New council puts an end to the water cuts in San Martín
by Marketing
New council puts an end to the water cuts in San Martín
The mayor, Patxi Pérez, and council official Javier Villamor are faced with debts left unpaid by the outgoing mayor, who has failed to account to the Council for grants amounting to €10,094
In San Martín de Losa, the residents spent their summers with water that is not safe to drink, according to tests and surveys conducted by the Health Department, and random, unexpected water cuts were a daily occurrence throughout the summer, until the situation was dramatically turned around thanks to the arrival of a new team at the local council. The new mayor, Patxi Joseba Pérez, and council official Francisco Javier Villamor put their hands to the pump as soon as they entered office on 15th June this year and they successfully resolved the water supply issues in just a few days. There will be no more water cuts this summer. The water is now being purified and chlorinated so it is safe to drink as required by law.
Work has been undertaken to repair a water leak and the pump which draws water from the well spring has been correctly installed on-site. The water reservoir's electrical system has also been restored to ensure that the buoys which monitor the water are working correctly, and that they warn the motors if ever there is a reduction in the water level to guarantee that the pump is switched on. These measures have been sufficient to ensure that the reservoir is completely full every day and there has not been a single problem. On the first day it was opened it was empty. In the summer of 2018, which was a very rainy year, the local mayor, Fernando Vadillo – who succeeded his father, Benedicto Vadillo, who had been dismissed as a result of a judicial ruling – was responsible for daily cuts in the water supply, while the rest of the towns in the municipality of Losa, which were sourced from the same wellspring, had no issues. The new team has resolved the problem by investing €1800.
Pérez and Villamor found little more than €300 in the town accounts, with no trace of the grants, among other things, that the Provincial Council had awarded to the town in 2017 and 2018 amounting to €10,094 in all. This money is not in the town accounts, but the outgoing team has not accounted for their spending, which the council is demanding of them. In light of this, the current mayor has confirmed that "the Council understands our situation".
€23,453 outstanding to Iberdrola. The new council team, supported by the local residents' association (the "Asociación de Amigos de San Martín de Losa"), which is chaired by Toño Maroco, faced another surprise when they received the first invoice from utility company Iberdrola. The total came to some €23,453 because, for years, the local council had failed to pay the utility company the amount owed for the public street lighting and for the water pump and the cumulated total continued to appear each month on the invoice. The new mayor will endeavour to negotiate a payment plan with the utility company.
The town will now be looking ahead to the future. One such positive change has been the festivals celebrated this weekend in Ahedo in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary: there was a great atmosphere and the event was attended by residents from many nearby areas. The local council also plans to delegate responsibility for collecting water services charges for 2019 onwards to the Provincial Council. Residents have recently paid the bills for 2017 and 2018, which the local council has just issued to them, by which it is tackling the initial expenses related to repairs to the service, as well as water chlorination.
One of the next measures already identified is upgrading the water meters, as many are broken or malfunctioning. Around fifty smart meters are set to be installed. Another project in the pipeline will involve conducting a study to determine what it would take to get an existing water treatment plant back in operation: it was built twenty years ago, but it will be in need of modernisation as it was never put into service.
Diariodegburgos.es, New council puts an end to the water cuts in San Martin: https://www.diariodeburgos.es/noticia/Z3C2E6ABD-AECE-7BF3-A390ED15C8DC40BB/El-nuevo-gobierno-acaba-con-los-cortes-de-agua-en-San-Martin, Retrieved 05.08.2019.