Bend City Council voted Wednesday to sell Juniper Water to Roats and Avion.
Roats Water System will pay $1.4 million for the system, known as the Juniper Utility Co., which serves the Tillicum, Nottingham Square, Timber Ridge and Mountain High subdivisions. Avion Water Co. will pay $400,000 for a smaller slice of the system. The deal will also transfer over city water service to the two private companies in the Stonegate and Blue Ridge communities, which would otherwise be surrounded by territory served by Roats and Avion.
The Juniper Utility Co. water system has long been a headache for the city, and a costly one to boot. The system was built in the 1970s by developer Jan Ward to serve subdivisions on his family’s old dairy ranch. In 1998, the Oregon Public Utility Commission enforced rates Ward felt were too low, which led him to decrease water pressure.
(READ MORE: Bend Bulletin)
