Why is American Rescue Funding going toward parklets and other sundries when the sewer lines Downtown are badly in need of replacement?

Tomorrow City of Chico Internal Affairs Committee (Reynolds, Winslow and Vanoverbeek) will be discussing use of American Rescue Plan Funding to do more work Downtown. They want wider sidewalks, more street parking (isn’t that a contradiction?), parklets, and other notions, but what I’m not seeing is any plan or funding for the sewer lines.

So I’m trying a new tack – I’m sending them a note, and I’m trying to be nice. Shut up!

Hi, 

I see no mention in this report of a need for overhaul of the sewer pipes, which have been found to be leaking on at least two occasions I’m aware of. In one instance, a leak in a city irrigation line collapsed the sidewalk in front of the former Kona’s sandwich shop, and in another incident, sewage from a misconnected pipe originating at Tin Roof Bakery was found in Little Chico Creek. Kona’s, a very popular eatery and bread supplier for other sandwich shops, left Downtown. 

Kasey, I think it was you who brought it up at a past meeting.

Before you do all this work to the surface, shouldn’t you fix the sewer? Before Sacramento was able to add the stadium to their Downtown, they had to do massive work on their sewer system, it took years, and shut down whole parts of Downtown Sacramento. I know because I was a student at Sac State at the time. That’s why I came back here and finished at Chico, it was too onerous to get from my Downtown Sacto apartment to the Sac campus.  

Before you use American Rescue money on these proposed projects, I would like to see a total overhaul of Downtown sewer. I also have heard from people around town who are still waiting for sewer lines on their streets – one woman complains the streets adjacent to her block have had sewer lines for years and the city has been promising her little neighborhood hook up for as long. 

This plan has a priority problem. Your new Downtown would not look so hot when the pipes back up, as they have. You should ask staff, how many businesses Downtown have complained about the sewer backing up in their business? 

Just a thought, thanks for listening – Juanita Sumner

The meeting is tomorrow at 1 pm, I’ll let you know if I hear anything.