SANTA PAULA : Council Agrees to Buy Waterworks
Saying the city will benefit from new sources of revenue, the Santa Paula City Council agreed Monday to begin proceedings to buy the local water company.
The council voted unanimously to buy the privately owned Santa Paula Water Works Co., which serves about 28,000 residents.
The city agreed to purchase the company so it can have control over water fees and invest the company’s revenues locally. Santa Paula Water Works reported revenues last year of about $4.2 million, and its operating expenses were $2.8 million, City Manager Arnold Dowdy said.
It took two years for the Downey-based Park Water Co., which owns the Santa Paula Water Works, to agree to sell the company to the city for $18 million, said Doug Martinet, senior vice president of Park Water.
Later this year, the City Council will vote to issue revenue bonds to pay for the company.
Because this is a revenue bond--which is repaid with profits generated by the project--the city does not need to put the issue up 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, 1995, Dowdy said.
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