Discovery Bay Press_09.24.10

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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

Vol. 8, No. 39

CSD to revisit meter program by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer The Community Services District (CSD) is looking into whether to ramp up the town’s stalled water metering program – or put on the brakes – in the wake of charges from one homeowners association of billing inequities. Harbor Bay Homeowners Association representative Lou Erickson spoke before the CSD at the Sept. 1 meeting, asking the board to approve a water refund for Harbor Bay residents, claiming they have been billed twice for their water over the past few months – once through the town’s metering program and again on their county tax roll. “We’ve been charged twice for our water and that’s not fair,” said Erickson, who first approached the CSD about the problem in July. CSD President Kevin Graves, a resident of Harbor Bay, recused

himself from the board discussion. Under the provisions of a new statewide water conservation mandate, all residential properties must be operating with water meters by 2024. In Discovery Bay, 1,600 of the town’s roughly 6,000 homes have operational meters, and another 300 must be online by the end of the year to meet government mandates. The remaining 4,200 homes must be on meters by 2024. But while none of the residential units in Harbor Bay have yet been put on meters, the landscaping has, and is charged to the HOA which residents pay for in their monthly fees. It is some residents’ contention that the current amount they pay on their property taxes should be adequate to cover their landscaping costs. Last summer, the board voted 4-1 (Director David Piepho was

Queen and King

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September 24, 2010

This Week Getting the Lions’ share

The Discovery Bay Lions Club helped keep the Liberty Lions band in the business of making music. Page 8A

Board brouhaha Photo by Samie Hartley

omecoming King Tony Webb and Queen Brooke Edwards ﬂash star-worthy smiles at Liberty’s Homecoming Rally. Webb helped the Lions take down the American High School Eagles 22-16 at the big game. For more coverage of the festivities, see page 12A.

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A cemetery board vacancy remains unfilled following charges of nepotism. Page 4A

No raining on Lions’ parade

see Meter page 26A

East County API test scores soar by Ruth Roberts

API Scores

Staff Writer 848 +19

840 +31

850

829

809

800 732 +16

750

735

747 +12

779 772 +7

797 795 +2

716

700 650 600 2009

Antioch Unified School District

2010

Brentwood Union School District

Liberty High School District

Oakley Union School District

Knightsen School District

Byron Union School District

Despite ongoing budget cuts, the elimination of school programs and increased class sizes, California’s schools have managed to raise their Academic Performance Index (API) scores again for the eighth year in a row. “It’s certainly good news all around,” said Donald Gill, superintendent of the Antioch Unified School District, which earned a 16 point API increase to 732. “In our district we tripled the growth of the past five years. It puts things on a real positive note.” API is the cornerstone of California’s Public Schools Accountability Act of 1991. It measures the academic performance and growth of schools through a point-based system determined primarily by the results of the California Standards Test, the California High School Exit Exam and graduation

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