August 25, 2010

Contact:  Ron Nelson

(530) 273-6185

Or: Dave Carter

(530) 265-NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

GRASS VALLEY   - Directors of the Nevada Irrigation District are working to obtain the final property easements needed for the Banner Cascade Pipeline Project, a major water system improvement that began in July. The NID board this week heard from two property owners who said the roadside easements on their land is worth more than NID has offered. NID Board President Scott Miller said the district’s offers are based on professional appraisals and fair market value and that offering higher amounts may not be in the best interests of NID ratepayers and taxpayers. The matters were brought to the board because staff had reached the limits of its authority and had reached impasse with the landowners, said NID Senior Right-of-Way Agent Matthew Crowe. Directors voted to acquire the two easements in the public interest and authorized staff to continue to negotiate payment with the owners of the two parcels, one on Wings of Morning Drive and the second on Red Gate Road.

The overall $40 million Banner Cascade Pipeline Project has been in planning for 10 years and is one of the largest projects ever undertaken by NID. It includes 6.4 miles of large diameter raw water pipeline and 5.5 miles of treated water pipeline. The project will route some of the water from NID’s Lower Cascade Canal through a buried pipeline across Banner Mountain to supply two water treatment plants and make more water available to service areas across western Nevada County. District engineers said this week that about 15 percent of the pipeline is in the ground.

Members of the public who wish to learn more about the project may call NID’s Engineering Dept. at (530) 273-6185 or see the district Website, www.nidwater.com.

In other business, the NID board:

• voted to abandon rights to the inactive Gold Hill Canal on a parcel below Combie Reservoir. The canal, on the south side of the Bear River, has not been used since the 1970s when it was replaced by the Combie Phase I Canal on the north side. The action was requested by property owners who are planning to restore an old barn but could not get the necessary permits from Placer County land use authorities.

• awarded a $97,976 contract to Simpson & Simpson, Inc. of Newcastle for paving NID’s Placer County maintenance yard off Gold Hill Road, near Newcastle. The firm’s bid was lowest among three submitted to the district.

• awarded a $72,117 contract to Groeniger & Co. of Roseville for pipe and fittings for a job to replace the School House Siphon on the Camp Far West Canal in Placer County. Groeniger was one of three firms submitting quotations on the project.

• received compliments from Division I Director Nancy Weber on the current Cement Hill Road pipeline project near Nevada City. Weber said residents were pleased with the work being done by NID and its contractor, Marques Pipeline, Inc., of Sacramento. The next regular meeting of the NID Board of Directors will be held at 9 a.m. on Sept. 8 at the NID Business Center in Grass Valley. NID board meetings are open to the public.

-30-