The Lebec Water District meeting which was scheduled for 7:00 on Monday night was called to order at 7:15 by board member Bruce Koch.  President Bob Karr was not in attendance.  Koch announced that Karr had resigned.

So began the meeting in the wake of Lebec's recent water fiasco.  Then the finger pointing began.  Board member Darren Hager claimed Bruce Koch had a conflict of interest.  Koch was said to have approved alterations and actions on the water system on his own without including the rest of the board.  Many raised their voices in protest and pointed out the need to deal with a health risk on a resident's property.  It was acknowledged as a valid concern but the way of handling it was said by other board members and others in attendance to be out of line; undermining the district structure.  This was a side issue to get things warmed up.

 

As the subject of the recent pump failure that deprived residents of their water boiled to the top, Koch announced that he had been sick, literally, and left the meeting at 7:40.  Service contractor, Kristopher Hollands, described the system failure, the service to bring it back online and the host of technical problems that followed.  When first asked, he implied the pump failure was simply due to aging equipment.

 

As the meeting went on, it was pointed out by Darren Hager that the incident was isolated to a new water line installed for fire safety on the new Holiday Inn.  The addition to the Lebec water distribution system, engineered by Jeff French, was never cleared by the district's engineer.  It turned out to be installed on private land, where the district had no right to work on it.  The fire marshall ordered the uncleared system be charged on the word of only one district board member.  That was when the booster pump failed.  According to Hager, the consenting board member was once again Bruce Koch acting on his own.

Fire Marshall, Vernell Brothers, defended the Koch's action.  Brother's said it was all a board problem.  When met with the contrary statements of Darren Hager, Brother's walked out with over half of those in attendance.

This is a tangled web.  Kevin VanderBes, for the Holiday Inn, said the water line over private property that supplies the hotel fire sprinklers and hydrant is standard fare in his experience.

After the meeting, it is still unclear where the fault for Lebec's recent water problem lies.  Kristopher Hollands said at one point: "The well failing, the 2 booster pumps, the 12 inch line being closed, I can't with any certainty put a 100% 'this was the reason'.  To me it was a series of events that all happened at the same time."  Before naming the new fire flow line for the hotel as a problem, Hager said "Somebody is, I believe in my heart, messing with valves on purpose to do something to our water district."

Koch called the meeting to order at 7:15, but there was no order.  The Mountain Daily News will have more to report as the Lebec water story unfolds.  According to the Mountain Enterprise, says the health department has reversed its 'Boil Water' public safety advisory to Philips Zone as of 12:18 PM, 1/6/2010.