Markleeville Loses a Great Friend and Leader

It is with profound sadness that we write this post today. Nancy Thornburg, Matriarch of our community, passed away yesterday. We at the Markleeville Water Company have been blessed to know her and we send our prayers and deepest sympathies to the Thornburg family.  Rest In Peace, Nancy, and THANK YOU for all you’ve done for us and the town of Markleeville.

A Generator for the Markleeville Water Company!

Thanks primarily to the efforts of Kris Hartnett, the Markleeville Water Company will soon have a generator! It’s a 75 Kilowatt Onan Generator and while it’s not new, it has never been used. The County has had it sitting on its lot for quite some time and worked with us to negotiate a deal to take it off their hands. New, it would sell for approximately $25000.00 but we’ll be paying $9000.00, over five (5) years. The Water Company Board suggested a “payment plan” that would allow us to pay the county by “crediting” the County’s quarterly water bill of $450.00 over that five (5) year period so we don’t have to take money out of our reserves, and the County graciously accepted!

Next steps:

  • Kris will work with the County to fire it up before we move it to MWC property.
  • The County will deliver it to a place of our choosing.
  • We’ll need to pour a pad on which to place it, and
  • We’ll need to purchase and install a transfer switch in order to hook it up to our system.

Once we’ve accomplished all of this, MWC will be able to provide a continuous source of electricity to generate (couldn’t resist the pun) water in the event of a long-term power outage. Do keep in mind though, that other issues may prevent us from producing water, even if there is electricity. Nonetheless, this is a huge step forward for the Markleeville community and we’re very appreciative of the County’s gracious offer.

Update Regarding the Markleeville Water Company’s Pending Planning Grant Status

We’ve received some preliminary news regarding the income survey from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) on August 28th.

The median household income (MHI) according to RCAC is $36,000 amongst permanent residents and the response rate was 95%. The full and final results will be submitted to the state Division of Financial Assistance within a couple weeks (according to RCAC) after which the state will determine MWC’s membership income status. If, after state review, the MHI remains at $36,000, we should qualify for the grant.  We must caution you, however, that this is just one step in a somewhat lengthy bureaucratic process so while we can, and should, celebrate this milestone, it is just that, a milestone.  We’re not at the finish line just yet.

Since we are categorized as a “severely disadvantaged community,” we will be given a higher priority (than less disadvantaged communities) for consideration in receiving the planning grant.

Next steps:

  • Await review of our financials and the environmental report (4-6 mos.).
  • Issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for engineering firms to submit a plan (planning grant). This can be done while we await review of our financials and so work has already begun.
  • Review and award the planning contract.
  • Apply for a construction grant (after the planning has been completed).
  • Issue a Request for Quote (RFQ) for the construction work under that construction grant.
  • Ideally, we complete the construction before, or concurrent with, the county work on the re-surfacing of Hot Springs Rd.

So, again, we’d like to thank you for your help in getting us the surveys.  Also, we’ve received several comments from members about the work done by our President, Steve Martin, to get us to this point.  While he certainly wasn’t the only one doing the work, and we’re not about patting ourselves on the back (especially this early), at our last meeting we gave Steve a well-deserved round of applause.  It’s mostly due to his diligence that we’ve reached this milestone.

It’s important to note that it would be approximately 18 to 24 mos. from awarding of the planning contract until actual construction begins, and we cannot award the construction contract until we receive the grant funds.

Fingers crossed, we’ll hit the next milestone soon.  Stay tuned!

Recent Water Leak Repair on Hot Springs Rd.

Thanks to the one of the hardest working Directors in “the water business,” Kris Hartnett, as well as Fritz Thornburg and Dylan Camp, the water leak on Hot Springs Road has been repaired!  Kris, Fritz and Camp were hard at work on Wednesday to make the repair and today they’ll close up the hole.

Feel free to give them a thumbs up or buy them a beer (or both) next time you see them.

 

Slowly but surely…we’re adding content

Hello Markleeville Water Company members!

Just checking in to let you know we’ve added a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page and a couple questions (and answers thereto).  We’d love to hear from you as to any others that you think should be added and slowly but surely, we’ll be adding more.

We’ve also heard from several of you (via email and via this site’s ‘contact us’ form) and that’s great!  We really appreciate the interaction and encourage you to keep it up (and tell your fellow members).

We’ll soon be posting an update as to that grant status, and we have a few other things in mind too, so stay tuned and stay in touch!