hoses remained in place and that's how things stayed for 9 months...until about five days ago.
"So, yeah, I was really surprised when I was on the phone and, like, eight trucks came out here and removed the temporary hoses in less than five minutes and took off. I think they thought we might have an uprising or something, I don't know!" said Schurhoff.
"And for them to come out and just unhook the water...I think it's criminal!" said Hempy. So, how many houses are without water? "Six," he said. "They're stuck!"
Well, not really. Because the neighbors are helping each other out. Hoses have been extended from one house to another to supply the six who were left high and dry.
"Yeah, we had to rig this up because I couldn't flush my toilet or anything," said Schurhoff, with a laugh.
And Hempy said the effort to create their own jerry-rigged water system has only brought the neighborhood closer together.
"That hose is coming from a rental way over there,' said Hempy. "So, it's going through three yards and coming over here to take care of these three houses! Now that's nice neighbors. That's good people."
The neighbors estimate it could cost them about $6,000 each to replace the line. But they say Pleasanton charges them the same water rates as any other municipal customer and they expect the city to repair the broken line. So far, there is no resolution in sight. The neighbors believe city officials are just trying to wash their hands of the problem. Although they may have to go to another block to find the water to do that.
