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Beacon Correspondent
Progress is being made toward establishing a community services district in Scotia and eventually offering the houses for sale in the former company-owned town.
Following up on the election of a Scotia CSD Board of Directors in August 2010, interviews are being conducted to select an interim general manager.
”Seven well-qualified candidates have been interviewed,” according to Frank Bacik, president of the Town of Scotia Company. He anticipates additional interviews will be conducted by the CSD board by the end of January and a candidate selected by mid-February.
Bacik said Town of Scotia Company is already helping the CSD get an office set up. It is located on Main Street between Hair Heaven and the Humboldt County Sheriff's substation office.
”The first thing the (CSD) board will do is adopt ordinances, bylaws, and policies and procedures,” Bacik said. “Then they will need to establish a budget, with help from the interim general manager.”
In the meantime, Town of Scotia is very close to securing financing for a significant upgrade of existing infrastructure, something that must be completed before responsibility for water, sewer and storm drain lines can be transferred to the CSD, and the homes in Scotia then put up for sale.
Ultimately, the Scotia CSD will provide the town's governance, just as in McKinleyville, Loleta, Shelter Cove, and other Humboldt County communities. In Scotia, the CSD will own the infrastructure and provide basic utilities, like fire protection, water and sewer services. The Scotia CSD will also manage civic and community assets, such as the historic Winema Theater and Scotia Museum, Fireman's Park, Carpenter baseball field, the old PALCO Carpenters' and Plumbers' ships, as well as town equipment, vehicles and machinery.
Once the CSD is up and running, tenants of the houses in Scotia will not see any increase in the water and sewer rates. Once a house is sold, in addition to existing water and sewer fees, the owner of the home will pay additional fees for fire protection, parks and recreation, streets, and street lighting services.
Bacik expects to receive word soon on approval of financing for Town of Scotia Company to begin the infrastructure upgrade. Once the financing is secured, phase one of the upgrade could start in a couple of months. The cost of the five-year upgrade process is estimated at $12.7 million.
”We (Town of Scotia Company) will recoup that cost by the sale of the houses and businesses,” Bacik said
Phase 1 of the infrastructure upgrade is identified as the commercial center (current shopping center, former Mill A, Scotia Inn, Humboldt Redwood Company office building, Scotia Medical Center, Stanwood A. Murphy Elementary School, and the houses in that area on Mill, Church, and B to First streets). The estimated completion time for phase 1 is November 2012. Phase 2 is South Town, phase 3 is Williams Street, phase 4 is North Court, and phase 5 includes the water treatment facility on the hill above the town of Scotia and the wastewater treatment facility. Phase 5 is identified as being funded by the CSD.
Upon completion of each phase, the homes within the boundary will be listed for sale. Bacik said.
”We will fix one area and once certified by Humboldt County as meeting current standards, the infrastructure will be transferred to the CSD and we will then sell the houses,” he said.
Bacik said there are detailed historic records, including engineering blueprints and diagrams dating back to the late 1800s when some of the oldest homes in Scotia were built, identifying where water pipes, storms drains and other infrastructure is located. Some are currently located under houses and a storm drain is under the school. All will be replaced with pipes laid in the right of way of Scotia streets. The streets will then be resurfaced to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
At this time, approximately 60 percent of the infrastructure replacement engineering design work is complete. Town of Scotia Company is working with the Humboldt County Department of Public Works on this piece of the project.
The infrastructure work will be done by local contractors, Bacik said.
“I've been saying that by this time next year, almost everybody will know somebody working in Scotia,” he added.
photo captions:
photos by Mary Bullwinkel/Beacon
1. An interim general manager for the Scotia Community Services District should be selected soon to continue the administrative set up for the new office, which is located on Main Street in Scotia
2. These houses on Church Street in Scotia are included in the first phase of infrastructure upgrade and will likely be some of the first houses in former company-owned town to be put up for sale
