Pleasanton, water agency settle suit over $18 million in uncollected fees

PLEASANTON The Tri-Valley s largest water agency has settled a lawsuit against the city of Pleasanton for over million in fees the city allegedly failed to collect from customers To settle the suit Pleasanton will pay Zone Water Agency a settlement fee and give the agency another credit toward land for its projects related to PFAS chemical contamination which is known to cause cancer and birth defects Zone over the past meager years has upped its fight against water contamination by opening PFAS healing plants in Pleasanton and Livermore The lawsuit filed in January alleged the city under-collected over million in water fees after upgrading its water metering system between and The water agency claimed the city was responsible for paying back those lost fees but Pleasanton has maintained it wasn t We know both sides brought in different perspectives on the issue Pleasanton Mayor Jack Balch commented in an interview Monday Generally I am pleased that we were able to find a compromise a way forward The two parties reached a settlement on July the city explained in a press release It does not require the city to admit guilt or take responsibility for the alleged under collection of fees The agreement also says that Pleasanton and Zone will finish upgrading the rest of the city s metering system within three years Balch called the settlement a win-win all around Zone General Manager Valerie Pryor explained in a announcement that the water company is satisfied that this settlement achieves an outcome that is appropriately protective of all of Zone s customers and allows all parties to move forward Pryor disclosed in an interview Monday that the settlement is an outcome that we think protects our customers It s done Pryor commented At this point it s settled and we are all moving forward Pleasanton City Manager Gerry Beaudin disclosed in a report that the settlement will help both parties focus on the future and continue addressing regional water challenges together We appreciate the opportunity to resolve this matter outside of court and in a way that allows both agencies to continue serving our shared population Beaudin wrote Pleasanton has seen its share of water troubles lately The city has been in search of new sources of drinking water after shutting down three wells due to PFAS contamination It appears Pleasanton has potentially determined new wells In a meeting last month the Zone Board of Directors provided an update on Pleasanton s test wells at Del Prado Park Tennis and District Park and Hansen Park According to Zone the Del Prado well could produce between million to million gallons of drinkable water daily with the tennis park producing between million to million gallons Hansen Park could produce between million to million gallons per day though Zone noted its water quality was slightly lower than the other two sites We have a lot of really good signs that this could help us with adequate drinking water Additional work and review will be required Mayor Balch stated Monday We would be looking at offsetting selected of the costs for our local residents related to this