By Pete Banda
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
More than three years after the City filed a lawsuit against companies that constructed the $17 million water plant No. 2, officials have confirmed the finalization of a settlement between the two sides.
Despite Plant No.2 having never been operational, the goal of the City is to eventually get the state of the art water plant up and running for everyday use. San Benito is currently stuck using Water Plant 1,
which is over 100 years old.
It took less than 10 months after construction completed on the new plant for the City to file the lawsuit, claiming the design was faulty, forcing the plant to shutdown.
City Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez confirmed the news through a post on social media, stating: “I am so happy to announce all of our negotiations have led to a settlement on our San Benito Water Plant #2. The ultimate purpose of any lawsuit is to make a plaintiff ‘whole’ again and I can assure you we are walking out of this with a better plant than before.
This is a huge issue that has been hanging over our city for so long and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to take part in its resolution.”
Requests for details on the agreement were sent to the City, though they were not available to the NEWS as of press time Thursday morning.
In 2014, city officials shut down the plant after its membrane filtration system failed to properly operate. At the time, Cruz said he recommended the city replace the membranes to continue operating the plant, warning the old plant could fail. The City instead opted to turn back to Water Plant No. 1, which has been in use since before Herbert Hoover was President of the United States. The City ended up paying over $165,000 to keep Plant No. 1 operational over the last three years, but now seem ready to move forward with Plant No. 2 as the primary water source.
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