SANTA PAULA : City Weighs Bond Issue
The Santa Paula City Council will vote tonight on whether to issue an $18-million revenue bond to buy the local water company.
Saying the city needs local control of Santa Paula Water Works Co., the council will vote to begin proceedings to buy the privately owned company, which serves about 28,000 residents, City Manager Arnold Dowdy said.
After two years of negotiations, Downey-based Park Water Co., which owns the Santa Paula Water Works, agreed to sell the company to the city for $18 million, said Doug Martinet, senior vice president of Park Water.
“The venture agreement won’t be a bargain for the city or a killing for us,” Martinet said. “It has turned out to be a pretty friendly agreement.”
Dowdy said the city decided to buy the company so it can have control over water fees and invest the company’s revenues locally. The water company’s revenues last year totaled about $4.2 million, and its operating expenses were $2.8 million, Dowdy said.
The bonds will be paid with revenues earned by Santa Paula Water Works, Dowdy said.
Because this is a revenue bond, the city does not need to present the issue for voters’ approval, he said.
The bonds should be issued as early as December, and the city will take over operations of the water company by July, 1996, Dowdy said.
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