FILLMORE : City Seeks Funds for Better Water Service on Foothill Drive

Fillmore is seeking federal funding to improve water pressure for about 22 houses on Foothill Drive, where residents have complained that their water service is substandard.

A $170,000 system to boost pressure for the area could be installed if federal money is available, said City Engineer Bert Rapp. Fillmore officials have asked the office of Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) to research ways to fund water system improvements.

They expect to receive an answer in about two weeks, Rapp said.

If no federal money is available, residents will have until May, 1992, to ask the city to install individual pumps. The pressure boosters would cost Fillmore about $2,700 each, and homeowners would pay operating costs of about $180 a year, Rapp said.

Although water pressure in Foothill houses meets the minimum required by the state, Rapp said residents have about one-quarter of the average pressure reported in the rest of Fillmore. Water pressure on Foothill became an issue last year, when residents complained of a third water tank being installed in their neighborhood.

The homeowners said that if their neighborhood had to become a “tank farm,” the city should compensate by improving pressure.

Only one resident has taken advantage of the city’s offer of the individual pressure booster, Rapp said.

Three more Foothill homeowners have expressed an interest in the program, but about a dozen of the 22 affected citizens say they should not have to pay operating costs for the systems.