Senator presents $5 million to City

Nancy Simpson/The Madera Tribune

City officials gather around Mayor Santos Garcia and Senator Anna Caballero on the steps of Madera City Hall, as Senator Caballero presents a ceremonial check in the amount of $5 million to the City of Madera, for the funding of the sewer rehabilitation project.

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It was an exciting day for Madera, as Senator Anna M. Caballero joined Mayor Santos Garcia and the Madera City Council at City Hall on Friday to present a $5 million check for a vital sewer trunk rehabilitation project in the City of Madera.

“The City is thankful for Senator Caballero’s advocacy and commitment to ensuring Madera has the resources necessary for the reliable and robust wastewater infrastructure necessary for our community to continue to safely grow and thrive,” said Madera Mayor Santos Garcia. “This funding allows us immediately to move forward with this project without burdening today’s ratepayers during trying times with high inflation. Wastewater systems in Madera will remain intact and functioning properly.”

Madera City Manager Arnoldo Rodriguez said, “Funding for the rehabilitation project of the Avenue 13 sewer trunk main comes at a pivotal moment, as the project is essential to maintaining the quality of life in our community. We identified approximately 5 miles of pipeline which exhibit signs of extensive corrosion. Of that, roughly 2.25 miles are at a particularly high risk of failure. This sewage main is the sole sewer interceptor pipeline that carries wastewater from the City’s general region to our wastewater treatment facility, so failure would be catastrophic to our community. Citing the urgent need, the City reached out to Senator Caballero for help, and she answered our call.”

At the press conference, Ellen Bitter, the project manager who serves as the city’s deputy city engineer, spoke in more detail of a catastrophe that occurred in the city water system in 2016. There was a concrete pipeline in bad condition that collapsed and the street also collapsed. She said at that time, the City made the evening news. Both Bitter and Rodriguez stated they did not want to make the news again with another catastrophe with the water system.

Senator Caballero presented the ceremonial big check to the City, as Mayor Garcia, Mayor Pro Tem Anita Evans, and other city officials gathered.